The Irish standard., 1909-03-06
WE zAN@

VI uOl VI
the blood-stains and the changing Of
clothes; she did not interrupt him by
question, hardly by motion, until
he told of the conversation with
Keatcham and the note signed "The
Black Hand" At this her eyes light
ed; she exclaimed impetuously:
Gary Mercer never did send that let
teri" She drew deep intake Of
breath. II don't believe he touched
Mr.. Keatcham!"
Neither do T." said the colonel,
"but wait!" He went on to the theater
girls report of the receiver of the tele-
grams. Her hands, which clasped her
knee, fell apart; her lips parted and
closed firmly.
Ibid 1 think it was you?" said he.
"Why, yes, l confess I did fear 1t
might be and that you might be trying
to shield Atkins"
'I!" she exclaimed holly; "that de-
testable villain!"
isn't he?" cried the colonel. But
well, l couldn't tell how he might
strike lady," he ended lamely.
II reckon he would strike lady il
she were silly enough to marry him
and he got tired of her. He is the
kind of man who will prosecute girl
to marry him, follow her around and
importune her and flatter her ana
then, if he should prevail, never for
give her for the bother she has given
him. Oh. 1 never did like him; I'm
afraid of him-awfully."
mot you?"-the colonel's voice was
cheerful, as If he had not shivered
over his own foreboding vision. 1--WE
seen you in action already, you know"
mot fighting bombs. hate bombs.
There are so many pieces to hit you.
You can't run away"
well, you'll find them not SO bad;
besides, you did fight one this very
morning, and you were cool as pep
permint!"
"That was quite different; I had
time to think, and the danger was
more to me than 70 any one else; but
to think of Mrs. Winter and Archie
and " all of you; that scares me-"
NOWy uOu 1cC ~ 6Oe OA SOuA
nerves." he soothed-of course it is
necessary to take a girls hand to
soothe her when she is frightned. But
Miss Smith calmly released her hand,
only reddening a little; and she
laughed. "Where-where were we
at?" she asked in her unconscious
southern phraseology.
Somewhere around Atkins, I
think" said the colonel; he laughed in
his turn-he found it easy to laugh,
now that he knew how she felt toward
Atkins. "You see, after talked with
Keatcham I couldn't make anything
but Atkins out of the whole business.
But there were those stained cuffs and
his changing his clothes"
EYES," said she.
"How explain? There was only one
explanation; that was, that perhaps
Mercer had discovered Keatcham be.
fore we did, unconsciously spotted his
and hidden, lest it should be the MUIR
derers returning. He might have
wanted chance to draw his re-
volver. Say he did that way, he might
/ foolishly pretend to enter for the first
time. If he made that mistake and
then discovered the condition of his
cuffs and the spots on his knee, what
would be his natural first impulse?
Why, to change them, trusting that
they hadn't been noticed. Maybe,
then, he would wash them out"
NO." murmured Miss Smith meek
ly,, with little twinkle of her eye;
81 did that; he hid them. How ridicu-
lous of me to get in such fright!
But you know how Cary hated Mr..
Keatcham; and you-no, you don't
know the lengths that such tempera-
ment as his will go. I did another
silly thing; found dagger, one Of
those Moorish stilettoes that hang in
the library; it was lying in the door
way. When no one was looking hid
1t and carried it off. stuck 1t in
one of the flower beds; I stuck 1t in
the ferns; have stuck that wretched
thing all over this yard. l didn't dare
carry it back and put it in the empty
place WIFI lu0 OLueIS UeCduSS oOiuo
one might have noticed the place.
And l didn't dare say anything to
Cary; l was right miserable"
$50 was l." said the colonel, think
ing you were trying to protect the
murderer. But do you know what
had sense to do?"
go to Mrs. Winter? Oh, I wanted
to-"
Exactly; and do you know what
that, dead game sport said to me? She
said she found those washed and ironed
cuffs and trousers neatly cleaned
with milka-what's milka?-and the
milka cleaned the spots so much clean-
err than the rest that she had her own
suspicious started. But says she:
Not being plumb idiot, went
straight to Cary and he told me the
whole story"
(Which was like your story"
VERY near. And you see it would
be like Atkins to leave discriminating
testimony round loose. That is, in.
eliminating testimony against Mercer
oud Troov The dovoor Trocv renoano