Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-06-07

when he had arrived.
Left alone, free to tell all the truth
he would have been less confused, but
he had the naturally honest mans
helpfulness at having to connlVe at q
lie.
He went down and out into the
street. There was roundsman
standing on the pavement and to save
his life, he could not avoid a selt-coIl'
scious movement away from him.
I'm afraid" he muttered Afraid
of a policeman"
Margaret had roughly drawn the
knee of his torn trousers together,
and he had borrowed James cap.
Strange to think that even so small
an incident as that. of borrowing a
can. was to have it's influence on his
situation. How long ago it seemed
since Margaret. on the pavement at
Kelsey street, with a shawl over her
head, had said:
sometimes he wears a cap. 1t is
less trouble when we go to the
movies
He Nodded along the street.
Phelps, the district attorney. lived
out of town. Warrington took n
street car. but it was II o'clock when
he reached the house, and that hard
working gentleman had already re-
tired.
Persistent ringing Of the door-bell
brought sulky maid in a kimono,
who told him the family was in bed
and not to be disturbed.
Tell Mr. Phelps I've killed man
and want to surrender myself" he
said, with a touch of humor.
There's police station next to the
car-barn." she told him, and closed
the door in his face.
well" he reflected, as he trudged
down the drive. like the Irishman on
Friday, Heaven knows I've asked for
fish,
At the all-night stand near the car
barn he bought a newspaper and
looked it over but there was nothing
but a brief notice that Thomas Bayne,
imprisoned for embezzling funds from
the Harrison Bank, was i'll in the
,penitentiary hospital and, although
pardoned, was not yet able to leave.
Keeping 1t under their hats" he
considered.
He still felt that Straightforward
story ought to clear everything up,
at least, so far as he himself was con-
cerned.
For one thing, the doorman at the
bank might remember him. That
would prove his good faith.
But, on the other hand, how was
he to show that he had not sold the
bond for his own benefit, since both
Holly and Margaret Cox were de-
termined to keep Mrs. Bayne out of
It?
But he knew what would happen.
IL that question came up. Holly
would claim that she herself had
given it to him to sell.
ri hi II
at the thought.
Better to see the district attorney
early in the morning, before they
bound him to any more evasions, and
clear the thing up. Tell it all; that
was the way. He had heard that
Phelps was a decent sort. He would
understand.
But he was going to play his own
hand. He had no intention Of being
arrested; that weakened a mans case
before he had a chance at it.
He would surrender himself in the
morning, and they would let him out
later on his own recognizance, prob
ably.
But the immediate problem of the
night presented itself. He could not
go back to Kelsey street.
In the end, he found a small and
shabby sanctuary in a third-rate hote,
downtown and, after locking the
door, took stock Of himself in tie mir
ror.
Cad" he said. "It's just as well
! didn't see Phelps He'd have run
me in on general principles"
Later on, he rang the bell. ANY.
body around here to mend and press
a suit of clothes?" he asked the boy
who came.
Nope. Send them out for you in
the morning"
How long will it take?"
"How big's lump Of coal?" said the
boy, grinning. Get them back early
in the morning, maybe. Maybe not"
BY offer of a bride, however, he got
q promise of prompt action and, in
his under garments, began long and
fruitless pacing of the room.
Long after midnight he was still
moving about, a ridiculous and highly
anxious figure.
The more he thought about the mat
ter, the more certain he became that
Holly would sacrifice herself to save
her mother.
And, from something Margaret had
told him outside the fiat as he left,
he knew that this sacrifice was not
the absurdity it seemed on the sur
face
I'VE must keep my sister out of
this she had said. She has a bad
heart. 1t might kill her"
He made, finally, rather Infatuated
resolve; darn it all, If somebody na1
to be the goat, he would be. They
weren't going to stand Holly up and
question her.
But all of his tenderness was for
Holly; for Mrs. Bayne he had only
anger and increasing resentment.
To save that soft-handed, gently un-
scrupulous aristocrat, he might have
to drag an unknown, but honorable.
name in the dirt.
And why? Because her heart was
weak, or she thought it was!
Well, why not let her take her
shock? Other people had to. Suppose
poor Cox's heart had been weak? Or
Holly's?
A wave of resentment and anger
fairly shook him. He saw Mrs.
Bayne at the door, watching spider
like for Holly, lest the fly in the draw.
ing room escape.
down the stair-well and she was be-
low, listening furtively and hinder
ing his own progress down the stairs.
He counted his scores against her:
Margaret lying unconscious on the
kitchen floor; the night she had
brought him the bond to sell, and the
play she had made on his sympathy;
Holly in the attic, staring with tragic
eyes at something in the candlehght: