Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1916-09-09
CHAPTER XIII
The Lure of the Feather


AS quickly as it came, the smile
went, Cotton bent over, his strong
arms lifted the girl tenderly. He car
rled her to couch at the other side
OF the room and laid her down. From
the small bedroom next to the library,
that he sometimes used, he brought a
handkerchief soaked in cold water,
and gently bathed her face and wrists
and hands, feeling the adhesive
plaster bandage over the cut finger.
Inc glrfs eyes opened, she stared up
at the blind man blankly for an in
slant. Then fright came.
The problemist seemed to know the
moment the eyes opened. Perhaps
there was some slight movement of
the body; perhaps it was some subtle
sixth sense he had been given to re-
compense the loss of sight. He spoke
quietly as the girl returned to con-
sciousness.
Lie quiet" he commanded softly.
You can talk when you have rested
a bit"
The piece of wineglass I broke"
Yes. My fingers felt the warm
sickness of the blood on it, and I
have been holding it. I knew that
when the time came it would prove
your identity. I am blind, you know"
Blind ?" He could feel her gaz-
ing into his deep brown eyes that held
no look of their deadness. He did not
wear the disfigur1ng blue-smoked
glasses now, and the eyes seemed to
glow in the white, strong face.
Your doubt is not surprising" he
remarked dryly. There are several
hundred persons in New York who re-
fuse to believe that am blind. There
are several hundred more who know
me by sight, and VINO have talked to
me for years, who do not suspect such
a thing"
so you are the mani" The falter-
ing was gone from the voice; it had
a sudden hardness that was wholly
foreign to the girl Colton's secretary
had described the night before in the
restaurant. You are the man who
is trying to put us into prison!"
Not u.s." he corrected, and his
words were stern.
why did you come home so
quickly?" she demanded.
g Because knew that there would
be some one here whom I wished to
see," he answered frankly.
You knew -
THAT some one wanted the crow
badly enough to risk anything for it's
possession" He finished the sentence
for her.
And you pretended to rush away
so that you could come back here and
trap me?" she said scornfully.
1 didn't expect you," he said, very
seriously. II expected another. The
movement you made as I entered the
door told me that my visitor was a
woman. You crouched in sudden
rear. A man would have made a diff
ferent sound as he moved to a posi-
ton of defense. And the man / ex-
pected would not have carried the
strange odor of that curious Egyptian-
perfume
"He couldn't come! He hasn't -"
She stopped as she realized what he
had tricked her into saying.
But he let you come!"
I'm going! she declared. I'm
going back"
The hand that rested on her shoul
der was so light that she had not even
felt its touch until she started to
move; then it held her with a gentle
hrmness there was no resisting.
You are typically feminine" he
SAID. You don't realize the serious
ness the penal code attaches to en-
trance with intent to steal"
you're going to have me arrest
ed?" she stammered.
He shook his head. I'm going To
listen to your story"
The blind man felt her whole BODY
stiffen; his sharp ears heard the click
OF her firm white teeth as they snap
ped together. II won't tell you a
thing!'
"There are ten thousand police
looking or you, to force you to talk"
he asserted dispassionately.
If he expected to frighten her, he
was mistaken. IT know it," she
answered, and her sneer made the
voice grating. II wouldn't tell them
a thing to implicate any one.
You wouldn't have to!" the blind
man said sternly. you are one of
the murderers of that man in the
restaurant"
He lifted his hand from her
shoulder, but his words seemed to
have driven all thought of movement
from her. You think 1 killed him ?,