The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1938-10-01
~ ss Il23 lI]
By MAX SALTMARSH !

Is that rye made aspact with nay
self not to clear out until the busi-
ness is, settled and my name Is
cleared"
THAT'S absurd" he retorted
sharply, 'sbut I'm not going to have
my wishes put aside in this man
ner" He glared at me, febrile
flush spotting each hollow cheek
bone. II won't be checked like
this" he went on excitedly. Il tell
you, .Ildislike it very, much when
people know meet with violent
deaths. 1t keeps me awake at
night, and ] am too i'll to be upset.
| have myself to consider. and
have been very seriously uaWeH
ever since poor little Eve was
murdered. II anything happened
to you, so soon after, why, ! might
not survive it,"
"And / probably shouldn't
either!" ! commented dryly as !
got to my feet. "I'm sorry, Mr..
Venner. but can't do it. Here /
am and here stay, though OF
course you're perfectly at liberty
to turn me out of your hotel. The
tragedy wouldn't touch you quite
so nearly them
He glared at me, impotently
furious, and | saw his bony chest
begin to rise in great convulsive
heaves. MY heart" he gasped.
Quickly get me the drops on my
bed-tablei"
stared about me and saw door
in the opposite wall that ! guessed
must lead to the bedroom. When
I pushed it open | found, directly
facing Tne,Sa narrow. white-p painted
rhed, WITH Rmaih1tablea byI5be,
,headrboard. esnatched ppr the
little; bottle, that stood on If. seized
the Water-carafe and glass and
dashed back to the Sitting lroDnl.
The old man was leaning back
with closed eyes, fighting for
breath. but as approached he
looked up at me. Five drops, no
more" he gasped, and ! measured
out the dose and poured it down
his throat.
The effect was magical. In a
bare couple of minutes the
troubled breathing grew easier.
"That's better" he whispered.
But you see how it is? must not
be upset, for the consequences are
very serious. Anyway, we will .alk
about it later. when Ihave res.ec.'
was about to agree with IN.
when suddenly he sat bolt u3.isht.
what was that?" he gass:i Il
heard a sound in the bedroom
A Killer.
1T DIDN'T hear a thing" told
1 him, but he waved me aside.
go and look quickly; on the
balcony!" And to quiet him ! re-
turned to the bedroom. Nothing
stirred. The barely furnished room
was empty and the shutters were
closed. ] opened them and stepped
out, realizing for the first time that,
while his sitting-room balcony
had no communication with any :
other. this window opened on
wide upper terrace that ran the
whole length Of the house above
the portico.
l came back to the sitting-room.
mot a soul to be. seen." ! an
nounced cheerfully, and was re-
lieved to see that he had regained
control Of himself.
Every WELL" he said testify.
That will do for tonight. viii
see you in the morning, and in the
meantime viii you very kindly tell
Am&dee / am ready for bed?"
! took my way down the stair.
case, moved by queer sort OF
pity for the old scoundrel. though
there was no getting away from
the fact that the main cause Of his
aversion to my sudden demise was
the effect it would have on his
own health. A man was sitting be-
hind the office counter, immersed
in a newspaper. and ] paused to de-
liver the old mans message. As
did so. he looked up sharply and
! saw a pale, fiattish face. with
queer. light eyes. set slanting UNI
der invisible brows, and topped
with a halo OF waving. tow-col-
There wAssoniething smiliar in
the sightEDsnA rhemolR that it
stirred il the recesses oflkny brain.
HELIX safdvf "whe<e have
seen vol beforsg~ and Ehext mo-
nent coaId have bitten ny tongue
out. f6f itewas the pale-faced lad
who had quilted pthe Caves des
Muettes IN company with Baron
Stahl the night before.
II have never seen Monsieur
before. he answered. with thick
ish. cultural accent that told me
he was no FrenchmaTl.
what part Of the world do you
come from" asked, trying to in
dictate q harmless, idle curiosity.
but he shook his head.
Il come from Paris, monsieur.
he told me. His voice was OF.
piece with the rest Of him. fiat,
toneless, completely without char
acter.
From PARISH" echoed. sHut
you weren't born there, I'll swear.
Hold on minute: I'll have q guess.
Somewhere east Of Vienna; Ser
hia? Rumania? I've got it--Slo-
vakial"
I had spoken without thinking.
but as finished / saw him stiffen
slightly. His small pale eyes re-
treated behind the pasty lids. be-
coming mere dangerous Sits.
had hit the nail on the head. that
was evident, and il was still more
evident that II had alarmed him.
but for the life of me ! couldn't see
why: and then q sudden memory
came. Of Cummings big. booming
voice telling q strange story. Of
. cxechcslovak statesman shot