Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-07-08

first. but as the screaming continued he
would remember the old tales OF fathers
walking the floor at night with. crying
babies. and hasten to follow suit. Vio-
let. in her anxiety to reach his inmost
thought. crossed to where the crib had
stood, and. taking that as a start. began
pacing the room in search of the spot
from which bullet, II shot, would
glance aside from the mirror in the d.
rection of the window. (Not that she
was ready to accept this theory of Mrs
Hammond. but that she did not wish
entirely to dismiss it without putting
1t to the test.)
She found it in an unexpected quarter
of the room and much nearer the bed
head than where his body was found
This. which might seem to confuse
matters. served. on the contrary. to re-
move from the case one of its most Sc
rious difficulties. Standing here, he was
within reach of the pillow under which
his pistol lay hidden, and II startled, as
his wife believed him to have been by
noise at the other end of the room.
in order to find himself armed and
ready for possible intruder.
Initiating his action in this as in
other things she had herself crouched
low at the bedside and was on the point
Of withdrawing her hand from under
the pillow, when new surprise check
ed her movement and held her fixed In
her position, with eyes staring straight
at the adjoining wall. She had seen
there what he must have seen in MAX
ing this same turn-the dark bars OF
the opposite window frame outlined in
the mirror-and understood at once
what had happened. In the nervous
ness and terror of the moment George
Hammond had mistaken this reflection
of the window for the window itself.
and shot impulsively at the man he un-
doubtedly saw covering him from the
trellis without. But while this explain
ed the shattering of the mirror, how
about the other and still more vital
question Of where the bullet went after
ward? Was the angle at which 1t had
of a window diagonally opposed? Even
II the pistol had been held closer to the
man firing it than she had reason to
believe, the angle still would be oblique
enough to carry 1t on to the farther wall.
But no sign of any such impact had
quently, the force of the bullet had
been expended before reaching it, and
when it fell
Here, her glance. slowly travelling
along the floor. impetuously paused. 1t
had reached the spot where the two
bodies had been found. and uncon-
sciously her eyes rested there, conjur-
ing up the picture of the bleeding
father and the strangled shild. How
piteous and how dreadful 1t all was
If she could only understand! Sudden
ly she rose straight up. staring and
immovable in the dim light Had the
idea-the explanation-the only pos
sible explanation covering the whole
phenomena-come to her at last?
1t would seem so. for as she so stood.
a look of conviction settled over her
features. and with this look. evidences
of horror, which, for all her fast &C
cumulating knowledge of life and its
possibilities. made her appear very
small and very helpless.
A half hour later. when Mrs. Ham
mond. in her anxiety at hearing nothing
more from Miss Strange. opened the
door of her room. 1t was to find, lying
on the edge of the sill, the little detec-
tive's card, with these words hastily
written across 1t:
"T do not feel as well as could wish.
and SO have telephoned to my own
coachman to come and take me home.
! will either see or write you within a
few days. But do not allow yourself to
hope. l pray you do not allow yourself
the least hope; the outcome is still very
problematicaL"
When Violet's employer entered his
office the next morning 1t was to find
yelled figure awaiting him. which he