Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1921-10-19

closed the door behind me. Confident
that had not been detected, |
crouched into the narrow closet,
scarcely knowing whether to be
ashamed or proud Of my success.
could clearly distinguish the
words of conversation. At first these
were hardly understandable, seeming
~ having no connection with any mat
ter with which / felt concerned The
two were evidently discussing money,
to be sure, but in terms involving the
payment of interest. land the impOssi
bility Of extending loan. | over
heard her say. quietly but firmly:
81 came to you, Mr.. Wine. because
overheard this discussion. and felt
you ought to be forewarned"
81 appreciate your Kindness he an
swered. evidently surprised. "but sim
ply cannot raise the amount today
ii is too late"
at does not have to be raised to-
day. but before the closing OF bank
ing hours tomorrow"
81 can have it by then" desperately.
II was sure you could, IL | only ex-
planned the necessity
She arose as though her purpose
had been accomplished, but appar-
emily the man was uneasy, and de-
sired 10 know more.
"But / fail to understand your In
terest; why should you take the trou-
Bile to come here and tell me this?'
She laughed lightly.
"Why? really it is easily enough I'M
derstood. We are together, are we
not7 Now that Captain Alva is dead,
1t is generally believed you will be
selected to lead in this work. Oh.
yes 1t is; have already been so in
formed. And in that case it is alb
solutely necessary that your bank
connections be excellent There are
other funds already In this country"
"other funds! supposed this last
payment was to be all"
"AsSuredly not; the cause cannot
stop for an instant merely because OF
this loss. Moreover, that will doubt
less be recovered"
do you think so7 Have the po-
lice found any cluesf"
"The police! Hardly. but there are
others searching. not so easily turned
aside. We believe. we know already
who got the money"
"You-you think you--you known
he could not keep the tremble out of
his voice. "Was-was 1t one of us?'
at could scarcely be an outsider.
for the secret was guarded well. Only
those of that circle knew the money
was here even. while not more than
two or three were aware of it's hay-
Ing been passed over to Alva. can't
say any more at present. Mr. Wine.
You knew Captain Alva very wei, did
you not?"
'Y-yes; that is. we were good
friends. We had much in common"
'Are you a German7"
"By bloOd--yes. but born In Po-
land: Captain AIva's mother was also
Pole; this brought US closer to-
gether."
"And you have no suspicion of any
one who could have known. and been
guilty of this murder and robberyY
why should I? Why you ask me
that7" eNcitedly. There were many
there; perhaps all know except me-
You not suppose l know he-he die"
ooh, no: l merely thought you
might have some suspicion. that was
all. II was a strange weapon he was
killed with"
"A strange weaponl What you
mean, strange weapon? Do they.
know what 1t was that killed him7"
/ Certainly; It was picked up in the
/ bottom. OF the auto-a dagger hat
pin. such as women wear. See, II
] was just like this Of mine"
I She must have plucked the orna-
ment from out her own hat and laid
II on the desk. for / heard the faint
/ click OF its fall. There was a mo-
ment OF intense silence, and l could
vision the intense horror with which
he was staring at the instrument. IN
able TO command words.
THAT thing" he burst forth final
/ ". ~Killed with that"
"No, not that; but one exactly like
+ IL"
/ who says sO-ths Soilcel Gott
/ II could nax XII a man. Why you tell