Arizona republican. [volume] (Phoenix, Ariz.) 1890-1930, 1911-01-18
THE ADVENTURES OF
MR. PETER RUFF
BY e. Phillips oppsnhsim-Mr. Vim
cent Gawdor, Commission
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Her cheeks were livid. Her eyes
seemed starting from her head.
Peter Ruff and John Dory laid their
hands upon the girls wrists. She
chung to her place frantlcally. She
was dragged from 1t, screaming. Peter
Run, as was his right. entered first.
Almost Immediately he turned round,
and his face was very grave.
Something has happened here, |
am afraid" he said. PLEASE come in
quietly"
On the bed lay Fluffy Dean, fully
Observation-Disclosures. One hand hung
down toward the fioor-from the life
less fingers a little phial had slipped.
The room was full Of trunks addressed
to
Miss Smith,
Passenger to Melbourne.
S. s. Caroline.
Peter Ruff moved over toward the
bed and took up piece of paper, upon
! which was scrubbed a few lines in
pencil.
al think" he said, THAT | must
read these aloud. You all have a right
/ to hear them"
No one spoke. He continued:
Forgive me. Lefty, but cannot go
/ to Australia. They would only bring
] me back. When remember that aw-
| full moment, my brain burns-I feel
| that | am going mad, Some day
should do this-better now. Give my
! love to the girls.
Fluffy"
They sent for a doctor, and John
Dory rang up Scotland Yard. Lefty
Shaw had tainted, and had been car
ried to her room. While they waited
about il strange, half-benumbed ex-
element, Peter RUIZ once more spoke
to them.
THE reconstruction is easy enough
now" he remarked. THE partition
between this sitting-room and that
little bedroom is only an artificial one
something almost as flimsy as
screen. You see," he continued, tap
ping with his knuckles. you can al
most put your hand through it. II
you look little lower down. you will
see whge an opening has been made.
Fluffy Dean was being taken care Of
by Miss Shaw-staying with her here.
even. Miss Dean hears her lovers
voice In this room-hears him plead
ing with Miss Shaw on the night OF
the murder. She had been sent home
early from the theatre, and 1t is just
possible that she saw or had been
told that Austen Abbott had fetched
Miss Shaw after the performance and
had taken her to supper. She is mad
with anger and jealousy. The revolver
was there upon the table. with a sill
yer box Of cartridges. She possessed
herself Of it and waited in her room.
What she heard proved. at least, her
lovers infidelity. She stood there at
her door, waiting. When Austen ABB
bolt comes out, she shoots, throws the
revolver at him. closes her door. and
goes off into a faint. Perhaps she
hears footsteps-a key in the door. At
any rate, Captain Sotherst arrives a
few minutes later. He finds. half in
the hall. half on the threshold of the
sitting-room, Austen Abbott dead. and
Miss Shaw's revolver by the side OF
him. IL he had been a wise young
man, he would have aroused the house
hold. Why he did not do so. we can
together little too quickly. II is GER
tain that he believed that the dead
man had been shot by his fdncee. His
first thought was to get rid OF the re-
volver. At any rate, he walked down
to the street with Il in his hand. and
was promptly arrested by the police
man who had heard the shot. Natur-
ally he refused to plead. because he
believed that Miss Shaw had killed
the man. probably in self-defense.
She, at first, believed her lover guilty.
and when afterwards Fluffy Dean con-
fessed. she, with feminine lack of COM
nonsense, was trying to get the girl
out of the country before telling the
truth. A visit of hers to the Office Of
the steamship company gave me the
clue | required"
Lady Mary grasped both his hands.
"And Scotland Yard" she exclaimed,
with a whitening glance at John Dory,
"have done their best to hang my
brother! Il"
Peter Ruff raised his eyebrows.
Dear Lady Mary" he said. re-
member that II Is the business of
Scotland Yard to find a man guilty.
II is mine, when | am employed for
that purpose, to find him innocent.
You must not be too hard upon my
friend Mr. Dory. He and I seem to
come UP against each other little
too often. as II is
a little too often, John Dory re-
peated. softly. But one cannot tell.
Don't believe, Lady Mary" he added,
that we ever want to kill an inno-
cent man."
at Is your profession, though" she
answered. Ito find criminals-and
his" she added. touching Peter Ruff
on the shoulder, to look for the