Evening star., 1922-02-11

him."
Through it all stood almost
speechless. puzzled. What did 1t all
mean?
No" said Kennedy, mo. for they
will never know OF II"
Have e n ssa VIM os ala
you destroy it," - It.
1t was bold stroke.
"Yes-no! Here it is: How could
destroy it. even though q It was
She literally tore tha paper from
the. bosom Of her dress and cast it
from her in horror and terror.
and glanced hurriediy through it:
miss Mis-, Bond" he said, Jack shall shall
tell him the will has been found
! unexpectedly, In John Fletcher's desk
among some other papers. Walter,
swear on your honor as a gentleman
that this will was found in old
/ Fletcher.s desk"
l;thank you?" she exclaimed. sinking
i,wearily down into q Chair and press
"ei Dlnds to her throbbing fore
;. head, 4
by this will. 80 that when you and
1 =
good a friend. without suspicion. to
You as I am to him. think full
confession would do you good. Miss
| Bond. Would you prefer to have DR..
| Jameson not hear it,"
mo. he may stay"
\ 'This much I know, Miss Bond.
| Last summer in Paris with the
| Greenes you must have chanced to
hear, Of Pillard. the Apache. one of
the most noted cracksmen the world
has ever produced. You sought him out.
He taught you how to paint your
| how to use an electric drill. how to
use the old-fashioned Jimmy. You
went down to Fletcherwood by the back
| road about q quarter after eleven the
night Of the robbery in the areenes'
the, library by an unlocked window.
you coupled your drill, to the electric
| light connections Of. the chandelier.
You had. to work quickly. for the
lpower would go off at midnight, yet
| you could not do the Job later, when
they were sleeping more soundly. Tor
-. Key" @ Silence and f,utterins Of
the blood pressure indicator =:
f. Al the. last word was uttered her
air. Of frightened defiance vas was swept sLs
You must not. you. must not; she
cried with outstretched arms. why
do you pick out those words OF az
isothers? Can 1t be- II mao NOT
caught her believe she would have
The indicator showed heart al
| ternately throbbing with feyerish. ex-
! cftement and almost stopping with
| fear. What would Kennedy do next?
| wondered, determined to shut him
OFF as soon as I possibly cou!a. from rom
been under her spell. Mine should
have been F1etcher's place. knew.
| though l cannot but say that felt
| certain grim pleasure in supporting
| even momentarily such woman IN
.can it be that you have guessed
! what no one in the world. no. not
even dear old rJsck. dreams! On l
| shall 20 mad, mad. mad!
Kennedy was on his feet, In an In
slant, advancing toward her: Inc
look in his eyes was asa answer hH eneW enoa and
she paled and shuddered, shrinking
Miss Bond, have you ever told a
lie to shield a friend"
yes" she said, her eyes meeting
It was uncanny as Kennedy rushed
along in his reconstruction OF the
scene. almost unbelievable. The girl
watched him, fascinated.
"John Fletcher was wakeful that
night. Somehow or other he heard you
at work He entered the ern an1ily' his Sed. Ss
room. he saw who 1t was. In anger ne
must have addressed you, and his pas
| sion got the better Of his age-he 1eli
suddenly on the floor with q stroke OF
apoplexy. AS you bent over MIN ne
died. But why did you ever is,. attempt mp.
know that other people knew Of the
will and its terms. that you were sure
, to be- traced out in the end, II not oy
friends, by foes? How did you suppose
you could profit by destroying the Will:
Of which others knew the provisions!
Any other woman than Helen Bond
would have been hysterical long before
kennedy had finished pressing home re.
morselessly one fact after another OF
her story. But, with her. the relief
now after the tension Of many hours
of concealment seemed to nerve her to
60 TO the end and toll. the truth. -.
lover for whom she had dared all to
secure the family fortune? Or was
she shielding some one dearer to- her
than her own reputation? Why had
Kennedy made Fletcher withdraw?
Her eyes dropped and her breast rose
00SoA
I was hardly prepared for her reply
whom at last she slowly raised her
head and looked US calmly IN the face.
IL did it because loved Jack"
Neither Of us spoke. !, at least. had
fallen completely under the spell OF
wrong. I could not restrain q feeling
Of admiration and amazement.
"YAs," she said as her voice thrilled
with emotion. strange as It may sound
to you. it was not love Of self that
made me do IT. I was, I am madly in
inspired such respect and love as he
has. His work In the university I
have fairly gloated over. And yet
and yet, DR.. Kennedy, can you not see
that am different from Jack?. What
would do with the income Of the wife
! will Is paltry. I need millions. From
the tiniest baby I have been reared
that way. I have always expected this
fortune. have been given everything
wanted. But it is different when one
is married-you must have your own
money: I need a fortune. for then I
could have the town house, the coun-
try house. the yacht, the motors, the
clothes, the servants that need-they.
are as much part Of my life as your
profession is of yours. I must have
them. ..s' -, - .
And now it was all fo.slip from
my hands. True, it was to go in
such way by this last Will as to
make Jack happy in his new school.
I could have let that go. If that was
all. There are other fortunes that
have been laid at my feet. But I
wanted Jack, and I knew Jack
| wanted me. Dear boy, he never
Intellectual poverty would have
made me and how my unhappiness
would have reacted on him In the