The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1918-02-22

III you please" the woman begged
zone moment. am fearfully shocked"
Take your time" Quoin consented.
And while she turned away and. with
. handkerchief pressed to her lips.
struggled to recollect herself. the de-
tective explained to Peter In an under.
tone, widow Of one EllswOrthy. In
his day q world-known collector OF
stolen property mean q fence OF
course. Always lived most respecta-
bly-much as you see. Craven prob
ably did lot Of business with him first
and last. and afterward with Mrs. Ellis
worthy. who carried on the business In
a smaller way. but quite as successful
ly. as far as keeping out Of trouble was
concerned. Feeling better, Mrs. Ellis
worthy"
"Yes-thank you. Mr.. Craven called
up about half-past ten to say his daugh-
ter was coming to see me, bringing
with her q valuable property have
no idea what-and that was to ind
some pretext to detain her until he fol-
lowed. She got here about eleven In
q taxicab with this gentleman. When
she heard Mr.. Craven was coming she
refused to wait, and had to lock her
In the room to keep her. Mr.. TRAIT
I'm sorry-I put of with a note ostensi-
bly, from her. When Mr.. Craven came
he went directly to the girl. While he
was upstairs two men of my acquaint-
ance came to the basement door, and !
let them In"
"Southpaw Smith and Colonel Cor
donr'
Eyes. Mr.. Craven had-business re-
lations with them, believe. They
forced their way upstairs, declaring
they must see him. When he came
down they were waiting for him in
herein shadow. Smith stepped out
and said something to him In q low
tone-I didn't hear. Mr.. Craven shook
his head and made an inaudible reply.
| Smith lost his temper at that, and said
aloud. You lie Permit me to present
you with this token of our esteem
"And that was" Quoin prompted.
"This," said the woman, pointing
down to Craven's clenched right hand.
With an exclamation Of surprise
Quoin bent over and. after some difii-
/ Sdtty Win tAAG clAAAChAh8 AA8CAop 0sOOe
up. exhibiting a knave Of spades.
"And thenT'
Nothing. They went away. Smith
and Gordon, by the basement"
There was a quarrel-blows were
struck"
| "No. Mr.. Craven said something to
this effect, II that II your decision.
very well-so be itr Smith merely
laughed unpleasantly. called Gordon.
Afterward I heard the gate slam ~
they left"
"And Craven"
HE stood looking at the card, sway
ing and mumbling to himself. I won
dered II he had been drinking. Then
I noticed he was holding one hand to
his side, as though his heart was pain
ing him. I was alarmed, and asked II
could do anything. He looked at me
as II he didn't know me. took q step
or two this way, and suddenly fell as
II he had been shot. And Immediately
telephOned for a Doctor"
IT understand, Mrs. Ellsworthy." For
an instant Quoin contemplated the
knave Of spades, frowning thought
fully. "Odd," he unused. looking up at
Trait, "odd how these things run. It's
not a month now since an italian In .
low coffee house up on One Hundred
and Tenth street left his chair for q
minute, with his hat on 1t by way Of
reservation. When he returned and
picked up the hat there was playing
card beneath 1.-THE death card-in his
case the four Of hearts. Five minutes
later he was shot dead where he sat.
1t only goes to show how the criminal
Imagination inclires to melodrama-
give your victim warning SO that he
may die dozen imaginary deaths be-
fore you kill him. In this case Craven's
heart spoiled their fun; but the chances
are he would never have got back to
his hotel alive"
He paused. looked pityingly down at
the dead man, sighed, "Well-poor
devil !" then, unfolding handkerchief.
placed it gently over the livid and dis
tOrted mask. Better not move him till
the doctor comes; though fancy we
can save you the trouble of an inquest,
Mrs. Ellsworthy. And Well do our best
to keep it out of the papers. We'd bet
ter draw the portieres while Peter gets
Miss Craven out Of the house. Yes,
that's your job, Peter; but better not
tell her anything until you get her
away. Take her to Mrs. Beggarstaff-
don't you thinkr
"Yes," agreed Peter, "for . few days
or weeks-as long as she needs to get
over it."
"And then" asked Quoin curiously.
why" said Peter in surprise. didn't
you know we were going to be mar
ried3"
(THE END.)