The Tupelo journal., 1909-06-04
CHAPTER XIV.
"The Light That Never Was"

The changes which Mrs. Melville
had accepted so philosophically, the
metamorphosis of the tragic and lone
ly house of mystery into a luxurious
country villa, the finging open of the
shutters, the marshaling of servants,
the turning, one may say, of the lime
light on a rich mans ordinary life
all this had occurred as swiftly and
with as little warning as a scene shifts
on the stage.
Mrs. Rebecca Winter may have the
credit for this Embarrassment of
plans. BY an astonishingly early hour
the next morning she was awake and
downstairs, where Kito and Tracy
were making coffee, toasting bread
and admiring the oatmeal which had
cooked, while they slept, in the Fire
less Stove. Tracy had planned a sur
prise of brown bread, but through no
fault of the Fireless, owing solely to
his emitting what he called the pick
me-up," commonly known as soda
an accident, as he truly said, which
might happen to any lady-the bread
was rather too adhesive" The break
fast, Notwithstanding, vas a cheerful
one, because Miss Smith reported the
patient a shade better. She looked
smiling, although rather heavy-eyed.
Mercer and the colonel had taken
turns sitting in the adjoining room to
bring her ice or hot water or be of
service outside.
The colonel had suggested calling
a doctor, but Aunt Rebecca had de-
INJURED: Janet can do everything; it
is just a question of his heart; and
she has digitalis and nitroglycerin and
strychnine, the whole outfit of whips.
She has dressed the wound with anti
septics. Tomorrow will be soon
enough for the medical talent" It
was she, however, who, as soon as
breakfast was over, took first Mercer
and Tracy, then the colonel, apart and
proposed calling up Keatcham's son-
fidential associates on the long dis
lance telephone. Strike, but hear
me, nephew" she said, ianguidly, smil-
ing at his bewilderment. Our only
chance now is to exhaust trumps. Yes
sterday the game was won. Keatcham
had surrendered, he had his partners
in the deal to make no fight on Tracy's
election; they could get what they
wanted without the Midland; he ad-
vised them to cover their shorts and
get ready for a bull market
How did he do all that when he had
lost his private code book?"
How would you do it? You would
use the long distance telephone. We
caught them at Seattle, where his men
had gone for the meeting. / don't un-
derstand why they needed me to sug-
gest that. There the poor man was,
as your Harvard stove agent calls,
%rubbering about the library, trying to
find The Fortunes of Nigel in the
edition barley had illustrated; OF
course, it wasn't there. He had lost
it just before he came to the Palace,
he thought. 1t seems his old cipher
needs a particular book, that kind. No
doubt in my mind that your theory is
llSut anu tlidt f1th1AS StOlC IL anu
perhaps thought he stole the key, but
didn't get it. He took a memorandum
of ciphers which looked like a key.
There Keatcham was, with millions
hanging on his wires and his modern
substitute for the medieval signet-
ring that would enforce the message
quite lost. What to do? Why. there
was nothing to do but get another
cipher! They made up a temporary
one, right in that library. yesterday
afternoon"
but how could Mercer be sure
Keatcham would not play a trick on
him? Did he hear the conversation r
Certainly not. He took Keatcham's
word. Whatever his faults, Keatcham
has always kept his word. Mercer was
sure he would keep 1t. He went out
Of the room. He was in the library
when Keatcham was stabbed"
The colonel drew q long, dificult