The Eureka sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1902-current, 1915-02-06


you've made me break it,
/ rode back and, recovering the hat,
handed 1t to her. She examined it
carefully and then looked up at me
smilingly.
mo. it isn't hurt" she announced,
land you're forgiven. Now tell me
why you avoided mi this morning.
1 hesitated, not wishing TO reopen
the forbidden subject, but frankness
seemed the only reliable safeguard for
the future.
II trust you will not misunderstood
me, Miss Frayne," l began. but after
our conversation last night l felt l had
nc right to meet you until my present
duty
AFTER our conversation last
nightY" she interrupted. What con-
versation!'
you know" / answered.
Indeed i do not" she asserted, with
a shade of annoyance in her voice.
The denial disappointed me, and 1
did not care to conceal my feeling.
You must certainly remember tele-
phoning me-" / responded coldly.
'Telephoning you? l never tele-
phoned you in my life"
/ stared at the girl in amazement,
but her puzzled expression was sim
certify itself.
"Well, somebody / began.
Then suddenly it flashed upon me
that the person at the other end of the
wire had spoken truly when she an
nounced herself as the h~ousekeeper
and that my %confidante was no other
than Madeleine Mapes.
Somebody telephoned you?"
l heard the prompting inquiry, but
before l could reply other questions
crowded my mind demanding instant
explanation. Miss Mapes had tele-
phoned me, and l had mistaken her
voice for Barbara Frayne's. That was
perfectly clear. But why had the wo-
man communicated with me at all,
and what was the meaning of her mes
sage? Why should she advise me of a
fact which she had already communi-
Gated to Miss Emery's lawyer? But
had she really done so? OF course
Barstow must be aware that his client
had not occupied her room on the night
Of the murder. She would certainly
have told him this herself, but it did
not necessarily follow that she knew
her friend the housekeeper had taken
her place. No a n lawyer would try
to suppress a vital fact of this kind
and attempt to persuade the only wit
ness by which he could prove it to
leave the state. 1t was incredible that
he had been advised of the true state
of affairs.
But could a woman who lied to me
on one point be trusted upon any 9TH
err? If the housekeeper had deliberate
ly deceived her friends lawyer
A sudden suspicion halted my
thought. Was she Miss Emory's
friend? What had driven her to make
this extraordinary confession to a man
she did not know? Was it the prompt
ing of a guilty conscience or that re-
s~istless impulse to confde in somebody
which convicts nine criminals cut of
every ten? Why had she disobeyed
Barstow's instructions and returned to
the state where she might be subpoe-
naed 1t any moment and compelled to
testify? The scene Of the crime is said
to have q fatal fascination for the
criminal. Was this the explanation of
her presence?
Il shall continue prompting you I'M
til you take the cue. Somebody tele-
phoned your
l glanced at Miss Frayne's bright,
questioning face. and all my perplexi-
ties were instantly merged in the glad
thought that she was not involved in
the ease and that my suspicious and
fears concerning her were wholly with
out foundation.
Yes, somebody telephoned me-" |
responded smilingly, land thought
You thought the somebody was IT.
YES"
"What made you think SOP
II pistook the voice"
"Only the voice?"
The auestiOn was accusing. and real