Abbeville progress., 1914-03-07

little to do with the direction OF the
weapon. into which he looked. Then
an owl hooted far away in the forest
and Orlando. slowly lowering his arm.
asked in an oddly constrained tone.
How long have you been in town.
The answer cut clean through any
lingering hope he may nave had.
Ever since the day your brother
was told the story Of his great mis-
fortune"
"Ah. suu at your old tricks! /
thought YOU had quit that business as
Improbable
Il don't know never expect quick
returns lie who holds on for a rise
sometimes reaps unlooked-for profits
The arm and fist of Orlando Broth
ersou achod 20 hUrI this fellow back
into the heart OF the midnight woods
But they remained quiesceny and he
spoke instead.
81 have buried the business. You
viii never rcsUscitate il through me-"
Swcetwater smiled There was no
..irth in his smile though there was
lgEtness in his tone as he said:
Then let us go back TO the matter
in hand. You need a helper; where
are you going to find one if you don't
take me?"
A grOwl from BrOtherson's s set lips.
Never had he looked more dangerous
than in the one burning instant follow
ing this daring repetition of the de
tective's outrageous request. rut as
he noted how slight was the figure op-
posing him from the other side of the
threshold he was swayed by his nat
ural admiration OF pluck in the physi-
cally weak, and lost his threatening
attitude. only 10 assume one which
Sweetwater secretly found it even
harder to meet
You are a fool" was the stinging
remark he heard flung at him. DO
you want to play the police-officer
here and arrest me in mid air?"
Mr. Brotherson, you understand me
as little as ] am supposed TO under
stand you. Humble as my place is III
society and. | may add, in the depart
mcut whose interests | serve, there
are i'm me two men. One you know
passabIy well-the detective whose
methods, only indifferently clever,
show that he has very much to learn
OF the other-the workman acQuaint-
ed with hammer and saw. but with
some knowledge too of higher mathe-
matics and the principles upon which
great mechanical inventions depend.
you know little, and must imagine
much | was playing the gawky when
helped you in the old house in
Brooklyn. | was interested in your
airship-Oh | recognized it for what it
was, Notwithstanding its oddity and
but | was not caught in the whirl o.
its idea; the idea by which you doubt
less expect, and with very good reason
too, to reyolutiOnize the science Of
aviation. But since then I've been
thinking it over, and am so filed with
your own hopes that either | must
have a hand in the finishing and sail
ing Of the one you have yourself con
structed. or go to work myself on the
hints You have unconsciously given
me, and make a car of my own"
AudaCity often succeeds where
subtler means fail Orlando, with a
curious twist of his strong lip, took
hold of the detectives arm and drew
him in, shutting and locking the door
carefully behind him.
Now" said he, you tell me what
you think you have discovered, to
make any ideas of your own available
in the manufacture of a superior self
propelling airship."
Sweetwater. who had been so vio-
lently wheeled about in entering that
he stood with his back to the curtain
concealing the car, answered without
hesitation:
You have a device, entirely new so
far as | can judge, by which this car
can leap at once into space, hold its
own in any direction, and alight again