Evening star., 1923-11-11
How Closely Are Humor
and Grim Tragedy Related

/ u MS shadow. Sigurd
e PACK from somewhere and bru-
ANY kicked him. Heard him paddIe /"
oisuro shifted "and 1 took ahout D..
aozen shots. He yelled. once Mavhe
piussed him. Was that the man
that talked to your"
VI course It was"
Sigurd meditated then. drawIad.
wen, let's go to bed. He ought -
De pretty discouraged. I shou,d tb;r,
| But keep shut up about n H.
mustn't scare Blonde"
Helios slept He woke in br,IIiar,
light to hear Mr. Bunt pronouncine
It's what you get for stayin' in he'd
all day. too"
What do l get?"
Missin' all the excitement, | was
over to the inn to get the morntn'
paper and seen 'em load the coffin
down to the station. The widow look
ea a sight She'd got on a black kind
or evenin' dress with Jet thingummies
all over 1t, and somebody'd give her
Grape veil. A Britisher, she is"
Heiios sat up and said: "My-word,
What did,
MT Bunt chirped gleefully: "The
Ieilow went out in a canoe. Leaky.
guess And the widow says his
heart was bad. They pulled him ont
or the water bout dawn. She's takIn.
'he remains right back to London.
asked what his business was, and she
says he was singer. oncet, but
I, hadn't done nothin' for some years
Name of Paul Williams"
Helios said mechanically. "she
! must have just loved havin' YOU talk
to her. sir
lie got out of bed and slammed the
bathroom door. The shower was
| Icy, and his head cleared. Things
hammered in his brain like chords
heavily repeated. Pablo Sarceda was
the name the fat woman had given
him. Sigurd came into the bath
| room and leaned on the tub, the blood
| withdrawn from his skin, so that the
| ruddy tan seemed yellow. He said:
I've been over 20 the inn. They
didn't find the canoe Must have
sunk. 1 say, Heel, those bull
let's would go through the side of
canvas canoe like the one he had!
Think I ought to go tell the sheriff
or somebody"
Helios bent down and examined his
toes. He said: This isn't the same
| man, Sig. This is fellow named
Paul Williams. It was his wife that
came over day before yesterday and
told me to tell Blonde he was stay
1rc NJ iN,, So;o
introduced him to me last night after
the concert. I've got sore toe, darn
it! Fallin' off the roof. 1 expect"
That's a relief" said Sigurd. I'D
hate to kill a man even if he was a
crook. Oh, remember that woman!
Fat, wasn't she? Cad, 1 was scared,
Grandfather came and burbled about
this man drowning. l felt rotten"
Helios called him a mush- head and
dressed. Nine. Olsen came in to
the dining room to kiss him, with the
beryl wrap gay over the blue night
dress, which was lucky on Fridays.
She said: You're a bad kid! You
went and forgot that poor Mrs. Will
liams' name when she came over to
tell me he was stayin' at the inn.
Never heard of him, but he might
have been somebody I met once.
Aren't you ashamed, lamb? Well,
you look ashamed for once in your
life!"
Coin to practice this morning.
Blondie?"
Guess not. sonny"
Helios wandered down the long
drive toward the gates. Sickly sensa-
tions filled him. He remembered the
dead mans hands, with their lacquer
ed nails. The dead man was Pablo
Sarceda. Something had risen out OF
the amiable world and swept close to
Helios in a deathly way. He frowned
at a page from the hotel who came
riding a bicycle up the gravel and
asked: What are you after, Muir
phy?"
Letter for madame, kid
"Ill take it," said Helios. who's
it from?"
THAT Englishwoman-the one that's
husband got drowned"
Helios found a quarter in his
breeches and watched the bicycle roll
over the drive. He opened the en-
velope. The writing was curiously
level and plain.
"I might have known what Pablo
states He has gone from bad TO
worse ever since his voice went bad.
If it was not that I have income from
some stocks we could not have lived
respectable. 1 told him he was fool.
The bit in the Chicago paper about
the emeralds being always on you
was what made him change our names
on the book at the hotel when we
came here. 1t was then ! sent you
word he was here. The emeralds had
got to be what the doctor said was an
obsession on him And I do think it
was Pablo killed Mr.. Aletri. But We
was just married then, and when l
told the police Pablo was home in
bed when Mr.. Aletri was killed 1 did
not mean any harm but to save trou-
BILE But we have two children which
are at home with my mother at Har-
rowgate. so If you would not put it
out that 1 have written this l would
be truly grateful for the favor. Yours
respectfully. PANSY SARCEDA."
II X
GRANDFATHER BUNT shifted as
Helios walked past him into the
music room. He moaned: Been
smokin' again"
I've just been burnin' some paper.
said Helios. "Y'know, you will drop
newspaper all over the place, SIR
Nine. Olsen turned on the piano
bench and laughed. Now, Heel!
Leave your grandfather alone. will