Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1914-06-27

| long or dust Wnere tne CLOCK hhu
stood. The key Is gone. too" he said.
busily making entries In his notebook.
What was the makers Manner
why. don't think ever noticed"
He turned to me angrily. why
didn't you noticer' he snapped. Good
God, woman, do you only use your
eyes to cry with? How can you wind
clock time after time and not know
the makers name? 1t proves my con-
tention-the average witness is totally
unreliable"
Not at ALL I snapped IT am ordi-
narily both accurate and observing"
'Indeedr' he said, putting his hands
behind him. Then perhaps you can
tell me the color OF the pencil have
been writing with"
Certainly. Red" Most pencils are
red, and i thought this was safe.
But he held his right hand out with
n flourish. I've been writing with a
| fountain pen." he said in deep disgust
! and turned his back on me.
But the next moment he had run TO
the washstand and pulled IL out from
| the wall. Behind II, where it had
fallen. lay a towel covered with stains
as IL some one had wiped bloody hands
on it. He held II up, his face working
with excitement / could only cover
my eyes.
This looks better" he said and be-
gan making a quick search of the
room. running from one piece of furni-
ture TO another, pulling out bureau
drawers. drawing the bed out from the
wall and crawling along the Dashboard
with a lighted match in his hand. He
gave a shout OF triumph finally and re-
appeared from behind the bed with the
broken end of my knife In his hand.
VERY clumsy" he said: very clum- !
sy. Peter, the dog, could have done |
better"
had been examining the wall paper |
about the washstand- Among the ink
spots were one or two reddish ones
that made me SILVER. And seeing
scrap of note paper stuck between the
base board and the wall / dug 1t out
with a hairpin and threw it into the
crate. to be burned later. 1t was by
the merest chance there was no fire
there. The next moment Mr.. Hol-
combe was on his knees by the fire.
place reaching for the scrap.
Never do that under such circum-
stances" he snapped, fishing among
the ashes. You might throw away
Hello. Howell!''
turned and saw a young man in
the doorway. smiling. his hat in his
hand. Even at that first glance
liked Mr.. Howell, and later, when ev-
cry one was against him and many
curious things were developing. stood
by him through everything and even
helped him to the thing he wanted
more than anything else in the world.
But that, OF course. was later. !
What's the trouble. uolcombe?" he )
asked Hitting the trail again.
"A very curious thing that / Just !
happened on said Mr.. Holcombe. /
Mrs. Pitman, this is Mr.. Howell. of b
whom / spoke. Sit down. Howell. and il
ct me read you something" u
With the crumpled paper still I'M
opened in his hand, Mr.. Holcombe took {
lis notebook and read aloud what he i.
lad written. l have it before me now: b
Dog meat. 50. boat hire'-that's not f
t Here. Yesterday, Sunday. March u
/. Mrs. Pitman. Iandlady at ~ Union b
treet, heard two of her boarders quar- G
cling. a man and his wife. Mans Il
W AAG - I
ennie Ladley. known as Jennie Brice ,
{ the Liberty Stock company. where :
be has been playing small parts :
Mr.. Howell nodded. I've heard OF %
er." he said Not much of an ac- -
ress. l believe" :.
e" The husband was also an actor -
ut OF work. and employing his leisure
me in writing a play" =.
"Everybody's doing it." said Mr. -,
lowell idly. .t =,
THE Shuberts were TO star him in
lis" i pnt in. HE said that the IN
imax at the. end OF the second act N
Mr.. Holcombe shut his notebook m
18th a snap. After we have finished \,
,ssipIng." he said. ''I'Il go on" Oh
e Employing his leisure time in
riting n play" quoted Mr.. Howell. 20
Exactly. The husband and wife g.,
ere not on good terms. They quar- -
led frequently. On Sunday they a.
ught all day. and Mrs. Ladley told -,
IS. Pitman she was married to a -
nd. At 4 o'clock Sunday afternoon ~
Hip Ladley went out. returning y.
out 3. Mrs. Pitman carried their %
pper to them at @. and both ate ",
artiiy. She did not see Mrs. LadIey W
the time. but heard her I'm the next
I'm. They were apparently reconcil-
Mrs. Pitman reports Mr.. Ladley So
high good humor. II the quarrel GO
during the night the 9TH ,e'
bOarder. named Reynolds. in the uol
II room heard nothing. Mrs. Pit iiee
n was up and down until 1 o'clock. qa'
en- she dozed of. She heard no IN oi
lal sound cio
AT approximately 2 o'clock in the ma
rning. however. this Reynolds came yer
the room and said he had heard
ne one in a boat In the lower hall. sta!
and Mrs. Pitman investigated The hr'
4 which Mrs pttr,an nee. d,-,-, IAN
q ana which she had tted 20 the line
II rail was gone. having been cut the
'e. not united Everything else woi
J quiet. except that Mrs. Ladley's non
had been shut in a third story wit
m. VIII