The Bozeman courier. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1919-1954, 1922-07-19


deep gloom of the night among the
shrubbery.
So Katherine was free from the
house, leaving Belknap none the
wiser.
She smiled at the thouht Of his
amazement, if, while he waited be-
side the locked bathroom door. Ro-
berta should return-and remem-
brance Of Roberta brought to mind
her original purpose.
But a moment of thought con-
vinced Katherin that it would be
worse than useless TO seek her under
the circumstances.
Roberta had gone out with a defin-
lite purpose, and doubtless to a defin-
tie place; there was no such thing as
guessing where that place might be
located.
Moreover, now that she was in the
open air, she needed and very much
wanted, clothing.
There was no means of re-entering
n house at once; she knew that she
would have TO wait until morning to
do that-if she hoped to accomplish it
without betraying the unusual cir
cumstances of her being outside. and
she had no notion of letting ANYBODY
into the secret. It was wholly her
own, thus far, and she meant to keep
it so.
She did not know where she could
go.
There was always the Nest, her n
place of secure refuge from any and
every storm or stress. There was
everything that she might need
there; and never yet had there been
a time when she was so thankful Of
its existence-so grateful for that
whim of hers that she had coddled
and encouraged since childhood,
which had induced Bingham to let her
: build it-never had she appreciated
the fact of it so much as at that mo-
ment.
1t was her mystery place., her
very own sanctum, and with a smile
OF content she made her way swiftly
: along the winding paths among the
bushes and shrubs toward the artifi-
cial lake beside and above wFkchA
: was located.
She glided along like a spirit-and
4 with scarce more noise than one might
make-and so she came at last to the
. shore of the little lake, to a pathway
, that followed the indentures of it and
would lead, presently, to another one
that ended at the Nest.
Katherine was too impatient to
: keep to the path; the way across was
shorter and she knew every inch Of
1t even If the darkness was deeper
I among the towering trees from be-
) meath which every scrap of lesser
growth had been cleared away.
d Gliding noiselessly onward, fitting
S like a sprite from tree to tree, she
n came to a sudden stop and shifted
the air like a hunting dog that has
caught the scent.
l. 1t was the unmistakable odor of a
e cigar that Katherine had sensed and
as she came to a halt and listened,
: peering eagerly this way and that,
she detected the low murmur of
y voices In conversation-just the low
hum Of them, with nothing distinct
about it.
/ Roberta" she thought quickly
r. Roberta and the man she came out
le to meet. And he is smoking. Foolish
Re man! But he could not guess that Z
regular old-timer detective would BIZ
II out here on his trail"
She smiled broadly at her own ia.
he seriousness while she stood very still
lie and listened intently in order t.
sr catch the exact location of the sound,
p she hard. Then her face took a ser
ious expression, and as she moved
W slowly forward toward the sound sh,
so murmured to herself:
"Can it be? Oh, can it be posi-
he BILE that-that he-No, no; I can
e. believe it. But if it is not that i
I'd must be another part of this hideouI
Id plot, and, whatever it is, l mean t.
know about it." -
lel CONTINUED Next Week.