The Washington times., 1918-07-18
CHATTER CIV.


. So Mrs. Meyer had killed herself,
deprived of her husband and her
children, overwhelmed by the lone
illness of her house! And he, Guy.
was responsible, for was 1t not by
his suggestion. his thoughtless
folly that Lillian had carried on
the chfldreni He gulped and
coughed with the sickening nausea
that had seized him by the throat,
and stretched out his hands, clutch
ing at the door for support
But there was no time to be lost
Perhaps she was not yet dead. He
mastered himself with a violent eff
fort, and glanced around the room
in search of a knife with which to
cut the rope, for he remembered
that he had none in his pocket.
There was one upon a slab at the
further end OF the room near the
window. 1t was a large carving
knife, and the thought occurred to
him that perhaps she had meant
to use IL upon herself, but she had
abandoned the knife in favor of the
rope. To reach It he was obliged
TO pass the CHASTITY pendant figure,
and. having done so, he could not
avoid glancin5 at the face.
And then he was sure that she
was dead-even that she had been
hanging for some hours. The dis
torted position OF the head indi-
Gated a broken neck, and the ap-
pearance OF the face-horrible be-
yond expression-was not compati-
BILE with life. 1t was no case of
suspended animation. Artificial
respiration. however prolonged,
uror1d he 0F
the knife in his hand.
A Clue to the Crime.
On the floor Of the hearth, and
close to the hanging feet, lay some
object which had evidently been
thrown from the mantelpiece by
the woman in the act of committing
her foul deed. Guy stopped and
picked It up. It was a small, COM
mon clock. and the hands pointed
to a few minutes after 8. At that
hour the clock had stopped So
here was proof-undoubted proof
of the time when the deed had been
done.
Ten minutes past sand It was
now going on for II. It was an alb
solute imposslbility that anything
could be gained by Immediately cut
dropped from Guys hand
No one had seen him enter the
house; no one would see him II he
left IT quietly. To proclaim the
suicide would involve him at once
IN q series of questions which he
would have great difficulty in an
swering. And Lillian, too-it would
be inevitable that the whole story
Of the abducted children must come
out, and her position, indeed. would
be an unenviable one Possibly, too
very probable, in fact-the de-
tails Of Won Geldenstein's suicide
would be taken up again. and the
whole matter be carefully investI-
gated
Such would be the consequences
II he allowed himself TO be involved.
On the other hand, II he made his
escape now IT was hardly likely
that either he or Lillian would be
implicated. Mrs. Meyer could nei-
Their read nor write; 1t was not
likely that she had made any state
ment She did not know Lillian.
and could not therefore, have
given any information to the neigh
bors as to who had carried OF her
children.
Easiest Way Out.
In any case, to withdraw quietly
offered a possibility 10 escape from
disastrous consequences. To re
main meant the certainty OF bring
ing them about. Even as he had
stolen away after the discovery OF
soldsmith's murdered body, so now
also he prepared TO follow the same
course.
Thought is rapid in times Of
stress End danger, and II took Guy
but oae or two minutes to come
TO his decision. Be II said for him
that he was genuinely distressed
at the shocking consequences Of the
thOughtless act which had seemed
TO him such q good joke in the aft
ernoon. but remoTse was TO come
later. At the moment action was
necessary. and II was his main idea
that he could best serve Lillian
by leaving matters as they were.
Poor Lilian"-he muttered the