Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1920-07-17

mediate surroundings. and it was the
picture OF "a gentle, kindly faced old
woman, who had silver hair, and who
wore clothes that were Il little thread
bare. and whose grey Irish eyes be-
hind the spectacles were filled with
tears, and he seemed to see the thin
shoulders square proudly back, ttnd he
4 seemed to hear her speak again: Il
love my boy, l love him with all my
heart, but l should n thousand times
rather see him dead than know him
for "a thief"
Mechanically the Hawk moved over
to the desk where the lunch satchcl
still lay, and emptied out the remain
der of the food.
mo" said the Hawk, II guess she'll
never know; and guess I'd have to
take the stuff now. anyway, whether
wanted to or motif she's not to
know" 4
| He was examining the inside of
the satchel. 1t was an old and we'll
/ worn affair, and torn piece of the
4 lining. stuck down with paste at the
edges, would ordinarily have attract
ed no attention. The Hawk loosened
this. and felt inside. At the bottom,
we're strips OF cotton wadding He
took one out. Embedded in this
| were a number OF diamonds, which,
as he drew the wadding apart. flashed
brilliantly In the light of the oil
lamps above his head. He wrapped
the stones up again, and put them in
his pocket---took out the remainder
from the satcheL put these also in his
pocket, and replaced In the satchel
! the portion of lunch he had removed.
1t mattered little about the torn lin
ing now!
He kind OF put II up to me-" said
the Hawk slowly. Yes. and she did
too--without knowing told Mother
Barrett. It's kind OF queer she should
have said that---lsind of queer" The
Hawk pulled the drawer of the desk
open, and nodded as he found and
took out the messengers revolver.
Thought he'd have one, and that 1t
would most likely be here" he NUT :
tered.
| He crossed the car, and listened in
tently at the open side door. There
was no sound--nothing, for instance.
| coming from Bradley yet. He closed
the door. and stood for an instant
looking down ct the boys form on
the floor.
II guess I Gun fix It for you. kid
maybe" he said simply. II guess /
can"
In rapid succession he fired Ave OF
the seven shots from the revolver:
then. STOPPING. laid the weapon, IFS
tho 1t had dropped ut last from
nerveless fingers. just beside the boys
|outstretched hand. He Strengthened
up. stepped to the side door, und slid
1t open again. a.
It'll let the smoke out before any
body gets here. The Butcher isn't
coming forward with any testimony.
and with all those shots fired at the
time OF the hoid-up who's to know
the boy didn't fight till he went down
and out? And now guess I'll make
my own getaway" He dropped to The
trackside. and started forward at a
brisk pace. 'I.ll keep on a bit until I
hear something coming" he decided.
Then I'll lay low while they're clean
ing up the line. and walt till can
hop = freight, east or west, that will
get me out OF this particular locality.
After that. there's nothing to 1T"
A hundred yards farther on the
Hawk spoke again. and there was q
twisted smile on the Hawks lips.
II It'll break her heart anyway, I
guess" ne said; "but it'll help some
maybe to be proud of him. Yes, l
guess they'll tell her that, all right
that he died q game kid"
The Hawk yawned. He had been
almost forty eight hours without
sleep. He had slept dill day after he
had regained his room. following the
night ut "FivetM Crossing" but
after that
He frowned in a perturbed and
puzzled way. Ensconced now in q
wicker lounging chair in the observa-
ton OF the Coast Limited, he was APP
parently engrossed in the financial
page OF his newspaper. and apparent
lily quite obvious of his fellow travel
ers, some four or Ave of whom
lounged and smoked in their own re-
spective wicker chairs around him.
On a, little pad Of paper. which he
held In the left hand, he might even.
without serious tax upon the inag-
nation. have appeared to be calcu-
lating the effect of the markets fiuc-
thations upon personal, and perhaps
narrowly held, margins--for again he
scowled unhappily. The Hawk, how
ever, at the moment, was engrcssed
solely with a few curiously assorted
letters of the alphabet, when mtre
scrawled across the top of the pad.
They ran:
Beneath this. his pencil had al
ready been at work, and he had
transformed the line.
pzudlkmlqpb.
He was staring at this result now
in bewildered way. Then his pencil
picked out the remaining five up-
scored letters. and mechanically set
them down as third line:
rainy.
"Rainy"--there was one word, just
zone word-"ratny." What did 1t mean
What was the significance of the
word? No message in the Wire Dew
lis cipher, once the message was de-
coded, but had been at once clear and
unfnistakable In Its meaning before.
Had they resorted now to code words
80 well. to a cipher within a cipher
Into tho grimness Of tho Hawks
n - nv no r{v
as he slipped the pad into his pocket,
allowed the newspaper to drop to his
knees. and, edging his chair around,