The Nevada County picayune. (Prescott, Ark.) 190?-current, 1909-07-01


lavish and inquisitive easterner plan
of the secret passages-to use IN MS
own future residence. Whether Al
kins went alone or in company TO the
Casa Fuerte the detective could only
surHlise. He couldn't tell whether MS
object would be mere blackmail, or
robbery of the cipher, or ASSASSINATION.
Perhaps he found the insensible man
in the patio and was tempted by the
grislv opportunity; victim and weapon
both absolutely TO his hand; for 1t
was established that the dagger mad
been shown Tracy by Mercer as
curio, and left on the stone bench.
Perhaps he had not found the dag
ger, but had his own means to make
an end of his enemy and his own ter
ror. Birdsall believed that he had ac-
completes, or at least one accomplce,
with him. He conceived that they
had lain In ambush watching until
they saw Kito go away. Then an
entry had been made Most like,
Birdsall concluded he jest flung that
dagger away for you folks to find and
suspect the domestics, say kito, cause
he was away" But this was not all
! that Bigdsall had to report. he had
| traced Atkins to the haunts OF certain
| unsavory Italians; he had struck the
| trail. in fine. TO be sure, it ran under
ground and was lost in the brick
walled and slimy-timbered cellars OF
| Chinatown which harbored every sin
| and crime known to civilization or to
savagery. What matter? BY grace of
| his aunt's powerful friend they could
| track the wolves even through those
noisome burrows.
Yes sighed the colonel. stretching
| out his arms. with resonant breath
| of relief, we're out of the maze. all
we have to do now is to keep from be
| ing killed. Which isn't such a plain
proposition in Frisco as in Massa,
chusetts, But | reckon we can tackle
! it, And then-then, my darling,
| shall dare be happy"
He found himself leaning on his
windowsill and staring like boy on
the landscape, lost in the lovely hal
lucinations of moonlight. It was no
| scene that he knew, it was vision OF
old Spain; and by and by from yonder
turret the princess. with violets in her
loosened hair and her soft cheek like
satin and snow, would lean and look.
Y 81 te meuye a lastima mi eterno pa
decor.
! Como te amO. amame, bellssima mujer'
"Ah. no. little girl" he muttered
with a shake of the head. Il like It
better TO have you plain, American
| gentlewoman, as Aunt Becky would
say. who could send me 10 battle with
nice little quivery smile-swGst-
! heart, Oh. I'm not good enough COR
you, my dear, my dear" He felt an
immense humility as he contrasted his
own lot with the loneliness of
| Keatcham and Mercer and the multi
tude of solitaries in the world. who
! had lost, or sadder still, had never
possessed. the divine dream that is
the only reality of the soul. AS such
! thoughts moved his heart. suddenly in
the full tide Of hope and thankfulness.
| it stood still, chilled, as If by the
/
! Yet how absurd it was only that he
! had recalled his stoical aunt's most
unexpected touch of superstition.
! Quite in jest he had asked her if she
| felt any presentiments or queer things
! in her bones tonight He expected to
be answered that Janet had driven
! every other anxiety out of her mind
and how was she to break it to Mill
cent?-or with some such caustic re-
! partee. Instead, she had replied test
! lily: Yes. | do, BERTHE. | feel-hor-
rid, | feel as if something out of the
common awful were going to happen
! 1t isn't exactly Atkins. either Do you
reckon it could be the Suey When,
that bamboo-shoots mess We had for
dinner"
/ Although they spent a good 20 min
utes after that joking over super
| stitions, and he had repeated to her
some OF Tracys and Arnold's most in
genious "spooky stunts" to make the
| neighborhood keep its distance from
| Casa Fuerte, and they had laughed
freely, she as heartily as he, never
theless he OWNED that her smile was
pretense. Suddenly, an unruly tremor
shook his own firm spirits Looking
out on the stepped and lanterned
arches of the wing, he was conscious
of the same tragic endowment of the
! darkened pile, which had oppressed
him that night, weeks before, when he
had stood outside on the crest of the
| hill; and the would-be murderers
might have been skulking in the
shadows of the pepper trees. He tried
vainly TO shake off this distempered
mood. Although he might succeed for
a moment in lovers absorption, it
would come again, insidiously seep-