Evening star., 1909-08-29

placed himself between me and the door.
and driven me into the middle Of the
room, where / was unprotected and at his
mercy.
.Almost without stopping he rushed at
me again. I was driven back toward the
desk, my hand fell on a heavy ruler that
was lying there and I seized 1t. He came
at me once more. and l. under the i'm
pulse of self-defense, struck at him with
what / had in my hand, scarcely reaiiz-
ing for the moment just what 1t was. To
my surprise 1 felt that I had hit him
and he fell like log.
For the moment I was stunned. Then
/ threw down the ruler and stopped over
him. He was breathing heavily and there
was a twitching of the hands. / seized
the candle and saw that there was a cut
on his head that was bleeding badly.
MY first impulse was to get him on to
a bed, and as / could not think OF taking
him to my wife's room, this required me
to get him upstairs. AS it was impos-
sible for me to lift him, had to drag
him. He groaned once or twice before
completed the task. but showed no other
sign of life. When he was once fairly on
realize the position in which the affair
placed me. Still, no danger to myself
would justify me in any neglect to Sc
cure him aid. / remembered seeing In the
diately registering the sight. telephone,
and / went down with the purpose OF
calling a doctor. On the desk was piece
of paper with your name and NUMBER on
it, and in the belief that you were his
physician l called you.
"Then l began again to think or my
self. No one but Horace knew OF my
being at the house. If | could get away
before help came 1t would materially
diminish the danger. and after visit TO
Altenburg, to see IL l could do anything
more for him, l came here, feeling that
the storm, although an impediment, was
in many ways my best protection"
Much of this story gave TO Grlmble-
telling, the impression of truth, but there
were other parts that affected him as
having been manufactured for the occa-
sion. His great interest was. however.
to try and find the measure that Tranord
would take of 1t, but he found difficulty
in attaining the attitude of mind In
which the detective would approach 1t,
and also in allowing for the modifying
effects of experience. At the least his
feeling was that in some way 1t men
aced Judith's happiness. That was the
one undimmed aspect in which 1t pre-
sented itself to his consciousness. If Cal
den came In contact with TTanord ne
would tell the story. and then nothing
could save Judith from all that 1t might
entail.
WAS the paper with my name the only
paper on the desk?' he asked.
1.-The only one l saw"
"Any papers spread out there?
''Oh. no. should have seen them II
Grimbleshaw thought for moment and
then said:
.sThat story might last at least two
minutes with Trafford."
"What do you mean?' demanded CAL
den. fushing with anger. yet clearly dis
turbed beyond that.
"Just what l say"
You think he'd be able to break it
DOWN."
az don't think; I know. Suppose he
ing on IL there were no papers on the
desk? Suppose, worse than that, that he
shouldn't ask you!
probably there were papers that |
didn't see," Calden said, uneasily.
yes. But before he was through with
YOU you'd have stated positively tnere
were none He'd have your attention di-
rected to the piece with my name on II,
because 1t was the only piece there. 1ou
looked over that desk: you looked through
It. You were there after testimony which
YOU thought existed, II at all. In the
form of papers, and you didn't neglect
this one chance simply because OF an ac-
cdent I'm trying sd to i f0aM ,ake h,s you TO- get
away after you telephoneoF
Twenty minutes, perhaps"
"Who came before you got awayf
mo one!' Calden exclaimed. IN an al
most panic What do you mean!
..Dr. Grimbleshaw-Im striving still to
follow Trafford-was there in an hour.
that is, twenty-five or thirty minutes
after YOU left, He found the house ram
sacked. Do you mean to say some one
came, found Altenburg hurt. mortaliy:
and yet set to work SO deliberately and
promptly as to have accomplished all
this in the few minutes 1t gives him"'
..You have nothing to corroborate
lGrimbleshaw Grimbleshaw had time to
do it himself" Calden showed that he
had given thought to the matter even II
there was the break regarding the paper.
a break of which he was now warned.
(To be continued tomorrow.)