The Washington herald., 1912-11-10
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.Coilingwood frowned on him.
"Whs2s al this, Ellerdiner - -
manded, irritabiy What the dey1 IRE
you talking aboutr
His lordship sank into . ehaif Nh
. sigh. Il never thought you eeasd
have do0e Il" he went On. "But I'D
to put you to the test-now, didn't II
fe:t! haE is III What h'ss -
His lordship appeared 10 ssAset for
few moments
WELL" he said at last, stsbbine the
toe of his shoe with his esnH ss
know that you didn't write h. there's
no harm in telling you. Il hit me
pretty hard, Ceilings. upon my word It
did because I've always tired to be-
have more or less decently, % far as l
could. You know that, don't you, old
chap?"
Collingwood stood over him In IN a.
most threatening attitude.
What is it?' he demanded again
Anything about that letter they
brought up in court?'
ITS ali about it," his lofdship an
nounced, solemnly, looking up at him.
You see," he went on with the air OF
a man who is master of all the details
of an involved story, when they read
it out there before evesybody-you
know what / mean"
"Yes, yesp
"And when / reflect. Colling. that
there All, Pauliner he interrupt.
ed himself briskly as the maid passed
through the room. She paused and
turned to him with a bow. pauline, l
want to ask you something. Can you
write with your left hand?"
Pauline regarded him with . puzzled
What j. that you say. my lord!",
she inquired.
Can you write with your left
hand" E1lerdine repeated.
mo! Not at ali, my Iord!" replied
Pauline, as il he had asked her if she
could do the giant swing on a turning
pole. Il cannot do such . thing"
That's capital, isn't iii? exclaimed
Ellerdine, with a smile of relief. Il
never believed it of you, Pauline, but
/ had to put you to the te,t-now,
didn't II" Pauline stared at him.
"Now, will Mrs. Admaston see me, do
mo, my lord. She is seeing no one
to-day"
Ellerdine was visibly moved.
"I'm awfully sorry she's taking II 50
hard Is there anything that we can
dor he asked with eager sympathy.
Anything at all"
"I'm afraid there is nothing at all,
my lord" replied Pauline, sadly.
Isn't il driveling shame now" ex.
claimed Ellerdine. Poor little Peggy!
Going through all this"
Collingwood made an impatient ges-
ture as if he felt that it was no time
for idle sympathy.
Go on, Ellerdine; 60 on" he urged.
What were you saying about the let
terr
His lordship looked up at him with a
nomentarily puzzled expression. Let
teri" he queried "Oh, yes! Well.
when they read it out in court l was
simply bowled over. because it was
coming down pretty close to me. was
one of the crowd who might have done
it-ard there aren't so very many of
US. are there?'
GO on. go on" snapped Colling-
wood. What about it,
\ on remember some time ago whcn
some silly ass forged my name to a
check"
"Well?'
well. I got to know = handwriting
expert, an Americana deviIish smart
chap and after VIC left the court and
Peggy was thinking pretty rotten
things about you. l thought I'd go and
have a word with him.
"The EXPERT cried Collingwood
eagerly.
'Yee-ah-the handwriting chap, YOU
know l wanted to see what he thought
about all this explained his lordship.
We'll: Yes. well. l confronted him,
and asked him point blank what was
his opinion about the letter. And in
stantly. old chap, he told me that he
couldn't give any sort of an idea about
the letter until he had seen the letter.
D'you see? Shows you how extremely
careful the fellow is So l got him
copy
Collingwood could not help smiling
in spite of his impatience
We'll. what about it," he demanded.
as Ellerdine paused. Gould he tell you