Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-08-13

Relknap's confederate, Berta' OF
Roberta, arrives on the scene uno'r
tbe name of Senorita Cervantez'
nianist. who is to entertain inc
1uests She Drctends to be dumb ana
nr;tos bcr words on a pad of paper.
Her action mystifies BclknaP. liur
ward attacks Belknap one nlght H',e'
he has received notes from both N"'h
crime and Roberta from q balcony "l
the house.
AND HERE IT CONTINUES
Thus. while Belknap returned to the
scene of the attack upon him, to re-
cover the two objects that had oe'n
dropped to him from two balconies
Harvard sought his own room carry
ing them with him in his coatpocket
So many things happened at inquest
that night, and happened so nearly at
the same time, that it is dithcult 10
keen them in mind as being of approx
mate simultaneouSness.
Betty was occupied with the daGucrre-
otype, and Tom was engaged upon
Rushton's report, while Katherine was
preparing for bed, and Belknap was
taking his stroll in the grounds, to be
followed presently by his host. Senori-
tn Cervantez, also restless, was at the
same time arriving at the decision thar
she must have an interview with Bel
knap without delay, and so wrote
bastv note to him as soon as she got to
her room-to be surreptitiously dellV'
cred at the first opportunity that Of
fered and having done that she turned
off her light and stepped out upon the
balcony from her window.
She did not do that quite soon enough
to discover Katherine, who had the in
slant before disappeared into the dark
ness of her own room, after tripping
upon the chair and so-without knowing
it--dislodged the book which caused the
old and forgotten letter to drop down
to Belknap; but she did see Belknap
beneath Katherine's balcony, and she
surmised that he had mistaken it for
her own; so she darted back, secured
the message she had written, hurried
outside again and called to him in that
sibilant whisper.
So Katherine did not discover her,
and she did not see Katherine and she
was much too wary to risk the use of
her voice even then.
Having dropped her written message
to Belknap, she retreated with almost
the same haste that Katherine had en-
ployed, with the difference that while
Katherine pulled down the shades and
snapped on the lights, Roberta came to
stop just inside of her window and,
concealed by the darkness, peered out
ward, watching Belknap.
Thus she made several interesting
discoveries--and was separately and
severally alarmed by each of them.
She saw the light fare into being
In Katherine's room behind the white
but opaque shades, remembered that
Belknap had stopped beneath that bal
cony instead of her own-and asked
herself if, after all, he had made a
mistake, as she had at first supposed.
She saw the fash Of Belknap's cleo
trio, and watched him-and then she
saw the light disappear, and discovered
the figure of another man strugglinr
with him; and she caught her breath
frightened, although she made no move
whatever.
Roberta could see very little of what
happened in the deep shadow beside the
thick balsam. She had no idea as ia
who Belknap's assaiIant might be. or
why he had been attacked but she was
conscious of an insane JOY because he
was in danger, and if she had known
that his life was at stake she would
not have lifted so much as a finger to
save him. After a time she saw one
of the shadowy figures glide swiftly
away, and the other presently get to its
feet and lurch into the moonlight.
She recognized Belknap and saw that
he was blindfolded and had his hands
tied behind him-and she laughed; not
loudly, but with intense amusement at
the chagrin she knew him to be ex-
! periencing; and then she became grave
again, for she remembered that tht
person who had attacked him mus
have seen him beneath her window and
have witnessed the dropping Of the
written message from her balcony.
That suggested a complication thai
might prove portentous-if, as she be
gan to fear, the unknown happened t.
be an inmate of the house; and ther
she started violently and clasped hel
hands together as she breathed tensely
tie words:
bingham Harvard himself: Th,
Night Wind Was it he? Could 1t hav,
been-I wonder!"
II was not of herself that she though
then, but of Katherine.
II the man were Harvard he mus
have seen Belknap beneath his wife
w,adow, End-what might not be hi
concIuslons? Yet" she mused on
uneonsciously uttering the words aloud
20. b. still lives; he is alive-so-i
could not have been the Night Wind
he would have crushed G. b. into
rulp; he would have torn him apar
piecesneal II he had caught him beneat
Eatberfne Hafyard's bedroom windo'
~. .o..r % n. .,t,xbk -