Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1910-05-05
CeSydshi. lseS. ~ the Mcclure Company
n ~ Copyright. lso7. 1908. By the Rlds~ay Coupsay

dent That you
THAT was the one. The man Is Lar.
rabee Harman."
George had struck a match to light q
cigar. but the operation remained in.
complete. He dropped the match upon
the floor and set his foot upon it.
"Well. tell me about it." he said.
"You haven't heard anything about
him since the accident?"
"Only that he did eventually recover
and was taken away from the hos
pital. I heard that his mind was i'm
paired. Does Louise he began. stop
ped and cleared his throat. HAS Mrs.
Hartman heard that he is here?'
Yes; she has see him."
"Do you mean the scoundrel has been
bothering her? Elizabeth didn't tell
mi of this"
"Your sister doesn't know" I said.
III think you ought to understand the
whole case"
eco ahead" he babe me.
"He's not at all what you think" l
said. There's an enormous, differ
ence. almost impossible to explain to
you. but something you'd understand
at once if you saw him."
what is the changer" asked Ward.
and his voice showed that ne was
greatly disquieted. "What is he like?"
"As well as l can tell you, he's like
an odd but very engaging boy. with
something pathetic about him; quite
splendidly handsome
'Oh, he had good looks to spare
when l first knew him." George said
bitterly.
mo. When he came here he did not
know of her existence except in the
vaguest way. But, to go back to that,
I'd better tell you first that the woman
we saw with him one day on the
boulevard and who was in the acct
dent with him
La .Mursiana, the dancer; / know"
She had got him to go through a
marriage with her."
What" Wards eyes flashed as
he shouted the word.
"It seems inexplicable; but. as ! I'M
derstand it. he was quite sober
at that time. He had begun to use
drugs and was often in a half stupe-
fed condition. AS a matter Of fact, the
worhan did what she pleased with
him. There's no doubt about the va,
lidity of the marriage"
George asked suddenly, "Did this
marriage take place in France"
YES; you'd better hear me through"
I demonstrated. when he was taken
from the hospital he wa placed in
charge of q Professor Keredec, a mad
man Of whom you've probably heard"
"Madman? Why, no.: he's a member
Of the institute, a psychologist or meta
physician. isn't he? At any rate, of
considerable celebrity"
Nevertheless" I insisted grimly, ''as
misty a vaporer as l ever saw; a poet
ic, self contradicting and inconsistent
orator. Harman's aunt put him in
Keredec's. charge. and he was taken
up into the Tyrol and virtually hidden
for two years. the idea being literally
to give him something like an educa-
ton. Keredec's phrase is. restore
mind to his SOUL! It was as vital to
get him out of his horrible wife's
clutches. But she picked up that rat
in the garden out yonder-he'd been
some sort of stable manager for Ear
man once-and set him on the track"
She wants money, of course"
Eyes; more money. A fair allowance
has always been sen to her. Keredec
has interviewed her notary, and she
wants a settlement, naming a sum ac-
tually larger than the whole estate
amounts to. She refuses to bulge I'M
til this impossible settlement is made.
In the meantime Keredec's ward is in
SO dreadful a state Of horror and grief
l am afraid 1t is possible that his mind
may really give way"
when was 1t that Louise saw him?"
"Ah, that" l said, lis where Keredec
has been a poet and a dreamer indeed.
1t was his plan that they should meet"
"You mean he brought this wreck of
Hartman. these husks and shreds Of a
man. down here for Louise to see?"
Ward cried incredulously. ooh, mon
%strous!'
"There is something behind all this
that you don't know" he said slowly.
when did Keredec make o his con-
fdant?"
Last night. Most Of what I learn.
ed was as much a revelation to his vic
tim as it was to me. Hartman did not
know till then that the lady he had
been meeting has been his wife or that
he had ever seen her before he came
here. He had mistaken her name, and
she did not enliphten him."
'Meeting?' said Ward harshly.
''They have been meeting every day,
George"
81 won't believe it."
cts true. He spoke to her in the
woods one day; l was there and saw
it. l know now that she knew him
at once, and she ran away, but moi in
anger. They've been together every
day since then, and I'm ~afraid-mis-
afraid, Ward-that her old feel
ing for him has been revived"
l have heard Ward use an oath only
two "a three times in my life, and this
was one of them.
.'Oh, by ~ he cried, starting to
bis feet. II should like to meet Pro-
lessor Keredec."
II am at your service, my dear sir"
gaid a deep voice from the veranda.