The Huttig news., 1909-01-23

ton; by such facile means would much light be shed upon the darkness. But Maitland put decided negative to the suggestion.
 No. He would give her the benefit of the doubt. He would wait he would scho1f himself to patience. Perhaps she would come back for it-and sx. plain. Perhaps he could find her bv advertising it-and get an explana- tion. Pending which, he could wait little whiie. IL was not his wish 10 pry into her secrets, even if--even if--
 II was something to be smoked over Strange how 1t affected him to have in his hands something that she had owned and touchedi
 Opening a drawer of the desk. Malt land produced an aged pipe. A brazen jar, companion piece to the ash re ceiver, held his tobacco. He filled the pipe from the jar. with thoughtful de. liberation. And scraped match be meath his chair and ignited the tobac. co and puffed in eontemplative con tentment, deriving solace from each mouthful of grateful, eyanescent in- cense. Meanwhile he held the charred match between thumb and forefnger.
 Becoming conscious of this fact. he smiled in deprecation of his absent minded mood, looked for the ash-re- ceiver, discovered it in place, inverted beneath the book; and drowned, re- membering. Then, with an impatient gesture-impatient of his own in- ffrmity of mind-for he simply could not forget the girl-he dropped the match, swept the book aside, lifted the bowl
 After a moment of incredulous awe, the young man rose, with eyes a-light and iubilant song in the heart of him. Now he knew. now un- derstood, now believed and now was justified of his faithl
 After which depression came, with the consciousness that she was gone. forever removed beyond his reach and influence, and that by her own willfu act Ii was her intelligible wish that they should never meet again, for. having accomplished her errand. she had flown from the pos sibility of his thanks
 It was so clear. now! He perceived it all, plainly. Somehow (though 1t was hard to surmise howl she had found out that Anisty had stolen the jewels; somehow (and one wondered at what risk) she had contrived to take them from him and bring them back to their owner. And Anisty had followed.
 Poor little woman, What had she not suffered, what perils had she not braved. to prove that there was honor even in thievesi It could have been at no inconsiderable danger-a dan ger not incommensurate with that of robbing a tigress of her whelps-that she had managed to filch his loot from that pertinacious and vindictive soul, Anistyi
 But she had accomplished it. and all for him.
 If only he could find her, now,
 There was a elew to his hand in that bag. of course, but by this act she forever removed from him the right to investigate that.
 If he could only find that cabby
 Perhaps if he tried at the Madison square rank, immediately
 Besides it was clearly his duty not to remain in the flat alone with the i jewels another night. There was but one attainable place of safety for them, and that the safe of a reputable hotel He would return to the Rar- tholdi at once. merely pausing on his way to inquire of the cabmen If they could send their brother-nighthawk to him.
 Maitland shook himself into his top coat damned hat upon head, dropped the jewels into one pocket, the ciga- rette case into another, and-on i'm pulse-Anisty' revolver, with it's two unexploded cartridges, into a third,