Evening star., 1920-03-21

inS Win an intense satisfaction, you
will be delighted to hear that poor
Shaws, although he foolishly lent
himself to most wrongful con-
spiracy, is in reality as innocent in
the matter of McMarshs death as
Is your reverend self"
"Impossible!' 1 calculated.
What do you mean, impossible"
He has confessed to completely. He
did not fire the shot. 1t Is true; but
you cannot persuade me. Tread
ways"
My dear fellow. may point out
that 1t was because you believed In
MS innocence that you brought him
to me?"
But I had not then heard his
story!"
And you have not yet heard mine"
At that I lapsed into silence while
Tredways regarded me with twinkling
eyes. He went on. composedly.
"Shaws thinks he was in the plot
to take the life of McMarsh.A p Nothing
OF the sort. There was another plot
on foot to the same sinister end, which
neither Shaws nor his friends knew
anything about. 1t was to this deeper
scheme that McMarsh fell victim"
But Willis killed him?'
ITO be exact Willis did not He
was murdered by a man named Will
liam Saarken. True, Saarken had in
vented the name of Willis for himself;
true he was known in this country as
a professor of languages. but in re-
ality he was spy out of Germany,
and he shot Staining McMarsh dead
entirely. for his own ends, quite inde-
pendent of Shaws and his friends
whom he laughed at"
stared establishment.
THE truth was not deep below the
surface" continued Tredways. obi
rectly I heard Shaws' story of his
society. its members, it's powers,
felt 1t would be a matter of surprise
II there was not in 1t the usual Ger
man agent who is to be found in
everything of the sort when impor-
tant social and political movements are
involved. When Shaws went on to
speak of the discovery of new ex-
plosive of revolutionary power, then
] was certain our agent must be near,
indeed, and when he informed US that
the murderous task had been ac-
cepted by Willis, who was to pos
sess himself of the leaden box with
the formula inside. then commenced
to think that the professor Of Ian
guages was the man. He-but I see
you want to interrupt"
"You forget, Tredways, that Willis
did not accept the task; 1t fell to him
by chance.
'Twaddle. You allude to a cut of
the cards. Bah! What Is more easy Of
manipulation to q man who knows
how to do II and whose fingers are
deft?
This morning, my dear Francie, I
visited that section of New Scotland
Yard which deals with alien spies.
My search there was speedily reward
ed. They knew Of Prof. Willis when
he was here years ago; they knew
him by that name as well as his own,
and they knew him by his lameness.
He had been under surveillance, more
or less. but had vanished utterly some
years ago. The date of his disap-
pearance We know, you and I. It was,
of course, Immediately after the mur-
der"
with the secret for which he COM
mitted It, Good heavens!
THAT his friends of the society sus-
pected the truth when too late must
be evident" went on Tredways. HE
did not come back to them. and that
was significant enough. you will al
low. AS you say, the all-previous
formula has passed from McMarshs
dead hands to Saarken's. 1t was a
blow too great and I see In 1t the
chief cause Of the breakup Of the
society"
But they had considerable power,
Tredways," dissented. why did they
not get on his heels?"
Because, although they did not
know 1t, Saarken was dead. He died
on the very night Of his crime!"
Can you prove that, Tredways?"
demanded, excitedly.
Eyes. In the first place, he was
never seen after that night; In the
second place-well, just lift my water
proof in the corner there. will your?
obeyed. Underneath was small
leaden box.
UOootot,y,r noor Mona rah'a draad