The Glenwood post., 1923-02-22

the motor"
81 had no chance to recognize any
of them, Mr.. Santoine," Eaton re-
piled easily. 81 did not see the car
coming; l was thrown from my feet !;
when / got up, it was too far away
for me to recognize anyone"
perhaps so; but were you sur
prlsed when my daughter recognized
one of them as having been on the
train with us?'
Eaton hesitated, but answered al
most Immediately:
Your question doesn't exactly fit
the case. l thought Miss Santone
had made mistake"
"But you were not surprised; no.
What would have been a surprise to
you, Eaton, would have been-if you
had had chance to observe the men
to have found that none of them
none of them had been on the train ="
Eaton started and felt that he had
colored. How much did Santoine
know? Had the blind man received,
as Eaton feared, some answer to his
'iAitAAANs' hhiNh iatl lcNtulCu; Vi
nearly revealed, Eaton's identity? Or
was it merely that the attack made
on Eaton that morning had given San.
tome new light on the events that
had happened on the train ard par.
utuHrly-l,dtuu guessed-on the ci-
pher Telegram which Santoine claimed
TO have translated
you assume that, Mr. Santoine,"
he asserted, "because-" He checked
himself and altered his sentence.
"Will you tell me why you assume
that?'
"That that would have surprised
you? Yes; that is what l called you
in here to tell you"
AS Santone waited moment be-
fore going on, Eaton watched him
anxlously. The blind man turned
himself on his pillows so as to face
Eaton more directly.
Just ten days ago." he said evenly
and dispassionately, Il was found un-
conscious in my berth-Section Three
of the rearmost sleeper-on the trans
continental train, which l had taken
with my daughter and Avery at Sc
attle.' l had been attacked-assailed
during my sleep some time In that
first night that | spent on the train
and my condition was serious enough
so that for three days afterward |
was not allowed to receive any of the
particulars of what had happened to
me. When / did finally learn them,
l naturally attempted to make certain
deductions as to who X was that had
attempted to murder me, and why;
and ever since, l have continued to
occupy myself with those questions.
l am going to tell you a few of my
deductions. If you fancy / am at
fault in my conclusions, wait until you
discover your error"
Santoine waited an instant; Eaton
thought 1t was to allow him 10 speak
If he wanted to, but Eaton merely
waited.
"The first thing learned" the blind
man went on, was the similarity of
the attack on me to the more success
full attack on Warden, twelve days
/ DIeNlOuS, NlllNH lsA1 ihAoth u'''Nii.
The method of the two attacks was
the same; the conditions surrounding
them were very similar. The des-
perate nature of the two attacks and
their almost Identical method, made
1t practically certain that they origi-
mated at the same source and were
carried out-probably-by the same
hand and for the same purpose.
Mrs. Warden's statement TO me OF
her interview with her husband q
half-hour before his murder, made II
certain that the object of the attack
on him was to remove him. II
seemed almost inevitable. therefore
/ that the attack on me must have beer
for the same purpose.
81 found that young man-your
self-had acted so suspiciously botl
that both Avery and the conductor
tn charge of the train had become
convinced that he was my assailant
and had segregated him from the res
of the passengers. Not only this, bu
and this seemed quite conclusive t.
them-you admitted that you wer,
the one who had called upon Warder
the evening of his murder. 1t seemed
likely, too, that you were the ONLY
person on the train aside from III!
daughter and Avery who knew who
was; for / had had reason to bellev,
from the time when l first heard yo,
speak when you boarded the train
that you were someone with whom
had previously, very briefly come II
contact; and l had asked my daugl
ter to find out who you We're and sh
had tried to do so. but without sue
cess"
Eaton wet his lips.
"Also," the blind man continued
"there was n telegram which definite
ly showed that there was some con
nectlon unknown to me, between yol
and me, as well us a second-o
rather n previous-susplcious tele