The Jasper news., 1920-09-02

neiieYaoio. that wanted e 10 over. Il
with her step By step, In order to bl
able TO convince the detective that Il
was the absolute truth.
! could not help but realize how
preposteroua II would sound IN the
telling. Mr.. German could hardly be
blamed for balieving that nv mind had
been inilamed By Witnessing too many
movie thrlllofy. Yet / had proof.
There were the entries 40 my great.
uncle's diary that l could show. / had
the anonymous notes. Ny story of the
strange whispers, II need be, could be
confirmed by the old iaCndreas, By
Barbara Bradford. yes. and BY Claire,
too. That 4. iftthe reason Claire had
given to account for her presence IN
my room was the true one. II sounded
logical. and yet l did not placa the
condolences in her that aid in Barbara.
But what relied on most Of all to
convince Gorfnan Of the truth Of my
preposterous tale was his own knowi-
edge Of who the telephone girl waa
Just when had reached the deduc-
ton that the band plotting against
ua must have ncoadjutor In the build
ing. be had come forward with the
knowledge that pointed toward the
person most apt to be involved.
was pondering 1t all over In my
mind as ] left the house to meet Bar
bara. l was out on the street and
just turning the corner when l remer,.
bered that had spent most OF. the
money TN my pocket the night before.
Retracing my steps, returned to my
apartment and took some bills from
their hidingspIace In the bookcase. As.
l emerged ineo't street again. be
came aware that across tho street was
man whose appearance seemed
vaguely familiar. As once more
turned the corner, walking briskIy, ]
glanced back for a second loo9 At
him and was SURPRISED to see him COM
ing in my direction.
Then all at once my subconscious
mind came to my rescue. realized
when II was that had seen him be-
fore and what made his appearance
so familiar, As left the house not
ten minutes ago that very same man
had been standing across the street.
AS / had turned back at the corner
he had been coming in my direction
just as he was now.
He must be following me. trailing
me, shadowing me. / determined to
test out my theory. At the next cor
ner turned sharply. glaneing quickly
back as did 50. He was still follow
ing me, though on the other side Of
the street and perhaps half a block
away. went few steps out Of
sight and theif stopped az II to look
in a shop window. He came hurrying
around the corner an instant later.
slowing down as soon as he spotted
me again and walked on slowly past
me as II not noticing me. waited
until he was some distance beyond
and retracing my steps quickly 10 the
avenue again stopped in the shelter OF
building to light a cigar. purposely |
wasting a number Of matches. In |
hardly ten seconds hewas hack, covert.
ly watching me from the ether side OF |
the street.
There was no question nDout Il. He
was trailing me. But who could be |
having me shadowedi Certainly he |
was not in the employ OF the Brad |
fords or OF Detective German. Either
he must be one Of the band of plot
ters, or-I hated to voice my suspi-
cion, hut somehow the thought Of nv |
great-uncle Rufus kept obtrudlng IT, |
self. 1t would be Just ike the sus-
picio0s old miser. II It was he who
had planned ali this devinnent, to put |
me In position. OF trust and then 10 |
have me watched night and day.
Whoever 1t was that inspired this
pursuit, determined to lead my
shadow q merry chase. Jumping into |
a taxi ! bade the driver take me to
a department store. Looking back |
saw the shadow hastily entering an
other cab. Arrived at my destination
! thrust fare and tip into the drivers
hand and hurrying inside managed to
catch an elevator just ascending. One
flight up got out and redeseended to
the main floor BY staircase at the
rear. emerging thence on to q side
street. A second taxi took me to
the Twenty-eighth street subway sta
ton, and there. with no sign OF my
pursuer, l took train to Times
square and went to the Astor to meet
Bradford. arriving on the dot
Of one. She was there aw waiting me-
and we quickly found a secluded table
In. one of-the less conspicuous rooms
''Tve told Claire everything" she
said as soon as we were seated. Il
hope you're not angry with me-"
"of course not You had to tell