The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1913-02-01

What have you done with him?"
Hes In the seaman's quarters. for
ard. sir"
see that he's kept there. Mr. Mac
Leod. l told him I'D feel better II
you put a watch on him tonight To
morrow We'll run in to Gloucester and
look up his people and friends"
very good. sir"
Thank you"
| ! thought Of having look at Peter
Johnson, myself. for I was somewhat
curious to study that face again when
1t was sentient, and had eyes open.
but on second thought l decided to
walt until morning 1t seemed silly
to suspect this seemingly honest but
unfortunate fisherman.
We had not been speeding SO well
| during the afternoon there was some
trouble reported from the engine
| room. and il was a question whether
we had made over fifteen knots an
hour since two O'Clock. l know that
at ten O'Clock that night, when the
moon went down. We were somewhere
east OF Nantucket, and directly in the
path of the transatlantic liners.
The night was balmy as a night in
springtime, and Cameron and | in
light oVercoats sat on the after-deck,
watching the moon slide slowly below
the dark horizon line. Our chairs were
close together, facing the lee rail; his
the farther astern. We talked OF
many things, | remember. He was al
n i,
| pecially in my ambitions to make The
Week power for national good; and,
l remember that We discussed several
| projects ! then had in mind for bring
| Ing about reform In high places. But
| the subject which then interested me
| most, ana regarding which l still ex-
| perienced a vague. unreasoning uneas-
mess. he had avoided throughout the
day and evening, with what seemed
| to me studied intent.
| The sudden cessation of hostilities
on the part of those whom he had
been given every reason to look upon
as his implacable enemies. was GER
tainly strange enough to have invited
endless debate: and l marveled that,
after having accepted my falsehood
as truth, he had not chosen to so over
with me the whole marvelously per
picking business.
His mind, | knew, was relieved by
what ! had made him believe. or he
would not now be the man he was 1;
but despite that, 1t appeared to me,
1t would be most natural for him, on
this day Of all days-the twenty first
OF the month-to question, at least
my previously emphatically stated
conclusions.
/ There had been moment of silence
| between us, and these reflections were
dominant with me, as six bells, ring
ing ont unsteady, announced that
midnight was but an hour distant. Al
that instant, while in time to the
bells strokes, there echoed in my
brain the words: Know then, that be
fore the morning Of the eighth da!
hence" Cameron. lowering his CT
gar. turned to me with:
Clyde, l wonder if you have for
gotten what day this Isl"
don't know why, coming at jus
that particular juncture, the question
should be more upsetting than If II
had come at some other time Of day
but | know 1t seemed SO to me-
For little space my tongue refused
its office. There was lump in my
throat which demanded to be swal
lowed, and l made pretence oi
coughing to hide my plight. At length
| answered, a bit lamely:
No, haven't forgotten. It's
Wednesday. the twenty-first OF Octo
| ber"
He returned his cigar to his lips and
smoked in silence for a full minute
Then, he said, quietly:
It's seven days since that empty
envelope came"
Yes" l returned.
There was another slight pause and
he went on:
Il have been thinking that possibly
you were wrong about the significance
of that empty envelope. Possibly
those enigmatical persons intended
that absence of a definite threat to
imply the inconceivably terrible"
Now that he had started to talk
about 1t, l wished that he had contln
ued his silence l could not under
stand how l had convinced him be
fore. knowing all the while that l was
without truth to support me. Ger
tainly, now, pervaded as I was with
that grim disquietude. 1t would be
even more difficult to carry conviction
with my words.
Whatever they intended" ! ven
tured, yielding fraction of a point
at seems to me that they'll have some
difficulty in carrying it out. There
are no portraits here to mutilate and
no mirrors to smash For the previ-
GUS performances there must be some
more or less simple explanation
Neither you nor | believe in the SUI
pernatural; therefore the things that
happened at Cragholt were brought