Evening star., 1927-11-19


he nretended to be, and there WASH
a. chance in thousand of that! Hls
mind worked swiftly now. Locke had
been introduced to him at lunch IN the
club by fellow member rev Gays
before thev had sailed. That certalnly
youched for the man sufficiently, d1dn
itp Locke had volunteered the lnfor-
nation that he had booked passage on
this shin. and they had not met again
until here on shipboard. If Locke was
what he passed for, If he was OIL one
of the best families of America, tne
son of a millionaire, clever naru-
working and ambitious young business
man. il was untenable to assume 1or
an instant that he was potentiai pa
murderer. 1t was even laughaole.
'rhere wasn't even that one chance IN
a thousand that he could be any other
than he seemed, not chance IN
million, and yet
"Chance." said Capt. Francis New
combe, lis the playground OF lools'
We will see. a..
He turned and ran swiftly along the
dock A minute later he was stanulnS
hafore one of the two doors OF the
voung Americans suite. A little metal
instrument was in his hand. put 1t
vent instantly back into his pocket
the door was not locked. he stepPeo
inside and closed the door behlnd hlrh.
Locke had one of the best ana most
extensive reservations on the snip. d
suite of two rooms and private pd'"'
hut there was separate door from
eacb of these rooms to the passageWay
,nithout since. naturally, they were
not always booked en- suite. Ana the
room he stood in now was the one
Locke used for his sitting room, ana
always as the entrance to the suile
itself. ..:o,,
cant. Francis Newcombe was quick
in every movement now. ne ran
through to the other room-the peu-
room-closing the connecting door oe'
hind him. He switched on the hght'
and turned at once to the door that
gave here on the passageWay. Inc
kew was in the lock and the door was
locked. He unlocked 1t.
The next instant he had portHal.
teau open and was delVing INTO It's
contents. 1t contained nothing put
clothing-shirts, collars, ties, unoer'
wear and the like. He opened an
other. and still another with the same
result. Papers! 1t was the man
papers that interested him.
He snarIed a little savagely to hlm-
self. There was nothing for 1t then
hut the steamer trunk under the
couch-and Locke might be back at
anv moment. He dragged out the
trunk. and snarled again savageiy.
It was locked. He began to work with
it now, swiftly, deftly. with the httie
steel picklock.
It Welded finally, and he flung back
the lid. Yes, this was what he want
ed! On the top lay leather dlspatch
case. But this also was locked. Again
Capt. Francis Newcombe set TO WORK
and presently was glanclng through
mass of papers and documents that
the disnatch case had contained-let-
ters from the fathers firm to the son,
signed by Locke senior; letter or
credit in substantial amount; an un-
derwriting agreement with LONDON
house for the floating of huge issue
of bonds, signed and sealed, the tan
eibIe evidence of young Locke's sue
cessful trip, of which he had spoken.
Incontrovertible evidence that Howard
Locke was no other than he appeared
to be, and
Cant. Francis Newcombe sprang Tor
the electric light switch and turned
off the light. There was Locke now!
The pound of the ship, the noise OF the
storm had, OF course. deadened any
sound in the passageway, but he could
hear the other at the sitting room
door. There was no time to replace
the dispatch case and push the trunk
back under the couch, let alone at
tempt to lock either one. Ihe man
was coming now-across the otne.
room. Capt. Francis Newcompe lalu
the dispatch case silently down on me
floor. opened the door as sllentiy,
snfA NJ
ran noiselessly along it.
He reached the door OF his own
cabin. His excursion to Lockes caplli
and the evidence of intrusion he mao
been forced to leave behind HIM hau
nut an end to any more proving on
his part tonight. Locke would prop
ahlv kick I'D a fuss. There would De
very strict search for the "proWl'
ers," He snapped his jaws together
viciouslv. That did not at all please
him. He would very much prefer that
The would-be assassin should nave an ar
other opportunity of showing his
hand, that the man would be lhsPlieu
to make a second attempt. He' Capt.
Francis Newcombe. would be niue
better prepared this time.
He pushed open the door OIL ms
cabin cautiously-and for an instant
the threshold and at one side. There
was always the possibility, remots
though it may be, that While he mao
been out searching for the other, the
man had slipped inside and, waiting
had made of the cabin deatn trap
which he. Capt. Francis NeWcomoe,
was now invited to enter. 1t was not
likely. 1t would require a little more
nerve than the firing of a shot through
the window and then running away.
But, for all that, having failed the
first time, the other might be moved
to take what might possibly be con-
sidered more certain measures on the
next attempt. And in that case
No; the cabin was empty! The hgnt
from the passageway, tiltering IN
through the open door, showed that
quite plainly.
Capt. Francis Newcombe stepped in
side and, before closing the door,
looked curiously over the woodwork
near the door and on q line with the
window. Yes. there it was! The writ
ing on the wall! The bullet had splin-
tered piece of the wall paneling and
had embedded itself in the wall a lit
tie to the right of the door casing.
He closed and locked the door now,
shutting out the light and, with his
revolver in his hand. sat down in the
darkness, out Of direct range him
self, but where he could command the
window. 1t was bit futile. He was
conscious of that. But there was al
ways the possibility of the mans re.
turn, and there was no other possibil
ity that promised any better. or. in
deed, promised anything at all.
His mind began to weigh and sift
and grope as through maze, bat
tling with the problem again. Not
Locke. He was rather definitely pre-
pared to set Locke apart from any
body else on board the ship and say
that 1t was not Locke. Who, then?