The Huttig news., 1910-07-16
CHAPTER xxv.
At the Station.

Al the oIdtlon.
 So it had been the tiger, not the lady We'll. had held to that theory all through. Jennie suddenly be- came valuable person; if necessary she could prove the connection be- tween Sullivan and the murdered man and .sow a motive for the crime I was triumphant when Hotchkiss came in. When the girl had produced a photograph of Mrs. Sullivan, and had recognized the bronze-haired girl of the train, we were both we'll satisfied which goes to prove the ephemeral nature of most human contentments.
 Jennie either had nothing more to say, or feared she had said too much. She was evidently uneasy before Hotchkiss I told her that Mrs. Sulli- van was recovering in Baltimore hospital, but she already knew it, from some source, and merely nodded. She made few preparations for leav- ng. while Hotchkiss and I compared
 otes. and then. with the cat in her
 rms. she climbed into the trap from he town. I sat with her. and on the
 ay down she told me a little, not
 ueh.
 If you see Mrs. Sullivan" she ad-
 sed "and she is conscious. she prob 1ly thinks that both her husband and her father were killed in the wreck. She will be in a bad way, sir"
 You mean that she-still cares about her husband?'
 The cat crawled over on my knee, and rubbed it's head against my hand invitingly. Jennie stared at the un- dulating line of the mountain crests, a colossal surf against blue ocean of sky. Yes, she cares,' she said soft ly. Women are made like that They say they are cats. but Peter there in your lap wouldn't come back and lick your hand if you kicked him. Tiff you have to tell her the truth, be as gentle as you can sir She has been good to me-that's why 1 have played the spy here all summer. It's a thank less thing, spying on people"
 Tt is that" I agreed soberly.
 Hotchkiss and arrived in Washing ton late that evening" and, rather than arouse the household, I went to the club. l was at the office early the next morning and admitted myself Mcknight rarely appeared before half after ten, and our modest office force some time after nine I looked over my previous days mail and waited, with such patience as I possessed, for Mcknight. In the interval I called up Mrs. Klopton and announced that 1 would dine at home that night What my household subsists on during my numerous absences I have never dis covered. Tea, probably, and crackers. Dilligent search when l have made midnight arrival, never reveals any thing more substantial. Possibly I im- agine it, but the announcement that am about to make journey always seems to create a general atmosphere of depression throughout the house. as though Euphemia and Eliza, and Thomas, the stableman, were already subsisting. in imagination, on Mrs. Klopton's meager fare.
 So I called her up and announced my arrival. There was something un- usual in her tone, as though her throat was tense with indignation. All ways shrill, her elderly voice rasped my ear painfully through the re- ceiyer.
 T have changed the butcher. Mir. Lawrence. she announced portentous- ly. "The last roast was pound short, and his mutton-chops- any self-re- specting sheep would refuse to ac- knowledge them.'
 As I said before. I can always tell from the voice in which Mrs. Klopton conveys the most indifferent matters, if something of real significance has occurred. Also. through long habit. I have learned how quickest to bring her to the point
 You are pessimistic this morning."