Vernon Parish Democrat. (Leesville, La.) 1917-193?, 1920-11-11
CHAPTER iv.-contInued.


name before in ALI my life till just
new. Come ter think Of it, believe
that that was ti;o z;a;zie e that q Rne |
Igirl's letter / got it yere in the
IIesk it's torn some, an don't mean |
nothin' to me! sounds kinder nutty."
He threw open a drawer, rummaging |
within, but without pausing in speech.
saThen a fellow blew in yere this |
.ESorhin' off the Limited, asking about |
sssU, Jim, an DANCED If 1 don't be-
Iieve he said his name was Cavendish. |
The register was full so he didn't
write it down, but that was the ename
all right. And now you tote in an
other one. What is this, anyhOw-a
family reunion?"
''YOu say man by that name was
heTe-asking for meP"
''Yep; / reckon he's asleep up
stairs, for he never showed up at sup
per"
I'm what room, Peter
Nine
WestcOtt, with a swift word Of ex-
cuse to Stella, dashed into the hall,
and disappeared up the stairway, TAX
aRg three steps at a time. moment
1ater those below heard him pounding
at a door; then his voice sounded:
''Fhis is Jim WestcOtt; open up"
TimmOns stood gazing blankly at
the empty staircase, hopping his face
with bandanna handkerchief Then
he removed his horn-rimmed specta-
cles, and polished them, as though what
mind he possessed had become COM
pletely dazed.
He turned around and noticed Miss
Donovan, the sight of her standing
there bringing back a reminder Of his
duty.
HE was a sayin' as how likely yer
wanted to go to bed, miss"
''NOt now; I'll wait until Mr.. West
colt comes down. What is that paper
in your hand? Is that the letter Miss
Rue left2"
81 held it up in surprise, gazing at
Y itSthrough his glasses.
''Why, Lord bless melt is, isn't it?
Must have took it out O. ther drawer
an never thought of the darned thing
agin."
May see ltE
"Sure; faint o. no consequence ter
me; 1 reckon the woman sorter packed
in hurry, and this got lost. The
Chink found it under the bed"
She took 1t in her hand, and
crossed the room, finding a seat be-
meath one of the bracket-lamps, but
with her face turned toward the hall.
Ii was Just a single sheet of folded
paper, not inclOsed in an envelope,
and had been torn across, so that the
two parts barely held together. She
felt that here was the key which was
90 unlock the secret of this strange
crime. Whoever the man upstairs
might prove to be-the real Caven-
dish or some impostOr paper she
held in her hands was destined to be
a link in the chain. She unfolded it
slowly and her eyes traced the written
words within. 1t was a hasty scrawl,
written on the cheap paper of some
obscure hotel in Jersey City, extreme
ly difficult to decipher, the hand Of
the man who wrote exhibiting plainly
the excitement under which he la
bored.
1t was a message of warning; he
was leaving New York, and would sail
that evening for some place in South
america where he did not say. Love
only caused him to tell her what had
occurred. A strange word puzzled
her, and before she could decipher it.;
voices broke the silence, followed by
steps on the stairs. She glanced up
quickly; it was WestcOtt returning,
accompanied by tall, rather slender
man with a closely trimmed beard
The two crossed the room, and she
met them standing, the opened letter
still in her hand.
miss Donovan, this is Frederick
Cavendish-the real Frederick Cav
endish. l have told him something of
the trouble he has been to us all"
The real Frederick Cavendish
smiled down into her eyes, while he
held her fingers tightly clasped in his
own. She believed in him, liked him
instantly.
"a trouble which 1 regret very
much" he said humbly. "WestcOtt
has told me a little, very little, Of
what has occurred since l left New
York so hurriedly two months ago.
This is the first l knew about it, and
the mystery of the whole affair is as
puzzling as ever"
Her eyes widened wonderingly.
"You cannot explain? Not even
who the dead man was found MUIR
dered. in your apartmentsY
81 haven't the least idea"
Erred has told me all he knows, y
broke in WestcOtt. "but 1t only ex-
tends to midnight when he left the
city. He was in his apartments less
than ten minutes after his valet re-
tired. He supposed he left everything
In good order, with a note on the
gTitfng-tabIe instruefing Valnis what