The Redwood gazette., 1909-12-01

SWeeInedFIS OF those boys. AnQ IL
find him. Mr. Durant; I'll find him."
A pitiful picture was Marsh, half
stopped. half crouched shudderine
with horror at the thought of what he
had helped to do. Frances saw and
completely misunderstood his attitude
Her eyes filed with tears of sympathy
She stepped over and put her hand
gently on the arm of the shuddering
man.
Mr. Bradley. l beg of you not to
question Mr.. Marsh any further" she
pleaded. I'm sure if Mr.. Marsh knew
anything about the forging he would
tell you. No one knows the horrors Of
that accident better than he No one
could know. He had a son who was
blinded in an accident
Her voice grew very gentle as she
continued: II was with him at his
boys bedside when he died. | know
the anguish that he felt then" She
let her arm slip gently around the old
mans shoulder. And | know If there
was anything to tell he'-
She got no further. for, with a shud-
dering cry of terrible anguish. the
man drew away from her arm.
Don't" be moaned-"don't say any
more! | can't stand it. I'm going to
strip my soul naked to God and end
this"
He stood up straight to face Brad
ley, no longer the frightened. shud-
dering coward, with a guilty secret,
but a man who had done wrong and
knew it. a repentant sinner eager to
tell ALL There was a look not merely
of anguish but almost of exaltation. on
his face. Pinckney saw it and made
his last desperate appeal.
| Here. Marsh!' he shouted sharply.
| But the little man was past his in
| 1uence now. He faced his former
bully. wide eyed. unafraid. desperate.
IF you speak to me again. as there
| is a God above us, l will kill you
where you stand" he said in low.
tense voice of fury. Then with
quick move be reached to his pocket.
and the watchers saw the CLEAN Of a
pistol. They did not know the little
man now. He stood straight up, bold.
eager, repentant.
Listen" he said. And any one
here who values his life will let me
alone. am the inventor of the Rhine
strom patent. l know what Mr.. Brad
ley meant about the royalty. You're q
thief, Pinckney. Do you hear? A
thief. Why don't you speak? Deny
it if you dare, you thief"
There was a gasp of surprise, of hor-
| ror.
You told me the royalty was to be
a hundred dollars an inch. Now | find
! it's a thousand That was why the
patents could not be in my name-you
wanted to steal And that was why you
wanted that gun of Sommers' killed,
so that you could get the government
TO take mine-mine," he repeated,
bringing his fist violently against his
chest-"not Rhinestroms but mine.
And you were to get nine times as
much as me. You told me to forge
that gun before Sommers came. You
got Smith drunk and put him in
charge of that tempering bath-you.
And you know it-and | was party
to it. | stood for it. saw the rotten
work was done. And | waited. day
after day, night after night-sleepless,
| afraid, | waited And one day in a
whisper through the works the news
came How do you think | felt since
then? | am a murderer and so are
you. And you not only have that on
your soul, but you would disgrace an
other man. The dead are enough for
me-" His face took on a look of aw-
full, supernatural fear as he went on.
"They whispered to me in the night,
and the sightless eyes of the lad, blind
ed, blink at me through the darkness.
And it's the face of my boy with sight
less eyes accusing me. | won't stand
it, | tell you. I'm going with my soul
naked to the lash before my God and
cry for pity and forgiveness"
Amazed, horror stricken. finally dunn
founded the listeners had hung spell
bound through the terrible confession.
When it was finished for one moment
no one moved. Then Marsh. with a
little. gasping catch in his throat. turn
ed and walked quickly out of the of
fee, and as he went through the door
they saw gleam Of his revolver. The
door closed, and Bradley, the first to
recover. sprang toward it. but even
the quick secret service man was too
late. He jerkod open the door. There
came a sharp report. Bradley stepped
back inside and closed the door.
Hes gone" he said.
Next Pinckney. as one coming out
Of a daze, looked up. and the secret
service man touched him sharply on
the arm. Those curiously shrewd, hard
eyes were looking into the eyes Of the
general manager, and in that look
Pinckney read that the game was up.
"Will you come with me, Mr.. Pinck-
ney?" Bradley's voice was courteous,
polite and cold and hard as steel. Il
hope you won't make any trouble.
don't care to walk you out handcuffed