Omaha daily bee., 1919-07-26

| Dooy 5000 by the WINDOW IN q
room that overlooked St. James
Park from a height. The room was
large, furnished and decorated in
the mode by someone who had
brought. taste to the work; but the
hand of the bachelor lay heavy upon
it. John Marlowe unlocked the
desk and drew long, stout envelop
from the back of the we'll.
II understand" he said to Mr..
Cupples, that you have read this"
81 read it for the first time two
days ago." replied Mr.. Cupples, who
seated on a sofa, was peering about
the room with a benignant face.
1--WE have discussed it fully"
Marlowe turned to Trent. There
is your manuscript" he said, laying
the envelop on the table. II have
gone over it three times. l do not
believe there is another man who
could have got at as much of the
truth as you have set down there"
Trent ignored the compliment.
He sat by the table gazing stonily
at the fire, his long legs twisted be-
meath his chair. you mean, of
course" he said, drawing the en-
velop towards him, that there is
more of the truth to be disclosed
now. We are ready to hear you as
soon as you like. l expect it will be
a long story, and the longer the
better, so far as | am concerned; |
want to understand thoroughly.
What we should both like, think,
is some preliminary account of
Henderson and your relations with
him. 1t seemed to me from the first
that the character of the dead man
must be somehow an element in the
business"
"You were right" Marlowe an
swered grimly. He crossed the room
and seated himself on corner Of
the tall cushiontopped fender. Il
will begin as you suggest"
II ought to tell you beforehand"
said Trent, looking him in the eyes,
that although l am here to listen
to you, l have not as yet any reason
to doubt the conclusions | have
stated here" He tapped the en-
velop. at is defense that you will
stand that"
Perfectly" Marlowe was cool
and in complete possession of him
self, man different indeed from the
worn out. nervous being Trent re-
membered at Marlstone a year and a
half ago. His tall, 1.-THE figure was
held with the perfection of muscular
tone. His brow was candid, his
blue eyes were clear, though they
still had, as he paused collecting his
ideas, the look that had troubled
Trent at their first meeting. Only
the lines of his mouth showed that
he knew himself in position of diff
hculty, and meant to face it.
"Sigsbee Henderson was not a
man of normal mind" Marlowe be-
gan in his quiet voice. Most of
the very rich men I met with in
America had become so by virtue
of abnormal greed, or abnormal in
dustry, or abnormal personal force,
or abnormal luck. None of them
had remarkable intellects. Mander-
son delighted too in heaping up
wealth; he worked necessarily at it.;
he was a man of dominant will; he
had quite his share of luck ;butwhat
made him singular was his BRAIN
power. In his own country they
would perhaps tell you that it was
his most striking characteristic; but
there are hundreds of them who
would have carried out his plans with
just as little consideration for others
if they could have formed the
plans.
II used to think that his strain of
Indian blood, remote as it was.
might have something to do with
the cunning and pitilessness of the
man. Strangely enough, the ex-
istence of that strain was unknown
to anyone but himself and me. 1t
was when he asked me to apply my
taste for genealogical work to his
own obscure family history that l
made the discovery that he had in
him share of the blood of the
Iroquois chief Montour and his
French wife, a terrible woman who
ruled the savage politics of the
tribes of the Wilderness 200 years
ago. The Mandersons were active
in the furtrade on the Pennsylvania
border in those days, and more
than one of them married Indian
women. Other Indian blood than
Montour's may have descended to
Henderson, for all l can say.
through previous and subsequent
unions; some of the wives anteced-
ents were quite untraceable, and
there were so many generations OF
pioneering before the whole country
was brought under civilization.
Henderson was thunderstruck at
what l told him, and was anxious
to conceal it from every soul. OF
course l never gave it away while
he lived, and l don't think he sup
posed l would; but I have thought
since that his mind took a turn
against me from that time onward.
1t happaned about a year before his
DEATH"
Had Henderson," asked Mr.
Cupples, so Unexpectedly that the
other started, "any defnable reli-
gious attitude?"
Marlowe considered q moment.
"None that ever heard Of" he said
worship and prayer were quite un
known to him, so far as I could see.
and l never heard him mention re