Plentywood herald. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1908-current, 1928-06-15

49, 49,
key for the purpose; then while I was
screaming over my beads he went in his
swift little way, with his own cut little
passkey, into five choice rooms and car
ried the loot TO my room TO wait till lie
could get 1t out conveniently"
A misery that was no born Of my di-
sheveled appearance. nor Of my hour in
jail, fell on me. But why should the
Asp ask you to help him?" I asked.
Because, being a little redheaded
small town simp" this was the first time
she's owned up to it,. II would natural
ly be easy to fool. Also. I'd be the last
person In the world whose room the po-
lice would expect to find a bag Of loot in.
And on top of that was his obsession for
making a woman the goat. And didn't
Captain Victory rave when he found
you'd been arrested You'd have thought
the mayor Of New York had been locked
up. He stormed at the house detective
and at me and ordered us TO go right
out and get you released. The Captain
couldn't do 1t because he had to 20 to
the police station with that wretch.
Everybody in the hotel blames me-" she
walled.
stop w~ailing." I said YEARLY. why
should anybody blame you? Couldn't
you explain about not knowing what was
in the bag?"
Eyes. But I couldn't explain that
scream over a string of beads which
emptied the hotel of detectives at the
exact moment when the Asp was making
his rounds. You see, he was the one
who told me to do that. 1t was part of
the plan. n would have worked like a
whiz. but Captain Victory ran in as the
Others ran out"
What excuse did he make to you for
asking you to pull that stunt, Ethel2" I
asked. HE had to make it seem reason
able"
II was to do that to empty the house
SO he would have full honor for catching
the Asp under the very noses Of the de-
t~ectives. Don't tell me I'm a fool. I
know it. l guess he never forgave you
for giving him the slip about the pearl
necklace. which was likely why you were
sent to jail. He told me positively you
wouldn't be touched when everybody
knew it was part of his plan to catch
the Asp. He probably would have sent
you a note after he'd got the stuff away
IN safety. lei l wouldn't have dared
tell my part in it. And you would have
gone to the p~enitentiary. Honestly. I
hope they hang him."
IF Captain Victory knew him right
along, why didn't he make the arrest
sooner" / was openly crying now.
You can't arrest a man Just because
you are certain he's the man you want.
especially If he is a big society man and
has no criminal record and never has
even been suspected. You have to be
able to prove 1t. Or, at least, to have
good reason for the arrest. Captain had
good reasons, but not good enough. And
that's where you horn in," she gloomed.
In your sweet girlish way you had
spilled the beans about the Asp's iden-
tlty. which was the thing the captain
didn't know positively In Denver, though
he had suspicious. Nobody knew really
till you let it out"
II didn't" 1 groaned. I'm a fool"
"Anybody'd think you were sorry" de-
clared Ethel. How did you find him
out in the first placer"
He told me-" l replied bitterly.
He told you'll And to think you never
told me! How could you do such a
thing to me?" She began smiling again.
Why. If Captain Victory hadn't vouched
for me I'd be in Jail right now for q
long term and all because you kept it
from me-"
VI.
After the Mary-in-London welcome
the hotel gave me, / sneaked out into
the grounds and sat down behind q big
date palm whose branches came close to
the ground and hid me from the hotel.
| was too wretched to cry. n the most
Mucous part OF III was nat Il should be
wretched over such q wretch.
Hist" came q voice from the shelter
of q big rose arbor. A pair Of eyes peered
through the tangle at me. Come here,
Leona."
l went, running. ooh, my heavens,
Bobl' 1 sobbed. Il thought you were in
jail"
81 broke away" he whispered.
T "Oh, what did you come here for2''
Run. before somebody sees your
He caught my hands. II came for
you. / won't go without you"
7 Bob, do you know it was 1 who be-
! trayed you? I didn't mean to. I don't
! even know when I did 1t. I'm such a
! little fool"
! 81 know all about it," he said. Rec
ollect the day you spurned the Asp's
crown and necklace-flung them at me;
then decided to Introduce me to your
: friends? That was the day"
But what did / say?"
More than you knew. More than
, knew then. l thought it over during
! most of the day and tested it out tina
: night on the terrace. Recollect when
. you tried SO valiantly to help me allay
the captains suspicious of me and ]
:. wrote up all the paper l had and asked
y the captain for a leaf from his notebook
!, He gave me several. If he had contin
ued suspicious of me he might not have
given me those leaves. Or If he had
bought q new notebook. But, 1t was ar
= even chance. Those pages were covered
with very fine biue parallel lines, very
close together and checked back VIII
like horizontal lines. A heavy red line
= ran down the left side of each page. anc
: a black number was in the top corner
v of each. Not an unusual notebook: bui
one not In general use. And curiously
those pages were identical with the pags
which had been hastily torn from al
Identical notebook to make your cute
little Ounce cap. 1t seemed to explain
the fact that the captain had merely
laughed instead of telling you to turr
q these curios over to the police. Still, i
. wasn't evidence enough to justify hi
arrest. But when he INDUCED himsel
Z in his obsession for making a fool of
woman. n you informed me that somt
plan was under way involving Ethel. vol
= completed the work"
y Bob, am l going crazy? Who is thu
Asp2 And who are your" I cried.
= THE man who registered in Denver a
= Randolph Nolan Victory is the Asp.
am r. N. Victory, president of the Wash
= ington bureau of ~criminology. ] asked
- Miss Ethel not to tell you before l say
you"
"And you followed that big crool
here?"
y mo, / followed a small potential crool
y who is also an angel. And now l plac1
her under arrest" He locked me in hi
y arms.
p DOWNRIGHT 1907 nv Eduina Macdonald