Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1923-04-03
THE BREAKING POINT
BY MARY ROBERTS RINEHART
TT told Margaret, later and she listen d

= = told Margaret, later, and she listen d
Ill carefully s1a5S 1nn didn't tel, her, ,nont the
woman in the case?"
Certainly not. Why should II"
Mrs, Wheeler looked at him, with the eter-
nal surprise of woman at the lack of mascu-
| line understanding.
Because, whether you think it or not, she
will resent and hate that as she hates nothing
else. Murder will be nothing to that. And
she will have to know it some time"
He pondered her fiat statement unhappy,
standing by the window and looking out into
| the shaded street, and man who had been
standing, cigar in mouth, on a pavement
| across withdrew into the shadow of tree
| box.
| Outside, on the street, the man with the
| cigar struck a match and looked at his watch.
| Then he walked briskly toward the railway
station. half hour later he walked into the
offices of the Times-Republican and to the
night editors desk. .
"Hello, Bassett," said that gentleman. eve
thought you were dead. Well, how about the
sister in California? 1t was the Clark story,
wasn't it?''
Eyes" said Bassett, non-committally.
| ''And it blew UP on you! Well, there were
others who were fooled, too. Well, you had
a holiday, anyhow
Eyes, 1 had a holiday" said Bassett, and
! going over to his own desk began to sort his
| vast accumulation of mail. Some time later
he found the night editor at his elbow.
"Did you get anything on the Clark bust
ness at all?" he asked Williams thinks
| there's page in it for Sunday, anyhow.
human interest element in it. The last man
who talked to Clark, the ranch today. That
| sort of thing"
| Bassett went on doggedly sorting his mail.
"You take it from me-" he said, 1.-The
story's dead, and so is Clark. The Donaldson
woman was crazy. That's ALL
| David was brought home the next day, a
shriveled and aged David, but with fighting
| fire in his eyes and careful smile at the sta
| ton for the group of friends who met him.
David had decided on course and meant
| to follow it. That course was to protect
Dicks name, and to keep the place he had
made in the world open for him..
Before Harrison Miller and Doctor Rey-
nolds left him to rest, David called Lucy in,
and put his plea to all of them.
at is my hope" he said, "to carry on eX-
actly as though Dick might walk in tomorrow
| and take his place again. AS hold to my
belief in God, so hold to my conviction that
he will come back, and that before I--before
long. But our friends will be asked where he
is and what he is doing, and we would better
agree on that before hand. What we'd better
say is simply that Dick was called away on
business connected with some property in the
west. They may not believe it, but they'll
hardly disapprove it,
So the benevolent conspiracy to protect
Dick Livingstones name was arranged, and
from that time on the four of them who were
l
unbroken front of loyalty. Even to Minnie,
anxious and red-eyed in her kitchen, Lucy
gave the same explanation while she ar
ranged David's tray
HE has been detained in the west on bust
ness, Lucy said.
But Minnie did not Immediately move.
He'd better come soon if he wants to see
Doctor David she said with twitching lips.
lf'And I'll just say this, Mrs Crosby. The talk
| that's going on in this town is something
awful.
"I don't want to hear it," Lucy said firmly.
| She ate alone, painfully remembering that
last gay little feast before they started away.
But before she sat down she did a touching
| thing. She rang the bell and called Minnie.
"After this, Minnie she said, 1--WE will al
ways set Doctor Richards place. Then when
he comes
Lucy found David moving about upstairs
some time later and when she went up she
| found him sitting in Dicks room, on stiff
chair inside the door. She stood beside him,
but he did not say anything, and she went
away.
That night David had caller. All evening
the bell had been ringing, and the card tray
on the hat rack filled with visiting cards.
There were gifts, flowers and jellies and some
SQUAD from Mrs. Sayre. Lucy had seen no
one, eXcusing herself on the ground of ia
tigue, but the man who called at 9 o'clock
was not inclined to be turned away.
"You take this card up to Doctor Living
ston, anyhow" he said. "I'll watt
We wrote in pencil on the card placing it
against the door post to do so, and passed it
to Minnie She calmly read it, and rather
defiantly carried it off. But she came down
quickly, touched by some contagion of expec-
tation from the room upstairs.