Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-01-13
We were pretty hard up. my sister and

ne were pretty hard up my sister and
was watching Alison Her hands were
uShtiy clasped in her lap, and she was
staring out of the window at the cheer
Tess roof below. She had set her bps a
little, but that was all
You understand, OF course that I'm
not defending myself went on the sulleu
voice. The day came when old Harring-
ton put us both out OF the house ar the
point of a revolver. and | threa,ened-I
| suppose YOU know that. tool Threatened
to kill him.
My sister and I had hard times after
that. We lived on the continent for a
while. / was at Monte Carlo and she
was In Italy. She met a young LADY
there. the grandd tighter of a steel manu-
facturer and an heiress, and she sent for
me. When | got TO Rome the girl was
gone. Last winter I was all in-social
secretary 10 an Englishman. a wholesale
grocer with new title. but we had a.
row and / came home. I went out 10 the
Heaton boys ranch i'm Wyoming and met
Bronson there. He lent me money and
SINCE
Sullivan got up then and walked slowly
forward and back as he talked. his eyes
on the faded pattern Of the ONCE rug.
III you want to live in hill" he said.
savageiy. put yourself in another mans
power Bronson got into trouble, forg-
Ing John Gilmore's name TO those notes
and In some way he learned that a man
!
| inston on the flier. He even learned the
number Of his berth, and the night be-
fore the wreck. just I was boarding
the train. | got telegram
Hotchkiss stepped forward once more
importantly.
Which read. I think: Man with pa
| pers In lower ten, car seven. Get them"
sullivan looked at the little man with
sulky blue eyes.
1t was something like that. anyhow
But II was a nasty business, and IL made
matters worse that he didn't care that j;
telegram which must pass through a half
dozen hands was more or less incriminat-
ing to me.
Then. to add to the unpleasantness OF
my position. just after we boarded the
train tr,I was accompanying my sister and
| touched me on the sleeve. and I turned
to face-my wife!
That took away my last bit of nerve.
told my sister. and you can understand
she was In bad way too. We knew
what II meant. Ida had heard that
| VS. going
He stopped and glanced uneasily At
Alison.
go on" she said, coldly. TT is too
late to shield me. The time TO have
done that was when I was your guest"
Well" he went on. his eyes turned
carefully away from my face. which must
have presented certainly anything but
pleasant sight Miss West was going
to do me the honor to marry me. and
You scoundrel!" ! burst forth, thrust
ing past Alison Vests chair. You
One of the detectives got up and stood
between us.
You must remember, Mr.. Blakeiey.
that you are forcing this story from this
man. These details are unpleasant. but
important. You were going to marry
this young lady he said. turning TO
| Sullivan, although you already had .
wife living?'
1T was my sisters plan. and was in
a bad way for money. Ii could marry.
secretly, wealthy girl and go TO Eu-
| rope. 1t was unlikely that Ida-that Is.
Mrs. Sullivan-would hear Of 1t.
| so 1t was more than q shock to see
my wife on the train. and to realize from
her face that she knew what was going
on. l don't know yet. unless some OF
the servants.well. never mind that
1t meant that the whole thing had gone
up. Old Harrington had carried a gun
for me for years, and the same train
wouldn't hold both of US. OF course. 1
thought that he was in the coach Just
behind ours
Hotchkiss was leaning forward now.
his eyes narrowed. mis- thin lips drawn
to line.
Are you left-hsnded. Mr.. Sullivan"
he asked.
Sullivan stopped in surprise.
NO." he said, grufly. Cant do any
thing with my left hand" Hotchktss
subsidized. crestfallen but alert. Il tore
=
to throw the scraps away. Then looked
around for lower ten. 1t was almost eX-
actly acrOss-my berth was lower seven.
and it was. of course. a bit of exceptional
Seven.''
Did you tell your sister of the tele-
gram from Bronson?" 1 asked.
mo. 1t would do no good. and she was
worse"
Your sister was killed. L think" The
shorter detective took a small package
from his pocket and held II I'm his hand.
yes. she was killed" Sullivan said.
soberiy. What l say now can do her
no HARM
He stopped to push back the heavy hair
which dropped over his forehead and
went on more connectedly.
1T was late. after midnight and we
went at once TO our berths. undressed,
and then l lay there for an hour. won
dering how | was going TO get the notes.
Some one in lower nine was restless and
wide awake. but finally became quiet.
The man in ten was sleeping heavily.
I could hear his breathing, and II seemed
to be only question of getting across
and behind the curtains Of his berth with
out being seen. After that 1t Was q
mere matter of quiet searching.
THE car became very still. / was
about to try for the other berth when
some one brushed softly past and i lay
back again.
Finally, however, when things had
been quiet for time. got UP. and after
looking along the aisle ] slipped behind
the curtains of lower ten. You under
stand, Mr.. Blakeley. that i thought you
were in lower ten. with the notes"
/ nodded, CURLY.
I'm not trying to defend myself ne
went on. II was ready to steal the
noteS-I had 10. But MURDER!
He wiped his forehead with his hand
kerchief.
well. I slipped across and behind the
curtains It was very STILL The man in
ten didn't move. although my heart was
humping until 1 thought he would hear
il.
II felt around. cautiously. 1t was per-
fectly dark and 1 came across a bit Of
CHI in about as long as my finger. IL
seemed a queer thing to find there. and
ii was sticky. too.
He shuddered. and l could see Alisons
hands clenching and unclenching with the
strain.
"Ali at once IL struck me that the man
was str lngely silent, and ] think / lost
my nerve. Anyhow. l drew the curtains
omen a little and let the light fall on my
hands They were red. blood-red.'
Ito be concluded tomorrow)