The Washington times., 1912-09-11
CHAPTER XIV.
The Man Above and the Man Below.

" OR the rest Of the evening Mr..
- Joseph Kilner remained in his
saloon conducting his business
as usual Customers came in
now and then, and he attended to their
desires and held converse with some of
them.
None OF them remarked naythins
strange in Mr.. Kilner's nianner-he
passed the time of day IN his usual
affabie fashion and talked of whatever
subject happened to be to the fore at
that moment.
There were customers in the outer
saloon and in the inner sanctum, and
Mr.. Kilner's man being away from the
establishment, its proprietor had to at
tend to everybody himself
He was in and out of the two 1,laces
constantly until closing time, and was
rever still until the last customer had
gone. But when he finally closed the
doors and secured the bolt and keys
which held them Mr.. Kilner felt that
at last tine dreaded moment had come
wherein he must face the lonely night
and the companionship Of his own
thoughts.
He naturally braced himself for this
decanter He took a long and strong
drink, and felt much better for It, and
he began to think of things in a pleas
anter way. After all, the great thing
he had most to fear was detection, and
he saw little chance of that at present.
Richard Claye, alias James Creighton
and some other names, was as much
buried alive as If he had been formally
n in hA
navin Cemetery-no one but Mr.. Kilner
could release him. And that Mr.. KilneI
was by no means disposed to do-the
devils of cupdity. avarice and of in
ordinate greed had taken hold OF him;
he meant the diamonds to be his.
He would leave Mr. Claye in his
prison grave for a while, and visit what
was left of him later.
And that" said Mr.. Kilner refiec.
lively. cant be much, for those rats
are something terrible. l wonder how
long he'l last? Not long in that hole
Then he partook of more brandy, anG
lighted cigar and read the paper In
his little sitting room, and wished the
house was not so quiet.
I'll get HennCssy to stop tomorrow
night" he said to himself. He'd be q
bit of company at any rate-there's
something very depressing in a house
when there's nobody in it but yourself
something in his house besides himself
and that the something had been a liV
ing man who in the very vigor of hi!
manhood and flush of good health wa!
suddenly condemned to death by starva
ton, and at this thought Mr.. Kilner re
paired to the brandy decanter for more
comfort.
lie hoped that this sort of thoughts
would not trouble him during the night
and as a precaution, he determined tC
take more brandy to his bed room.
When Mr.. Kilner finally determined
I'd retire he had already consumed abou
three times the amount of his usual al
lOwance of spirits for the evening, anC
was steadily drinking still more, ant
he conceived and made welcome a de
fusion that the more brandy he dranl
the better II would be for him. HC
went to look around the house, anC
once more told himself that he woulC
really get some person to live in 1t oil
the morrow.
"And yet" he said, as he rolled hi
stout body about the passages and cor
ridors, 'who knows what mischie
mightn't result? If 1t was a woman
now, she'd be peeping and prying from
morning TO night, and her nose woul(
be poked into every corner of the place
And she might hear or see something.
The notion of what might be hear
made him advance cautiously to tn
cellars and listen at the head of tn
stairway which led to them. Mr.. Kline
could not hear anything there, so h
crept softly downward and at last