The newspaper., 1909-02-19

ago thin wan o'clock and yersilf sayin
not worrud about comm back at all
a. all. pwhat was l to be tellin' her,
aven If ye were lyin' there on the die
van all unbeknownest to me, which
the same mesilf can not"
"Help." pleaded the young man
feebly, smiling. One thing at a time,
please. O'Hagan. Answer me one ques-
ton: Did she give a name?"
She did not, sor. though mesilf-"
There. there, Wait bit. | want
to think"
OF course she had given no name; it
wouldn't be like her. What was he
thinking of. anyway? 1t could not
have been the gray girl: for she knew
him only as Anisty; she could never
have thought him himself. MaitlaSld.
But what other woman of his acquain-
tance did not believe him to be out of
town?
With a hopeless gesture. Maitland
gave it up. conceding the mystery too
deep for him. his intellect too feeble
to grapple with all its infinite ramifica-
tions. The counsel he had given
O'Hagan seemed most appropriate to
his present needs: One thing at a
time. And obviously the first thing
that lay to his hand was the ,silencing
Of O'Hagan.
Maitland rallied his wits to the task.
"O'Hagan." said he. this man. Snaith.
who was here this afternoon. called
himself detective. AS soon as we
were alone he raped me over the
head with q loaded cane. and. sus-
pect. went through the fiat stealing
everything he could lay hands on.
Hand me my cigarette case, please"
"'Tis gone, SORTS not on the desk.
at laste. pwhere I saw Ut last"
"Ah, You see? Now for reasons OF
my own. which I won't enter into. I
don't want the AFFAIR to get out and be-
come public. You understand? I
want you to keep your mouth shut.
until give you permission to open IT, :"
Very good. sor." The jahitor-valet
had previous experiences with Matt
lands generosity in grateful memory:
and shut his lips tightly in promise
of virtuous reticence.
You won't regret It, Now tell me
what you mean by saying that you saw
me go out at one this afternoon
Again the flood gates were lifted:
from the deiuge of explanations and
protestations Maitland extracted the
general drift OF narrative. And in the
end held up hiS hand for silence.
Il think understand. now. You say
he had changed to my gray suit"
O'Hagan darted into the bedroom.
a.. a.. sf...a
OF his statement.
"'Tis gone. sor. an"
"All right. But with rueful smile.
I'm take the liberty of countermand-
ing Mr. Snaith's order. II he should
call again. o'Hagan. very much want
to see him"
Faith. and tbs mesilf will have a
worrud or two to whisper in the ear
nv him. sor." announced O'Hagan.
grimly.
I'm afraid the opportunity will be
lacking You may fix me n hot bath
now. o'Hagan. and put out my even
ing clothes. I'll dine at the club to-
night and may not be back"
And. rising. Maitland approached n
mirror: before which he fingered for
several minutes. cataloguing his in
juries. Taken altogether. they
amounted to little. The swelling of
his wrists and ankles was subsiding
gradually. there was a slight redness
visible in the corners of his mouth.
aud a shadow Of discoloration oa HE
| right temple-somethingt that could be
concealed by brushing his hair In a
new way.
Il think I shall do" concluded Matt
land; there's nothing to excite 'partic-
ular comment The bulk OF the sore
ness Is inside
Geyeu m