, 1912-12-26

sion that tool me. almost without vo
lition, to the neighborhood Of thu
Fleming house. for 1t had occurred t.
me that Miss Fleming might not nave
left the house that day. as she had
promised. might still be there, liaba
to another intrusion by the mysterious
Individual who had a key to the house
1t was a relief, consequently. wheI
/ reached its corner to find no light
in the building. The girl had kept he
word. Assured Of that, I looked a
the house curiously. 1t was one of tn,
largest In the city, not wide, but run
ming far back along the side street. A
small yard with a low iron fence and
a garage completed the property. Tn
street lights left the back Of the hous'
in shadow. and as ! stopped in tn,
shelter of the garage l was positiv,
that-I heard some one working with
a rear window Of the empty house. a
moment later the sounds ceased ant
mufiied footsteps came down the ce
ment walk. The intruder made ne at
tempt to open the iron gate, ant
against the light I saw him put a lea
over the low fence. follow 1t up with
the other and start up the street still
with peculiar noiselessness Of stride
He was a short, heavy shouldered fel
low in q cap, and his silhouette showed
a prodigious length of arm.
] followed. I don't mind saying, II
some excitement. ] had a vision Of
grabbing him from behind and leading
him or pushing him, under the cir
cumstances. in triumph to the police
station. and another mental picture moi
so pleasant of being found on the
pavement by some passerby with 8
small punctuation mark ending my sen
tence Of life.
Once the a just ahead stopped and
lighted a cigarette. and the odor Of o
very fair Turkish tobacco came bach
to me. He glanced back over hii
quickening his pace. We met no po
licemen. and after perhaps Eve min,
utes' walking. when the strain wal
growing tense, my gentleman Of the
rubber soled shoes swung abruptly to
the left and-entered the police sta.
ton!
I had occasion to see Davidson many
times after that during the strange de-
felopment of the FleniLs c,ise. had
The peculiar experience later of having
him follow me as l trailed him that
night, and I had occasion once to test
The strength of his long arms when he
helped to thrust me through the tran
som at the White Cat, but l never met
him without a recurrence of the sheep
fsh feeling with which I watc; ed him
swagger up to the night serge mt and
fall into easy conversation with the
man behind the desk.
Two or three roundsmen were sitting
against the wall lazily. helmets on and
boats open against the warmth Of the
early spring night. In a back room
others were playing checkers and dis
noisily. Davidson's voice came
distinctly through the open windows.
"The house is closed" he reported.
'but one Of the basement windows
shattered, and the lock is bad. /
couldn't find Shields. He'd better keep
an eye on It." He stopped and fished
In his pockets with a grin. This was
tied to the knob of the kitchen door,"
said, raising his voice for the bene-
OF the room and holding aloft a piece
Of paper. "For Shields" he explained.
and signed Della"
The men gathered around him. Even
sergeant got up and leaned for
ward. his elbows on his desk.
Read IT," he said lazily. shields
has got a wife, and her name amt
Dear Tom" Davidson read In a
falsetto. I'VE are closing up
unexpected, SO | Won't be here tonight,
am going to Mamie Brennan's, and If
you want to talk to me you can get me