The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-06-19

you, erred Se0gW1cE; "but l never saw fhe woman before in my life, Kent. T give you my word of honor! She came end went, but who she is or why she came or where she went I have no more idea than you have-per- haps not nearly so much.''
 There you are wrong. Pm depend ing on you to tell me about her"
 ''Not if my life hung on it. And how could her being found drowned on the beach be connected with me?''
 "sI didn't say that she was found drowned on the beach,"
 You did-no; pardon me; it was the messenger boy. But you said that her body was found in Lonesome Cove.''
 That is quite different matter.p
 ~She wasn't drowned?' ?'' : ''I should be very much surprised If the autopsy showed any water in the lungs"
 "But the boy said that the body was lashed to a grating, and there were chains on it-is that true?'
 'sIt was lashed to grating and man. aeled"
 s'.1fanacIed7 What ghastly mys- teryT' Sedgwick dropped his chin in meditation. eff she wasn't drowned then she was murdered and thrown overheard from a boat-is that it?''
 Chester Kent smiled inscrutably Suppose you let me do the question ing a while You can give no clew whatsoever to the identity of your yes terday's visitor2'
 There was the slightest possible hes 1tation before the artist replied, None at aIl.''
 eff find it difficult to believe that what will the villagers think of 1t TN1.1 T-N- dystown and tells his story, as he is sure to dog'
 &tDoes Dennett know the woman9''
 ssNo; but it isn't his fault that he doesn't. He did his best in the inter viewing line when he met her on her way to your place."
 'sShe wasn't on her way to my place. objected Sedgwicl.
 s'Dennett got the notion that she was. He hid behind a bush and watched.s
 'tDid he overhear our conversation ?"
 tsHe was too far away. He saw the attack on you Now, just it together these significant bits of fact. The body of a woman, dead by violence, is found on the beach not far from here. i The last person, as far as is known, to have seen her alive is yourself She
  quy, apparently vehement, between you, eliminating in the assault upon you She hurried away. one might well guess that later you followed her to her death"
 low tone.
 s.For what purpose?''
 ttTo find out who she was"
 xxo47 7i7v,,f i17 Sss
 ''She was too quick for me. The blow of the rock had made me giddy, and she got away among the thtckets.' 2
 That's a pity. One more point of suspicion. Dennett, you say, saw your picture, The Rough Rider He will tell every one about it, you may be sure
 "what of it?"
 NThe strange coincidence of the sub ject and the apparent manner of the Sunknown's death"
 People will hardly suspect that I killed her and set her adrift for a model, I suppose" said the artist bit terIy, particularly as Dennett can tell them that the picture was finished be fore her death. w9s sitting on my wall when the woman came down the road. noticed her first when she stopped to look back, and her absurd elegance of dress, expensive and i'll fit ting, attractive my closer attention. She was carrying a bundle wrapped in strong paper. It seemed to be heavy, for she shifted it from hand to hand. When she came near spoke to her.
 You spoke to her first?''
 well, we spoke simultaneously She asked me the time. She seemed anx- ious to know. Tn fact, I think she used the word texact;' the exact time, she said.''
 Presumably she was on her way to an appointment, then.''
 Every likely. When I told her she seemed relieved, might even say relax l ed. As if from the strain of nervous haste, you know" s>
 Good! And then2''
 'tShe thanked me and asked if were MT. Sedgwick. I answered that was and suggested that she make good by completing the introduction" t'She wasn't a woman of your own class, then?"
 CTo be Continued.)