Audubon County journal. (Exira, Iowa) 1884-1993, 1913-02-06
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Hamlin sank back on. the bench snt
leaned his head ON his hand. Had any
thing been accomplished by this in
terview? One thing, at least hat
thoroughly demonstrated that The
charm once. exercised over his imasi
nation by this beautiful woman hae
completely vanished. He saw her nov
AZ she was-heartless, selfish, usins
her spell of beauty for her own scrd.t
ends. II there had been left a shred
of romance in his memory Of her. i
! was now completely shattered. He,
GOODNESS, her adroit changing O.
moods. convinced him she was playin,
/, game. What game? Nothing In he
words had revealed It's nature, yet the
man instinctively felt that it must in
J volve Molly Mcdonald. LAboriouely
he reviewed, word by word, each sen
tence exchanged, striving to- and some
clew. He had pricked her in the Gas.
kins affair, there was no doubt Of
that; she knew, or at least suspected,
the party firing the shot She denied
! at first having been married to LIE
Fevre, and yet later had been COM
PEELED to acknowledge that marriage.
There then was deliberate false
hoAi, which must have been told for
a purpose. What purpose? Did she
imagine it would make any difference
with him. or did she seek to shield
LIE Fevre from discovery? The latter
reason appeared the more probable,
for the man must have been in the
nefghborhood lately, else where did
that haversack come from?
So engrossed was Hamlin with
these thoughts that he hardly real
lied that some one had lifted the win
dow curtain cautiously. The beam of
light flashed across him, disappearing
before he could lift his head to ascer-
tain the cause. Then voice spoke,
and he leaned back to listen.
Not there; gone back to the dance
likely, while we were at the bar"
Nobody out there?" this fellow
growled his words.
Some soldier asleep with his head
on the rail; drunk, reckon. Who
was she with this timer"
! "Barrett?"
who? Oh, yes, the fellow who
brought in that troop of the Seventh
Lord. the old girl is getting her hooks
into him early, Well, as long as Gas
kins is laid up, she may as well amuse
herself somewhere else. Barrett is
rather good locker, isn't he? Do
you know anything about the man?
Has he got any stuff?'
Don't know" answered the gruff
voice. He's West Pointer. Vera
likes to amuse herself once in while;
that's the woman of it. Heard from
Gaskins to.ight?"
"Oh, he's all right" the man
laughed. THAT little prick frightened
him Though. Shut up like clam
so heard. He'll pay to keep the
story quiet, all right AS soon as he
Is we'll enough to come down here.
We'll tap his bundle. Swore he was
shot by cavalry sergeant, didn't he ?''
l And sticks to it like mule. Must
have it in for that fellow. Well, it
helped our getaway"
Eyes, we're safe enough, unless Gas.
kins talks. ard he's so in love with
the Mcdonald girl he'll spiel out big
rather than have any scandal now.
Wish | could get word with Vera
tonight; she ought to see him tonor.
row-compassion, woEanly sympathy.
and all that rot, you know, helps the
game. Let's drift over toward the
Palace, Dan, and maybe / can give
her the sign"
Hamlin caught glimpse of their
backs as they passed out-one in in
tantry fatigue, the other, a heavier
built man, fairly we'll dressed in citi-
zen's clothes. Inspired by a desire
to see their features the Sergeant
swung himself over the rail, and
dropped lightly to the ground. In an
other moment he was out on the
street. in front of the hotel, watching
the open door. The two passed within
a few feet Of him, clearly revealed in
the light streaming from the dance
hall. The soldier Jagged somewhat
behind. an insignificant, rat-faced fell
low. but the larger man walked
straight. with squared shoulders. He
wore Droad-br1mmed hat pulled low
over his eyes, and black beard con-
cealed the lower portion Of his face.
Hamltn followed as the two pushed
their way up among the idle crowds
congregated on the wooden steps, and
peered in through the wide doorway.
Satisfied that he would recognize both
worthless when they met again, and
realizing now something of the plot
being operated. Hamlin edged in
closer toward the sergeant who was
guarding the entrance. The latter
recognized him with nod.
Pretty busy. Masters"
Have been, but there will be lull
now; when they come back from sup
per there'll be another rush likely.
Would you mind taking my job min
ute while go outsider"
mot in the least; take your time.