The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1928-02-17
strength for fresh unleashing of its

strength for a fresh unleashing of its
dogs of thunder.
The detective stepped to the terrace
door, opened 1t. and then quietly pro-
ceeded to try the Doctors keys In the
lock. Thus located he was out of
visual range, and Wells took advan-
tage of u at once. He moved swiftly
toward the fireplace, extracting the
missing piece of blueprint from an
inside pocket as he did so. The Sc
cret the blueprint guarded was al
ready craven on his mind in indelible
| characters-now he would destroy all
evidence that 1t had ever been in his
possession and bluff through the rest
of the situation as best he might.
He threw the paper toward the
| flames with a nervous gesture Of re-
lief But for once his cunning failed
1.-THE throw was too hurried to be
sure and the light scrap Of paper
wavered and settled to the floor just
outside the fireplace. The doctor
swore noiselessly and stopped to pick
1t up and make sure Of its destruction.
But he was not quick enough. Through
the window the detective had seen the
| incident, and the next moment the
| doctor heard his voice bark behind
him. He turned, and stared at the
leveled muzzle Of Anderson's revolver.
Islands up and stand back !" he
commanded.
AS he did so Anderson picked up
! the paper, and q sardonic smile
crossed his face as his eyes took in
the significance of the print. He laid
he could snatch 1t up again at
| moments notice.
Behind a fireplace, eh?" he NUT
tered. "What fireplace? In what
room?"
81 won't tell you'll" The doctors
voice was sullen. He inched, gingerly,
| cautiously, toward the other side OF
the table.
| "All right-Tll find 1t, you know"
The detectives eyes turned swiftly
| back to the blueprint. For a moment,
as he bent over the paper again, he
was off guard.
The doctor seized the moment with
| savage promptitude and sprang.
| There followed silent, furious strug-
| gle between the two. Under normal
| circumstances, Anderson would have
| been the stronger and quicker, but the
| doctor fought with an added strength
| of despair and his initial leap had
49, A4h
him. Now the detective shook one
hand free and snatched at the re-
volver-in vain, for the doctor, with
a groan of desperation, struck at his
hand as its fingers were about to close
on the smooth butt and the revolver
skidded from the table to the floor.
With a sudden terrible movement he
| pinioned both the detectives arms be-
| hind him again and reached for the
| telephone. Its heavy base descended
| on the back of the detectives head
with stunning fOrce-and the next mo-
ment the battle was ended and the
| doctor, painting with exhaustion, held
the limp form of an unconscious man
| in his arms.
He lowered the detective to the floor
| and bent swiftly over Anderson, lis
tening to his heart. Good-the man
| still breathed-he had enough ON his
conscience without adding the MUIR
der of a detective to the black weight.
| Now he pocketed the revolver and the
lue-prinr-gagged Anderson rapidly
with knotted handkerchief and pro-
ceeded to wrap his own muller around
| the detectives head as an additional
| silencer. Anderson gave faint sigh.
The doctor thought rapidly. Soon
| or late the detective would return to
| could easily tear out the gag. He
| looked wildly about the room for a
| rope-a curtain-ah, he had 1.-THE
| detectives own handouts! He snapped
| the cuffs on Anderson'S wrists, then
| realized that, in his hurry, he had
| bound the detectives hands in trout
| of him instead of behind him. Well
| it would do, for the moment-he did
| not need much time to carry out his
plans. He dragged the limp body, its
| head lolling, into the billiard room
| where he deposited it on the floor in
| the corner farthest from the door.
So far, so good-now to lock the
door of the billiard room. Fortunate
| ly, the key was there, on the inside of
the door. He quickly transferred it,
looked the billiard room door from
the outside and pocketed the key.
| Then he crossed cautiously into the
| alcove and started to pad up the
| alcove stairs, his face white and
strained with excitement and hope.
And it was then that there hap
pened one of the most dramatic events
of the night. 1t was preceded by
| desperate hammering on the door of
| the terrace. 1t halted the doctor on
his way upstairs, drew BeresfOrd on
run into the living room, and even
reached the bedrooms Of the women
| up above.
my God! WHAT that?" Beres-
ford painted.
The doctor indicated the door. 1t
| was too late now. Already he could
hear Miss Cornelia's voice above; 1t
was only question of short time
| until Anderson in the billiard room
revived and would try to make his
| plight known. And in the brief mo-
ment of that resume of his position,
the knocking came again. But feebler,
as though the ssuppliant outside had
exhausted his strength.
| AS Beresford drew his revolver and
moved to the door, Miss Cornelia came
in, followed by Lizzie.
SITS the Bat" Lizzie announced
| mOurnfully. "GOod-by. Miss Neily.