The Julesburg grit-advocate., 1916-02-10
AUTHOR Or THE CITY THAT WAS. ere.
ILLUSTRATED eTf1arryR .Grissin6er
SoerRiSHT IoI2 8o88S CO

seui VI hcH eeAs eAt Io8AIOAu8 o0t
spellbound.
The second woman-in fact she was
little more than 4 girl-was slender.
blonde and fragile-her quality was
elin. ROsalie could spare her but q
glance.
Il am Mrs. Hanska, widow of the
man who was killed last night" said
the taller woman: and she hes!tated
II was not the custom OF Inspector
Martin McGee to rise when women
entered his once In the role Of the
accused. or Of witnesses. A little bru.
tality Of attitude. he felt. put them in
a meek and humble mood for the sub.
sequent Third Degree proceedings.
But this woman-or was 1t the re-
spected presence of Rosalie La
Grange?-drew him to his feet.
Won't you sit down." he said
Thank you. May introduce Miss
Elizabeth Lane? She IL here to verify
what ! have to say" All this with
perfect simplicity. Her eyes travelled
then. with q quick glance Of inquiry
to Rosalie Le Grange.
This" said tho Inspector, taking
his cue at 4 quick prod from Rosalie's
loot. "is Mrs. lie Grange. She IL the
lady who came into the house right
after the-accident-and took the
boarders over to her place for the
night. She's kept them there ever
since. She was just telling mo what
she knew. Maybe you'd like to hear
It."
Il should like very much to hear It. =
said Mrs. Hanska earnestly.
But maybe you want to be alone
Just at nrst." interposed Rosalie. max
ing . pretense Of rising.
"No-thers 10 nothing secret" re-
piled Mrs. Hanska. 81 see no reason
why you should not stay. Indeed. you
may be able to help u.s."
Now Martin Mc0ee summoned the
police stenosrapher and ordered him
to stay within call. Gone from him
was the heavy humor Of his half-hour
with Rosalie. He was the Chief-sus-
picious and brutal.
Il must warn you." he said, that
If you are implicated In this case, any
thing you say will be used against
you at the trial" Generally that sud.
den statement made women tremble,
drew from them . flood Of words out
of which McGee picked the hotsam
and the jetsam Of evidence. But Mrs.
,Hsnska did not give the preliminary
frightened start. She only transferred
her limpid level gaze from Rosalie's
face to Inspector McGee's.
1T would be impossible to impli-
cate me-" Dozens of people can testify
that was in Arden, q hundred miles
north, last night-that have not left
Arden for more than = month. Per-
haps." she continued, checking an un-
formed sentence on the lips of In
spector MCGEE, 'T had better start at
the beginning and tell you all about
IT,"
She was talking "fine." Inspector
McGee reflected. Having got her
started, his best course was to mollify
her until she began to run down.
That's always best" he said.
Quite simply Mrs. Hanska began
her talk.
Il married Captain Hanska ten
years ago-when I was nineteen. He
was nearly thirty-five then, although
he said that he was younger; and he
had just come back from Alaska. He
said that he got his title in the Bo-
livian army l have since had reason
to doubt that He was an engineer
by profession. I realize now how little
mother and knew about him. But
he was the kind Of person who carried
everything before him-you deferred
to him in those days in spite Of your
better Judgment. And my mother was
very trusting. Then, too, Captain
Hanska was very charming man
Afterward I found out how he lived
That, for me. was the beginning ol