Charlevoix county herald., 1920-06-25

floor of his rooms In the WaldrOn
apartments.
'My God I" he cried In high voice,
I-I thought I was seeing things. You
are really woman-and aliveT
Miss Donovan hesitated a moment
before she answered, wondering
whether to tell him of her narrow es-
cape. This she decided to do.
"Alive, but only by luck" she said
In friendly voice, and then recounted
the insults Of Cateras, her struggle
with him, and capture Of his cartridge
belt and revolver, and how finally she
had left him bound and gagged in the
adjo.aing cell. The man listened at
tentively. though his mind seemed
slow 20 grasp d tails.
- it, he insisted, unable to clear
his brain, "why are you here? Surely
yea are not one of this gang of out
;awsf"
81 am a prisoner. That is true of
you also. Is It notT
"Y.s. III am prisoner. although
I do not in the least know why. When
did you conner
"Not more than two hours ago. Two
men brought me across the desert from
Haskell"
81 do not know how came. was
on the platform of an observation car
the last / remember" his utterance
slow, as though his mind struggled
with a vague memory, talking with a
gentleman whom / had met on the
train. There-there must have been
an accident, / think, for 1 never knew
anything more until woke up here"
"Do you recall the name Of the
man you were converslng with on the
observation carr"
He pressed his hand against his fore
head, a wrinkle appearing straight be-
tween his eyes.
"Pve tried to remember that" he
admitted regretfully. "but 1t doesn't
quite come to me-"
"Was 1t Beatonf"
"Yes. Why, how strange OF course,
he was Edward BeatOn of New York.
He told me he was broker. Why,
how did you known
1T is not so strange she said at
last, "for your disappearance is indi-
rectly the occasion of my being here
also. believe l can even call you by
name. You are Mr.. Cavendish?"
Eyes" he admitted, his hands grip
Tn hn ho nIr Of Iu
his eyes filed with amazement. "But
but do not know you"
"FOr the best of reasons" she an
swered smilingly, advancing and ex-
tending her hand-"because we have
never met before. l am Stella Dono-
van, newspaper woman. Your
strange disappearance about month
ago aroused considerable interest, and
l CHANGED to be detailed on the case.
My investigations led me to visit Has
kell, where unfortunately my mission
became known to those who were re-
sponsible for your Imprisonment here.
So, to keep me quiet, was also alb
Quoted and brought to this place."
"You-you mean 1t was not an acci-
dent-that l was brought here pur-
posely?"
Exactly; you were trailed from
New York by gang of thieves having
confederates in this country. am un-
able to give you all the details; but
this man Beaton, whom you met on the
train, is a notorious gunman and
gambler. His being on the same train
with you was q part of a well-laid
plan, and have no doubt but what he
deliberately slugged you while you
two were alone on the observation
platform"
"But-but," he stammered, "what
was his object? Why did those people
scheme to get me?"
GAS 1 told you, Mr.. Cavendish, do
not know all the details, but / think
these men-One of whom is lawyer
planned to gain possession of your for
tune, possibly by means of a forged
will and, in order to accomplish this,
1t was necessary to get you out Of the
way. If either of us can escape from
this place we shall be in time to foil
them completely"
He sank down on the bench and
buried his face in his hands, thorough
ly unnerved. The girl looked at him
a moment In silence, then touched his
shoulder.
Look here, Mr.. Cavendish," she said
firmly, there Is no use losing your
nerve. Surely there must be some way
of getting out Of here. For one, am
going to try"
Miss Donovan" he said with grav-
Ity, 1--WE are In the hands of desperate
men. We will have to take desperate