The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1933-10-07
Chapter Is
JIM IN FLIGHT

jim IN FLIGHT
IN the end he knew very little
! more. The police were said to
have clue. Elmer Van Berg had
not recovered consciousness. His
condition was extremely grave.
There was no trace Of the emeralds.
He sat back in the hard upright
chair and stared straight in front
Of him. What next? He had left
Happicot, and no power on earth
would take him back there. He
would have to make that quite clear.
He had bought some sheets Of
paper. q pencil. and a couple Of
stamped envelopes as he came along.
He wrote d few lines Of thanks to
Min. A nice little thing kind,
pretty. timid. He hoped for her sake
that Nesta wasn't stopping there
hong. It was quite easy to write to
Min.
IT wasn't at all easy to write to
Nesta. How did you write to an un-
pleasant stranger who happened to
b your wife. and make it perfectly
clear that you never Intended to see
her asain7
He couldn't imagine how he had
ever. come to be mixed up with her.
Or with this Van Berg affair. Ac-
eording to all the available evidence,
he had shot Elmer Van Berg and
taken the Inca's emeralds. Unless
Of until he got his memory back he
could neither rebut nor explain this
evidence. All he could do was to try
and set away from it.
He might remembe. why he had
gone to see Elmer Van Berg. He had
gone to see him. and they had talked
and had drinks. That was funny
thing there was nothing in the
paper about those drinks. But he
remembered drinking with Elmer.
That is to say. he had remembered
It Il had come and gone like a flash.
Elmer standing up. with his hand
on the syphon. II he could remem-
Der that. he ought to be able to re-
member the whole thing. He might
remember Il at any time. It was
utterly damnable. He'd got to get
away out or LedIington out Of the
country II possible.
Il came to him that there had
been no mention Of those drinks. be
cause they we're a police clue. His
nnger.marks would be on the glass
that he had used. The incident
hadn't been given to the press on
purpose.
He leaned forward with determi-
nation and wrote:
II am going away. When am in
position to do so. will come to
some arrangement with you.
He signed. ]. r.. and fastened the
envelope and addressed II to Nesta.
LIVE pounds il not q very large
4 sum. Carefully hushanded, Of
course. II VIII 60 quite q long way.
II you tramp the roads. sleep out,
and live on bread and cheese, your
lodging costs you nothing. and your
food not very much. On the other
hand. q toothbrush. q cake Of soap,
and 3 razor are necessaries. and so
isa change Of linen. Money melts
ef soon as you begin to buy clothes.
How long would his suit last II he
alkp< out IN Il? II was none too
grand now.
he pushed all these things away.
He had got 10 get out Of Lexington.
and he was lucky to have i've
sounds 10 take the road with.
AZ he passed d newspaper shop at
the corner OF the Station Road. .
headline stared at him from . yard
away:
ARREST NEAR IN VAN BERG
CASE
A mile out Of Ledlington he left
ths high road for a footpath across
fields. Il took him into lane which
climbed to an open heath.
He sat down to rest on the stump
Of = tree and looked about him. The
day was fine. but not clear, The blue
Of the sky was misted over. and the
sun came palely through. There
was . purple bloom or heather as
FAR as the eve could see. He stared
across Il At the yelled horizon. A
hill like . cloud stood up against its