The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1911-03-31
-
UcyEPFr|
. MMI |

E f
girl slip the canvas bag into Maitland's
pocket while the latter was kneeling
aad binding his captive. However
that was, there was no denying that
he had trailed the treasure to its hid
ing place, unerringly; and succeeded
in taking possession of it with consum-
mate skill and audacity. When Matt
land came to think of 1t, he recalled
distinctly the trend of the burglars
inquisitiOn in the character OF Mr..
Snaith,' which had all been calcslated
to discover the location of the jewels.
And, when he did recall this fact, and
how easily he had been duped, Matt
land could have ground his teeth in
nlelodramatic rage-but for the cir
cumstance that when first it occurred
to him, such feat was a physical i'm
possibility, and even when unga3ged
the operation would have been painful
to an extreme.
Slipping the grateful drink which
O'Hagan presently brought him, the
young man pondered the case: with
no pleasure in the prospect he fore
saw. II Higgins had actually COM
municated the fact of Anistys escape
to the police, the entire affair was likely
to come out in the papers-all of it.
that is, that he could not suppress. But
even figuring that he could silence
Higgins and O'Hagan-no difficult task
though he might be somewhat late
with Higgins-the most discreet mag
Unable explanation of his extraordinary
conduct would make him the laughing
stock of his circle of friends, to say
nothing of city that had been &C
customed to speak of him as mad
Maitland" for many day. Unless
All, he had it. He could pretend
ESQ long as it suited his purpose, at
all events), to have been the man
caught and left bound in Higgins care.
Simple enough. The knocking over of
the butler would be ascribed to a nat
ura1 ebullition of indignation, the sub
sequent fight to hare Drained notion
of running down the thief. And yet
even that explanation had its difficult
ties. How was he to account for the
fact that he had failed to commune
cate with the police-knowing that his
treasure had been ravished?
1t was all very involved Mr.. Matt
land returned the glass to O'Hagan
and, grading his head in his hands
racked his brains in vain for a salts.
factory tale to tell. There were SO
many things to be taken into consid-
Grafton. There was the girl in gray.
Not that he had forgotten her for an
instant; his fury ragged but the higher
at the thought that Anisty's interfer-
ence had prevented his (Maitland's)
keeping the engagement. Doubtless
the girl had waited, then gone away
in anger. believing that the man in
whom she had placed faith had proved
himself unworthy
But that telephone call?
"O'Hagan,' demanded the haggard
and distraught young man, who was
that on the wire just now?"
Being thoroughly trained servant.
O'Hagan had waited that question in
silence, a-quiver with Impotence
though he was. Now, his tongue un-
leashed, his words fairly stumbled on
one another's heels in his anxiety to
get them out in the least possible time.
Sure, an twas Teddy, sor, be the
vice av her, askin' were We in, and
mesilf havin' seen We go out no longer
ago thin wan o'clock and yersilf sayin'
not worrud about comm back at all
at all, pwhat was to be tellin' her.
aven if We were lynn there on the die
van all unbeknownest to me, which
the same mesilf can not"
Help" pleaded the young man
feebly, smiling. ''One thing at a time.
please, O'Hagan. Answer me one ques-
ton: Did she give a name?"
''She did not, sor, though mesilf-"
There, there! Wait a bit. want
to think"
OF course she had given no name; it
wouldn't be like her. What was he
thinking of, anyway? 1t could not
have been the gray girl; for she knew
him only as Anisty; she could never
have thought him himself, Maitland.
But what other woman of his acquain-
lance did not believe him to be out Of
town?
With hopeless gesture, Maitland
gave it up, conceding the mystery too
deep for him, his intellect too feeble
to grapple with all its infinite ramifica-
tons. The counsel he had given
OHagan seemed most appropriate to
his present needs: One thing at q
time. And obviously the first thing
that lay to his hand was the silencing
Of O'Hagan.
Maitland rallied his wits to the task.
20 Hagan," said he, this man, Snaith,
who was here this afternoon, called
himself detective. AS soon as we
were alone he raped me over the
head with loaded cane, and, sus-
pect, went through the fiat stealing
everything he could lay hands on.
Hand me my cigarette case, please
'Tis gone, sorts not on the desk.
at Taste, pwhere saw ut last"
"Ah! You see? Now for reasons Of
my own, which I,won't enter into. I