The Washington times., 1913-04-18

, when DIR. Crow got through with his
story" asked Gwendolyn.
Something perfectly trivial, said l,
about returning the photograph they q
given him to paint from. Dr. Crow
said he could mail it to Beech Hill.
And them asked Gwendolyn.
That was ALL" said |. Jeffrey said
he wanted to get all off his mind and
there wasn't anything else, was there
Crow said no. and that Jeffrey could
congratulate himself on a highly sue
cessful outcome"
There was a moment of silence. Then
Gwendolyn caught her breath. Oh
she said.
and then she asked: Didn't DIR. Crow
see he'd made a slip? Didn't he try, to
come back and say anything more?'
You and Jeffrey will be the death of
me- 1 exclaimed. Yes. he did. That
is. he started to say something and
checked himself. But how did you
know he'd done that? How did jeffrey
know What was the slip?" ->---
He'd forgotten the gown said
GwendoIyn Don't you see They loan
ed Mr.. jeffrey Claire's own gown to
pose a model in. 1t was ever SO muSh &c,
and an Infinitely more intimate souve-
mir Of the girl herself. He couldn't
have forgotten II, unless
Unless what?' 1 asked, for she had
hesitated there.
When she went on. her voice was
graver. "Unless. Cliff, he knew what
had become Of the gown-unless he'd
seen it so often since that he'd ALMOST
forgotten Mr.. Jeffrey ever had IL. he
couldn't have forgotten it-not Wneh
Mr.. Jeffrey had spoken Of the photo.
graph and asked him straight out II
there weren't any thing else.
Unless he had known what had be-
come of the gown" / sat for five solid
minutes trying to fit that stubborn cir
cumstance into crows story. He didn't
know the gown had been stolen. He
couldn't have known--not IL he knew no
more of Irene Fournier than that he'd
bribed her to disappear and give his pa
tient q second chance for recovery.
dolyn. thoushtfuIIys asomething else
that doesn't fit. There are the earrings.
Cliff He had them in his cardcase.
He dropped one of them on the rug
in the studio and came back and tried
to get it. Those were Ciaire,s earrings.
How did DIR. Crow get them?'
That seems natural enough said I.
Miss Meredith brought them home
with her. Very likely they were in the
same box with the defaced photograph"
ghost that Mr. Jeffrey saw on the
bridge"
Il don't know" said I. That girl
might have been Irene"
but the earrings she cried. That's
where Mr.. Jeffrey saw them. That girl
was wearing them"
We'll, ! saw il at last. Not the way
Jeffrey did. / couldn't hope for that. It
was even probable that Gwendolyn her
self, getting the story at secondhand
from me, saw more than / did But
saw enough to explain our nights Jour
ney through the velvet dark-enough
to give that silent house of Beech Hill
that had never seen a strange, eerie
attraction.
l felt somehow. that in that house
tonight the mystery would be solved
Suddenly through the glass, i saw
Jeffrey turn 10 the chauffer with a
quick order. The car checked its speed.
We were on brick-paved main street
of small town, and the pasty surface
didn't accommodate itself well to the
sudden checking of our speed. The car
did a sweeping side slip down against
the curb and stopped on the intersec-
ton of a cross street. Half block
down / could see the lights of a luncn
wagon.