The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1909-10-20
THE ALTENBURG CASE
By GEORGE DIRE ELDRIDGE
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(Continued.J XII.

GRIMBLESHAW WARNS JUDITH.
 It had come to GrimbleshaW as a shock that something was wrong be- tween himself and Lancebore. and that it had been coming to a head for at least forty-eight hours. for with the awakening due to his meeting with Reed the. blindness Of security ceased. and he knew that the tings ac- corded him had been colder and more distant than of old, that the distrust which had been made so clear by Reed was but an. intensifcation of the atti- tue that many others held. It was, however. only after reading the 1etter that he realized how much of a shock he had sustained.
 At first there was a hot sense of re- sentiment at the injustice of the thing, which was deepened by knowledge of his helplessness. due. in part, to his pecuniary position and the absolute necessity of an income from his prac- tice. This however, passed quickly be- fore a stronger emotion. He was not simply helpless for himself, he was others. or. at least. another, who stood in need of nelp.
 He needed no secend sight to read what lay behind the gossipy prattle of the letter. Calden had, of course, come to Lanceboro. was in Lanceboro now, and had been here on the night of the murder. He refused absolutely to pur- sue the line further even in thought, but he turned to the indisputable fact of the man and his danger, as it af- fected Judith Ca1den. She must be warned and warned promptly. But how? It was that question which turned him sick and compelled him to face the situation.
 He was not so blind as to think for a moment that his movements outside the house were not watched with the closest scrutiny and thorough cunning. Any attempt on his part to communi- cate with Miss Calden would inevit- ably be known and used to her detrl- ment That was point number one always to be kept in mind. He be- thought him of the telephone. but here was both the chance of Knowledge and the possibility of being overheard. It was. of course. possible for him to make a personal visit. which while known. would not betray the matter of Eis communications: but if he trust ed words to the wire they passed be- yond his control. and he could not tell where he would meet them again. A written line was even more to be feared.
 Thus he was as absolutely the pris- oner of an idea as he could be of bolts and bars.
 But at the very thought of irnprison- meut he revoked. The rights of a freeman were his. and whoever in terfered to abridge them did so at his peril He gave five minutes to good, honest buster and then he took him self to task for want of caildor. He was not a freeman; he could not come and go as he would. and the very demonstrativeness of his assertion proved simply that he was trying to deceive himself,
 At this he turned to the conception Of the situation he had shaped from his gossip's letter. It. spelled out peril to Miss Calden. and peril of the deep raise a finger to protect her? If an- other had asked the question he would have felt his manhood assailed. To be compelled to ask it himself was double arraignment.
 However. this had the effect of bringing him to a saner mood. where he took measure of the degree to which he would bring danger to Miss Calden by attempting to communicate with her. He ceased to consider his own personality in the matter and took it up solely, from her standpointi He saw himself as entirely capable of going openly to the Altenburg farm and delivering. his own message. and from that moment he held her rights and her safety as controlling.
 It ended. as any one who knew him must have foreseen. in his taking his hat and starting openly for the farm. He would not> compromise himself or her by the shadow of concealment. and he did not even ask himself how far this decision was influenced by the conviction of the uselessness of such an attempt. Tn any event, no at tempt to prevent his going was apt to be made, and once with her he could say what he had to say and thus. put her on her guard. After he had said it it would be simply a question of his ability to maintain silence.
 The house looked dreary and weird. standing stark in it's bare fields. |, He paused on the doorstep and looked about, revivifying the events of that dismal night, which already scene like a farof dream. Along the Plains road moved downward a slow OK sledge. and Grimbleshaw played with the fancy that the driver held watch and would report his visit to Trafford.
 Miss Calden was in the sitting room, to the left of the entryway and op- posite the room where it seemed that the fatal blow was struck. The room was dim with shadows and the gloom of a late November afternoon. sadly in keeping with the traces of care and tears which the girls face showed. It impressed him that she felt no sur prise at his coming. He began abrupt 1y, as it seemed to him, almost harsh 1y:
 q want to help you, Miss Calden.''
 There flashed across her face a look of resentment, as if she felt the inn rJioatioy, thai she neadad ha1r ar, in