Belington progressive. [volume] (Belington, W. Va.) 1912-1927, 1915-05-13

uafIy Denlnd.
3y degrees the various members OF
the crowd separated from each other.
| every one gong in his own direction
On my part / was careful not to allow
myself to be joined BY any chance ac-
Qualntance, so that coon found my
! self walking alone. though / fancied
could hear the cautious footsteps OF
Montslembert DIGGING me from be-
hind.
Carefully refraining from any back
ward glance, | pursued my way till
came to long and rather narrow
street which led directly into the one
in which my house was situated AS
turned into it, saw something which
caused my heart to beat violently. Ad-
vancing towards me In the obscurity.
from the far end of the street. was the
| figure OF man. The next moment the
moon penetrated the clouds which had
mufiied it. and perceived that the
approaching figure was my cripple Of
the night of the murder.
"Peering up into my face with the
one eye which was not hidden by the
handage, the fellow commenced to de-
mand money In the usual whine Of hts
class. | affected to hesitate, stopped.
and put my hand into my Pocket. At
the same moment my intent ears
caught light. swift football on the
road behind me.
i can hardly describe how the rest
happened. felt something strike mo
violently in the back, then came
crash of splintered steel. an oath, and
a loud cry In Montalembert's voice as
he came running up from the rear.
Leaving him to deal with the ruffian
behind me. sprang forward and
clutched the one in front
AS had anticipated, his lameness
was feint. Instead, found myself
engaged with an active, powerful man.
who let fall his crutches. and struggled
SO desperately in my grasp that It was
all could do to prevent his escape till
Montalembert came to my assistance.
"The other man, 1t appears, had
been too quick for him. He had taken
to his heels the moment he heard Mon
talembert approaching, and being .
| good runner. had soon made pursuit
hopeless. Nor did ever find out who
he really was, though | imagine him
to have been mere subordinate in
| strument.
with regard to his companion Il
was different. BY our united efforts
| we succeeded In securing him and
dragging him into the house prison-
er. There. his handages torn on and
some false hair removed, his identity
was quickly disclosed. 1t was the
chief of police himself! =
II need not repeat the expressions
which | addressed to him. and which
he received with obstinate silence. But
1t did not take me long to realize that
1t was useless to talk OF furnishing him
for his crimes The only advantage
could gain from my victory was to ex-
tort confession OF the real authors
and motives OF this villainy.
"As. soon as had exhausted myself
in reproaches, therefore, said to him:
but It is not you with whom am
concerned, but those from whom you
received your Instructions. Your fate
Is In your own hands. Tell me the
| whole Of the circumstances frankly,
and you shall go unharmed refuse,
and will take you back to the spot
where you attempted my life and shoot
you down as might have done at the
time
HE turned pale at this threat, which
he had evidently not expected These
gentry who undertake to play fast and
loose with the lives of others, always
attach an extraordinary value to their
own miserable existences.
m. lie Baron, swear to you that
am speaking the truth when say that
know absolutely nothing OF this at
fair beyond the orders which re-
ceived. Those orders were to waylay
M. Staroyitch and you, and If either OF
you should be wearing white thread
on his back, to kill him. You know
yourself that the first time, two nights
ago, let you go, because my agent
failed to see the white thread; and |
have been severely blamed for it since.
The thread must have come off,
Eyes, took it OF that night, be-
cause 1t was not convenient to me to
deal with you then! said, seeking to
impress him with the idea that knew
everything. But now you have not
yet told me from whom you received
these orders you speak Of
Il took out Ey revolver and laid It
on the table.
Well, then. If must say it--from
Prince George himself
Thank you, that is enough. Now
as soon as you have written that down
and signed it in the presence of this
gentleman and myself. you may go
home
Ten minutes later he had gone.
leaving me in possession of a docu-
ment which regarded as not less val
liable than the papers entrusted to me
by poor Starovitch.