Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1917-06-01

to report to the chief what I had done
and receive his instructions as to my
mex step. l protested against such
haste, but my objection tended to con-
vince the man that l was making a
bona fde transaction.
81 need time to think this over" I
said.
And to make arrangements to trap
me. Suppose we meet a few days
hence what is to prevent your having a
force on hand to take the will without
giving me the note? No; this matter
must go through, If 1t does go through,
between you and me alone and imme-
diately. When it is finished there will
be no proof that you signed the note
under duress.'
"a note," l said, must be In pay
ment fce something"
81 have drawn it to read, For and In
consideration of his relinquishing all
claims on the Bradford estate"
"But the will being produced you
have nc claim on the Bradford estate"
1.-THE will will not have been pro-
duced when the note is signed"
you should have demanded cash."
you have no cash. Besides, this
matter must be settled secretly and at
once. Delay would be fatal to me-"
Suppose after l have received the
estate l decline to pay the note on the
ground that the transaction is crimi-
nal?"
"In that case you will not long enjoy
your property"
I had been inclined to think his case
very weak; but, considering that he
was, or supposed he was, dealing with
a girl who would not care to live in ter
ror of her life, l changed my opinion.
"But why" I asked, interested more
and more in his plan, would it not be
wiser for you to destroy the will and
inherit half the estate as heir-at-law?"
'That question l decline to answer.
There may be a number of reasons. /
may know of another will that I can
not control and which is sure to be
produced. My uncle did not trust me
and might have put a duplicate will n
SOM ones hand to be used In case I
captured or disputed the n he had
made. I have no knowledge of such a
will. 1 simply state the case to you
alphabetically"
There was no doubt the rascal had
thought it all out and had provided
for every possible contingency. What
was / to do? Delay would be as dan
gerous to Miss Thurber as to me. I
resolved to go with him and take ad-
vantage of any favorable circumstance
that might arise. So long as he thought
/ was Miss Thurber I had a great ad-
vantage of him. I had a thick veil on
my hat, but in the park did not put 1t
over my face. Later, if obliged to face
the light it might avail me.
1 accompanied my man to a car wait
ing without the park. We entered it,
and he drove away. Presently he stop
ped and told me he must blindfold me.
After Directing l consented, and after
that 1 did not know where we went.
When we reached our destination ne
helped me out of the car and guided
me up a few steps into a house. When
he removed the bandage from my eyes
we were standing In a furnished room.
lit was dimly lighted, but I put my
hands to my eyes to cover my face, pre-
tending that the transition from dark
ness to light was painful. Neyerthe-
less l caught a glimpse Of a table with
writing materials OIL it in the center
Of the room.
When / took my hands from my eyes
1 turned my face from the light. 1 did
not know how well the man knew
Miss Thurber, but I did not wish him
to see my features until I could no
longer avoid giving him an opportunity
to discover his mistake. Meanwhile he
had unlocked a drawer in a bureau and
taken out o document, which I surmis-
ed to be the will. What appeared to
be a note lay on the table. He was un-
folding the document, and I surmised
intended to hold it up for me to In
spect. In another moment he would
doubtless call on me to do SO and
would see my features.
While his eyes were bent on the docu-
ment / caught sight of the letters,
Last will and testament" printed on
it. This was enough for me. l deter
mined to risk its being what I wanted.
When he turned from the paper to me
he looked into the muzzle of my re-
volyer within an inch of his nose.
OF course he was armed. But what
use is a weapon which costs a man his
life if he makes a motion to use itT'
Drop that document on the table," I
said in my own husky voice.
Surprise, irritation, horror, were writ
ten on his face. He dare no disobey.
He tossed the will on the table, and /,
never taking my eye from his for an
instant. picked it up, taking the I'M
signed note at the same time. Then I
began to back out Of the room. I
backed into a hall and out through a
door, he following me, alert to take adj
vantage of my changing my glance for