Evening star., 1918-02-17
By MCDONNELL BODKN

the roof lights flaming Ve9uV1aA puognB
,hs assh sssoss Of asses a s ss fse fsn . E
down on the sleeper Thre 10 a12
kissing sound and the tickling smell Il
burning wool The sleeping man Aeape tD
his feet with cry OF pain The sound b
falls upon his neck. and . strong pul
lifts and holds him from the cAHfnG8
floor. The struggle is AeRD snd shast.
Now the body hangs limp - tns nnoA
ing and clutches the cGpsa. feez1ng eae.D-
ly for something. Tharo is the aan ~
growl Of delight a. the hand dHa1Q o
small packet from tho inner bs1a3 poc1BG
"A revolver Is out now. A crash Gxd
fash, and . bullet goes throogA H.
body of the dead man: anuf1e<, aMd
there Is round hoie In the cz1Yt1ue
window The moose II foosenod Agum
the neck of the victim; he DROPS Wefh
dull thud. face upw ard, On the dnpr
of the carriage. The lamp and rcvufsUr
go down after him, and the mur6oe1r
crawis back on his hands ard fest To
the swaying ridge of the train he -
cut his foot through his etockfnks IN
= jagged nail in the carriage ro0f. A
thread of the stocking cafrhes On oe
nail, a thread of gray wc3eed 1h9e
is blood round it The man cannnk -
it in the dark. but 1 sec
He goes on lmping and g1eUnnE
softly to himself. Five carriages e6 b.
lifts out - amp. and c1GWhnE e4ak.
partnent where the dad man ~
Then without a pause he turns and
crawis away to the end % tn 6A
still growing With pain as he gneA
Five minutes later the train negAs
shrek and a rattle 1t rusaras into
Crewe. Then he steps Lightly on 70 The
rails and cuts his boots and bag boom
from the buffer. He draws on his boofn.
N ha aA M
ed foot in fierceiy. A moment after he
goes limping past the ticket-coileetnr-"
The horror of the audience has
reached its eliminating point There
is the hush Of death in the hall.
Signor Montifero Is pale TO the nD&.
and his voice trembIes as he fafteas
out: DO you see him stin
Il see him again at the Crewe 0lA-
tion. He takes train for Liverpool. He
is here in this city; here in this hail.
/ see I see.'
The mans voice rose and swellad Oith
horror, thrilling the audience
heard. SO fun OF wild. conscience-strsracsn
fear that il made their hearts stop bent
ing
DR.. Coleman had fallen back limp sA
livid IN his chair; his face 4shen cray. hta
lips twitching and his eyes staring with
a ghastly glare
Enough, enoushs- he shouted. Inst al
might hear. THE devil is too strong
for me. / give In. D-n you an-you
staring idiots. l am the murderer. IL
Jules Hernandes played me faise-do you
hear? False. / strangied him. II it were
to be done again I'd do it,
Before any ore noticed, the meADer-
ized man was out of his chair. There was
broad, calm face was bending over Or.
Coleman. and voice said:
IL arrest you. Don Coloso, alias Or.
Coleman. on a charge OF wiilfui murder OF
Jules Hernandes. You are not bound 70
say anything. but whatever you do ~
may be used in evidence against you
The face was the face OF Bill Pluc1E. Int
the voice was the voice Of Ar. Beck
The shock OF the cold of0dai W0ee
reused Dr. Coleman from his agDs de oe
fear to sudden fury.
Trapped" he shouted, nercely. and -
made one awful effort to burst IN en1av
bracelets that Mr. Beck had 50 deniy
slipped upon his wrists.
Take it easy. doctor" Beck said
smoothingiy. The game is up" and b
handed him over to the charge OF the
local police four of whom were already On
the platform.
Mr.. Beck. with his hands buried deep
in the pockets of his worn pea-1acket.
slipped off quietly. The young man
of the notebook walked by his side. A
change had come over the detective
still the same. but he had resumed
his own identity. He was no longer
Bill Pluck or William Simmons. cu1
Mr.. Paul Beck.
"You have written 1t all down. Peo-
kinse' he said to his companion
Every word. story. confession aUd
all. You are in luck again. Beck BY
George, You have caught the ffghe
man this time. You did lay 1t on pretty
thick over there"-he jerked his thumb
toward the hall Hanged II I'd haSD
known you myself il I vas not IN tss
SWIM"
well. you see" said Beck. in . haRHs
apologetic tone. T always had somo-
thing of a gift in the play-acting 1fnec~
Il suppose your story of the robbery
and murder was all a hamT'
'Flam." replied Mr.. Beck. I'm sur
prised at you. Perkins. DO you think
if il was fam il would take him
like that" Every word was true"
but the ~ubs. Old boy-l wish | knew
where that was.
You will know soon enough If you
come with me to DR.. Coieman's." re-
piled Mr. Beck. II have known for
some time. I>had a little try for II
before. and L might have got into trou-
Bile, but he was as anxious to hush
things up as 1 was, and more so. ]
hadn't the key then. i have now.
But where's the ruby. anyhow
The Kuhla Khan ruby, said A1>
Beck. slowly, value half a million. -
ward $4,000, is IN the safe in tho nR
corner Of DF. Coleman's sittinS room
or I am very much mistaken"
Mr.. Beck was mot very much sn1D~
taken
tcopyrEht, 1sfs. b Acoure synde.aaS