The Springfield herald., 1912-03-22

all. l know LeDuc well enough to be-
lieve that he will get at the bottom
of this affair If he possibly can. no
matter whom he uncovers as he digs"
She breathed little sigh "Of
course l appreciate all that and have
tried to reason with him. but he would
not listen to me any more than he did
to you. He almost swore when l
begged him to ignore me and tell
you men all about himself. While I
would stake my life upon his limo
cence of all completely in this matter.
way, and l cannot force myself to be-
lieve even that" Our eyes met
squarely.
II am certain there is no other
woman in the CASE Bruce is not that
kind" l stated positively.
She Redeemed and her hands be-
came tight little fists. mo, will not
believe such thing of him." she
cried with slight quivering of the
lips. Quickly she arose and passed
into my uncle's apartments with
head on high. It seemed too bad that
had been obliged to mention such
distasteful thing, but l knew well
enough that despite herself 1t was
lowering in her mind. and I wanted
to add my convictions OF his moral
honesty to her own. 1t distressed me
to see her unhappy. but deeming 1t
best to let her have little time in
which to compose herself l did not
follow her leaving the house almost
Immediately thereafter. and in fact
avoiding any further contact with my
uncle that day. A little later ! had
gotten Mrs. Dace on the telephone
and told her that would like to see
her as l was the possessor Of rather
startling news. She asked me to
come to her at once.
She did not seem to be as surprised
or interested at my recital as thought
the tale warranted. To be sure her
eyes quickly arose to mine when l
told her of the crime, and she gave
me her undivided attention until l
had finished; then seemed to be turn
ing the affair over In her own mind,
for she allowed several minutes to
elapse without comment
Whom do you suspect mean you
personality" she then asked me. I
requested that she pledge herself to
secrecy. which she did with little
laugh that told me that she consid-
cred such a formula superfluous.
81 suspect absolutely no one. Yet
l am puzzled and worried by Bruce's
conduct. l do not attach much i'm
portance to his denial Of having the
key and our failure to find 1t. although
! cannot account for the denial part
of 1t. Neither do ! give great weight
to his words about his going to get
hold of large sum Of money. | take
| 1t for granted that when he said he
WAS going to raise 1t somehow or 9TH
er 1t was with the mental reservation
that 1t was to be done honestly, Of
course. Also when 1t comes to his
absolute refusal to tell us where he
was last night l can imagine a solu-
ton of that. for when man is under
the influence of liquor he will some
times do things that he would not
think OF were he in his right mind.
1t is also on record that sleep walk
ers sometimes commit burglaries
when they are In a trance and are
utterly irresponsible for their actions.
Take that recent case that everybody
was talking about. The person in
volved attended a dance and became
very tired. fell asleep on the way
home, skilfully broke into his own
house and robbed himself of money
that he had hidden away, and the next
day remembered nothing about the
matter. 1t was long afterwards that
he happened to stumble across the
money where he had secreted 1t In his
semiconscious state"
She did not appear to be particular
ly impressed by my statement. II
am inclined to believe that whoever
robbed your uncle at least thought he
knew what he was about" she an
swered with what | imagined was
faint suggestion of sarcasm. How
ever. Bruce, being somewhat indis-
posed and in an excited state, might
have unconsciously let fall remark
In some public place, which. in con-
nection with his perhaps exhibiting
the key. led to its being stolen from
him and the preparation of the crime
by some one else" | acquiesced.
81 have thought of that as pos
sible solution of the reason as to why
he will not reveal his whereabouts,
and l am certain it will not escape Le-
Due. Perhaps Bruce is conscious of
having been indiscreet in his speech
or actions and is ashamed to talk
about it. But this much is fairly GER
tain. 1t is too great a stretch of the
| imagination to conceive that the at
tack upon the safe at this particular
time was made at hap-hazard. The
one who did it knew to a certainty
that the money was in the house. And
so far as we now know but four per-
sons in the world had that knowl-
edge, namely, Uncle Abner. Bruce,
myself and" l paused, clearing my
throat and giving her an opportunity
to interrupt me II she chose. She did
SO promptly.
You told me-" she said sweetly.
Therefore 1t seems to lie between
Bruce and myself" The opening
that l had been feinting for was now
| before me and l thrust at 1t.
rs it not barely possible that Janet,
the maid, might have overheard me
mention the fact of uncle having a
large sum in the safe and thought
lessly repeated 1t to some acquaint-
! ~ L