The Clio messenger. (Clio, Mich.) 1907-current, 1921-04-07
Copyright. All Rights Reserve,
CHAPTER xIll-continued.


how cool l was in that last moment.
l held the gun to my shoulder and
waited for 1t to thrust itself against
the blanket. In another moment / am
sure / should have fired. But before
that moment l heard my name called,
and / knew my husbands voice, and
/ came out of the nightmare"
Most extraordinary" the coroner
repeated, after silence. ut seems
to account for the shooting of Rifles,
but II leaves us as much as ever
more than ever, / should say-in the
dark concerning the disappearance Of
the money, and the part which has i'm
plicated the young man Travers in the
affair"
The banker gave his evidence. 1t
was not unusual, he said, for consid-
cradle sums in bank notes to be han
died among spectators and land buy
ers, but the amount withdrawn by
Harris was so great that it had left
him somewhat Ill at ease, and as Ser
geant Grey had happened his way he
had mentioned the matter to him.
During the hearing of the various
witnesses Gardiner had attempted an
air of impersonal interest, but with no
great success. His demeanor, studied
though it was, betrayed a certain
anxiety and impotence. He was
dressed just as he had dismounted
from his horse, having removed only
his hat. But he smiled confidently
when asked for his evidence, and told
his story calmly and collectedly.
1t is quite true that he was assO-
ciated with Rifles and Mr.. Harris in
the coal mine investment. He was
acting for the owner of the property,
but had seen that large profit was
to be made from the turnover, and
had been glad to place the opportunity
In the way of two old friends.
81 feel grave responsibility in this
whole matter" Gardiner protested,
with some emotion. II feel that l am,
at least indirectly, responsible for the
serious loss that has befallen Mr.. Har-
ris, and for the injury to his son.
But when you have heard the whole
circumstances you will agree that the
situation was one l could not possibly
have foreseen. Let me give them to
you In some detail.
1.-The day before yesterday, in COM
pany with Rifles, met Mr.. Harris and
his son, and found that their money
had arrived. The remittance was not
as large as they expected, but / be-
lleved that / could raise some money
privately, and that we would still be
able to put the deal through. / adj
vised against losing any time, as
knew that If the owner should meet
anyone else interested in proposition
of similar nature we would find II
much harder TO make a bargain with
him. 1t was arranged that the two
Mr.. HAIRLESS were to drive ahead, TAX
ing the money with them, and that
Riles and / would follow. We were
to overtake them at the old building
where this unfortunate tragedy oc-
Cured. AS ii happened, l had sick
horse at the ranch, and, as j was de-
layed in getting some medicine for
him, Riles suggested that he would
ride out TO the ranch-that is, where
l live-and wait for me there. Up to
that time l had no suspicious, and l
agreed to that.
"Well, when reached the ranch,
could find nothing of Riles, and, on
further search, l could find nothing of
Travars, who was working for me.
Their riding horses were gone, and so
wero their saddles and brides.
found that Travers had taken his re-
eolver out Of the house. / confess my
suspicious were then somewhat
aroused, but found myself with the
sick horse on my hands, and / could
not very well leave the place. OF
course. never thought Of anything so
bad as has happened, or l would not
have considered the horse, but l adj
init was at loss to understand their
conduct. But when ] heard, early this
morning. what had happened, ii was
oil clear to me-"
During the latter part of this evil
dence Trayers had fixed his eyes on
Gardiner, but the witness had steadi-
ly avoided him. Jim was now con-
vinced that he was the victim, not Of
a coincidence, but a plot. OF course.
he could give his evidence, which
would be directly contradictory to that
of Gardiner, but he was already under
suspicion, and anything he might say
would be unconsciously discounted by
the Jurors. But he began calmly. a
quiet smile still playing about his thin
lips and clean teeth.
II am sorry / cannot corroborate all
the last witness has said," he com
menced. 81 did not leave the ranch
with Riles on the contrary, was fish
ing down by the river when ! saw
Rifles and Gardiner ride by. Gardiner
was talking and heard him mention
MI. Harris name. / worked for Mr..
Harris not long ago, but ! did not
know he was In this part Of the coun-
try. heard Gardiner say" Jim
colored a little. and stopped.