Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1912-09-30
Initials Onl y ;" y By Anna katherine Green
Thrilling Mystery Story of Modern Times

| that unlllumlned window? Was there no
memory of the time when, in a previous
contemplation of those dismal panes, he
| oeheld stretching between them and him.
self. long. low bench with a plain wood
en- tub upon it, from which a dripping
cloth beat out upon the boards beneath a
dismal note, monotonous as the ticking
of a clock?
One might judge that such memories
were indeed his. from the rapid glance ne
cast behind him at the place where the
ped stood in those days. 1t was placed
differently
But If he saw, and if he heard these
suggestions from the past he was not
less alive to the eXactions of the present
for, as his glance flew back across the
court, his finger suddenly moved and the
flame controlled sputtered and went out
AL the same instant the window opposite
sprang into view as the lamp was lit
within, and for several minutes the whole
interior remained vsible-the books, the
work table, the cluttered furniture, and
most interesting of all. its owner and oc-
cupant. 1t was upon the latter that the
newcomer fixed his attention. and with an
absorption equal to that he saw expressed
in the countenance opposite
But his was the absorption of watch
fulness; that of the other of introspection
| MF. Brotherson-(we will no longer call
MIN Dunn even here where he is known
by no other name)-had entered the room
clad in his heavy overcoat and not hav-
ing taken it off before lighting his lanD.
still stood with it on. gazing eagerly down
at the model occupying the place of hon
or on the large center table He was
not touching it-not at this moment-but
mat his thoughts were with it, that his
Whole mind was concentrated on it, was
evident to the watcher across the court;
and. as this watcher took in this face and
noticed the loving care with which the
enthusiastic inventor finally put out his
finger to rearpange a thread or twirl
wheel, his disappointment found utter
ance in sigh which echoed sadly through
the dull and cherries room Had he ex-
pected this stern and self contained man
TO snow an open indifference to work and
the hopes of a lifetime? II so, this was
the first of the many surprises awaiting
him.
he was gifted. however with the pa
thence of an automaton and continued to
watch his fellow tenant as long as the
latters shade remained up. When it fell
he rose and took few steps up and
down. but not with the celebrity and pre-
clslon which usually accompanied his
| movements I'OuDl disturbed ms mind
and impeded his activity He had caught
a fair glimpse of Broth erson's face as he
approached the window and though it
continued to show abstraction, it equally
displayed serenity and a complete salts
faction with the present if not with the
future. Had he mistaken his man after
all? Was his instinct. for the first time
IN his active career, wholly at fault?
he had succeeded in getting a glimpse
of his quarry in the privacy of his own
room, at home with his thoughts and and
unconscious of any espionage, and how
had he found him? Cheerful and natu-
raj in all his movements
But the evening was young Retrospect
comes with later and more lonely hours
There will be opportunities yet for study
ing this impassive countenance under
much more telling and productive cir
cumstances than these He would await
| these opportunities with cheerful antici-
patton Meanwhile. he would keep up
the routine watch he had planned for
this night, Something might yet occur
At all events, he would have exhausted
the situation from this standpoint
And so it came to pass that at an hour
when all the other hard working people
in the building were asleep, or at least
striving TO sleep, these two men still sat
at their work, one in the light, the other
in the darkness. facing each other con-
sciously to the one, unconsciously to the
other, across the hollow well of the now
silent Court Eleven o'clock! Twelve! No
change on BrothersOn's part or in his
room; but a decided one in the place
where Sweetwater sat Objects which
had been totally indistnguishable even to
his penetrating eye could now be seen in
ever Frightening outline. The moon had
reached the open space above the court,
and he was getting the full benefit Of it,
But it was a benefit he would have been
glad to dispense with. Darkness was like
a shield to him. lie did not feel quite
sure that he wanted this shield removed
With no curtain to the window and no
shade and all this brillance pouring into
the room. he feared the disclosure OF his
presence there, or, if not that some effect
on his own mind of these memories he
was more anxious TO see mirrored In an
others discontinue than in his own.
Was it to escape any lack of concen-
tration which these same memories might
bring, that ne rose and stepped to the
window? Or was it under one of those
involuntary impulses which move us in
spite of ourselves to do the very thing
our judgment disa pproves?
NO sooner ndu he approached lne Sill
than Mr. Brothersons shade flew way
up and he, too looked out. Their glances
met, and for an instant the hardy de
tective experienced that Involuntary stag
nation Of the blood which follows an inner
shock He felt that he had been recog-
nized The moonlight lay full upon his
face. and the other had seen and known
him. Else why the constrained attitude
and sudden rgidity observable in this
confronting figure, with its partially lift
ed hand? A man like Brotherson makes
no pause in any action however trivial,
without a reason. Either he had been
transixed by this glimpse of his enemy
on watch. or-darng thought! had seen
enough of sepulchral suggestion in the
wan face looking forth from this fatal
window to shake him from his composure
and let loose the grinning devil Of re-
morse from it's iron prison house? If so,
the movement was a memorable one, and
the hazard quite worth while. He had
gained-no! he had gained nothing. He
had been the fool of his own wishes. No
one let alone BrothersOn could have mis-
| ken his face for that of a woman. He