The Benson signal., 1917-05-12

ney was too quick for her. He knocked
lightly on the door, and then struck
it heavily several times. The sound
rang hollowly through the corridor, as
it always does when the door of an
empty room is beaten upon. There
was no answer for a moment.
"Oh, must get in," said the wom-
an.
Rodney knocked again, and this time
the door was opened. Shurtliff stood
in the way. He had been white and
shaken before, but now so anguished
and shocked was his appearance that
everybody stared. Shurtliff moistened
his lips and tried to speak. He could
not utter a word, but he did manage
to point toward the private office.
perhaps I would better go first"
said Rodney, as the secretary stepped
back and gave them passage.
Helen nlingworth followed, and then
the rest. Young Meade was standing
erect by his fathers chair. The great
bulk of the old engineer was slouched
down, his body bent over, his head
on the desk, face downward. One
great arm, his left, extended, shot
straight across the desk. His fist
was clenched, his right arm hung limp
by his side. He was still.
There was something Enthusiastically
terrible in his mOtiOnlesS aspect. They
had no need to ask what had hap
pened. A sharp exclamation from the
woman was the only sound that broke
the silence, as she stepped to her lov-
er'S side.
"You can't question my father now.
gentlemen" said Meade; she is dead"
In the outer office they heard Shurt-
lift brokenly calling the doctor on the
telephone and asking him to notify the
police.
"Did he" began one, hesitatingly.
"He was too big man to do himself
any hurt, know" answered Meade
proudly, as he OWNED the question.
''The autopsy will tell. But am sure
that the failure Of the bridge has
broken his heart"
"And we can't fix the responsibility
nOw,'' said Rodney, who for his friends
sake was glad of this consequence of
the old mans death.
eyes, you can," said the young man.
He leaned forward and laid his right
hand on his dead fathers shoulder.
Helen IllingwOrth had possessed her
self of his left hand. She lifted it and
held it to her heart. The engineer
seemed unconscious of the action, and
still it was the greatest thing he had
ever experienced. Meade spoke slowly
and with the most weighty delibera-
tion in an obvious endeavor to give his
statement such clear definiteness that
no one could mistake it.
''Here in the presence of my dead
father" he began, Il solemnly declare
that I alone am responsible for the de-
sign of the member that failed. NY
father was getting along in years. He
left great part Of the work to me. He
pointed out what he thought was
structural weakness in the trusses, but
I overbore his objections. I alone am
to blame. The Martlet Bridge company
employed us both. They said they
wanted the benefit of my fathers long
experience and my later training and
research"
''Do you realize, Meade" said Rod
ney, as the pencils of the reporters
flew across their pads, "that in assum-
ing this responsibility which, your ia
ther being dead, cannot be-"
81 know it means the end of my ca
reer," said Meade, forcing himself to
speak. "My fathers reputation is
dearer to me than anything on earth"
'Even than II" whispered the
woman.
"Oh, my God" burst out the man,
and then he checked himself and con-
tinued with the same monotonous de-
liberation as before, and with even
more emphasis, 81 can allow no other
interest in life, however great, to pre-
vent me from doing my full duty to my
father
He had been fully resolved to pro-
tect his old fathers fame had the ia
ther survived the shock. The appeal
of the dead man was even more power
full than if he had lived. Meade could
not glance down at that crushed,
broken, impotent figure and fail to re-
spOnd. 1t was not so much love-never
had he loved Helen IllingWorth SO
much as then-as it was honor. The
obligation must be met though his
heart broke like his fathers; even if it
killed him, too.
And the woman! How if it killed
her? He could not think of that He
could think of nothing but of that in
ert body and it's demand.
"Have you no witnesses, no evidence
to substantiate your extraordinary
statement?" asked Rodney.
II can substantiate it," said Shurt-
lift, coming into the room, having fin
ished his telephoning. "The doctor and
the police will be here Immediately,
but before they come" and he drew
himself up and faced the reporters
boldly. "Gentlemen, can testify that
i