The Washington times., 1910-12-21
CHAPTER III-(Continued.)

! The law seemed powerful weapon
to him nova huge monster
with a hundred arms, unwilling
70 give up its prey. He felt that
! he had everything to gain by remain
/ ing master Of the hour He could then
/ choose the exact moment when he
would allow himself to be caught In
I order 70 study the elaborate system en-
I ployed by the police in detecting crimi-
I mails IL was clearly necessary TO set
/ the pace himself 10 hasten OF to retard
/ 1t at VIII. Accordingly, when the chief
! Of police observed that. after all. the
/ footprint might be that Of one Of his
l own men, Barton agreed with him en-
/ irely.
/ It was evident. however. that the
/ chief was not q little uneasy. He
! seemed to suspect some exposure Of
/ his laSity in Barton's forthcoming ar
/ ucle on the murder. In a matter-of-
I fact way Barton casually observed:
As far as have discovered, it seems
/ 10 me that neither you nor any Of
I your men have stepped on this bit OF
I grass / have been watching you every
] second while You were in the garden
/ and l surely would have seen either
l You or your men had they left the
1 pain 1 am certain this footprint was
I sharp anil clear when j first saw It /
]
4 saw II On the grass before wOu came
| out OF the house Perhaps II would
| be best not TO mention it at all
/ The ESt sentence FeaSsured the chief
! II WOus1s indeed, have been awkward
/ 70 have the press reproach him and to
/ nave the Planet vaunt the astuteness
| OF its Own reporter. Realizing that
Barton h,.d read his thoughts and com
piled with his unuttered wish. he IN
/ v1ted him almost cordially to step into
/ the cab and TO give him what fnforuna-
/ ton he had gathered In the room above
/ I snOIId prefer" replied Barton.
1 with you, IL only for a minu-e. The
/ Iacts which you VIII give me, I know,
l VIII be valuable; but II one OF my rivals
I snouid interview you At headquarters
I you could hardly withhold from him
/ the information which YOU have given
| ne Besides I an the only newspaper
/ man here The others have lost pa
| thence and have gone away. II any OF
| them complain that they have been less
| favored than you can always reply:
1 ny didn't you stay, tOO2' From the
/ reporters standpoint Il would be better
/ II could see with my own eyes what
/ has happened for the simple reason
/ Of the crime"
/ II you think you have nerve enough
I come on, aSSented the chief I'VE viii
peTely enter the room, add Their go
I out dEain-nO more"
] ask nothing further"
! Ihey entered the house and climbed
! the stairs He recognized the landing
! Immediately. or his own accord he
1 stopped in front Of the very door OF the
I room IN which the crime had been com
{ United he regretted this Involuntary
/ ECON s.S.., ana trled 70 correct whatever
/ impression might have been produced
I by saying:
! May venture a suEEestion''-
But there was no aeed OF reflection
! Inc door was open He stepped for
/ ward and entered. deeply moved
his return to the room in which he
I had passed such terrible moments was
] cOuDLy Impressive. Hardly had he en-
] tered when he regretted the hastily
1 formed plan OF posing as a murderer
as wen as the morbid curiosity which
Il scene Without daring 10 look about
I nm, ne uncovered his head mechan-
I ically- In strange contrast with his
/ coolness Of the previous night, when
| ne mad gathered scattered paDers.
| washed bloody linen, and even tf5-,ched
the corpse, he treubled now and e.
perienced again that same inexpIicable.
I vague, ana dominating fear which had
swayed him on the solitary bouIeva-5
| Ehen ne first saw the shadows of the
/ three mUrderers stealing along
LOOK out, said the chief. warningly-
/ DOn touch anything. not even that
/ bit Of glass under your foot Everv-
/ Ihlng IS important IN a case Ike this
DO you see that2 It's part OF a sleeve
! link Maybe il means nothing. You
! never can tell, however -
| The chiefs candid z expressions filled
/ Parton with JOY. That sleeve link of
| no Importance And this from a man
/ at the head Of the police forcoT ant
| suppose that In the midst Of ali this
I disorder he should be able to separate
| the true from the false clue, Suppose
I that he vas merely talking. and not
expressing his real viewsl
/ The chief continued: Everything
points to a short but desperate struegIe1
/ Look at that misplaced table that
/ broken chair, that cracked mirror the
body Of the victim. half in and half
out Of bed Did you ever see a face
more fTightful2 HIS face Is a snap
| shot Of the crime His tightly drawn
/ lips and his horrOr-stTicSen eyes tell
ne everything, His CEnched hand
shows that he fought hard You have
probably never seen anything as
CHASTITY as this"
Yes, I have answered Barton, half
! 20 himself Il have seen q murdered
man, dead an hour, perhaps only half
| an hour. before laid eyes on him
He was hardly cold His eyes told the
terrible story Of his last moments He
was stretched out Just Ike this man.
IN Il -cci q blood His room was al
most the same, and yet there was some
/ thing even more terrifying IN his ap-
pearance than in this mans. looked
at him without the slightest fear, as
II he were wax figure It was merely
more This room IS like twenty other
/ rooms But the other roOIn-ti1e one
! that I saw befOTe-that was terrible.
/ saw that horror and fright were IN
face, on his lips, IN his eyes. The house
/ was as quiet as this, but I could lit
! orally smell the murder when I en-
tered it I smelled- Tomorrow, IN a
week. ! shall have forgotten all that I
have seen now But the other-COd
I still see his face, and I wiz see It al
! ways"
He spoke in a dry voice. articuIating
| and emphasizing his words. tWitching
his fingers, tortured by a new terrcT
at the sound OF what seemed to hin
] almost ike a confession, and drunk
with the overpOwering knowledge that
he stood at the very brink Of a preci-
pice. Yet he knew, too, that his words
were meaningless 10 al but himself. Nc
one could penetrate the barrier Of his
skull and read his mind He held the
secret Of the crime IN his hand ike
a captive bird 4 word, a gesture and
he would ind himself behind prison
bars.
That's strange was the Chiefs com
ment- Il am pretty hardened to this
sort Of thing. but 7 must say that this
gave me q turn Did YOU see that nur-
der fl Paris about which you spoke p
NO, K was in the country, long ago
! c---