Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-09-21
By REX BEACH.
Copyright, 1912. by Rex Beach,


Frank Garcia Giordano Bolla and Lo-
| renzo Cardoni" Blake gasped: these
were men of standing and repute in the
foreign community. Larubio and his
| companions were but part of the ma
chine, these are the hands which set
! them in motion. These four men dined
together the evening of October IL at
Fabacher's, then attended a theater,
where they made themselves conspicuous.
From there they proceeded to the lower
| section of the city and were purposeiy
arrested for disturbing the peace about
the time of Donnelly's murder. in order
to establish incontestable alibis. Never
theless, it was they who laid the trap,
and they are equally guilty with the
wretches who obeyed their orders. 1t was
they who paid over the blood money. and
with their arrest you will have all the
accessories to the crime. save one. or
him 1 tell you nothing. fear / can
never find him. for he walks i'm shadow
and no man dares identify him..
The Importance of this information was
tremendous. for arrests up to date had
been made only among the lower eie-
ment. An accusation against Di Marco,
Garcia. Bolla and Cardoni would set the
city ablaZe. O'Nel was aghast at the
charge. The mayor was incredulous. the
committee of fifty showed signs of hest
| tation. But Blake, stalking his reputa-
| ton on the genuineness of the letter and
|
| shown on each occasion in the past, Won
his point. and the arrests were made.
! The Italian press raised frightful
| clamor, the prisoners themselves were
righteously INDIGNANT, and NOrvin found
| that he had begun to lose that conf
dence which the public had been so quick
to place in him. Nevertheless, he pur-
sued his work Systematically. and soon
new web around the four suspected
men. while he looked on fascinated do
ing as he was bid. keeping his own coun-
sci as he had been advised, and turning
! over the results of his inquiries to the
| police as they were completed
| Then came what he had long been
dreadins-a warning like those which had
| foreshadowed Donnelly's death-and he
began to spend sleepless nights. His
daylight hours were passed in a strained
| expectancy: he fought constantly to hold
his fears in check; he began sitting with
| his face to doors. turned wide corners
/ and avoided side streets. He became
| furtive and watchful, his eyes We're for
ever fitting here and there, he chose the
outer edges of the sidewalks, and he
went nowhere after nishtfall unattended
The time was past when he could doubt
the conStancy of his purpose: but he did
! fear a nervous breakdown and even
i shuddered at the thought of possible in
sanity. Being. In fact. as sane man
! as ever lived. his irrational nerves alarm
| ed him all the more. He could not con-
! ceive that an event was Immediately be-
| fore him which, without making his. po-
| sition safer, would rouse him from all
| thought of self.
Our lives are swayed by trifes; a
| feathers weight may alter the course of
| our destinies. A mans daily existence is
made up of an infinite series of choices
| every one of which is of the utmost i'm
portance. did he but know it. We follow
paths Of a million forkings. none of
which converge. momentary whim
passing fancy. a broken promise turns
our feet into trails that wind into realms
| undreamed of.
1t so happened that Myra Nell Warren
yielded to an utterly reasonless impulse
to go calling at the utterly absurd hour
of 10 am. Miss Warren followed no set
rules in her conduct her mind reacted
according to no given formula. and,
therefore, when it suddenly occurred to
her to visit a little old Creole lady in the
French quarter she went without
thoughtful consideration or delay.
Nine La Branche was distant cousin
on Bernie's side. so distant, in fact. that
no one except herself had ever troubled
to trace the precise relationship; but she
employed cook whose skill was cele-
brated. Now Myra Nell's appetite was a
most ungovernable affair. and when she
realized that her complete happiness de-
pended upon a certain bouilla baisse.. in
the preparation of which Nine. La
Branches Julia had become famous. tshe
whiSked her hair into a knot damned
her best and largest hat over its unruly
confusion and went bounding away i'm the
direction of Esplanade street.
1t was in the early afternoon that Nor
vim Blake received a note from coal
black urchin. who after many attempts.
had finally succeeded in penetrating to
/ his inner office.
! Recognizing the writing, Norvin tore
open the envelope eagerly, ready to be
entertained by some fresh example of the
girls infinite variety. He read with STAR
tied eyes:
Il send this by a trusted messenger
hoping that it will reach you in time. i
am a prisoner. I am in danger. l fear
my beauty is destroyed. If you love me,
come. Your wretched, MYRA NELL"
The address was that of a house on
Esplanade street.
How did you get this?" he demanded.
harshly, of the pfckaninny.
| "A lady drap it from window"
Where? Where was she?'
"In a greet, big house on Esplanade
street. She seemed mighty put out about
something. Then man run me away
A moment later Blake was on the
street and had hailed a carriage. Read
ing urgency in the set face of his fare,
the driver whipped the horses into a gal
lop and the vehicle tore across town.
leaping and rocking violently. The
thought that Myra Nell was in danger
filled Blake with physical sickness.
Her beauty gone! Could it be that the
Malta had taken this means of attack
ing him, knowing of his affection for the
girl? OF a sudden she became very dear
and he was smothered with fury that
any one should cause her suffering
+; His heart was pounding madly as the
carriage slowed into Esplanade street
threatening to upset. and he saw ahead
of him the house he sought With a
sharp twinge of apprehension he sighted
another man approaching the place at
| leaning bo
raced on with frantic speed.