The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1912-09-19
proIoereo ln1rlai-lne letter b.

"Beatrix" he guessed huskily. "Is
1t possiblee He promised me
surprise. 'Twould have been
like her to plan 1t with him-and 'tis
quite possible she reached Rangoon
before I. My wife! :"
Hastily he returned to the evening
wrap, fascinating contrivance OF lace
and satin unquestionably the last cry
| of the Partisan mode such a wrap as
his wife might we'll have worn. But
beyond Paquin's label stitched inside
its dainty pocket it boasted no dis
unguishiHg mark.
He stumbled hurriedly from the
room and down the stairs, returning
70 the study where Sypher's body
Jay: tortured by mounting fears. &c
stood and looked hlankly about him.
at loss where next to turn. il almost
preternaturally alive to every sound
Or sight that might afford him clue.
He fought against suspicion
that crawled like a viper in his brain.
Had he, after all, beer deceived IN
Syphers niece, Miss Pynsent? Had
that innocent charm OF hers been
thing assumed. a cloak for criminal du-
plicity? Had she in reality been Des
Trebes' accomplice? Had those clear
and limpid eyes of youth, all through
that voyage been looking forward to
such scene, to such tragic ending
as this? Could she have afforded the
Frenchman the aid he needed to con-
summate his chosen crime?
For he was now ready to believe Des
Trebes the prime mover in this terri
BILE affair; he no longer entertained
a shred Of doubt that his enemy had
travelled with him from Calcutta un-
der the disguise of "De Hyeres.' And
he believed the man had planned this
thing far ahead; else would he have
surely taken some overt step to pre-
vent ORourke from delivering the
ruby to Sypher. He OWNED acutely
that, despairing of any further at
tempt to win the jewel from him, Des
Trebes had turned his wits to the task
of stealing 1t from Sypher; somebody
naturally much less to be feared than
the adventurer.
But on the other hand, II the girl
had not been Des Trebes' assistant
what had become of her? And what
of her guest-the lady one Of whose
initials was B?
It was not inconsistent with Des
Trebes' whole-hearted villainy that be
should employ gang Of thugs suffi-
ciently large to overpower and make
away with bodily and in body Miss
Pynsent, her guest and the servants.
Great Cod" cried O'Rourke.
"If It be In truth my wife,"
Without presage thin but imperar
tive Naturalization broke upon the
silence of the house Of death. O'Rourke
jumped as If shot Somewhere in one
of the other rooms telephone bell
was ringing. It ceased, leaving a
strident stiffness; but before he could
move to find the instrument and an
swer the call, there rose second time
that moaning sob which first he had
attributed to an impossible source,
then, in the turmoil Of his thoughts,
had forgotten.
He waited, listening intently. The
telephone called again and again sub
sided. Then a third time he heard the
groan, more faint than before, but suf-
fciently loud to suggest its source.
He moved warily toward the windows
and out upon the veranda-hounded
by the telephone. But that would
have to wait; here was a more ur-
gent matter to his hand. Between the
long, insistent rings the moaning was
again audible; and this time he To-
Gated 1t accurately. 1t came from the
lawn, near the edge Of the veranda.
He stepped OF carefully, but almost
stumbled over the body of man who
lay there, huddled and moaning.
"And another" whispered the ad-
venturer, awed. Faith, this Pool Of
Flame y"
He was at once completely horriHed
and utterly dumbfounded. Nothing he
had come upon within the bungalow
seemed to indicate that there had been
anything in the nature Of a struggle
prior to the assassination Of Sypher.
He had up to this moment considered
it nothing but cold-blooded and cow
ardly murder; the man had apparent
ly been struck down from behind in to-
tai ignorance of his danger. O'Rourke
had deduced that Sypher had risen
from the desk to put the jewel in his
safe; and that while he was so en-
gagged the assassin, till then skulking
I n n