Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1909-01-18

| ward sympathy for her that he had
ever known; it giistened in his eyes.
Mrs Winters cheeks slowly GRIM
soned; she turned her head, exclaim-
ing, did she hear . noise; but the
colonels keen earS had not been
warned. Poor woman" he thought.
"she is worried to death, but she will
not admit 1t"
Now, BERTHE" said Mrs. Winter.
calmly, but her elbow fell on her
cards and spoiled very promising
game OF Pene1ope's Web, now, Ber-
tie, what are you keeping back"
Then, at last, the colonel told her OF
his experience in Chicago. She heard
him quite without comment, and he
j could detect no shift Of emotion in her
! demeanor OF absorbed but perfectly
calm attention, unless certain ten
sion Of attitude and feature Gas If, he
phrased it, she we're holding herself
in") might be 80 considered. And he
was not sure Of this. When he came
to the words which stuck in his throat,
the sentence about Miss Smith, she
smiled frankly, almost laughed.
At the end of the recital-and the
colonel had not omitted a word or a
look in his memory-she merely said:
Then you think Cary Mercer has kid
mapped Archie and the nice-looking
Harvard boy is helping him."
Don't you think it looks that way,
yourse.f?"
She answered that question by an
other one: But you don't think, do
you, that Janet is the Miss Smith men
tioned?"
His reply came after an almost i'm
perceptible hesitation: moi"
Again she smiled. That is because
you know Janet: If you didn't know
her you would think the chances were
in favor of their meaning her? Nat
urally! Well, know Cary a little. l
knew his father we'll. don't believe
he would harm hair of Archie's head.
He isn't cruel fellow-at least not
toward women and children. I've a
notion that what he calls his wrongs
have upset his wits bit, and he might
turn the screws on the Wall street
crowd that ruined him. That is, II
he had chance; but he is poor; he
would need millions to get even a
chance for blow at them. But a
child, lad who looks like his brother
no, you may be sure he wouldn't
hurt Archie! He couldn't"
"But-the name, Winter; It is not
such a common name; and the words
shout a lady of-of-" The polite
soldier hesitated.
"An old woman, do you mean" said
Aunt Rebecca, with little curving OF
her still unwrinkled upper lip.
ut sounds so complete" submitted
her nephew.
Therefore distrust It," she argued.
dryly. "Gaboriau's great detective
and Conan Doyle's both have that
same maxim-not to pick out easy an
swers."
Winter smiled in his own turn.
"Still, sometimes the easy answers are
right. Now, here is the situation: l
hear this conversation at the depot. l
find one of the men on the same train
with me. He, presumably, If he is
Cary Mercer, and don't think l can
be mistaken in his identity"
UNLESS another man is making up
as Cary!"
ct may seem conceited, but DOM
think l could be fooled. This man
had every expression Of the others,
and I was too struck by the-I may
almost call It malignant-look he had,
not to recognize him. No, it was Mer-
Ger; he would certainly recognize you,
and he would know who I am; he
would not be called upon to snub me
as a possible confidence man."
THAT rankles yet, Bertie?"
He made grimace and nodded.
But" he insisted, isn't it so? If
he is up to some mischief, any mischief
doesn't care to have his kin meet
him-that is the way he would act,
don't you think?"
"He might be up to mischief, yet
have no designs on his Kim"
HE might said the colonel, mu-
singly. A thought which he did not
confide to the shrewd old woman had
just tipped his mind. But he went
on with his plea.
"He avoids you; he avoids me. He
is seen going into Keatcham's drawing
room; that means some sort OF an
acquaintance with Keatcham, enough
to talk to him, anyway. How much. l
can't say. Then comes the attack by
the robbers; he is in another car, so
there is no call for him to do any
thing: there is no light whatever on
whether he had anything to with the
| robbery
"Then we come here. Keatcham
has the room next but one. Archie
goes into his own ROOM we see him
60; l am outside, directly outside; it
is simply impossible for him to go out
into the hall without my seeing him;
besides, found the doors outside all
locked except the one to the right
where we entered your suite; then we
may assume that he could not go out.
He could not climb out of locked win
dows on the third floor down a sheer
descent of some 40 or so feet. Your
last room to the right, Miss Smiths
bedroom, is a corner room; besides,
she was In it; that excludes every exit
except that to the left. We find Mrs.
Wigglesvorth was absent; and there
were evidences of-an-an attack OF