The Washington herald., 1915-12-19

! ! oack OF an old painting In the banquet.
ing nall. The frame of this picture form.
aoor' which opens upon pressing :
sprIns' but the APPARATUS, owing to IL,
sat age, works very stifYly. From thi.
position, then. / could hear all ,h., ,ooL
place In the hall, where, + b.d sn,i,tn.,
ed. the negotiations would be condnc,sd
as my mothers picture hangs there
This proved to be the case: for b,,
ssined the top Of the steps whom
i heard the two enter the hall H.,d.I-
berger spoke first.
lnink OF you wanting to buv I.dv
Crespies picture. you sentimental old
Ioo,. = ne SAID IF 1t had been another
l could name who wanted Il. the cas-,
would have been different.
Then 1 heard Ryder's voice. .Wba, do
you mean. Mr.. Heidelberger?. he asked
awaited the reply with some curi,s-
ns. AS had anticipated IL consisted
OF foul and unfounded imnut,,;o,
/ against my poor mother II was. I'm f.cr
more than could bear in silence. and
. rahce of old Ryder too. had
That / wrenched open the nann, 90
| sprang into the room TO conrront ~
sianderer. l heard the sound OF a bIow
Ioho"ed ny an animal-Iike roar of anger
, from Heidelberger.
me next moment he seized the old
man by the throat. Before he had
.iihe 10 proceed further / struck him
,S win my fist that he re-
leased his grip and turned IN fac
MS new asailant
One tribute I must nav IN u.tasr
berger He was. seemingly. incansbIe
vi rear Tor this sudden attack by a
person he had not known to he nres-
eht seemed only to arouse a neu, 70.
sentiment His face. as he turned and
looked me up and down. contained mo
trace of fear.
so It's you that wants the p,c-
'ure' Is IT. he sneered. Y supposa
you ARE
stop" 7 said. T am Roland Cres-
pie and can listen to no more OF vour
foul slandersr
Tor a second he hesitated. looking
from me to Ryder. and then toward
the picture. dimly discernible in the
neht OF the candle which he had
brought with him Then. before
could divine his intentions h. drew
knife from his pocket. and. opening
a blade. took a step in the direction
or the portrait You shall never have
IL" he said.
He had actually inserted the blade
IN the canVas-as an examina tion will
show-when I came upon him. and
we closed in desperate struggle.
trace the finger of destiny. HeideI-
berger was a more powerful man than
myself. but in his fury he endeavored
10 stab me with the knife which he
held in his hand.
seized his wrist. but he wrenched
II from my grasp. leaped back
from him. as he struck down with the
knife-and to the left of one of ths
posts supporting the minstrels. GAL
lery.
In the blindness Of his ,nr.-
Heidelberger failed to perceive III.
proximity of this post Moreover IL
was very dark under the gallery Hs
, threw himself forward savageIv-snd
struck his shoulder against the post.
The impact was tremendous.
Gentlemen. tremble. now. to relat.
"hat happened The AK of Black
Ioefrey. which had hung for centuries
before the rail above was shaken from
Its place by the shock and its time
worn fasteninEs were wrenched bodily
from their hold. At the instant that
HeidelberCer's huge body struck ths
post. the great AK. as though detached
by invisible hands. fell blade down
ward. cleaving the head Of the ur-
fortunate man and remaining with
quiverinC shaft upright in the floor,
The suddenness of the tragedy al
most dazed me. and / was awakened
to its awful reality by old Ryder's
cry-'Oh. Master Roly. AZ Master
Roly I had always been known. and
this name it was which some one stat
ed to be holy
Our subsequent action was. per-
haps. ill-advised Removing the az,
and raising the head of the victim, ex-
animation showed him to be dead. and.
hearing hesitatinC footsteps upon the
narrow stair beneath the gallery. We
seized the candle and retreated through
the secret panel. Ryder severely cut
the rusty bolt into place. 1t was not
until we stood in n lane bordering tn"
grounds. where I had tethered tn"
mare upon which I had ridden from
the farm. that the seemingly guilty
nature of our action dawned upon me.
Now. however. was too late to atone
for what I attributed TO momentary
panic. and, requesting Ryder TO keep
silence until he received instructions
from me, I mounted the mare. intend
ing to return to my lodgings and think
the matter quietly over.
BY an unluCky accident. the brute
threw me. at some distance from th"
farm thereby all but bringing about
second tragedy. The rest you know.
'Of Ryder need only say that
rather than incriminate me he was
prepared to pay the penalty for
deed which was in truth visitation
Of God. DR. Madden recognized me.
of course. and to him also | am eteT-
nally indebted. had proposed I"
made this statement before a magiS-
trate later today.
You see" said Morris klaw. Il have
done uothing. 1t would all have hap
pened the same il ! had been in
Peru"
GrimSby cleared his throat.
without casting any doubt upon
Sir RoIand's word" he began-"there'S
no evidence to go to jury that he
didn't
Pull down the AK himself suc-
gested Klaw.
Grimsby looked uncomfortable.
''WeIl-is there"
There is" rumbled Morris Klaw.
Listen, This case most triumpha
antly substantiates my theory OF
Cycles. Almost parallel II occurred
hundreds of years ago. at Dyke
Manor, The ak has repeated ITSELF
Hum" said Grimsby. Your theory
of Cycles wouldn't hold water with
twelve good men and true. I'm afraid.
Mr.. Klaw."
Yes" replied Morris Klaw. NO
You think not. Ell? Well. then. there
is another important little point.
am an old crank fool. eh? with my
talk OF psychology of crime and theo-
ries OF cycles and odic impressions.
Son But YOU" You are sublime,v
mad my Grimsby, You say he.