Omaha daily bee., 1921-08-07


She had slightly ove- fifteen hundred dol.
lars, enough to keep her going for some
time After thst-o. she could take care OF
herself.
Just how she would take care Of herself
was not important at the moment. She had
been honest until she met Halsey. Whether
or not she would have remained honest had
she never met Halsey is doubtful She was
Of the sort that takes what 1t considers the
easiest, most comfortable course. II clrcun,.
= would be easy, Rosa would be honest. But
with her future she was not at all concerned.
Only the immediate present interested her.
She had progressed through many moods
since the killing Of Halsey. On the moment
Of rcgaining consciousness that cver'present
fear Of the police had ruled her. But only
momentarily. She had become indifferent to
tho consequences Then, a little later, she
had been anxious to end everything, either
by Jail or DEATH A little after that she had
decided to begin life all over again, and
escape was the thought that ruled her. 1t
still ruled.
She did not make the mistake OF engag-
Ing a taxicab when Allayne set her down
from the roadster 1t was stormy day.
A taximan, reading the account OF the kill
ing at Hillcrest Inn, might remember hav.
ing conveyed a wet and bedraggled woman
to this or that place. No. she would walk
to the railroad station. Ticket agents IN
SO bustling a place as Hillstown would
hardly remember every prospective pas
selger.
But unfortunately, there would not be
a train for New York until late afternoon.
Rosa, in the waiting ROOM studied the
situation thoughtfuly. In an hour or So
perhaps less--the railroad stations would be
watched Unfortunately. a description Of Al
layne-N one were obtainable-would loosely
fit herself, Rosa They both had worn dark
clothing, were yelled. and their general com.
plexions were the same. Rosa was tempted
to remove the veil, but decided not to- Some
employe Of the Longridge Hotel might be in
the station, attending to tickets or baggage
for guest Of the place. Curiosity might be
aroused at sight Of her.
From the information window she obtained
timetable. She chose secluded corner
OF the waiting rooA and sat down to study
1t. A train for Chicago left in two hours.
And, Of course, local trains left for various
points at frequent intervals.
Chicago and New York, however, were
the only places where Rosa felt that she
might hide In security. And she didn't know
Chicago at all. 1t suddenly occurred to her
that there were other roads besides this one
which passed through Hillstown. She asked
for timetable Of another road. Studying
this, she found that train for New York
left Stasburg in two hours. According to
the map It was only a dozen miles or so from
Hillstown.
She left the station and approached
ts.irnan. She knew that it made her con-
spicuous, that the man would remember
her, but it was extremely doubtful that the
Hillstown evening paper Of today would con-
tain any account Of the killing Of Halsey.
Her brief residence In the town had taught
her that the evening paper came out at one
o'clock and that it published only one edi'
ton. She doubted that it would be enter.
prisins enough to publish an extra. There
fore. the taximan wouldn't connect her with
this ki.ling-supposing that he did-until
tomorrJx mornings paper had been pub
lished, at the earliest. And by that time
she'd be in New York.
"Can you drive me to stasburg:" she
asked.
The man eyed her appraisingly. With
her hat and suit wrinkied by the rain, she
did not look like the sort Of person who could
pay fifteen dollars for taxi ride.
ITS nearly thirty miles," he said. Cost
you fifteen dollars"
"That's all right" she told him. How
long will it take?"
The taximan glanced at the slippery street.
"Pretty muddy over the hills" he said.
"ought to do it in an hour and a half,
though"
Rosa opened the rear door OF the machine.
"Al right: take me there" she ordered.
The man hesitated, and she guessed the
cause. She opened her purse and extracted
fifteen dollars. She gave it to him. And
there1l be five more when we get there" she
told him.
The mans surly face lighted up. Hop
in, lady," he invited. A moment later they
were turning away from the station.
Emotion Is exhausting. There were no
pangs of remorse to keep Rosa awake. and
she had no fears Of capture. Wherefore she
sank into a placid slumber. She never
awoke from it in this world.
Rounding curve on steep hill, the taxi
man came face to face with a descending
car. To save an ininitesimal fraction Of
time the taximan was hugging the wrong
side Of the road. The other was a heavy
touring car and its brakes could not stop it:
barely checked It. The taxinan whirled his