Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1920-08-31

SnaDpy room on Appleton street,
there to pace the floor and agoniae
until nearly dawn.
Morning found him wan and i'll.
The little troubled sleep he had been
able to get, lying down still dressed
on the outside of the bed, had only
dazed without refreshing him His
head ached abominably, and n
pulses hammered with feverish i'll.
sisience.
AS he sat there, with tousled hair
| and wrinkled clothes, his mind
| ranged over and over the scenes of
the night before-the rnfo"gettable
scenes with his father and with
Sylvia. Love and loyalty for the girl
rose UP III strong antithesis against
the hatred that the old shipmasttr
| had by his own acts enl1indled in his
sons heart.
AS it a black and ugly panorama
had unfolded there. Bradford beheld
the totality Of his fathers wicked
ness against this unoffending, gen
tle-spiritci woman-the debt that ho
had let her pay him, penny by penny
thru hard and unceasing labo": the
persecution that had driven her from
her employment; the final infamy of
the accusation WHICH Bradford never
could accept as true.
Goaded up to action by these GU
mulatiye wrongs, he pulled himself
together, issued out into the morning
streets, and once more flung himself
into the uncertain quest for Sylvia.
Breakfast was out of the quess-
ton. The mere notion of it half
sickened him. He hurried to the
| nearest pay station, in the little
| news stand on the corner. called
Sylvia's number, and with thutl7
ding heart awaited some answer.
The OLD aunts voice came thinly
over the wire. No, she had received
no news of Sylvia. She had tele-
graphed to Wright Alden. and he was
coming to Boston to help find the
girl. No, she didn't want to see
Bradford. If 1t hadn't been for Brad
| ford, all this might not have hap
peTed. No, Bradford had better not
come to East Boston for day Or
two; there might be trouble, and II
tcould do no good. Yes, If any news
came, she would let him know at
once. He gave her the number of
| the pay station. and instructed the
clerk In the store to have any mes
sage for him rushed to his address.
/; Too wretched to resent Miss AL
den's in;sinuation that he was to
| blame for her niece's disappearance,
| he bought all the morning newspa-
pers, spread them out on the coun-
| ter and feverishly ran them thru.
No Information rewarded him.. His
| heart leaped sickeningly at sight of
a bold head line: Unknown Wora-
an Suicides"-but even before he
flung himself upon the item he knew
it could not be Sylvia. Sylvia was
| not that kind. Courage, fortitude and
faith lead In other paths.
'sThank God" thought le. ''even If
don't know where she is, I knew
she's alive!" He pushed the news
papers aside. "She's alive, and can
| find sher!''
| With fresh hope and reviving cour-
age he took a subway car down town.
He would return to the mission. It
i
might have filtered In there, thru the
subterranean channels of the unde--
world.
| Failing this. he entertained some
vague idea Of consulting a detective
Iagency. True, he knew little or moth
ling of detective agencies. but he
4 shared some vestiges of the almost
universal belief OF the layman that
detectives are omniscient. This seems
to be more an instinct of humanity
than conviction based on evidence:
the very word detective" connotes
supernal powers-thanks perhaps to
Sherlock Holmes and other charac-
tess of fiction.
| Bradford could devise no other line
of action, for he must have every
thing done. quietly. and he distrusted
ithe police as much as he recoiled
from the horrible newspaper publicity
that any application to them for help
would inevitably entail. Yes, some
good detective agency now offered
him the greatest hope. if }le should
fail to find some cline himself. And
with close to $500 still In his Pocket,
he felt that he could command much
service.
All his hopes at the mission proved
vain. The door was padlocked; no
sign of life appeared within. Moth
| ing remained, then, but the detective
agency.
Bradford had no slightest idea
where to find any such establish
ment He decided that he would
have to consult the city directory
and choose the one which boosted
the most responsible looking adver-
tisement With this plan OF cam
paign in mind, he turned back from
Boggs Court and made his way de-