The Bozeman courier. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1919-1954, 1922-06-21

ucI lips 10 6uJOAu SliSuCc.' sOuc u1u
not attempt to enter the room; in
stead, she grasped Katherine by one
arm and pulled her partly into the
/ tone that was nearly as inaudible as
the ~senorita's had been:
Look" and she pointed down
the hall. "Do you see him? He is
at the door Of Senorita Cervantez's
room. He is rapping upon it. Do
you see him, Kitten? It's Belknap-
Conrad Belknap, / tell you'll what
Katherine had stepped farther into
the hall, and at that instant the door
of her room behind her slammed shut
with a loud noise.
A draft of air from the open win
dows might have caused it-but it !
didn't; Roberta, the r~esourceful, did
it. She did it to warn Belknap-t0 |
make a sound that would let him
know that he was seen and watched
perhaps, or possibly, to prevent him
/ from proceeding further with his /
prowlings. She remembered that her I
own door was not locked, and she \
knew that it would be quite like him, /
when he received no response to his
rapping, to turn the knob and open
it.
Indeed, he had done that very thing |
!, when the door somewhere behind him
I. slammed and warned him.
/ It startled him so that be left the
door in front of him wide ajar. A
! turn of his head appraised him of the
/ fact that he was seen. The two fig
ures outside the door to Katherine's
| room were apparent.
Belknap knew that he was caught
and that it would require every whit
: of his wit and skill and ~effrontery to
get him out of the dilemma.
) Katherine had, in her turn, taken
r Betty by the arm. She had moved a
Y step forward down the hall toward
Belknap, and Betty was holding back
t a little, reluctant to follow. Both
: were astounded, but for different
e reasons; for Katherine knew what
h Betty did not: that Belknap and the
S senorita were confederates..
S Just then both Of them were
t amazed anew by Belknap's actions.
He seemed to be cropping with
searching hands along the wall. He
moved away from the door at which
e he had been rapping and drew nearer
e to them ;and although they were by
then plainly in view, he seemed not
d to see them.
They both stood very still watching
him. The door behind them opened
by a crack, and Roberta peered into
; the hall, but neither of them knew it.
i Belknap came carer and nearer to
them gropingly, feeling with his up
lifted hands along the wall. His
h eyes were wide open and staring, and
he acted like one who is in a trance
d or who walks in ones sleep; and
: Betty, pressing her lips close to Kath-
crimes ear, whispered:
st. kitten! He's walking in his Sleep
And look at him! He has had a fall
e His face is scratched and"
t. Katherine disengaged herself from
id Betty's grasp and went swiftly to
= Belknap.
as She was not deceived, although she
he believed that Betty was.
1e She seized him and shook him anC
he came "awake" with a shudder anC
an a half-inarticulate cry. 1t was sur
nd prisingly well done-amazingly wei
TO acted; and he believed that he hat
err fooled both Of them.
Katherine was astounded by hi
nd condition, his torn clothing, hi
scratched and blood-marked face, tn
absence of collar and tie, his soil
stained garments, his torn trouse
ID leg. He had been immaculate at din
ner and throughout the evening; h
NJ had seemed to be so still when sh
Cd had seen him beneath her balcony
he but since then something untowar
Ii had happened to the man.
ha For a moment she was almost dc
If ceived into the belief that he ha
90 wandered into that part of the nous
,or without knowing what he was doing
INF she might have been entirely d.
ceived about it if he had been wis
ith enough to continue his pIay-actin
act instead off coming awake" as /
M did when she grasped him and shoe
IL him.
"Great Caesarl" he half gaspe
r Where am l? What has happened
re, What"
'eo "You had better go to your ROOF
Mr.. Belknap," Katherine told hir
So coldly, interrupting. "You are di
I aJ turbing the household by wanderir
in the halls and rapping at door
e, Come, Betty"
no Wait" said Belknap. II wa
Aeo to-"
Good night, MI. Belknap," Ka
Good night, Mr.. Belknap," Kat
oohh e crime interrupted again. She was &
ready at her door.
A She opened it, drew Betty into t
OOl' room with her, and closed it, and
left Belknap standing alone in t
hall with his sleeprwalking act hs
done, with his suddenly assumed su
spe terfuge of doubtful success.
sns Meanwhile Betty was encounters
another surprise, for inside of Kat
I : crimes room, huddled in the depths
q big armchair and apparently trel
bling with fright, was the senori'
~"s who, the moment they appear
? sprang out Of it and faced them Il
n orousiy.
sns Her lips formed words She seem
i;ra to try to- speak-and 10 fail; but 8
er managed to make them both und'
stand that she was trying to 4
Betty if she had also heard and 81