Omaha daily bee., 1920-01-30
8,

HdutptoH dIu scHu tHc ponce DaCk.N
Harry Underwood saw my hesi-
tation. and interpreted it in his own
wav.
"There won't be any murder done
while you're gone little girl" he
said. "But II you don't get the po-
lice here before this article at my
right feels impelled to shoot off his
mouth again there may be consider
able damage accomplished"
II think you'll find" Mr.. Bridge
ham" put in more suavely than I
had thought it possible for him to
speak, that the last people Mrs.
Graham wishes to, have interview
me are police officials of any kind"
He stepped adroitly to one side as
he spoke. well out of reach of Mr..
Underwood's long, powerful arms.
1t was we'll that he did. for the man
who had constituted himself my
protector sprang at him as he ut
tered the sneering words. then
stopped short at my terror-wrung
cry.
"He's right. Mr.. Underwood!
Please don't let the police interfere
in this" - &
| | have never seen such absolute
amazement on the face OF any hui
man being as overspread his coun-
tenancc when he caught my mean
ing. TosWy CONSERVATION ] saw,
the first surprise of my statement
over. he evidently interpreted my
cry as proof that 7 must have been
guilty of some offense which had
put me in this mans power
! The sudden. keen glance he shot
at me made me shudder. for there
was blended in it modicum OF re-
greet for having found my feet OF
clay, and a much greater proportion
Of sinister iubilation at finding. as he
supposed. that my conscience and
ideals were no higher than his own.
Harry Underwood's offer.
But overshadowing everything,
else there was in his look protec-
tive quality that gave me a queer
kind of comfort in spite of my dis
trust and disapproval of him. With
a menacmg gesture he turned to
Mr.. "Bridgcham." -
"Beat it down the road bit" he
said icily "I'll talk to you later.
There was something SO deadly IN
his tones that even the other mans
audacity easn't equal to. retort.
He conteMed himself with glare
and a shrug of the shoulders, as it
he must perforce humor madman.
hut he obeyed instructions implicit
ly, stopping well out Of car shot.
"See here. little pal!'
Harry Underwood's voice was
filled with protective tenderness, but
| there was something else less pleas
ing in it, an indehnable cheapening
of me and his association with me
lthat I had never heard before III his
widest moods.
| Madge Explains"
! I looked up at him a bit dazedly
I am afraid Indeed, didn't know
what to say or do. That Mr..
"Bridgeham" had discovered the Sc
cret Of the Stockbridge murder case
which l had guarded SO carefully !
was sure, and that he meant to
frighten me into revealVg it to him
| was equally certain. But how Har-
ry Underwood could help me I had
no idea.
whats that fellow got on your
he asked significantly. 1T can't be
you've been up to something the po-
lice can touch you for. 1t must be
he's trying to blackmail you. You'd
better just tell your Uncle Dudley
: all about it. I'm the boy that car,
straighten things out for you. And
don't blame you, whatever you've
been up to. The Dicky-bird isn't
playing the game any too square
with you. d-n him!"
l didn't understand exactly what
he meant, but there was enough of
significance in his voice to make me
color painfully All at once / felt
that nothing in the world mattered
SO much as to set myself right at
once in this mans eyes. It was not
that I cared for his opinion as it al
fected me personally. But to have
this man who had been SO closely
associated with our little group, and
who had later broken every law of
God and man he could find to break
to have him believe, as he evi-
IDENTIFY did--that l had sunk to his
own level-this was intolerable.
ooh" I gasped. "You-you--
don't understand. I-I-have done
nothing that I regret But-I-hap-
pen to know something about some
one which this man is anxious TO
find out-something that means life
or death-to some one il the police
Know about it. But--Lillian knows.
and she wanted to arrange it so that
this man should see her instead of
ME when he came to frighten me, as
we were sure he would do"