Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-07-19
Continued From Yesterdays starr
TwENTY-THIRD INsTALLMENT.

| A S Cropsey and AnnasSa West re-
" turned to the living room by
"A one door Noah Peabody and
! 4 a the lodge keeper. escorting the
! diminutive veterinary between
them, entered it by the other.
overlook him Just a-going into his
house" explained Noah. And to Gran
son, There's your patient, doc; hop
! to it,"
The doctor approached the couch on
which John Diamond lay More than
ever, Annassa thought, did the little
man resemble spider. He was so wiz
ened and spry, so revoltingly hairy The
CLEAN in the beady black eyes. that
swiftly took in one after another of the
| assembled company had something
! hungry about it.
She glanced toward John Diamond
and saw that, for all the interest the
millionaire took IN the proceedings, he
might as we'll have been dead.
The veterinary had paused and now
looked down on the pallid face. his own
face and its emotions hidden from those
about him. After moment, STOPPING,
he undid the improviSed bandages and
glanced at the wound. Pistol, eh?"
With lower lip sucked in between tooth
less gums, he examined the hole where
the bullet had entered From a dis
I u L
say. Well, now, let's see" Deft as to
fingers, he applied some lotion taken
from the black bag he carried, saturat-
ing cloths with it, at last binding one
, of the cloths into place with strips of
adhesive plaster. When the bandage
had been adjusted he said to his pa
tient: There, now; you'll be all right
in a day or two. But remember no ex-
citement-no excitement"
For the first tiron tho million oiro
opened his eyes.
A golden fog of candlelight enveloped
the face which bent so close above him
That and his own vision, weakened by
the loss of blood made it impossible
for him to distinguish its features with
any clarity.
who are you?" he asked in a whis-
per.
With the first sign of returning con-
seriousness on the part of the wounded
man, Cranson's whole attitude had
changed. His other personality, that of
the half-mad psalm singer, took pos
session of his lean body, swaying it to
a music only audible to ears that I'M
derstood it. Lifting his head. he
chanted, "'I am he that putteth not
out his money to usury nor taketh re-
ward against the innocent
Diamond stirred uneasily. The wound
had made him a trif1e feverish.
do you imply that have taken re-
ward against the innocent?"
The chant continued:
There are those that rebel against
the light. They know not the ways
thereof nor abide in the paths thereof :"
Here Cropsey tried to interpose, but
his employer waved him away. To
Cranson What is your name?"
There was pause, during which all
those who watched experienced the
same sensation-that of being spec
tators. Describing it to one another
afterward, they said it was as though
the living room of Brides House had
suddenly become a theater and that
they. as audience, had seen the curtain
rise on the last act of a melodrama.
With one of is lightning transitions,
the little veterinary cast aside his role
of soothsayer. Il am Derrick Cranson,"
he said with simple dignity-"Dr Der
lex Cranson."
"Cranson!' The wounded man blinked
in an effort to clear his vision-"Der-
lex Cranson" Then, slowly, the light
of recognition dawned in his eyes. Not
the boy from the circus?"
The other nodded. "Cranson-the
bareback rider" It was evident he rel
ished this moment between the million
aire and himself Rivals once. enemies
now. This is how we meet John, after
80 years"
Il thought you were dead" said Dia-
mond, ''or had gone away"
Cranson smiled. It was a slow wide
smile that opened the wrinkled face