Graham guardian., 1922-12-19

II tHHilOt De NJ pau as ~ secius,
he insisted, trying to say the words
cheerfully. 81 know these waters, and
they are never long deserted. Luck
! viii change, surely; perhaps within
the hour we shall be picked up, and
can laugh at all this experience.
She lifted her head, and their eyes
met frankly.
81 am not afraid" she protested.
mot physically. at least Truly have
not felt fear since you Joined me.
Captain West"
''ButV you are very tiredf"
Perhaps so. yet have not thought
about that There are other things;
you do not believe in me-"
"Why say that?" he asked in aston
lshment. There is no question Of the
kiId between us now"
Truly. is there not? What was II
you believed OF me-that--that I was
part of this conspiracyy'
II do not know what believed. II
actually believed anything. Miss
Natalie" he explained rather lamely.
II cannot make the situation alto
| gether clear even to myself. Under
the circumstances, you cannot con-
denim me justly"
condemn do not. How could 1?
You must have kept faith in me, never
theless, or yon would never be here
now. That Is what seems marvellous to
me-that you actually cared enough
to believe"
81 realize now that have" he said
gravely. Through It all have kept a
very large measure Of faith in you"
"Why should that faith have sur
yivedY" she questioned persistently. as
though doubt would not wholly leave
her mind. Surely there was never
madder story told than the one told
you, and I couldn't have proven an
item of It."
"Yet it has shown itself true" he
interrupted.
"You actually believe, then, that
there Is another woman-a counter.
felt of myself?"
"It is the only theory feasible: you
have convinced me of that VIII you
believe what ! say?'
implicitly"
"Perhaps 1t sounds like fairy tale"
he spoke frankly. his eyes seeking her
own, all their surroundings forgotten
In the eagerness Of the moment, hut
will tell you the exact truth. Before
this misunderstanding occurred you
had confided In ME. trusted me. al
though ] was stranger and l be-
lieved absolutely in your story, had
that basis to rest on. Then | got hold
of various odds and ends of evidence
which convinced me that something
was wrong-that you were actually
being conspired against. even gained
a suspicion that Perclyal Coolidge was
the actual leader of the conspiracy
You could never have been made pris-
oner In that cottage without his con
niyance he must have lured you there
for that particular purpose, so that
fi.is other girl could taku your place
without danger of discovery. The rea-
son for Perciyal's participation is on.
ly guess, but my theory is the fel-
low had so juggled your fortune, and
the time for final accounting was so
near, he had to take desperate
chance in order to save himself.
MY own theory is that when Hobart
learned what Perciyal Coolidge pro.
posed doing, his own criminal tenden
cies told him that here was some easy
money. The girl was undoubtedly
wholly under his control; some denizep
Of the underworld probably. She had
already played her part sufficiently
well to convince Hobart OF success
Why then, shouldn't he have this mon
ey instead of Percival? There was no
reason except that Percival was in the
way. That was why he was killed"
and" she questioned breathlessly,
'the man meant to murder me also?"
Not at that time, In my Judgment
West answered thoughtfully. "Such an
additional crime was not a part Of the
original plan. Once the money, and
other property, were delivered to the
fake Natalie, the cashing in and get
| away would be easy; even the !denti-
| ty of the thieves would be concealed"
"But they did try to kill me-"
"Yes, later, by the sinking of the
yacht. Probably am largely RESPONSE
bic for that. My appearance In Wray
street must have been quite shock,
and when l succeeded In escaping
from their trap there, Hobart very
evidently lost his head completely.
| The knowledge that | was free, per-
haps In communication with the police,
led to your night trip to the Seminole.
and the secret sinking of the yacht. He
had gone too far by then to hesitate
at another murder"
IL think l understand nOw," she
| admitted, show all this occurred; but
why--why were you so PERSISTENT
| There---there must have been reason
more impelling than a vague suspi-
| cionT
"There was--the most compelling
| impulse in the world"
"You mean faith In me?"
~. a Iua.V=. AazW.u