The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1909-10-07

Ntal'ianu should prefer 10 hold his
own. Possibly Anisty had seen the
girl slip the canvas bag into Mnltland's
pocket while the latter was kneeling
AID binding his captive However
that was. there was no denying that
he had trailed the treasure to It's hid.
Ing place, unerringly; and succeeded
~ taking possession OF II with consum.
mate skin and audacity. When Matt
land came TO think OF Il. he recalled
distinctly the trend Of the burglars
inqnisition In the character Of mr..
SEaith," which had all been calculated
TO discover tho location Of the jewels.
And. when he did recall this fact. and
how easily he had been duped. Matt
land could have ground his teeth In
melodramatic rage-but for the cir.
cumstaEce that when first II occurred
10 him. such a feat was a physical i'm
possibility. and oven when Engaged
the operation would have been painful
60 an extreme.
Slipping the grateful drink which
O'Hagan presently brought him, the
young man pondered the case; with
no pleasure In the prospect he fore.
saw. II Higgins had actually com.
municate1 the fact of Anisty's escape
% the police. the entire affair was likely
10 come out In the papers-all OF II.
that is that he could not suppress. But
even figuring that he could silence
| Higgins and O'Hagan--no difficult task
though he might be somewhat late
with Higgins-the most discreet irnag-
Unable explanation Of his extraordinary
conduct would make him the laughing
stock OF his circle of friends, to say
nothing Of city that had been &C
customed 10 speak of him as Mad
Maitland" for many a day. Unless
All. he had IT, He could pretend
ESQ long as II suited his purpose, at
all events). TO have been the man
caught and left bound in Higgins care.
Simple enough. The knocking over OF
the butler would be ascribed 70 a nat
ural ebullition OF indignation. the SUBJ
] sequent flight to a hare-brained notion
OF running down the thief. And yet
even that explanation had its Difficult.
ties. How was he to account for the
fact that he had failed to commnni-
cate with the police-knowlng that his
treasure had been ravished?
Il was ell very involved. Mr.. Matt
land returned the glass to O'Hagan
and. grading his head In his hands
racked his brains in vain for salts
factory tale to tell. There were 50
many things to be taken into consld-
Grafton. There was the girl in gray.
Not that he had forgotten her for an
instant; his fury ragged but the higher
at the thought that Anisty's interior
ence had prevented his (Maitlsnd's)
keeping the engagement. Doubtless
the girl had waited, then gone away
in anger, believing that the man In
whom she had placed faith had proved
himself unworthy.
But that telephone call?
"OHagan." demanded the haggard
and distraught young man. who was
that on the wire Just now?"
Being a thoroughly trained servant.
O'Hagan had waited that question in
silence. a-quiver with impotence
though he was. Now. his tongue un.
leashed, his words fairly stumbled on
one another's heels in his anxiety TO
get them out in the least possible time.
Sure. an twas a Teddy, sor, be the
vice av her. askin were We in. and
mesilf havin seen ye go out no longer
ago thin wan o'clock and yersilf sayin'
not worrud about comm back at all
a. all, pwhat was TO be tellin' her.
ayen II We were lyin' there on the die.
van all unbeknownest TO me. which
the same mesilf can not"
"Helpl" pleaded the young man
icebly, smiling. 'One thing at time.
please. o'Iagan. Answer me one ques'
ton: Did she give name?'
"She did not, sor. though mesilf-'
There. there! Wait a bit. | want
to think"
or course she had given no name; II
wouldn't be like her. What was he
thinking of. anyway? II could not
have been the gray girl; for she knew
him only as Anisty; she could never
have thought him himself, Maitland.
But what other woman Of his acquain-
lance did not believe him to be out Of
town?
With a hopeless gesture, Maitland
gave II up, coneeding the mystery too
deep for him. his intellect toe feeble
to grapple with all its infinite ramifica-
tons. Tho counsel no 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 silenclng
" O'Hagan.
Maitland rallied his wits to the task.
"OHagan," said he this man, Snaith.
who was here this afternoon, called
himself a detective. AS soon as We
were alone he raped me over the
head with a 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 Taste. pwhere | saw ut last"
"Ah! You see? Now for reasons OF