Evening star., 1923-12-02

ver-plated pocket fiashlight 1t bore
the initials M. Y"
Yours, I think" said the banker
Yes" said the district attorney
his voice broken and bewildered, its
mine"
Then cried the banker. II charge
you with the theft of the Pioneer Mill
pay roll, and the murder of Alec
Rae"
The district attorney did not meet
the bankers eye. He sat silent. Then
he looked up and in a low voice said:
Balm, I'm guilty-but my guilt is
not the sort that n jury of twelve
men can punish"
We'll see." said the banker, grim
ly.
"No. 1 am not really guilty of rob-
bing and killing Rae" insisted the
district attorney. II did not actually
strike him down and take the black
bag. But I planned TO do it, and in
my mind did do it,
In your mind?"
Yes. When / reached home after
our talk at the club. I went over my
accounts and found them in worse
shape even than l had thought
was desperate, and it was night. A
hellish suggestion came into my
brain: thought of your police proof
crime, and the three hundred thou
sand dollars in the black bag The
more / thought of il, sitting there
alone in my room with the wreck
Of my career about me. the more sure
l grew I could rob Rae and get away
without leaving evidence. 1 did not
think of killing him. 1 tried to fight
off the idea: but it held me with a
for putting such a thought into my
head.
"At last. I walked over to Bridge
City to take the first dishonest step
of my life; I was going to steal the
necessary taxi. i intended to keep
it in my own garage until I needed
it. for who would suspect the district
attorney?
'I saw four taxis outside Jansen's,
as you know. 1 got into one. Then
something stronger than / was held
my hand. You may call 1t cold feet, or
prudence, or conscience, or whatever
you like. But in that minute ! sat in
the seat of that taxi. / lived dozen
years. 1 saw what it means to have a
clean record; I understood as 1 never
understood before that honesty is more
than the best policy; it's the only
policy. I've been living straight for
forty-two years; I simply hadn't the
power to shatter the principles of a
lifetime in one, wild, goaded minute.
I ran away. For time, had beaten
off that devil-sent temptation"
X X X X
DAM, with intense interest, was
~ following the earnest words of
the district attorney.
Then why did you go to the COW
dropped my fashlight and ran as
The district attorney flushed.
well, had a relapse" Yeager re-
piled. "Once I was a safe distance
from the taxi. I thought Of my ffnan-
cial troubles again, and something
kept whispering to me that was a
weaklfng to funk now. My mind,
you see, refused to give up the miser-
able idea. kept seeing that black
bag with the three hundred thousand
dollars in cold cash. thought of
what the money would mean to me-.
/ screwed up my nerve and resolved
to make another go at It,"
"And them" came from Balm.
IT decided that the taxi could wait.
I'd look over the covered bridge, and
return later for the taxi. I reached
the old bridge and with my pocket
flash, which is almost worn out,
examined the rotten planking, and
saw the holes through which mans
body could be slipped into the roar
ing rapids thirty feet below. The
sight Of those holes unnerved me.
The Job meantprnore than robbery. Il
meant murder. Murder Of inoffensive
Alec RaA, I tlsought Of RAGS face, -