The Washington times., 1915-05-30

Lenora clutched at Quests arm,
Il felt perfectly certain. when they
left San Francisco, that something
end of Craig yet
Quest, WHO mad been studying a
| tirIe table, glanced once more at the
disatch.
so far ont of the way If we take the
southern route to New York. Let's
| get move on tonight"
Laura led the way to the lift. She
was in state of rare discomposure.
TO think that all the time we've
been giddying round" she muttered
that poor man has been lying in
hospital Makes one feel like
brute"
! Hes been unconscious all the
time" Quest reminded her.
. Might have expected to find us
there when he came to. anyway,
Laura insisted
! Lenora smiled family as she caught
glance frm Quest.
"Laura's got q heart somewhere" she
murmured. only 1t takes an awful lot
of getting att
They found French. already GONZALES
: cent, comfortably installed in the prl
vate ward OF a small hospital in the
picturesque New Mexico town. Laura
almost at once established herself by
his side.
lou re BOlnB 10 lose your JOD mere,
Quest told the nurse, smiling.
The nurse glanced at French.
The change seems to be doing him
good. anyway" she remarked. i
haven't seen him look so bright yet"
Can you remember anything about
the wreck, French?" Quest inquired.
The inspector passed his hand wearily
over his forehead.
1T seems more like dream-or rather
nishtmare-than anything" he ad-
mitted. Il was sitting opposite Craig
when the crash came. l was uncon-
scious for time. When I came to
was simply pinned down by the side of
the car. / could see man working
hard to release me. tugging and strain
ing with all his might. Every now and
! seemed queer. but l could have sworn
1t was Craig. Then other people passed
by. ! heard a shrek of a locomotive.
could see doctor bending over some
bodies. Then it all faded away and
came back again. The second time
vas nearly free. The man v no had been
working SO hard was just smashing the
last bit of timber away, and again
that it was Craig Anyway, he finished
the job / suddenly felt | could move
my limbs. The man stood up as though
exhausted, looked at me. called to the
doctor and then he seemed to fade
| away. 1t might have been because l
was unconscious myself. for I don't re-
! self in bed"
1T would, indeed" the professor re-
marked be an interesting circum-
, cumstance, II might put it that way
If Craig, the arch criminal the man
who has seemed to us so utterly devoid
Of all human feeling, should really have
tolled IN this manner to set free his
c&ptor."
Interesting or not" Quest observed.
I'D like to know whether 1t was Craig
or not. | understand there were about
dozen unrecoGnlzable bodies found"
The nurse, who had left the room for
few minutes, returned with q small
package in her hand, which she handed
to French. He looked at it in a puzzled
manner
Say. what can that be?" he muttered
right but there isn't a soul knows I'm
here except you folks. Will you open
1t. Miss Laura?"
| She took 1t from him and united the
strings. little breathless cry escaped
from her lips as she tore open the paper.
| small black box was disclosed. She
opened the lid with trembling fingers
and drew out scrap of paper. They
all leaned over and readtogether:
You have all lost again. Why not
give 1t up? You can never win.
THE HANDS"
Lenora was perhaps the calmest. She
| simply nodded with the melancholy ar
| of satisfaction of one who finds her pre-
| conceived ideas confirmed.
Il knew it," she exclaimed, softly. "I
knew 1t at the depot. Craig's time has
not come yet. He may be somewhere
| near us, even now"
! She glanced uneasily around the ward
quest. who had been examining the
postmark on the package, threw the
J papers down.
The postmark's all blurred out =" he
| remarked. There's no doubt about il.
| that fellow Craig has the devils own
luck, but we'll get him-we'n get him
! yet. Ill Just take a stroll up to police
, headquarters and make few injuries
! YOU might come with me, Lenora. and
| Laura can get busy with her amateur
| nursinR."
| Il shall make inquiries" the profes-
sor announced briskly. concerning the
local museum. There should be inter-