Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-12-31
CHAPTER XIX.
At the Table Next.


ing Slowly down the road as 1 caught up
with them. AS usual, the little man was
busy with some abstruse mental problem.
1.-The idea is this he was saying, his
brows knitted in thought 'if a left
handed man. standing In the position of
the man in the picture. should jump from
a car, would he be likely to sprain his
right ankle? When a right-handed man
prepares for a leap of that kind, my
theory is that he would hold on with his
right hand. and alight at the proper
time, on his right foot. OF course"
Il imagine, although 1 don't know. :
interrupted Mcknight, that a man either
ambidextrous or one-armed. jumping from
the Washington flier, would be more like
ly to land on his head"
Anyhow" / interposed. what differ
ence does it make whether Sullivan used
one hand or the other? One pair OF hand.
cuffs will put both hands out Of commits
sion"
AS usual when one Of his pet theories
was attacked Hotchkiss looked ag-
grieved.
my dear SIR" he expostulated, don't
you understand what bearing this has on
the case? How was the murdered man
lying when he was found?'
ION his back" said, promptly, head
toward the engine"
Very WELL" he retorted, "and what
then? Your heart lies under your fifth
intercOstal space, and to reach 1t q right
handed blow would have struck either
down or directly in.
But, gentlemen. the point Of entrance
for the stiletto was below the heart
striking up! As Harrington lay with his
head toward the engine, a person in the
aisle must have used the left hand"
Meningitis eyes sought mine and he
winked at me soemnly as / unOstenta-
tiously transferred the hat l was carry
ing to my right hand. Long training has
largely counterbalanced heredity in. my
case, but 1 still pitch ball, play tennis
and carve with my left hand. But
Hotchkiss was too busy with his theories
to notice me.
We were only just in time for our
train back to Baltimore, but Mcknigh,
took advantage of a seconds delay to
shake the station agent warmly by the
hand.
IT want to express my admiration for
you.' he said, beamingly. ability OF
your order is thrown away here. You
should have been a city policeman. my
friend
The agent looked a trife uncertain
The young lady was the one who told
me to keep STILL" he said.
Mcknight glanced at me. gave the
agents hand q final shake and climbed
on board But l knew perfectly that ne
had guessed the reason for my delay.
He was very silent on the Way nome
Hotchkiss. too, had little to say. He was
reading over his notes, fntently, stopping
now and then to make a penciled addi-
ton. Just before we left the train
Richey turned to me. II suppose 1t was
the key to the door that she tied to the
gate?'
Probably. l did not ask her.
Curious. her locking that fellow in, y
he reflected.
"You may depend on it, there was a
,fOI,
wouldn't be SO suspicious Of motives.
Rich,' 1 said, warmly.
"Only yesterday you were the suspic-
iOus one" he retorted, and We lapsed
into strained silence.
1t was late when we got to Washing
ton. One of Mrs. kloptOn's small tyran-
MES was exacting punctuality at meals.
and. like several other things, l re-
spected it. There are always some con-
cessions that should be made in return
for faithful service.
So, as my dinner hour of Z was long
past, Mcknight and l went to little
restaurant down town where they have
a very decent way of fixing chicken la
King. Hotchkiss had departed. eco
nomically bent for a small hotel where
he lived on the American plan.
II want to think some things over
he said, in response to my invitation to
dinner. land, anyhow, there's no use
dining out when 1 pay the same. dinner
The day had been hot, and the first
floor dining room was sultry. in spite of
the palms and fans, which attempted to
simulate the verdure and breezes of the
country.
1t was crowded, too, with a typical
summer-night crowd, and, after sitting
for a few minutes In a sweltering corner,
we got UP and went to the smaller dining
room upstairs. Here it was not SO warm,
and we settled ourselves comfortably by
window.
Over in a corner half dozen boys on
their way back to school were Raging
a perspiring waiter, proceeding SO ex-
actly to Meningitis taste that he in
sisted on going over to join them. But
their table was FULL and somehow that
kind Of fun had lost its point for me.
Not far from us a very stout, middle
aged man, apoplectic with the heat, was
bored looking girl across the table from
him. and at the next table newspaper
woman ate alone. the last edition prop
ped against the water bottle before her.
her hat, for GOODNESS, on the corner of
the table. 1t was motley Bohemian
crowd.
/ looked over the room casually, while
Mcknight ordered the meal. Then my
attention was attracted to the table next
to ours. Two people We're sitting there.
50 deep in conversation that they did not
notice us. The woman's face was hid
den under her hat as she traced the pat
tern Of the cloth mechanically with her
fork. But the mans features stood out
clear in the light of the candles on the
table. 1t was Bronson!
HE shows the strain, doesn't he?" Nc
Knight said, holding up the wine list as
if he read from 1t. WHO'S the woman