The Pulaskian., 1917-04-13


 sively.
 "-is on his way to the police sta tion. well guarded" Ember affirmed with a nod and a grim smile. q have his confession, roughly jotted down, but signed. and attested by several witnesses. I'm glad you were out of the way; it was rather a pain full scene, and disorderly; it wouldn't have been pleasant for Mrs. Whitaker. We had the deuce of time clearing the theater: human curiosity | is a tremendously persistent and re- sistant force. And then I had some l trouble dealing with the misplaced loyalty of the staff of the house. i. However, eventually got Max to my I self-alone, that is, with several men I could depend on. And then I heart lessly put him through the third de- gree-forestalling my friends, the po- lice. By dint of asserting as truths and personal discoveries what mere 1 ly suspected, I broke down his de- nials. He owned up, doggedly enough, and yet with that singular pride which I have learned to associate with some phases of homieidal mania. I won't distress you with details: the truth is that Max was quite mad on the subject of his luck; he considered it. as I suspected, indissolubly associ- ated with Sara Law. When poor Gus ter committed suicide, he saved Max from ruin and innocently showed him the way to save himself thereafter, when he felt in peril, by assassinating Hamilton and, later, Thurston. Drum mond only cheated a like fate, and you"-turning to Whitaker-"escaped by the narrowest shave. Max hadn't meant to run the risk of putting you out of the way unless he thought it absolutely necessary, but the failure of his silly play in rehearsal tonight, coupled with the discovery that you were in the theater, drove him tem- porarily insane with hate, chagrin and jealousy"
 Concluding, Ember rose. "I must follow him now to the police station. I shall see you both soon again-9'
 The woman gave him both her hands. "There's no way to thank you" she said-"our dear, dear friend!"
 "No way" Whitaker echoed regret fully.
 "No way?" Ember laughed quietly, holding her hands tightly clasped. ''But I see you ogether-happy- Oh, believe me, am fully thankedi"
 Rowing, he touched his lips gently to both hands, released them with a little sigh that ended in a contented chuekle, exchanged a short. firm grasp with Whitaker, and left them.
 Whitaker, following almost immedi. ately to the gangway, found Ember had already left the theater.
 For some minutes he wandered to and fro in the gangway, pausing now and again on the borders of the desert. ed stage. There were but few of the house staff visible, and those few were methodically busy with preparations to close up. Beyond the dismal gutter of the footlights the auditorium yawned cavernous and shadowy, peopled only by rows of chairs ghost. ly in their dust-cloths. The street en. l frances were already closed, locked and dark. On the stage a single clus- ter stand of electric bulbs made wis ible the vast, gloomy dome of the flies and the whitewashed walls against which sections of scenery were stacked like cards. An electrician in his street clothes lounged beside the doorkeep- | CTS cubicle, at the stage entrance, smoking a cigarette and eonferring with the doorman while subjecting Whitaker to a curious and antagonis- tic stare. The muffled rumble of their voices was the only sound audible, aside from an occasional racket of bootheels in the gangways as one actor after another left his dressing room and hastened to the street, keen-set for the clash of gossiping tongues in theatrical clubs and restaurants.
 Gradually the building grew more and more empty and silent, until at length Whitaker was left alone with ] the shadows and the two employees. These last betrayed signs of impa- tienee. He himself felt a little sym- pathy for their temper. Women cer- tainly did take an unconscionable time to dressl
 At length he heard them hurrying along the lower gangway, and turned to join his wife at the stage entrance. Elise passed on, brrdened with two heavy handbags, and disappeared into | the rain-washed alleyway. The cleo trician detached his shoulders from the wall, ground his cigarette under heel and lounged over to the switch board.
 Mary Whitaker turned her face, shadowy and mystical, touched with her faint and inscrutable smile. up to her husbands.
 'Wait," she begged in a whisper. "1 want to sees-her breath checked ''the end of it all"
 They heard hissings and cliclings