The Mena weekly star., 1911-10-19

a'neu tue upper hand- Miss Hope Waite"
 Some more of Mir. Hawley's fan, cies.' he retorted, perplexed that SO much should be suspected. Have yoa seen herr"
 Why. of course. I am woman. MT Keith, with all the natural curi- osity of my sex In this case l had special reason to be interested. One does not meet her counterpart every | day"
 The resemblance between you Ia certainly most striking" Sufficiently so," she said slowly, her eyes on his face. to abundantly confirm in my mind the truth of all that has been told me" The waiter approached with the or ders. and the two remained in silence until he had deposited his load upon the table. and departed She was watching the face opposite through lowered lashes that yelled her eyes. but Keith was first to break the still ness
 T wish I might be told what that was"
 ITO what do you refer?" apparent ly forgetful as to where their conver- sation had been broken.
 ITO Hawley's proposition"
 NO doubt" her lips smiling. "but you have come to the wrong market, Mir. Jack Keith"
 Yet" he insisted earnestly. If this Is all straight, with no fraud conceal ed anywhere. if you have the proofs in your hands, why are you afraid to talk openiy7 The very manner in which Hawley works should convince you he is himself afraid to face the truth"
 No. you are wrong There are per fecuy satisfactory reasons why we should for the present keep our plans secret. There are details yet to be de- cided upon. and Mir. Hawleys present objection to publicity is only ordinary prudence"
 She leaned toward him, her fingers playing nervously with knife
 MT. Keith, I cannot help but like you. and l also feel most kindly dis posed toward Mir Hawley. wish in this I was no longer compelled to con. slider you an enemy of us both. There Is no reason why ] should. except for your h'trd nrc'udi~e -eaiprt 'his other man who is my friend. I know you have some cause, for he has told me the entire story, yet I am sure he did no more than his actual duty. He let me realize how very sorry he was that the marshal at Carson City had called upon him for as- sistance.
 'Who? HawIey?" Keith ques- tioned, hardly trusting his own ears.
 Yee: indeed he is very different
 an from what you have been led to a'ieve l know he Is d gambler, and all thet. hut really t is not altogether his fault He told mo about his life, and t was very sad He was driven from home when only boy. and naturally drifted into evil company. His one ambition Is to break away. and redeem himself am SO anxious to help him. and wish you could real tze his purpose, as l do, and become his friend. Won't you. for my salrer Why. even in this affair he has not the slightest mercennry purposa--he has only thought of what was rightful ly mine"
 Keith listened. feeling to the full the woman's earnestness, the impossibili- ty of changing her fixed conviction. Hawley had planted his seed deep and well in fruitful soil
 !. You make strong and charming advocate. Miss Maclaire." he returned, feeling the necessity of saying some thing T should like to have you equally earnest on my side. Yet 1t will be hard to convince me that Black Bart is the paragon of virtue you describe. wish might believe for your sake. Did he also explain how he came into possession of these papers?"
 "oh. yes. indeed; there is no secret about that. They were entrusted to him by an old man whom he discov- cred sick in Independence, and who died in his rooms three years ago. Mir. Hawley has been searching ever since for the old mans granddaughter. It Is remarkable how he was finally convinced that was the one"
 "A photograph, was 1t not?"
 gleam of sudden suspicion ap- peared in the brown eyes. a slight change in facial expression.
 That was clue, yes, but far from being all But why should tell you this ?--you believe nothing I say"
 T believe that you believe; that you are fully convinced of the justice of your claim. Perhaps 1t is just, but I am suspicious of anything which Bart Hawley has hand in. Mise Christie. you really make me wish to retain your friendship. but cannot do so if the cost includes faith in Hawley Do you know that is not even his name-that he lives under an alias?'
 "Is there anything strange in that out here?" she asked stoutly. T told you how deeply he regretted his life; that alone would be sufi1 cient cause for him to drop his family name. Did you ever learn his true namef"
 He was not sure-only as Ncb had reported what Waite had called the