The Calhoun chronicle. [volume] (Grantsville, W. Va.) 1883-1984, 1917-03-15

oANOAys
lis on his way to the police sta
ton, well guarded" Ember affirmed
with a nod and a grim smile. 81 have
his confession, roughly jotted down.
but signed, and attested by several
witnesses. I'm glad you were
out of the way; 1t was rather pain
full scene, and disorderly; 1t wouldn't
have been pleasant for Mrs. Whitaker.
We had the deuce of q time
clearing the theater: human curiosity
is tremendously persistent and re-
sistant force. And then 1 had some
trouble dealing with the misplaced
loyalty of the staff of the house.
However, eventually got Max to my
self-alone, that is, with several men
1 could depend on. And then 1 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 his de-
malls. He owned up, doggedly enough,
and yet with that singular pride which
1 have learned to associate with some
phases of homicidal mania. L
won't distress you with details: the
truth is that Max was quite mad on
the subject of his luck; he considered
it, as 1 suspected, indissolubly associ-
ated 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 a like fate, and
you''-turning to Whitaker-"escaped
by the narrowest 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. 'T must
follow him now to the police station.
1 shall see you both soon
again."
The woman gave him both her
hands. "There's no way to thank you,"
she said-"our dear, dear friend"
mo way" Whitaker echoed regret
fully.
mo way?" Ember laughed quietly,
holding her hands tightly clasped.
''But 1 see you together-happy-
Oh, believe me, am fully thanked 1"
Bowing, he touched his lips gently
to both hands, released them with a
little sigh that ended In a contented
chuckle, exchanged a short, firm grasp
with Whitaker, and left them. {.
Whitaker, following almost immedi.
ately to the gangway, found Ember
had already left the theater.
For some minutes he wandered to
and fro in the gangway, pausing now
and again on the borders of the desert.
ed stage. There were but few of the
house staff visible, and those few were
methodically busy with preparations
to close up. Beyond the dismal gutter
of the footllghts the auditorium
yawned cavernous and shadowy,
peopled only by rows of chairs ghost.
ly In their dust-cloths. The street en-.
frances were already closed, locked
and dark. On the stage a single clus-
ter stand of electric bulbs made Wis.
ible the vast, gloomy dome of the flies
and the whltewashed walls against
which sections of scenery were stacked
Ike cards. An electrician I'm his street
clothes lOunged beside the doorkeep-
er's cubicle, at the stage entrance,
smoking a cigarette and comforting
with the dporman while subjecting
Whitaker TO curious and antagonis-
! a.. 81. Il
voices was the only sound audible,
aside from an occasional racket OF
bOotheels I'm the gangways as one actor
after another left his dressing room
and hastened TO the street, keen-set
for the clash OF gossiping tongues in
| theatrical clubs and restaurants.
Gradually the building grew more
and more empty and silent, until at
length Whitaker was left alone with
the shadows and the two employees.
These last betrayed signs OF impa-
tlence. He himself felt a little sym
pnthy for their temper. Women cer-
tainly did take an unconscionable time
20 dress
At length he heard them hurrylng
along the lower gangway, and turned
90 join his wife at the stage entrance.
Elise passed on, burdened with two
heavy handbags, and disappeared into
The rain-washed alleyway. The cleo
trician detached his shoulders from
the wall. ground his cigarette under
heel and lounged over to the switch
7 board.
Mary Whitaker turned her face,
shadowy and mystical. touched with
her faint and inscrutable smile, up to
I her husbands
"Wnit" she begged In n whisper.
I "a want to sce"-her Oreath checked
7 "fho end of 90 ALL
They heard hisslngs and cilckings
I at the switchboard. The gangway
I lights vanished ln a breath. The single
/ cluster stand on the stage disappeared
-nnd tbe house was bl0tted ont utter
/ lY with its extingulshment There re-
ma.ncd aiieht only the single dull bulb
Iu the do0rmau's cuhiclo.
\ Whitaker slipped nn arm round his
I wife She trembled within his em-
I brace.
"B.Hct out" she said in a gentle
end reueffui voice: "fho last exit:
1 Curtain End of the piayW