Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1916-11-09
he in0uirad-

he inquired.
Her gaze met his bravely. 81 am
troubled, perhaps-but happy" she
| said.
"Then am very glad" he said, smil-
| ing at the delicate color that enhanced
her exquisite beauty as she made the
! confession. II had hoped as much"
| He looked from the one to the other.
You nave made up your
minds?'
The wife answered for both: at is
settled, dear friend: l can struggle no
longer. I thought myself a strong
Womani have tried to believe myself
a genius bound upon the wheel of an
| fll-starred destiny; but 1 find I ann
| the glorious voice trembIed slightly
"only woman in love and no stronger
! than her love-"
Il am very glad" Ember repeated.
| 'for both your sakes. It's a hapDy
consummation of my dearest wishes. I"
I'VE owe you everything" whitaker
said with feeling, dropping an awk-
ward hand on the others shoulder.
down there on the Great West bay, so
that we learned to know one another
Il plead guilty to that little plot
yes" Ember laughed. "But, best of
all, this comes at just the right time
the rightest time, when there can no
longer be any doubts or questions or
MISUNDERSTANDING, no ground for fur
Their fears and apprehensions, when
the destroying angel of your ill
starred destiny my dear''-he turned
to the woman-"is exorcised-ban-
prescribed"
"Max-!'' Whitaker struck in explo-
siveIy.
lis on his way to the police sta
ton, well guarded" Ember affirmed
with a nod and a grim smile. ST have
his confession, roughly jotted down.
but signed, and attested by several
witnesses. I'm glad you were
out of the way; it was rather Dain-
full scene, and disOrderly; it wouldn't
have been pleasant for Mrs. Whitaker.
We had the deuce of q time
clearing the theater: human curiosity
is a tremendously persistent and re-
sistant force. And then [ had some
trouble dealing with the misplaced
loyalty Of the staff Of the house.
However, eventually 1 got Max to nv
self-alOne, that is, with several men
I could depend on. And then heart
lessly put him through the third de-
gree-fOrestalling my friends, the DO
lice. By dint of asserting as truths
and personal discoveries what mere
ly suspected, [ broke down mis- de-
malls. He owned up, doggedly enough
and yet with that singular pride which
| have learned to associate with some
phases of homicidal mania. [
won't distress you with details: the
truth is that Max was quite mad on
the subject of his luck; he considered
1t, as [ suspected, indissolubiy associ-
hted with Sara Law. When poor Gus
ter committed suicide, he saved Max
from ruin and innOcently showed him
the way to save himself thereafter,
when he felt in peril, by assassinating
Hamilton and, later, Thurston. Drum
mOnd only cheated like fate, and
you"-turning to Whitaker-"escaped
by the naTrowest shave. Max hadn't
meant to run the risk of putting you
out Of the way unless he thought it
absolutely necessary, but the failure
Of his silly play in rehearsal tonight,
coupled with the discovery that you
were in the theater, drove him tenn
porarily insane with hate chagrin and
Jealousy"
Concluding, Ember rose. ST must
follow him now to the police station.
1 shall see you 9th soon
again."
The woman gave him both her
hands. ''There's no way to thank you,"
she said-"our dear dear friend!"
"No way" Whitaker echoed regret
fully.
"No way?" Ember laughed quietly,
holding her hands tightly clasped,
But L see you ogether-happy-
Oh. believe me, l am fully thanked! !"
Bowling, he touched his lips gently
to both hands, released them with
little sigh that ended in a contented
chuckle, exchanged a short, firm grasp
with Whitaker. and left them. t.
Whitaker, following almost immedi-
ately to the gangway, found Enber
haI nj for