The Washington times., 1918-04-03
The Wolves of New York
STORY OF LOVE AND MYSTERY
PietrO Calls Senator EpstOne a Liar
and a HypOcrite When Latter
Says His Wife Died

were saved. TWO were killed. The
others left the country afterward.
and / believe are dead now. There
vas no one to fix the guilt upon
me, and l escaped. Why should We
go further" He spread out his
hands in wretched helplessness- Il
do not want to hear you recall the
rest. You speak the truth-though
how all this came TO Mrs. willough.
by's knowledge is a mystery to me.
l would not have IL made known
now. even though II IL a tale OF
thirty-five years ago. How much
. There is more to tell" continued
the Italian, hardly-.more that you
must learn. II the whole truth
were told-sh. you shudder"-
You do not know OF that7 Oh.
my God, II Is impossiblei My wifs
she was killed in the fire
Sire, Fire! You Shouted"
But how" Pietro's mouth was
a stern. relentless line. 81 must
tell you. You cried Fire" though
e there was none. You cried It three
times. After the first cry there was
a terrible silence. You laughed to
yourself and shouted again. Then
people began to stir-the panic be-
gan Even then you did not under
stand. You cried a third time and
fed for fear of being recognized.
You tried to make your way by q
little passage to the stage door, and
1t was not till you met the actors
and actresses flying in disorder that
you realized what had happened.
Then you cried: It's not true- But
1t was too late. The mischief was
done. The inside OF the theater had
become a. hell. You tried to rush
to the stage to shout once more.
It's not true" but you were carried
of your feet All the doors opened
inward and became Jammed by the
press against them. immovable.
"And then, while the wretched
people were struggling, fighting.
crushing each other In their world
senseless panic, hre did indeed
break out. No one knows how Il
was caused or by whom. No one
ever realized that the nrst cry OF
Fire" was not a genuine one. But
the theater burn-oh, II burn with
terrible quickness. And still the
people not escape. The hre ran
round the gallery. the gallery fan
upon the struggling mass; they din
burn, crushed, smothered"-
"Oh, For Gods Sake Stop!"
"Oh stop. For Gods sake stopF
Epstone crushed his hands over his
ears in agony OF remembrance. Was
he not the murderer OF all these
people who had died so miserablyf
"Enough-enough" he moaned.
"Have / not tried to live II downf
Have 1 not lived a good lifs?"
"Pshaww cried the Italian. vita
a sweeping gesture of his hands
"A good life-the life OF hypocrits.
Because no one know the truth
It was not hard. And your wife
did you atone for her.
she died-it was not my fault
you can even lie about II now"
There was infinite contempt in the
voice OF the Italian. perhaps after
all these years you have even per
suaded yourself that what you say
is true. It is the manner OF such
men. But I know, and Mrs Will
loughby she know" Pietro rose
from his chair and struck the desk
before him with great violence. The
unhappy nobleman covered lower
in his chair. There was no buster
left in him: he was a weak man,
who had become strong through
years OF selt-reStraint
why will you go on torturinR
me-" he moaned, when you have
no need to do so: I am ready-
PietrO Has the Senator Cowed.
senator Epstone. you murdered
your wife that night 1t was IN
your power to save her. but instead
OF doing So The Italian was
speaking slowly. and with determi-
nation. The older man had COW
cred his eyes with his hands once
more. and positively cringed before
his accuser. All trace OF bombast
had gone from him: he barely raised
his voice above a whisper. 1t was
pitiful to see the change in him.
but Pietro Renni had no pity.
1T is true" interrupted the mis-
cradle Epstone. Spare me more,
for Gods sake"
You knew your way about the
theater," went on this merciless
voice" you saw how you could
save your own wretched life. There
was little window which opened
Si tle iedus- anu DJ "hlCh h1n
could scramble out. 1t was high
up and difficult of access, but you
were agile in those days. Is that
not so: You succeeded in reach
ing this window. though the fire
was close upon you and the smoke
drifted over in a great cloud. What
found you there"
MY wife" The reply came in
an awe-stricken whisper.
IT. d No,k;r,,.l n.,-.a--o,~,N