The Washington herald., 1915-10-17

nights"
And yet was unable. when called
before the board. to pick out Pebble
cote from a crowd of twenty men.
True, but he heard the German ad
dress his companion by name; and
] then, in addition, Pebblecote was quite
unable to give an account of his move
ments upon the two nights in ques'
ton"
Not one man in a hundred ever
can, Mr.. Narkom, when asked to dc
so month or more afterward. l al
ways thought young Pebblecote's fail
ure to satisfy his examiners upon tina,
point one of the weakest urged
against him. Happily, too. his judges
did not attach any great weight to it. v
But there was more conclusive evil
dence, as you doubtless remember"
Eyes. Some one of his colleagues
discovered letter written by the
German, Won Blumwitz, and address
ed to him by name, hidden under a
rock on the cliffs at point core
spending exactly with that which the
coastguard designated as the spot
where he had seen them together,
believe. l also seem to remember
hearing that the finder of that letter
confessed to having kept it hidden
for three days before he could bring
himself to produce it as evidence
against a comrade and friend. That
may not be exactly the service dehni-
ton of conduct becoming an officer
and a gentleman Mr.. Narkom; but
it was. at least, the act OF hero and
a man
"You are right in both particulars.
1t was Gen. Stanheld's son who per-
formed that act"
The young chap who. as you tell
me, was murdered the night before
last?"
Yes. A good many people wonder
ed. l believe, how. when having sup
pressed it in 1e Interests of COM
rade. he ever reconciled himself to
bringing it forward again. l never
knew the truth of that until Miss
Wixtead herself told me about it this
morning. To begin with then, it was
not friendship at all which impelled
him to shield Pebblecote, for they
never had been friends in any sense
of the word. Rivals. would be the
more proper term-rivals for the hand
OF Miss Wixtead. That was why
young Stanheld hesitated to show the
letter. He hated to have it said-as it
was said. afterward, by Pebblecote
and his people-that he was scoring
against rival: but, although his ma
ture as man urged him to conceal
the thing, his honor as soldier told
him that he was doing wrong against
his country and his king; and in this
dilemma, he called upon his father to
advise and to guide him. You need
not be told what answer such a man
would give to such question as that.
"'Show it, he almost shouted at
the boy Knowing this thing against
James Pebblecote, your duty is to
your country and your king. Do it,
sir! Do it, do you hear me?-or by
God I'll do it for you"
$50 the boy took his advice and The
letter was shown; Pebblecote was
convicted on the evidence of it, and
But you must tell me the rest later.
l am ready at last and we shall be
able to catch the one o'clock train
after all"
Thank goodness" replied Mr..
Narkom. fervently; "for Miss Wix-
tead will be on thorns. poor girl. She
is waiting there for us"
Cleek fingered a moment to give
Dollops the necessary money and the
necessary instructions to follow by
the next train-the 3:3o-the last be-
fore night-then caught up his hat
and ran out with the superintendent
to the limousine.
Now you may 60 on with the
story, Mr.. Narkom-my recollection
OF the Pebblecote affair wants lit
tie brushing up, I'm afraid" he said,
as the car swung round and faced the
short run from Portman Square to
Paddington Station with bounding
eagerness Young Stanfeld showed
the letter. told how he had come by
it, confessed why he had withheld it;
and then-what? Pebblecote was con-
victed, | fancy"
Yes. But he didn't get half so much
punishment as he ought to have had.
Young Stanheld was reprimanded by
the board for having concealed the
letter even for minute-although
every jack man on it, secretly hon
ored and admired the boy for it-and,
the court OF inquiry being dissolved.
everybody looked upon the incident
as closed for good and all"
What are the facts which seem to
connect the two unhappy affairs.
please?'