El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-10-10
BY A. G. Greenwood

bbERE w are sir" said odd
n, Sam" $50 they had called
him at the ferry, where
had boarded his punD as he bumped
against the housebOat in the darkness
and grossly Overcharged me.
Mr.. Kent's2" I Queried as climbed
That's right sir" quoth Sam, dis
APPEARING hastily rOWn stream to-
wards the Angler and Float where /
had found him imbibing-
Bob Kent had invited me down Tor
a week end to his hOuseboat- The
motive of the invitation and my &C
he had TO sell on commission, and /
thought of buying.
Bob" I called out
No one answered. Not a light was
shown. I crossed the little piece Of
dock and pushed open door. silence
and darkness rewarded me. made a
tour Of inspection. There WASH a
soul on board.
"A nice way to receive a prospect
i've buyer, I reflected testify, and pro-
ceeded to drag a chair on to the deck
and light cigar. Every Inln8 was
absUrdly still and absurdly silent, as
only river nights can be. Inen j
heard the slap Of water against the
bows Of a punt. and two voices
"Of course shall have to tell the
gov," groWled masculine one
won't, Jim dear" entreated the feml-
nine one. ''He said ne wouldn't after
after last time
"Then they'll sling me out" growled
the youth, and saw ms clgaret oe-
scribe an arc and fall Kissing into the
water. Il owe Markham over nun
dred, and he'll 60 to the colonel We
"a hours. Grace. The gov. can do as
he pleases. I don't care They can
sling me out If they want To- me
army amt much catch nowadays.
IF only I could help! heard her
eXclaim passiOnately- But X s near
the end of the quarter. I'm in oepL
too But I'd do anything TO prevent
your telling father It would De use
less. and he'd be furious. Markham
must be paid somehow
Pigs must fly gruInteas. her oroL ll55
dipping the paddle into the water.
'Its too horrible, Jim. Why didn.
YOU tell me? Uncle DiCk-oh, some
one sure would have helped us!
Her voice died away. and silence
fell once more / suppose l ought 70
have made my presence known 70
them before. But the misery IN nef
tones, the pathOs in her qllVerlns
voice had kept me dumb After all
I didn't know them; their secret
wouldn't be betrayed.
Law back smoking, closing my
eyes. and I cursed the boy under my
braatb It was such hard lines to
worry her with his stupid gampIlhg
Nearly and hour passed. lit a
match and stumbled into me aIaMlLs
room. hoping 20 find BOb's tantalus
and a svphOn. Finding bottle OF
whisky I mixed myself peg, ana
was going back to nay CHAIR Wneh
caught a glimpse Of something Wnlte
siip1ing down towards the houseboat
under the trees. ] went over 10
kind of portfolio and watched
Canadian canoe shot out noise
lessIy into the stream ana ran alons
side the hOuseboat. But II Wa on
the other side to that by which / had
come aboard. A hand grasped the
whfteWashed rope Wnlcn ran ar y
the deck. A girl-a blacklsn cIoah
about her shoulders-slippe on board
In two seconds she had disappeared.
stood there, feeling nOnplusseu-
There was absolute silence aoouL me
q silence so intense that nearI '7dcu
soda water bubble burst as II reaCheq
the surface Of my drink -I IO5u
10 a door opposite the one mad en-
tered by. 1t was ajar and opened IL
wider. Pitch darkness lay beyono.
and from ct heard the sound or
stealthv footsteps For rractlon on
a second a light glowed- say ugWn
a corridor into a bedroom ne uOO1
was open. Bending over a IaDle'
caught glimpse OF 81 49,. -
nized her-Miss Warntngton-Lne elI4
who had passed in the punt
took a step forward saying
sharply:
who's thereE ..,,
She did not answer stood sun
ana struck a match, holding il above
me She was facing me on the rnresn-
old of the cabin. AS the light nick
cred and burned up, her hand went 10
her throat.
LETT me tfnElinE. Round her white
throat was strung a huge row OF
"A swinging lamp hung above me.
and lit it without speaking am
Z good Judge of stones. I had only 70
take a step towards her to see thar
they were pearls Of great rarity purity
and price which she wore
7 went close to her then, staring at
the splendid stones A card lay In
the Jewel case. / could just declpheE
the name on it-Mr. Robert Kent
PASSED her into the cabin, picking up
the case and holding 1t out.
ePut IL back" I said simply.
Her ewes were full Of terror, but
suddenly. as looked at them they
ereWv hard and courageous With a
Movement so swift, so energetic so
utterly unexpected that did nothing
to prevent it, she slammed the door
between U.s. AS stood dunn bounded,
heard the key CRATE in the lock
I caught at the handle, Valnly TWIST
ing it, then flung myself bodily
AGAINST the door. 1t opened inwards,
i recouecteds and tugged at IL, Keeling