Ladysmith news-budget. [volume] (Ladysmith, Rusk County, Wis.) 1907-1927, 1918-11-01

There should have been two hundred
and nine. There was nothing to do
but count them Mark began, but his
fingers trembled so that he could hard
1y turn the pages.
In the very middle Of this task the
door clicked; the Brigadier and Colonel
Howard entered.
"Well, Wallace, finished, / hopper"
asked the Brigadier with the cordiality
of one who has been refreshed by a
good dinner. LET me seer'
Mark turned the leaves nervelessly,
while the Brigadier and Howard stood
silently beside him.
He reached the end. He had count
ed exactly two hundred. That might
have been an error. But the paper
was not there.
He looked up to see the Brigadier
peering into his face with an extraOr-
binary expression. He heard himself
stammering, fuinbling for words; he
stopped.
Colonel Howard sprang forward and
caught him by the shoulder. wallace,
my dear fellow, pull yourself tcgeth
erl" he was pleading. "What'S thai
you're saying! Blown out of the win
dow? IT'S the heat sir. He's been
OVERRIDING It'll"
Every possibly" said the Brigadier
caustically. spray have look, then,
ND yoI>
Mark was searching again. He
stopped as they came to the last pa
per, which was now the two hundred
and third.
"It's no use, Colonel Howard he
cried. "It has gone out of the win
dow. 1 was called out. When / came
back the fan was turned on my desk
and the papers were blowing about
the room. omebody-perhaps the
mechanism slipped. don't know. I'm
tired-my God, how tired I amp
The Colonel was pushing him into
chair. He heard the storming voice
of the Brigadier long distance away.
Howard was expostulating. They were
going through the papers again. A
clerk had been called in. Mark heard
something about searching the streets.
Somebody was telephOning. And,
above all, he was conscious of Keller
man in the next room, long before he
opened the glass door and entered.
He was alone, and struggling back
into the realization of his situation.
Kellerman's threat and his refusal to
consider it, the visit of Hartley, be-
gan to link themselves into the chain
of the devilish conspiracy. He rose
unsteadily to his feet, wiping the sweat
from his forehead. Colonel Howard
was coming through the open doorway
from Kelerman's room.
"Sit down, Wallace" he said grave
~. 'Tve been talking to the Brigadier,
or, rather. he has been talking to me.
You must consider yourself under ar
rest in your quarters. Now, how did
this damned thing happen?"
Mark explained as lamely as one
from soldiers brought before him for
various offenses during his term of
service, and waved them aside.
"You know what this means, Wal
lace?" asked the Colonel in kindly,
serious tone.
"New plans"
Eyes, but to your"
81 guess so, Colonel Howard. And
I'd like to hurry it through. Of course
[ shall want it over. I'll 60 home now,
and"
"Stop" Colonel Towards chal-
Ienge had triumphal ring to it. He
placed his hands on Marks shoulders
md swung him round, looking straight
Into his eyes. "Thank God for that,
Mark 70 he cried II fought the Briga-
der over you, and TIL fight him to the
end of time. I told him it was a
damned lie. I'll swear to it."
"What do you mean, SIR"
'That you are frequenter of gam
bling houses, Wallace. That's the
story that they have been putting over
on him. You know whom I mean by
they Washington's swimming with
that crooked gang, and that story
well, they managed to start that IN
circulation and saw that it reached the
| Brigadier's ears. He heard that you
were in fight outside Mrs. Kenson's
| place in the small hours this morning.
Mark, I'll see you through this.
Impulsively the kindly old man start
ed toward the door. He had almost
reached it when Wallace found his
tongue.
"Stop!"
The colonel halted, one hand still
outstretched toward the door. "Eh,
my boy" he asked.
zone moment, sir! cannot let you
go to the Brigadier. have never been
/ inside gambling house in my life, but
I was outside Mrs. Kenson's place last
night"
A sudden feebleness seemed to come
over the Colonel.
''Tell me about 1t, Wallace. Tell me
why you went there. You know her,
then? Don't you know that she's
| 81 know nothing about her, sir.