The Delta independent., 1911-10-13

tionality far enough to make 1t practi-
cable for him to see Mrs. Delaroche
that night.
Dorothy was dancing abstractedly
when Griswold found her. She was so
impatient to adjust the harm she felt
she had done him that she saw him
from her partners shoulder before he
picked her out from a score of other
comedy young women on the floor.
Miss March instantly wearied of the
waltz, to the dismay of the youth
whose arm encircled her, and who
rather fancied himself as a dancer.
She lost no time In having herself es-
corted to small conservatory, where
she dismissed her partner with scant
ceremony. and where. a few moments
afterward. she was Joined by Girls
void.
Even then the debutantes unwilling
tangling Of the threads of Griswold's
fate might not have had such influence
upon his future If she had approached
her subject with directness. Had she
told Griswold at once what she had
said to the detective concerning his
skill as draughtsman, the clubman's
suspicious would have been aroused,
and he might have taken steps that
would have had marked effect upon
the development Of the great MissiSn.
er mystery. But Dorothy was too flut.
tered. too prettily remorseful, to &c
straight to the heart of the subject,
and in her innocent endeavor to post
Griswold in respect of her chat with
Britt without making him think she
was gossiping little busybody, she
protracted her interview with the club
man through so many dances that
when 1t ended Griswold persuaded him.
self the morning would be ample time
to do that which he felt must be done
to avert the probable consequences OF
Dorothy's girlish frankness. His van
ity again played its part, too. for when
he had thanked little Miss March for
what he pleased to consider her inter
est in him, and when Dorothy, having
signally failed to impress upon him the
impersonal nature of her conscience
stroke. found herself in a further fiut
ter OF bewilderment. Curtis Griswold
proceeded to parade her up and down
the dancing floor as effectively as he
had shown off the rich and beautiful
widow in the larger ballroom a little
farther up the avenue. Griswold
prided himself on his versatility. He
argued that 1t was as easy for him
as he would have expressed 1t to his
club intimates. ito put a filly through
her PAGES" as it had been to advertise
the fact before the whole ballroom
that Doris Missioner, the fastidious
beauty and worshiped possessor OF
many millions. apparently was OH the
point of accepting him as her second
matrimonial venture.
All of which resulted In Griswold's
long stay at the dance, in his ride with
Dorothy to her home in an automobile
otherwise occupied only by satisfac
torily self-centered chaperon; and in
his waste of further time at one of his
clubs after parting with Miss March
and her duenna-a waste of hours any
one of which might have been made as
useful to him as year of ordinary
time. He was further disposed to pro
crastinate in this crucial moment by
the success of the Headquarters man
in throwing all suspected persons Oh
their guard by keeping Elinor Hol
Scihb III luC loIuDS. III ousn
work on the Missioner case, Britt had
been beset with requests from Mrs.
Missioner, Sands and other friends OF
the widows secretary. to permit them
to give bail for her. Sands and Mrs.
Missioner were particularly insistent
in their desire to see Elinor at liberty.
Fitch. though normally his wish to see
his flancee free must have been
stronger than that of anyone else, was
partly reconciled to her protracted i'm.
prisonment by the detectives frequent
assurance of her ultimate vindication.
Moreover. the doctor, in consequence
of his work on the case with Britt, had
direct knowledge of the Importance
that the suspicious of others should
not be alarmed. He had been with the
detective when the card of Bruxton
Sands was discovered In the posses
sion of the old curiosity shop man; he
knew of the note addressed to Curtis
dear" and signed "Millicent," and also
of the desperate attempts made by the
Hindoos to find the diamonds. So Fitch
did not bother the seuth as much as
did other friends of Elinor's, and 1t
was well; for Britt several times was
at his wits ends to dissuade Mrs. Mis-.
sioner and Sands from going to the
District Attorney and offering a heavy
security for Miss Holcomb's appear.
ance in the trial court. However,
Britt had held them off, and it fol
lowed that Griswold nursed the delu.
sion that Elinor and Fitch and Sands
were suspected so strongly by the
Central ONCE men that no search for
evidence against anybody else was in
progress. Donnelly and Carson also
had fostered that misconception on the
clubmans part by their undated &C.
tivity In hunting proofs Of the girl Sec
] ratarx,a Qiiilt Thaaa uart hiar