The Washington herald., 1914-11-22

since they were first put on guard. the!
declared-at no time, either by day OF
\ by ntght-had q living creature enteret
or left the house up to now, except tn
admiral superintendent, his secretary, th'
summoned To look after the stricken girl
| To that they one and all were Willing
to take solemn oath.
There Is an old French proverb which
says: He that protests too much lead
to the truth in spite Of himself. II
was the last man to be called who die
No; air-nObOdy passed either n O
out. sir-I take my dying oath to that.
asserted he, his feelings riled up by tht
thought that this constant questioning
Of his statement was q slur upon hii
ine to the 20 dos docf &u master You % must
known-he must told you'll wouldn'i
even let young Master Reggie In las
night when he come a pleading to be
let in to get the schoolbooks he'd left
When he WHAT" almost roared the
dock master. Good Lord, Marshall
have you gone on your head? Do you
here-last night? Do your
Certainly. sir. Just after that awful
clap OF thunder. 1t was, say, about five
or six minutes after-and what with that
and the darkness and the way the wind
was bowling. ! never see nothing nor
heard nothing Of him coming till got
to the door and there he was. It's me
Master Reggie Marshall he says. I've
come to get my schoolbooks,' he says. i
left 'em behind in the hurry and father
says he's sure you'll let me go in and
get 'em" oh, does he% l says. Well.
I'm surprised at him and at you, too,
go against orders. Word is that no
body gets in. and nobody does 1 says.
Which sets him a snivelling and plead
ing till I has to take him by the shoul-
dar md fair draU him hafnra
ccnld get him to GO
We'll done. Sophie exclaimed Cleek.
Cad! What creature OF resource the
woman Is and what an actress she would
make. the vixen. No need to ask you II
your son really did come over here last
night, Mr.. Beechman-your surprise and
Indignation have answered for you"
Il should think II would, by George"
raped out the dock master, sharply.
Why look here. Sir Charles; look here,
Mr.. Cleek. Even If 1 had been willing.
he couldn't have done it. The poor
little chap met with an accident when
that terrific clap of thunder came and
he's been in bed ever since. He missed
his footing in coming down the stairs
and fell in the darkness.
In the darkness. Mr.. Beechman?. :.
the darkness of a first-cl4ss hotel at half
past seven in the EVENING""
Yes. That Internal clap OF thunder
some way. sir. Every light in the ho-
tel went bang out-as black as pocket,
strand he fen then. We thought for
the moment that the wires must have
fused. but IL turned out that there was
nothing the matter with them-only that
the current had been interrupted for a
bit
lash. then screwed round on his heel
and looked at the telegraph operator.
Speak up-quick"' he said in the sharp
staccato Of excitement. Il am told that
~ ~ fhA I'd
message began there was a force that
almost knocked you on your stool Is
that true-is it?'
YES. sir. perfectly true. It was some
what ii would have been II I'd been
touching the instrument"
You'd have been as dead as Julius
Caesar" fiung back Cleek. NO wonder
no wonder the lights went out! Mr..
Narkom, the limousine-Quick! Come
along. Sir Charles
Where. Mr.. Cleek-where?'
To the top floor OF the house next
door to the Ocean Billow Hotel Sir
Chsrles-to see Miss Greta Hillmann's'
precious pensioners Unless ! am wo-
fully mistaken. gentlemen. one part of
the very elements have conspired to
protect old England and TO become her
fOemRn's executioner."
He was not mistaken-not in any point
with regard to that house and the part
II had played in this peculiar case-for
when they came to il and demanded in
the name Of the law the right to enter
and TO interview the bedridden woman
and the crippled girl who occupied the
top floor" they were met with the an
nouncement that no such persons dwelt
there nor had they ever done so.
1T IS let TO an invalid, II IS true" the
landlady-a dear, motherly, unsuspect-
ing old soul-told them when they made
the demand. but 1t Is gentleman, not
a lady. A professional gentleman, I be-
lieve-artist or sculptor. something OF
that sort-and never until last night has
anybody been with him but his niece,
who makes occasional calls. Last night,
however; a nephew came-just for a mo-
ment. No. nobody has called today.
neither has the gentleman left his room.
But he often sleeps until late
He was sleeping forever this time
For when they came to mount the stairs
and force open the locked door of the
room, there. under a half-opened sky
light. a dead man sat, one screwed-up
hand still clutching the end
Of fiex which went VI, and out to
the telegraph wires overhead. On table
beside the body fused and utterly de-
molished telegraph instrument stood and
IL was evident from the scrap of lex
still clinging to this that il had once
formed part of that which the dead hand
held. that il had snapped somehow and
that the man was attempting to reattach
i to the instrument when death overlook
him.
Gentlemen. the wire tapper-Boris
said Cleek. as he bent over
and looked at him Step here. Mr..
Beechman, and tell me II this is not
the man who played the part OF Miss |
jreta Hillmann's interest papa"
''Yes-yes!" exclaimed the dock master, |
cXcitedly. 1T is the very man, sir, the |
very onei But who? But why? But
ow?"-and looked upward in a puzzled |
way to where the fieX went up and \
threading through a maze Of wires hook |
ed itself fast to one.
that inqulring glance. "A few thousand |
VOlts-a flash of flame through heart and |
head and limbs and then-this, See il, |
10 you, Sir Charles. He was taking the /
message from the tapped wire with that
lex and the fragment that reached the /
telegraph office only got through when
he fiex snapped. The furious gale did /
hat, no doubt, whipping II away from
Is moOrlngs, so to speak. and letting |
he message flash on before he could
when you look up and see that other
Vire-the thick one with the insulated
'oatings torn and frayed by contact with
he chimney's rough edge? 1t is not
lard to reconstruct the tragedy when
me sees that. When the neX snapped
ne reached up and grabbed it and was
n the very act of again attaching il
o the instrument when he became his
'wn eXecutioner. Look for yourself The
Wild wind must either have blown the
light or the barred wire against the fieX-T I
hat We shall never know-and in the
Of an eye he was annihilated |
But look there-the pile Of burnt paper
resides the fused instrument and the
Under Of a matchbox against il. The
orce which obliterated life in him in
used it into the dipped heads OF those
title wooden sticks and flashed them