Crossville chronicle. [volume] (Crossville, Tenn.) 1894-current, 1917-03-21

troubled, perhaps-but happy" she
said
Then am very glad" he said, smil-
Ing at the delicate color that enhanced
her exquisite beauty us she made the
confession, II had hoped rs much"
He looked from the one to the other.
you have made up your
minds?"
The wife answered for both: at is
settled. dear friend: | can struggle no
longer. thought myself a strong
woman; have tried to believe myself
u genius bound upon the wheel of an
! ill-starred destiny; but find | am
the glorious voice trembled slightly
only woman in love and no stronger
than her love-"
Il am very glad" Ember repeated,
''for both your sakes. It's a happy
consummatiOn of my dearest wishes"
I'VE owe you everything" Whitaker
said with feeling, dropping an awk-
ward hand on the others shoulder.
1T was you who threw us together,
down there on the Great West bay, so
that we learned to know one another
II plead guilty to that little plot
yes" Ember laughed. But, best of
all. this comes at just the right time
the rghtest 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-
hed-proscribed-"
Max" Whitaker struck in explo-
sively,
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 it was rather pain
full scene, and disorderly: it wouldn't
have been pleasant for Mrs. Whitaker
We had the deuce of a time
clearing the theater: human curiosity
Is tremendously persistent and re-
sistant force. And then had some
trouble dea4Rg with the misplaced
loyalty OF NE staff of the house.
However. eventually got Max to my
self-alone. that is, with several men
could depend on. And then | heart
lessly put him through the third de-
gree-fOrestalling my friends, the po-
lice. BY dint of asserting as truths
and personal discoveries what | mere
ly suspected, | broke down his de-
mails. He owned up, dOggedly enough,
and yet with that singular pride which
! have learned to associate with some
phases of homcidal mania. |
won't distress you with details: the
truth is that Max was quite mad on
the subject of his luck; he considered
IT, as | 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 like fate and
you"-turnng 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 1t
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. II must
follow him now to the police station.
. l 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 l see you together-happy-
Oh, believe me, am fully thanked"
Bowling, he touched his lips gently
to both hands, released them with
little sigh that ended in 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
busy with preparations
to close up. Beyond the dismal gutter
Of the footlights the auditorium
yawned cavernous and shadowy,
peopled only by rows of chairs ghost
~ in their dust-cloths The street en-
frances were already closed. locked
and dark. On the stage n single clus-