Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-03-24
By MCDONNELL BODKQG

nesa Yse DON'T forget hev ne -.
dog ran % you one any b b pee1sd.
and ran awxy yelpfng. without any aD-'
parent cause. That was . cH1nnes
thing, wasn't 1T Mrs Muldoon1cens-S
Really. sir. mu8t-
Patience: was crafty tnessas6i
myself in this little dog 1nc4: - tn-
mosnsnx ana ana e1. G1E Sp him r Soy
fully indeed. and found three Ilfa0
scars IN the skin OF the neck 0z4fs
close together"
tho doctor In sudden fury.
-Neither." Mr.. Beck repffod sWesRA
TIN sorry n Two bored You. but eha5S
Is Just one little thing I'd t1D 10 stBW
He took from his watseroak pocank q
little bit OF tissue paper aid begin
slowly to unfold it There was q LITTLE
fragment Of sharp steel In II that gnt-
tered like q spark Of broken gi.&
II found it in ono OF the Little 0ukA.
and polished 1t up" Mr.. Beck went "a. !
Curious symptom Of hydrophoh4a,
wasn't It? But have . more curious
thing still to tell you That little
splinter of steel fits exactly the broken
point Of one Of your lancets~
The doctors eyes went round frr-s
lively to where his lancet case had lain. 4
Mr.. Beck caught the hook and touched I
his waistcoat pocket i,
Then the doctors right hand drupUed
carelessly into the ha1f-open drawer OF
his desk.
"stop!- snapped out Mr Beck sn~-
1y. IT'S no go. I've mine cooked in
my coat pocket and my finger on ths
trigger
The DOCTORS hand came out q ne
drawer empty.
Lock it- sasd M. Bsek. He sp,A,dl
n
-Gfve mo tho keyr He gave n
Il suppose It's the same you gUe30s
shoot Jack" said Mr.. Beck quietly SD
he put tho key IN his pocket III vos
curious how you guessed that Jsck
that time But then I'm not Jack yo0
see"
Then who the devn arc You and /
what do you want? Money. OF coursA
I'm q fool to ask. How muchTS
my name is MI. Beck. I'm . dstso..
tive by trade. I've puzzled and mud
died out q few things in my time. but /,
never anything queerer than thiz- |
don't want money-that Is to say. not
for myself"
The doctor looked relieved: thsman
was to be brfbed-
Not for yourself, OF courD4c he an-t
swered, sneeringly -For sorrow1ne
widows and helpless ophans. Ists
drop that twaddle. Il you pleasa and
come. to business. VIII half the odd
mans fortune buy your silence and
induce Jon to neser return to snas
section aga1nf'
farthfe, for The rightfui owner. Nd
lachy Kirwan. Sit STILL he 0td.t
sternly, as the doctor started from 64De
seat; Ait stin and listen to me quietly.
don't n1ince matters, you sec. and
know that you murdered old Fsely
more cruelty than IL you put . knffe
into him. It was diabolically ine@-
lou. murder" MI. Beck went on T
light, as one might say. of its own &C. :
cord. think I've enough of circum- I
stantial evidence to hang YOU But I'm I
like dog. But juries are DUH some.
times. and the case is queer one. II
by any chance they let you on you
could still hold on to the old mans /,
money and lands Now I've reasons OF
my own for wishing well to young
Kirwan. Execute deed of grant 70 :
him. and hold my tongue.
"A grant Of everythinsr -.
'Of everything"
IF / refuse?
TN do my level best to hang y0A
You can calculate for yourseH TIE
chance OF my succeeding.
Give me till tomorrow 10 tftue u ,
over"
willingly. I think can gusss what
the answer will be-"
But Mr.. Beck could not guess what 4
the answer would be.
Next morning all Ba11yduR was stxr- l
tied by the news that DR.. Kilkaddy, the i
clever, popular. lucky DR.. Kilkaddy, had
died suddenly. An inquest was held
forthwith. On the table at his bedside !
was found a box labeled "Quinine" with !
some pills in IL. The doctor was known )
to be in the habit of taking quinine.
But analysis proved that there was a
fatal dose of morphia in each pill
Malachy Kirwan did not 90 to Amer =
lea, after all The doctor died without
a will. and the whole property-real
and personal-came to him as heir-at-
law and next of kin. Mr.. Beck had q
delightful fortnight at Baliydun. and
he has an invitation to go back there :
next summer for a wedding.
Copyright 1sls. by Mcclure syadicssAa 4