The searchlight. [volume] (Culbertson, Mont.) 1902-current, 1909-07-23

OrleSs, but ne tried 10 speak with q
careless lightness. To Stephen Ruth
en-. standing by without a word
watching the man. and with that sus-
picion deepening. deepening. moment
by moment. the effort seemed very
paipable. And why had he virtually
repeated his accusation against La
Thorn? Not i've minutes ago the man
had said that he had come to the
conclusion that his Judgment had
been hasty.
Come. inspector, hope you don't
wish to suggest that hid this weap-
on where you say 1t was found-had
cause for wanting to dispose Of IT."
And Mr.. Hume laughed. as II to DEM
onstrate that he felt quite at his ease.
IF 1t Is mine-as I said. I don't see
how 1t can bel shall be very much
surprised. Though I certainly have a
revolver not unlike this. the only re-
volver I ever possessed"
And this revolver you speak Of is
still in your possession" said the IN
spector. ''When did you see It last?'
''Ah. I can scarcely say offhand."
In spite of his first apparent reluc-
lance, Mr.. Hume had taken the re-
volver and appeared to be examining
1t carefully. Now l look at 1t more
closely 1t certainly does look rather
like mine: only how could mine pos
sibly have got to the bottom Of the
river? l don't think I have seen my
revolver for quite six months. when
put 1t away in a drawer"
Are you not mistaken in thinking
1t is six months, II. as you say, you
have only one revolver" broke in the
rector. speaking for the first time.
1T is not more than three months
ago-it was. in fact. just before Philip
Hume's death-that you took part in
a shooting contest at the club in
Fellsgarth. believer"
A muscle in Bonholt Hume's fore
head was twitching: he did not look
at either of the two men. and his
mouth and lips seemed parched.
Yes. yes, of course. IL had for
gotten that. The 'Winans contest to
be sure! Yes. I used my revolver
then. But still think 1t could not
have been this-for who could have
stolen it and flung II into the river?"
Il should have thought a gentle
man would have known definitely
whether It was his property or not
especially something so cut of the
common as this" said the inspector,
dryly. perhaps you won't object, sir,
when you go back home. to ascertain
II your revolver is still in the drawer
where you placed it?"
"Oh, by all means" acquiesced Mr..
Hume. IF you like. inspector, we'll
go there at once. OF course. am as
anxious as you to throw any light
can On the affair-anything that can
clear up this mystery of my dear
nephew's death and bring the scoun-
drel to justice"
Mr.. Hume and the inspector drove
back to the hall in the latter's dog
cart. Stephen Ruthen walked away
in thought. haunted by the mental
picture of a man suddenly arrested
by a paralysis of terror.
Even without the vivid recollection
of man he had caught prying into a
drawer that had been locked. Stephen
would have been convinced that the
revolver was Bonholt Hume's--and
that Hume had known 1t from the
first. in spite of his denial. Why had
the man been SO startled at the sight
OF the thing? Would a man who had
nothing to fear. who had never seen
the revolver before. have displayed
such vehemence in denying the own
ership of 1t?
In that strange drama of tangled
mystery and horror-that drama
which was being played as it were on
darkened stase-one figure, hither-
to moving dimly In the background
like a mere super In play. had In
his thoughts suddenly been thrust
into a prominent sinister role. Sus-
picions were striking deeper and
deeper roots In his mind; Hume's
very assertion that he had aided Jack
Lathom to escape, when On the previ-
GUS day the police had traced the
fugitive's whereabouts. helped to
foster their growth. A guilty man
who believed that he had covered his
own traces might have enough con-
science left to wish to help an inno-
cent man who was his scapegoat.
II. as he said, he had given Lathom
warning of danger. certainly 1t was
he who had first set the ball Of sus-
picion rolling. Long before the crime
was discovered. and subsequently on
the day when the dead man had been
brought home to the great house to
which his death had made Bonholt
Hume the heir-the heir who had
manifested SO strange a repugnance
to looking on the dead face OF the
man he professed to have loved In
life almost like a son-this last Of the
Humes had spoken In vehement i'm
piled accusation Of Lathom.
This afternoon Hume had given It as
t. e. a. f.A