The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1922-05-06

(Confinued from our Last issue)
ssBoth?" They stared at him-
Thayer nodded, still looking at the
floor. his tongue licking suddenly
dry lips
.Yeh. both Of 'eTn. One brought
on the other. Mrs. Remand and John
Corbin--they called him Tom Lang
don back east.
CHAPTER XXI.
II was staggering in its nnex-
pectedness. A. gasp came from tne
lips OF Barry Houston. He wnirieo
excitedly and grasped the nearest
onlooker.
go get Medaine Robinette.
Hurry, Tell her that have found
the proof. She'll understand"
Then, struggling to reassure him
self. he turned again to the pris-
oner. Two hours later, in the last
CLINT of day, the door opened, and
a woman came to his side, where
he was finishing the last of many
closely written sheets of paper. He
looked up at her, boyishly. happily.
without waiting for her permission,
he grasped her hand, and then, Us
though eager for her to hear, he
turned TO the worn-faced man, now
slumped dejectedly in his chair.
'sYou understand, Thayer, that
this is your written confession%'
The man nodded.
"And you are willing to sign it?'
I'D want to know what | was
signing"
"Certainly. / intend to read it to
you-so that all witnesses may
hear it, 1t is then to be filed with
the district attorney"
"A pause. At last:
"'My name is Fred Thayer Until
a year ago. had been employed by
the Empire Lake Mill and Lumber
company as superintendent, begin
ming with It when it was first
started by Mr. Houston of Boston.
81 tried two or three times 10
get him to sell out to me, but we
couldn't get together on the terms.
He always wanted cash. and
couldn't furnish IT, About this time
"a nephew of his named Thomas
Langdon came out here, under the
name of John Corbin. He had
been a black sheep and was now
wandering about the country.
"'Then, a woman came out here,
an Agnes Jierdon, stenographer.
on her vacation. | met her and
learned that she was from Bos-
tom" A slight pressure exerted
itself on Houston's arm. He glanced
down to see Medaine Robinette's
hand, clasped tight "'She spent
nearly the whole summer here, and
/ made love to her. l asked her to
marry me, and she told me that she
would. | wanted to use her-to get
her in Houston's office. / wanted to
find out what was going on, so that
! would know in advance. At the
end of her vacation, she went back
TO Boston and got a job with Hous-
ton, as office clerk. Almost the
first thing that she wrote me was
that the old man was thinking
about selling out to some concern
back east.
1t made me desperate. Then l
thought of Ba'tiste Remand"
"Ah!" The word was accompan-
led by a sharp intake Of breath as
the big French-Canadian moved
closer TO hear again the story of a
murder. But the sheriff motion
ed him back. The emotions of the
old trapper were not to be trusted
The recital went on:
Everybody around this country
had always talked about how rich
he was. There was a saying that he
didn't believe in banks and that he
kept more than a hundred thousand
dollars in his little cabin. At this
time, both he and his son were
away, and ] thought / could steaI
this money, place it in other hands
and then work things so that if
did get hold Of the mill, people
around here would merely think
had borrowed the money and
bought the the mill with it BY this
time, cousin of Miss Jierdon's. a
fellow named Jenkins. had gotten a
JOB with Houston and was work
ing with her, and of course, | was
hearing everything that went on. 1t
looked like the deal was going
through, and it forced me to action.
One night / watched Mrs. Remand