Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-01-06

| the bit of chain, had been my intention
But the police had the bag. and. beyond
knowing something of Sulivans history
l was practically no nearer his discovery
than before. Hotchkiss hoped he had
| his man in the house off washington
| Circle, but on the very night he had seer
| him Jennie claimed that Sullivan hao
| tried to enter the Laurels- Then-sup-
pose we found Sullivan and proved the
| satchel and its contents his? Since the
police had the bit of chain II might NEAR
| involving Alison in the story. l sat down
and buried my face in my hands. There
was no escape. / figured 1t out despond-
ingly.
| Against me was the evidence of the sur
vivors Of the Ontario that l had been &C.
| cused of the murder at the time. There
| had been blood stains on my pillow and
a hidden dagger. Into the bargain. In my
| possession had been found travelling
| bag containing the dead mans pocket
| book.
| In my favor was Meningitis theory
against Mrs. Conway. She had motive
| for wishing to secure the notes, she be-
lieved ! was in lower ten, and she had
collapsed at the discovery of the crime
| in the morning.
| Against both of these theories I accuse
a purely chimerical person named Sulli-
van. who was not seen by any of the
| surviVors-save one, Alison, whom j could
motive for his numbering his father-in-
| law, whom he hated. but again. would
have to drag In the girl
And not one of the theories explained
| the telegram and the broken necklace
| Outside the office force was arriving
| They were comfortably ignorant of my
presence. and over the transom fioateo
scraps of dialogue and the stenographer's
gurgling laugh Mcknight had rela-
tive who was reading law with him, In
the intervals between calling up the
young women of his acquaintance. lie
came in singing. and the office boy Joined
in with the uncertainty of voice of f1f-
teen. I smiled grimly. ] was too busy
with my own troubles to find any JOY In
opening the door and startling them into
silence. l even heard. without resent
ment. Blobs OF the uncertain voice inquire
when Blake would be back.
I hoped Mcknight would arrive before
the arrest occurred. There were many
things to arrange. But when at last, inn
patient Of his delay. l telephoned. found
he had been gone for more than an hour.
Clearly he was not coming directly to
the office and with such resignation as
l could muster l paced the floor and
waited.
/ felt more alone than l have ever felt
in my life. Born an orphan as Richey
said, / had made my own way. carved
out myself such success as had been
mine. l had built up my house of life
on the props of law and order, and now
some unknown hand had withdrawn the
supports and 1 stood among ruins.
that makes man turn to her when
everything else fails. The eternal boy In
him goes to have his wounded pride
bandaged. his tattered self-respect re-
paired. If he loves the woman. he wants
her to kiss the hurt.
The longing to see Alison. always with
me, was stronger than I was that morn
ing. 1t might be that l would not see
her again. I had nothing to say to her
save one thing, and that, under the cloud
| hat hr,y1 m
But I wanted to see her. to touch her
hand-as only a lonely man can crave 1t.
1 wanted the comfort of her. the peace
that lay in her presence: And so. with
every step outside the door a threat,
telephoned to her.
She was gone. The disappointment was
great, for my need was great. In fury
of revolt against the scheme of things.
heard that she had started home to Rich
mond-but that she might still be caught
at the station.
To see her had by that time become
an obsession. I picked up my hat, threw
| open the door, and. oblivious of the shock
to the office force of my presence. fol-
lowed SO Immediately by my exit. dashed
out to the elevator. AS I went down in
one cage ! caught a glimpse of johnson
and two other men going up In the next
l hardly gave them a thought. There
was no hanson in sight. and 1 jumped
on passing car. Let come what might.
| arrest. prison. disgrace. I was going to
see Alison.
/ saw her. flung into the station, saw
that 1t was empty-empty. for she was
not there. Then I hurried back to the
gates. She was there. a familiar figure
| in blue, the very gown In which 1 always
thought of her, the one she had worn
when. heaven help mel had kissed her
at the Carter farm. And she was not
| alone. Bending over her. talking earnest.
| ly. with all his boyish heart I'm his face
was Richey.
/ They did not see me. and / was glad OF
| it. After all. it had been Meningitis
game first l turned on my heel and
made my way blindly out of the station
Before I lost them I turned once and
looked toward them. standing apart from
| the crowd, absorbed in each other. They
were the only two people on earth that
cared about, and 1 left them there to-
gether. Then I went back miserably to
| the office and awaited arrest.
ITO he continued fomorroMl