The Huttig news. (Huttig, Ark.) 1907-1955, 1912-09-28

tut. | Knew she must be acting I'M
.er compulsion. / was determined,
hough, to let her know that / knew
hat Hugh Crandall had been in the
house.
Suddenly heard smothered
scream upstairs and a second later
louise burst into the room. There
vas terror in her face as she ran to
me-
ooh. Harding" she gasped. cts
gone-stoleni"
What do you mean? What's sto-
/ 'cn?" l cried, Selling her hands tightly
n my own.
She was trembling all over and her
reath came in quick, short jerks.
he was dressed in an automobile hat
nd coat, but even through the thick
olds of her coat | could feel the pal
9itating Of her heart. The new mys-
cry, whatever It was, had been too
much for her already overstrained
.eryes. She was in a condition close
bordering on hysteria.
Tell me about it, what was it?" I
aid
THE yellow letter-it's gone, sto-
Gu"
Where was it ?"
| had taken it with me the morn
ng | went down to Inspector Davis
ice, but after he had compared it
With the Elser fragment he had re-
urned it TO me. / had restored it to
Louise When Davis and | called on her
after our visit to Mrs. Trasks board
iGg.house. / had not seen it since
then. My last recollection of it was
placing it in her hand as Davis and
! | left the house.
Let me Think she said, trying
hard to regain her compesure. "When
you ard Mr.. Davis We're here the other
,ay you gave it back to me- took
it ups airs and put 1t in a drawer
in little desk in my room. locked
the desk and hid the key in vase
N the mantel. | Went to the desk
ust now TO get If and it was gone"
Was the desk loeked2"
She nodded.
''Wio could have taken it," I asked
Even as l framed the auesuon u.ers
aauie 10 ne the thought of Crandall's
.ist. lie had been in the hotel in
Afdn-ay where the woman committed
suicide after reading a yellow letter
md tearing II up. The scraps of that
etter had disappeared More likely
he had come here just to get that
scrap of yellow paper lest its evidence
might bring home his crimes
'Who has been in the house?"
mo one but the doctors and nurses
and the servants" said Louise, flush
ing uneasily as she spoke.
l waited expecting her to mention
Crandall's visit, but though she hest
tated for second she said nothing
of It.
q wonder who could have taken it?"
she said after an awkward pause.
"What motive could any one haveg'
asked, determined to direct her
thoughts to Crandall. The only per-
son who would have reason for max
ing away with it would be some one
Who feared that it might be used
against him."
There was silence while We both
| pondered the situation.
You remember" said Louise sud
denly, "the agitation my father showed
at sight Of that paper. If he We're not
lying paralyzed upstairs l think he
would have tried to gain possession
of 1t"
How is your father, and your sis
ter?" l asked, suddenly recalling that
I had asked after neither of them.
Katharine is much better" said Lou
Use. She is entirely conscious, though
very weak, but the doctor says that
she will in all probability recover
quickly. My fathers condition remains
the same, though he seems TO have
regained the use of his right hand.
He wrote some brief directions to-day
about his business"
Are you sure of all the servants ?"
| asked.
"All Of them have been with us for
years; all but one, ever since before
my mothers death. l would not think
of distrusting any of them"
"Are you certain the house has not
been entered in the night?"
l was asking these questions with q.
impossible for any one but Crandall
to have taken the yellow scrap--for
any one else to have even a motive
for taking it.
THAT would be impossible" she
said. "All the doors and windows are
protected by burglar alarms and |
know they are in working order or /
would have heard about it"
There is or there must have BEEN"
said slowly, some traitor in the
house, some thief, some one who had
an object in getting hold of that pa
per-"
There has been no one here" said
Louise with painful effort, mo one
answering that description"
How did you come to look for the
paper in your desk?"
81 wanted" she stopped short.
"Mr. Kent" she said. her entire
manner toward ME stiffening as she
withdrew her hands from mine. az