Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1916-1918, 1917-12-11

ton it, because Bob told me once
two years ago and showed it to MI
in a sort OF burst of confidence"
Showed you what?"
Down at the base of his thumb
Bob Winnings got the murderer
cross!" Johnson Boiler said huskily
Nonsense Anthony said sharply
'It's fact. The little mark ii
there. clear as If It had been drawn
in with a knife" said Mr.. Boiler
and for another fact-I don't know
whether you know this or not, but
virtually every murderer who has
been executed in the last twenty
years in this state has shown that
cross in some form and"
He stayed the pleasant flow abrupt
I]y- From the direction Of David's
doorway a rustic was coming, very
softly and cautiously, yet quite dis
tinctiy. 1t paused in the corrido,
while Mary drew aside corner OF
the curtain and looked in-and then
Mary was with them and asking:
''Is he gomez"
YES" Anthony sighed.
was he excited while he was
here?"
| NOT at all apparently.
Then he doesn't know yet that
I've disappeared" Mary said calmly,
returning to her place at the cleared
table. isn't he darling?"
! "He is-a very charming fellow"
Anthony muttered, thinking of the
murderer's cross.
did your man take my coffee
away" Mary pursued.
/ Silently, Anthony rang for his ser.
vttor. Silently, Wilkins brought back
pot and cup and the little plate of
toast; and Mary, a very pleasing little
figure indeed, slipped and munched
and asked:
well have you determined how
I'm going to leave?"
! Anthony merely stared moodily at
her at first. johnson Boiler, though,
/ found his sense OF humor overcoming
him again. He gazed at Anthony,
hair rumpled, eyes logged with anx-
presently Johnson Boiler was vibrat-
ing again. One merry little wheeze
escaped and earned glare from
Anthony, another followed it-and at
ter that Johnson Boiler sat back and
haw-hawed frankly until Anthony
spoke.
$50 far, I have been thinking Of the
ways in which you cannot leave" he
admitted tartly. IF you'd consent to
try my clothes and"
"Umum," said Mary, shaking her
head. "No, no!'
Then, frankly, don't know what
to suggest" said the master of the
apartment. You're not invisible.
You cannot walk through the once
without being seen Miss Maryland
once you have done that be sure your
flce will be registered in the memory
Of the employees. You have no idea
OF moving from New York, take IT,
Hardy"
"Then since you will be about town
for years, may l point out that each
man who sees you will remember,
also for years, that you left one Of
these apartments and"
He paused. partly in distress and
partly because 1t seemed to him that
Wilkins was whispering to somebody.
He sat up then. because Wilkins was
talking and there was another voice
he could not at first place. He had
heard it before, many times, and it
was very calm, very clear, very de-
termined, and now Wilkins tone
came distinctly and resignedly.
well. of course, il he's expecting
you. sir"
The door closed. Steps approached
the living room. And with Mary sit
ting at the table, coffee-cup in hand,
furnishing Just the home like touch a
bachelor apartment must normally
lack, Hobart Hitchin was with them!
One glance settled the fact that the
amateur detective had attained high
state OF nervous tension. Behind his
spectacles, the keen eyes flashed
about like pair OF illuminated steel
points: his face seemed tired, but the
rest Of him was as alive as steel
spring, and his right hand held fat
brief-case.
Had he been more intimately ac-
Guainted with Hobart Hitchin. An
thony Fry would have trembled. As
1t was. he felt merely keen annoyance
= and then utter CONSERVATION. be-
cause Hitchin had stopped with
jerk and was looking straight at
Mary.
'T-er-didn't know" he said"
Poor little Mary. be she whom she
might. was in a decidedly ticklish po-
sition, however. perfectly her outward
calm were preserved. Everything
that was chivalrous in Aothnny
surged up and told him to protect
her; and coming out Of the nowhere
at the very last second. merciful in
spiration reached his brain and he ]
stared so fxedly. 30 warningly at |
Johnson Boiler that that gentleman's
chronic culver ceased.
"Only-ah-Mrs. Boller!' Anthony !,
said quietly my dear Mrs. Boiler
Mr. Hitchin, one of our neighbors
here"
Johnson Boiler himself started out
Ct his chair, gripping his arms; and
then. the general sense penetrating
his Uranium, dropped back with a
ruff. His mouth opened. as if to pro-
test: his eye caught the eye OF An /
lhony Fry. With gasp and a flush .
Mr. and Mrs Boiler were with me
over night. you know-decorators
have captured their place and they