Mansfield mirror. (Mansfield, Wright County, Mo.) 1908-1957, 1915-10-21
CHAPTER xx-Continued.

And that was when you began to
suspect" queried Raymer.
THAT was when the suspicion be,
gan 10 torture me. l fought 1t; oh.
you don't know how hard l fought it!
There he was, lying sick and helpless;
utterly unable to do a thing or say a
word in his WI defense: and yet. II
he were the robber, of course. we
should have to give him up. 1t was
terriblei"
Il should say So" was Raymer's
sympathetic comment. How did you
get it Strengthened out, at last?"
1T hasn't been altogether straight
ened out until just lately-within the
past few days." she went on gravely.
After he began to get we'll. l made
him talk TO me-about himself. you
know. There didn't seem to be any
thing 10 conceal. At different times
he told me all about his home, and his
mother, whom he barely remembers,
and the ~big.hearted, open-handed ia.
ther who made money so easily in his
professionals was the Griswold. the
great architect, you k~now-that he
gave ii to anybody who wanted it
but | suppose he has told you all this?"
No; at least, not very much of It"
Miss Grierson went on smoothly,
falling alphabetically into the remi.
niscent vein.
Kenneth went 10 college without
ever having known what It is to lack
anything in reason that money could
buy. A little while after ne was gradu-
ated his father died"
Leaving Kenneth poor. | suppose;
he has intimated as much to me. once
or twice." said Raymer.
Leaving him awfully poor. He
wanted TO learn 10 write, and for a
long time he stayed on in New York,
living just any old way, and having a
dreadfully hard time of it, imagine,
though he would say much
about that part Of it. That is why he
thinks he is a socialist. At last | felt
that l just must know. at whatever
cost. One day when We were driving,
brought him here and-and intro
duced him to Mr.. Galbraith. | was 30
scared that ! could taste it-but | did
IT,"
Raymer laughed. "Of course moth.
Ing came of it"
Nothing at all. And then, right out
OF a clear sky, came another proof that
was even more convincing. Do you
happen to know who the young woman
was who discovered the bank robber
on the steamboat"
Il? How should | know"
~ didn't know but she had told you."
was the demure rejoinder. 1T was
Charlotte F%arnham."
what" CALCULATED Raymer. But
he was not more deeply moved than
was the man behind the window cur
tains. II Brofln's dead cigar had not
been already reduced to shapeless in
utility, Miss Grierson's cool announce
. ment, carrying with 1t the assurance
that his secret was no secret. would
have settled it.
It's So" she was adding calmly. Il
found out. How do know? Because
her father bought the draft at poppa's
bank, and in the course Of time 1t
came back with the Bayou State Sc
curity's dated paying stamp on il. See
how easy IT was!"
Raymer's laugh was not altogether
mirthful.
You are a WITCH" he said. rs
there anything you don't know"
Not very many things that ! really
need to know" was the mildly boast
full retort. But you see, now, how
foolish my suspicious were"
Raymer nodded. Though he would
cot have admitted 1t under torture. the
entire matter figured somewhat as a
mountain constructed out Of a rather
small molehill to a man for whom the
subtleties lay In a region unexplored.
He wondered that the ciear-minded
little social climber" as his sister
called her. had ever bothered her
uimble brain about such an abstruse
sad far.fetched question Of identities.
you said. a"few minutes ago. that
Girls void calls himself a socialist. That