The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1915-08-13

~
The Card Was Black.
at last accept the martyrdom thrust on
her by hideOus fate-accept 1t for his
sake.
And finally she spoke. very softly.
gaspingly, as one wholly spent.
ITO ave him from d~isgrace-yes.
even that"
Andrew persisted.
you would not falter?'
. The leaden voice came:
mo. I am sure"
Then, at last. the Master Mind per-
mitted himself the luxury Of q doubt.
full comforting.
1T may be-" he said gently. that
this supreme sacrifice will not be nec-
essary. But If it should be-well. here
Is the money"
Again he held forth the sheaf of
bills. and now the girl put out a Ian
guild hand. took them. and hid them in
her bosom. her face m~asque-like in its
misery. las nearly as l have been
able to learn" Andrew continued. in a
brisker voice. "Creegan will make his
attempt here about 2 o'clock tomor.
row morning. OF course. he will come
directly to this room as he has doubt
less acquainted himself with the gen.
eral plan Of the house and knows that
the safe is in this alcove. You will
meet him here when he comes"
"Yes." The word was spoken In a
lifeless tone
Nothing mattered now. She went
from the room slowly. with dragging
steps.
For q long time after Lucene was
gone from the library Andrew stood as
she had left him. with moody eyes
staring unseeing into space. and the in
tensity of his emotion was shown in
the harsh grimness of his face.
But at last that expression vanished
in an instant. In place Of 1t there was
revealed Il malignant exultation fright
full to see. The black hate Of him
glowed from his face. burned cruelty
from his eyes. He hurried stealthily to
the large table where was lying a book
he had seen Wainwright reading often.
a book of love poems.
The Master Mind took from an inner
pocket a card of pasteboard. blank,
which he placed between the leaves Of
the book. in such fashion that it pro-
truded noticeably. and so left it lying
there. For a long minute he stood look
ing down in sinister glOating: then,
with a sardonic chuckle. he turned and
went out.
The card was black.
Marshall. the Pinkerton detective N.
gagged by Wainwright to ferret out the
mystery Of the cards by tracing them
to their source. had wholly failed in
accomplishing anything whatever in
that direction.
Tonight he had come to the mansion
under the guise Of a participant in
Wainwright's campaign work. as he
had done frequently hitherto. in order
yet once again to review with his prin.
cipal the facts Of the case In a final
desperate hope Of CHANGING on some
neglected item that might suffice as a
clew to definite Information.
"Well. what do you think Of it?"
Wainwright demanded in bis library.
The detectives face. too. indicated 3
like depression of spirit.
might as we'll be frank" he said
reluctantly. II must confess. Mr..
| Wainwright. that this thing has got me
stumped." >
"Can't we get any help from the post.
office ~inspectorsr" wainwright sug.
gested. ,.
They've been doing what they
could" Marshall replied. but they
haven't got anything yet"
Its been two months now since the
coming Of the red card" Wainwright
unused.
1.-The longer the better!" the detec'
tive exclaimed energetically. Its be.
ginning to look to me rs II the chaps
nerve might be petering-as II you'd
never get that black card. the one to
mean real business. Take It from me
Mr.. Wainwright. it's just one Of those
cranks that are always annoying pub
lie men. Why. it stands to reason
when you come to think Of it. You
see, the sender Of those mysterious
cards claimed to be Henry Aliens
brother. Well. now, that dts In with
my theory. because nobody eve heard
Of Henry Aliens brother at any othe,
time. II there really had been such
brother he would have appeared to aid
Henry at the time Of the trial."
Wainwright was not In the least
convinced. he remembered the FAC,