Middletown transcript. [volume] (Middletown, Del.) 1868-current, 1917-08-18
CHAPTER llI-Continued.

ward naQ risen. lie lowered lar
above Elinor. Because of his heavy
shoulders, he never looked his full
height. BorOday, in the corridor, stole
q moment from his an1ieties to find
the young clergyman every inch of a
man, and to throw him the grudging
admiration of defeated middle-age for
youth and vibrant life.
"Then l shall not send for the rec
tori"
please, no."
SIS there anything at all that 1 can
dO?'
do the-the police know about
this?"
Surely. 1 suppose you have been
told what happened"
"They will tell me nothing"
There was a car coming up the hill.
That would be it. Boroday eased his
aching arm. He did not dare a sling,
but the hand was thrust in the pocket
of his coat If only the hemorrhage
did not start again. He braced him
self and watched.
ut was a robbery. you know that?"
said Ward, in the library. He picked
his words carefully. "As l got the
story, taxicab on its way to the bank
was held up near the Record office.
Your father had stepped to the curb
to hail the taxi, and-it happened
then, "a stray bullet from one Of
the bandits guns"
Boroday, eyes on the car, heard the
statement. and, With the chief coming
up the steps from the road to the gar
den, took the time to repudiate it.
Pardon !" he said. st was not
weapon in the hands of the bandits. 1t
was the revolver Of the bank meSSen-
ger"
Ward turned in surprise. Boroday's
eyes were fixed on ElinOr's, with reas-
surance in their depths. The assistant
rector was not subtle, but he had
curious feeling of something behind all
this. He was uncomfortable.
Il trust" he said earnestly, "that
these various outrages will be at an
end now Surely the police"
Possibly" The anarchists gaze
wandered to the garden, where even
then the chief was making his way to-
ward the house. "Of course, these
bandits are trained men of unusual
intelligence. If the police were of in
telIisence to cope with them"
"Yes?"
"They would not be on the force. at
meager salaries and petty graft. They
would be"-he shrugged his shoulders
bandits themselves, very possibly"
Ward left after that-left with m
uncomfortable feeling of having got
nowhere He was convinced of one
thing, death, which for him was an
open gateway, was for this girl a
closed and fastened door. And he
knew something else. No other woman
had ever so profoundly impressed him
as this girl who without hope in her
grief met it with a high head and
courageous eyes.
He felt certain comfort in one
thing Elinor had made a concession,
and Hilary Kingston, lavish giver to
the parish poor, was to be buried from
Saint Jude's.
The chief met Mr.. Ward on the ter
race and took off his hat. Boroday,
in the dim hall, felt certain sense OF
content. Nothing could have been more
suspicious, could have set his stage
better for his little drama, than the
presence of the young clergyman. The
whole scene gained tone, decorum.
The chiefs visit was short. They
had followed the bandits car and lost
it, and finding himself in the neighbor-
hood
"Be assured" he said to Elinor, in
his best manner, that We'll not rest
until this thing is cleared up. The
communicable cleared his throat
"the community will not lose one OF
its best citizens without a violent pro-
test"
With the coroner he went up the
stairs and into old Hilary's room. The
chief glanced about while the hasty
examination was being made.
"Nfce room," he said. 'But jolly
10. of good it does the old gentleman
now! Nice little girl downstairs, too.
I'VE seen that chap in the hall some
where"
The coroner drew the sheet over OLD
Hilary's peaceful face.
"The preacher? They all look alike.
It's the vest and the collar"
1.-THE other man. with the accent.
German, take It, or-Russian."
Boroday was waiting for them at
tho fooI ot the staircase. In the IL