{ title: 'The Glens Falls times and messenger. volume (Glens Falls, N.Y.) 1913-1922, September 07, 1916, Page 14, Image 14', download_links: [ { link: 'http://www.loc.gov/rss/ndnp/ndnp.xml', label: 'application/rss+xml', meta: 'News about NYS Historic Newspapers - RSS Feed', }, { link: '/lccn/sn84031318/1916-09-07/ed-1/seq-14/png/', label: 'image/png', meta: '', }, { link: '/lccn/sn84031318/1916-09-07/ed-1/seq-14.pdf', label: 'application/pdf', meta: '', }, { link: '/lccn/sn84031318/1916-09-07/ed-1/seq-14/ocr.xml', label: 'application/xml', meta: '', }, { link: '/lccn/sn84031318/1916-09-07/ed-1/seq-14/ocr.txt', label: 'text/plain', meta: '', }, ] }
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g. -a 'f - rl ~ Ln l [H. l t H. [By Louis Joseph Vance -| [ Author of 31: . * The Pool of Franc,, [ i ' \The Bronze Bell,\ \The Black B Bag \ \The Brass Bowl,\ [F 15 [a] And now the fourth. Do you wonder . '. .1\ MOR; but -The Destroying Angel'- {\ fitaker cried indignantly. \How can they; blazae heft?\ . ||;) use . \It isn't blame-It's superstition. {Ashen a, °E tier bent forward, holding Whit- gaze with intent grave eyes. frst. time,” he said in a rapid un- , \'was a year or so after her mph as Joan Thursday, There sre then two men openly infatuated th her, a boy named Custer, and a I believe you know --William arpiltom.\ o MW ‘ \I knewer them both.\ ~ \Custer was making the pacs; the of his engagement to Law, was confidently anticipated. 'dled suddenlys; the coroner's jury, fieided that he had misjudged the in' 4an Hois=of a londed revolver, People 'phispered a sulcide, but it-didn't look kpuite Hike thit to me. However $ . , Hamfiton - stepped into his Presently wo heard that Sara Jaw was to matry him and leave the ' gs. Hamilton had to go abroad on fustness 3 on the return trip-the wed- Ming was'-set.-for the day after he land- b hem—he dissppesred, no one knew . Presumably he fell overboard by accident one night; sane men with Mng in the world to live for do each 'things, you know-according to Hie newspapers! R b *I understand you. Plegsg-yzo on.\ f Eapprersimately - eighteen - months \later a man named Thurston-Mitchell Thurstorm-was considered .a dangerous for the hand of Sara Law. He in exceedingly well fixed in a money way-a sort of Gilettantish architect, with offices in the Metropolitan tower, Ore day at high moon he left his desk to go to lunch at Martin's; crossing dison square, he suddenly fell dead, th a bullet in his brain. It was a {fe bullet, but though the square was ' rowded. no one had heard the report Wt the shot, and mo one was seen car- \pying a rifie. The conclusion was that he had been shot by somebody using a 'un with a Maxim silencer, from a window on the south side of the - There were no clues.\ {.And now Drummond!\ Whitaker relsimed in horror, \Poor fellow! 1001: woman |\ ' A slightly sardonic expression modi- \#ed the Hnes of Ember's mouth. \So '¥ar as Mrs. Whitaker is concerned,\ he said with the somewhat pedantle mode of speech which Whitaker was to earn to associate with his moments of 'most serious concentration-\I echo he sentiment, - But let us suspend ‘fid‘gment on Drummond's case until k e know more. Itis not as yet an es- iblished fact that he is dead.\ ‘f '*¥ou mean there's hope-\ ~ \There's doubt,\ Ember corrected 'Wridly-\doubt at least, in my mind. Wou gee, I saw Drummond in the flesh, ive and vigorous, a good half hour ter he is reported to have leaped to dearth n - 't. \Where?\ *~ usr k > ~f \Coming up tho stirs from the Mowntown subway station in front of Whe Park Avenue hotel. He wore a hat pulled down over his eyes and an f p14 prercoat buttoned tight up to his { Ho was carrying a satchel bear- ng the initials C. S. D., but was other- fitse pretty thoroughly disguised, and, K fancied, anxious enough to escape scognition.\ positive about this?\ \The man was Carter S. Drummond. Aon't think I can be mistaken,\ \Which way did he go?\ =C \Toweard the Pennsylvania station, I Wancy; that is, he turned west through ; u- rty—thlrd street. I didn't follow-I § getting into taxi when I caught # gm of him.\ ¥ \'But what did you think to see him guised? Didn't it strike you as ous?\ 'Very,\ said Ember dryly. \At the ame time, it was none of my affair- Reg. - Nor did it present itself to me g’l‘ matter worth meddling with until, er, my suspicions were aroused by scene in the theater-obviously the flt of your appearance there-and later, when I heard the suicide re- U \ t -~ Whitaker passed a hand $5 his dazed eyes. \What can it Wegn 2 Why should he do this thing?\ There are several possible explana- ms. =. How long has Dram» ond known that you are alive?\ \Sines noon today.\ -\May I ask, what was the extent of gallr property in his trust?\ \A écuple of hundred thousands.\ \And le belteved you dead and was Enable to find your widow . . .\ f‘Qh I don't think that!\ Whitaker ' § infed. Ceo For Infants and Chzldren $5” Use For Over 30 Years \ha Al ing possible explanstions, There's a that hoe was nominated for the fate | 1 that overtook young Custer, Hamilton | and Thurston; and so planned to give | 1 his. disappearance the color of a simi- | my dear man. I don't for an lostant | { believe, as some people claim to, that | ed by a tragic fate: that her love is / 1 stage-*\ Li W3? bears Md {ls 16 v \ nattite of a A M a kip reading the classified | 7 “Nor do I We're merely consider- third . . “Well?\ \He may have recelved a strong hint lar end.\ \You don't mean to say you think | there was any method in that train of | \I'm not in the least superstitious, Sara Law is a destroying angel, hound- equivalent to the death warrant of the man who wiss it.\ \But what do you think, then?\ \I think,\ said Ember slowly, bis gaze on the table, \that someone with A& very strong interest in keeping the young woman single-and on the \Max! Impossible!\ Ember shrugged. \In human nature no madness is impossible. There's not & shred of evidence against Jules Maz, And yet-he's a gambler, All theatri- cal managers gre, of course; but Max is a card-fiend. The tale of his plung- ing runs like wildfire up and down Brondway, day by day. A dozen times he's been on the verge of ruin, yet always he has had Sara Law to rely upon; always he's been able to fall back upon that asset, sure that her popularity would stave off bankruptcy. And he's superstitious : he believes she is his mascot,. I don't accuse him-I suspect him, knowing him to be ca- pable of many weird extravagances, & . . Furthermore, it's a fact that Max was a fellow-passenger with Billy Hamilton when the latter disappeared in midocean.\ Ember paused and sat up, prepara- tory to rising. \All of which,\ he con- cluded, \explains why I have tres passed upon your patience and your privacy. It seemed only right that you should get the straight, undistorted story from an unprejudiced onlooker, May I venture to add a word of ad- vice?\ 5p nout Hh ap ety , \By all means.\ i o ice \Have you told Max of your rels» tions with Sara Law?\ “N0 J } \Or anybody cise ® “NO\ . ''Then keep the truth to yourself—at least until this coll is straightened out,\ Ember got up. said pleasantly. Whitaker took bis hand, \Good night,\ he echoed blankly, -I say-why keep it quiet?\ Ember, turning to go, paused, bis glance quietly qulazical, \You don't mean to claim your wife?\ \On the contrary, I expect to offer no defense to her action for divorce,\ \Grounds of desertion?\ m- abr \I presume so.\ ~* \Just the same, Igep it as quiet as posible until the divorce is granted, If you live till then . . . you may possibly continue to live thereafter.\ iz CHAPTER Vill. Entr'acte. Dawn of Sunday found Whitaker still awake. Alone in his uncheerful bedchamber, his chair tlited back against the wall, he sat smoliing and thinking, reviewing again and again every consideration growing out of his matrimontal entanglement. He turned tn at length to the dreamless slumbers of mental exhaustion, The morning introduced bim to a world of newspapers gone mad and garrulous with accounts of the sensa- tion of the preceding night. What they told him only confirmed the history of his wife's career ag detailed by the gratuitous Mr. Ember, There was, however, no suggestion in any report that Drummond had not in fact com- mitted suicide. 'There had been, ap- parently, but a single witness of the felo de se, who in the subsequent con- fusion had vanished. No one dreamed of questioning the authenticity of the raport. Several sensationai sheets ran exhaustive resumes, elaborately illus- trated, of the public life of \The De- stroying Angel.\ It seemed to be an unanimous assumption that the news of Drummond's suicide had in some manner been conveyed to the woman while on the stage. In the course of the forenoon a note for Whitaker was delivered at the ho- tel. The heavy sheet of white paper, stamped with the address in Fifty-sev- enth street, bore the message in a strong but nervous hand: \Good night,\ he staring. \But I rely upon the generosity you promise me. This marriage of ours, that is no marriage, must be dissolved, Please let my | aitorneys-Landers, - Grimshaw & Clark, 149 Broadway-know, when and where you will accept service. Forgive mae if I seem ungrateful and unfeeling. I am hardly myself, And please do not try to see me now. Some day I hope to see and thank you: today-it's im osslble I am going away to forget, if Mary Ledislas Whitaker. Before nightfall Whitaker had sat- | Whitaker, the dead man coma to lite, I mand newspaper space. | mous opinion, the man hed not been 'needs and uses a property against the Owen Stanley country, He said | newspaper acareheuds. +'8o also the‘: .name of Drummond. Hugh Morten occupied public interest for a brief halt-day. By the time that the execu- | tors of Carter Drammond and the at torneys representing his clients began to make sense of his estate and. in- | terests. their distoverias falled to com- Drummond had appropriated to his own uses every dollar of the small fortune left in lis care by hiserstwhile partner, No other clHent of his had suffered, however. His peculations had been confined wholly to the one quar- ter whence he had had every reason to anticipate nmelther protest nor ex- posure, In Whitaker's troomagnan|- so much a thief as one who yielded to the temptation to convert to his own which, it appeared, no other living be- Ing cared to enter a claim, The mon- etary loss was an inconsiderable thing to a man with an interest in mines in nothing. Drummond's name remained untarnished, save in the knowledge of a few. Of these, Martin Ember was one. Whitaker made a point of hinting him up. 'The retived detective received con- firmation of his surmise without any amazement. \You still belleve that he's alive?\ 'Implicitly,\ Ember asjerted with, conviction. \Gould you find him, if necessary?\ \Within a day, I think. Do you wish me to?\ Ember permitted Whitaker to con- sider the matter in silence for some: moments. Then, \Do you want ad- vice?\ he inquired. \Well? \Hunt him down and put him behind the bars,\ said Ember instantly, \What's the good of that?\ \Your personal safety.\ \How?\ \With you out of the way, he could come back without fear.\ Ember permitted another pause to lengthen, unbroken by Whitaker. \Shall I try to find him for you?\ he said quietly, in the end. ' \No Whitaker decided, him alone-poor devil!\ Ember discliimed further responsi- bility with a movement of his shoul- ders. \But my wife? Could you find her as readily?\ \Possibly the detective admitted cautfously. - \But I don't mean to.\ \'Why not?\ «Principally because she doesn't want me to Otherwise she'd let you know where to look for her.\ \True These fragments of dialogue are from a conversation that took place in the month of June, nearly seven weeks after the farewell performance at the Theatre Max. Interim, Whitaker had quietly resumed his place in the life of the town, regaining old friendships, renewing old associations The mild excitement occasioned by his reappear- ance had already subsided; he was again an accepted and substantial fac- tor in the socisty of his kind. Gradually he began to know more hours of loneliness than suited his tastes, His rooms-the old reoms over- looking Bryant park regained and re- furnished much as they had been six years before-knew bis solitary pres- ence through many a long evening. July came with blistering breath and. he took to the Adirondacks, meaning \\No. Let @A Fops Ho Sustained a Murderous Assault. to be gone a month, Within ten days he was home again, drawn back Irre- sistibly by a strange, Insatiable crave isfied himself that his wife had, in truth, left her town house. The serv- ants there informed all who inquired that they had been told td report and to forward all letters to Messrs. Lan- ders, Grimshaw & Clark. Whitaker promptly notified those at- torneys that he was ready to be served at their conventence, But be- youd their brief and businessilie ac- knowledgment, he heard nothing more of the rction for divorce, He sought Max several times with- out success. When at length run to ground in the roulette Foom of a Forty- fourth street gambling house, the mane ager was grimly reticent, Warned by the manager's truculent and suspiclous tons that his secret was, after all, buried.no more than skin deep, \Whita- ker dissembled artfully his anxiety, 'and abandoned Max to his pet vices, The newspapers reported Hara Law as being In retirement in several wide- ly separated sections of the country. She was also sild to have gone abroad, sailing incognito by a second-class steamship from Philadelphia. ing of unformulated desire. - Town ; bored him, yet he could not seem to rest away from it. Ho wandéred in and out, up and down, an unquiet, irresolute soul, tre mondously perplexed. , . . . 'There came one dirk and sultry might, heavy beneath skies overcast, in August. Whitaker left a roofgarden in the middle of a stupid performance, and walked the streets till long after #nidnight, courting the fatigue that alone could bestow untroubled sleep, On his return a mleepy hall-boy with a wlited collar ran the elevator up to kis tenth-floor Innding and, leaving him fumbling at the lock of his door, dropped: clankingly out of sight. White 'aker entered and shut himself In with i tho pitch-blackness of his private hall. He groped along the wall for the electric switch, and found only the shank of it, the 'hard rubber button shaving disappeared. And then, while still ho-was trying to think how this murderous assault, \_ A miscdlculation on the part of the The niné-days' wonder disintegrated d turnlly. The sobriquet of \The Pe- of Interssting. news for 1 Dul M\m°d?29m | marauder alone saved him. 'The black» . der with numbing force. 'Notwith-| ! - standing his pain and surprise, Whit ' a. devil unchained. 'and thump of struggling bodies. © of a dresser in which he kept a revolv- floor, the ankle twisted, and he fell ' who had been summoned by the hall could bhava happened, he sustained a: | lights. rem FALLS Tors AnD MESSENGER msnummm SEPTEMBER T. aker rallied and grappled, thus escap- Ing a second and probably more deadly blo. } But his shoulder was almost useless, and the path of it began to sicken him, while the man in Ibis grip fought like For some minutes the night was ren- dered wild and violent with the crashes| of overthrown furniture.and the thud Then Whitaker broke free and plunged in what he imagined to be the direction: er. His foot slipped on the hardwood | awkwardly, striking bis head against a table leg with such force that he lay | half stunned. An instant later his as- sailant emptied five chambers of a re- volver into the darkness about him, and then, alarmed by a racket of pounding on the hall door, fled success- fully by way of the fire escape to ad- joining roofs and neighboring back- yards, By the time Whitaker was able to pull himself together and hobble to the door, a brace of intelligent policemen, boy, were threatening to break it down. Admitted, they took his safety into their care and, simultaneously, the re- volver which he incautiously admitted possessing. Later they departed, ob- viously disgruntled by the unprofes stonal conduct of the \crook\ who had left no \clues with a warning to the householdar that he might expect to be summoned to court, as soon as-he was able to move, to answer for the crime of keeping a weapon of defense. Whitaker took to his bed in company with a black temper and the aroma of arnica He entertained, the next day, several persons: reporters; a physiclan; a fu- tile, superfluous, unornamental crea- ture misleadingly designated a plain- clothes man ; finally his friend (by now their acquaintance had warmed to real friendship) Ember,. The retired investigator found Whit- aker getting into his clothes-a cere- mony distinguished by some profanity and numerous grunts. \Afternoon he said, taking a chair and surveying the sufferer with slight- ly masked amusement. \Having a good time?\ \You go to thunder 1\ said Whitaker in disgust. \Glad to see you're not hurt much,\ pursued the other. unabashed. Whitaker withered him with a glare. \You're lucky to be alive,\ observed Ember, exasperatingly philosophic. \A lot you know about it! I sup- pose you could lay this thug by the heels in a brace of shakes?\ \Just about,\ Ember admitted plac» idly. Whitaker stared aggressively. mean . . . Drummond?\ The answer was a nod. \I don't believe It.\ \You'll at all events do mo the credit to recall that I warned you two months ago.\ \All the same, I don't believe it was Drummond.\ \You haven't missed any property, I believe?\ “N0 n \Yo presumably the fellow had some motive other than a desire to thieve. Besides, if he'd been on the loot he might much more easily have tried one of the lower floors-and more sen- sibly.\ \Well . ., .' Whitaker temporized. \And Id like to know what you ; mean to do.\ \About what?\ \Unless you're hell-bent on sticking | around here to get your head mashed | in-I venture respectfully to suggest | that you consign yourself to my com- petent care.\ \Meaning\ \I've got a bungalow down on Long Island-a one-horse sort of a bachelor affair-and I'm going to run down this || evening and stay awhile. There's qulet, , no society and good swimming. Will: you come along and be my guest until you grow tired of it?\ \Done with you!\ declared Whita-; ker with a strong sense of relief. ; As a matter of fact, he was far less | incredulous of Ember's theory than he chose to admit. \\You CHAPTER 1X,. « The Window. Though they left New York not long after three in the afternoon, twilight was fast ebbing into night when Ember gave the motor its head, Its head- lights clove a path through darkness, like a splendid sword; on either hand woodlands and desolate | clearings blurred into dark and rushing walls; only the wonderful wilderhess of stars remained imperturbable, Whitaker, braced against the Jolting, snatched begrudged mouthfuls of air strong of the sea. He had no very defi- nite idea of their whereabouts, having neglected through sheer indifference to question Ember, but he knew that they were drawing minute by minute closer to the Atlantic. After some time the car slowed to a paipitant pause. | Ember Jumped out to open a barred gate, then, returning, swung the car into a chear but narrow wondland road. \Mine own domain,\ he informed Whitaker with a laugh. \Now we're shut of the world en- tirely.\ Whitaker bent forward, inquiring: \Where are we? \Almost there. | Patience.\ Whitaker reckoned idly that they must have threaded a good two miles: of woodland, when at length the car émerged upon a clearing and immed[- ately turned aside to the open doorway of a mindature garage. The forest bemmed the clearing on three sides; on the fourth lay water. A hundred yards distant the lighted windows of a one-story structure shone pleasantly through a scattering planta-. tion of pine. Linking arms the better to guide his guest, Ember drew him toward the | jack (or whatever the weapon was) | Disélgg his head by the patrowest|. shave, descended mpon His left shoul v|fi°“s' flourishing his I?“ hand; “he\ | they faced the water-\there's a mar- \ing room with walls of peeled logs and, . | of-all-work; I've bad hiimn for years} +take good care of you. « high-spirited prophet of evil. | man was gone-vanished as stzangely mange—retreat.\ E \Paradise Whitaker summed- up, in the same manner, \No neighbor's?\ \Oh!>-Ember motioned to hiis left as' ried eitablishment over there some- where, but we don't bother oneanother. Fellow by the name of Fiske. I under- stand the place 4a shut up-Fiske not ||| |-coming down this year.\ o \So much the better, I've been want- ing just this all summer, without real- | izing It.\ | \Welcome lodge |\ They entered a long and deep I® then. to Half-a Loaf at one end, a stone fireplace wherein a wood fire blazed heartily. At e com- fortable distance from the hearth 'stood a table bright with Unen, silver and erystal-covers for two. The rear wail was broken by three doors, in|; one of which a rotund Chinaman beamed oleaginously. Ember halled him by the title of Sum Fat, ex- | plaining that it wasn't his name, but claiming for it the wirtue of exquisite felicity, \My servant in town, here man- faithful and indispensable. . . .\ Toward the end of an excellent din- ner, Whlfinker caught himself nodding and blinking with drowsthess. Em- ber took laughing compassion upon him and led him forthwith to a bed- room furnished with the rigld simplic« ity of a summer camp. Then he slept round the clock, The shrill, impera- tive raitle of a telephone bell roused him. As he dressed he could hear the voice of Ember in the living room tallk- ing over the telephone. Presently there came a tip at his door, and his host entered. \Up ch?\ he said cheerfully, \I was pfraid I'd have to wake you.\ His smile vanished beneath the clouds of an impatient frown. \This is the devil of a note: I've got to leave you.\ \What's the trouble?\ \That's what I'm called upon to find out,. A friend of mine's in a tight place, and I've got to go and help pull him through. He just called me up- and I can't refuse, D'you mind belng left alone for a day or so?\ \Certainly not-only I'm sorry.\ \No more than L But I'll tty to get back tomorrow, If I don't, the next day-or as soon as I possibly can. Meanwhile, please consider yourself lord and master here. Sum Fat will Anything you want, just ask him, Now I've got to get into waterproofs-it's raining like all get-out, but I can't wait for a let- up.\ By the time Whitaker was ready for breakfast his host had splashed off to his motor car. The wind, freshening and driving very respectable if miniature rollers against the beach, came in heavy gusts, alternating with periods of steady, strong blowing. At times the shining lances of the rain seemed to drive almost horizontally, Whitaker poked his herd into the kitchen. In that im- maculate place, from which every hint of breakfast had disappeared as if by magic, Sum Fat was religlously cleaning his teeth-for the third time that morning, to Whitaker's certain knowledge. When he had fnished, Whitaker put & question : \Sum Fat, which way does the wind blow, do you know?\ Sum Fat fioshed him a dazzling smile, “Ellst'ly,” clucking voice, three-day blow.\ \At least,\ said Whitaker, \you're a I thank he said in a cheerful, \I think vely fine you.\ He selected a book from several shelves stocked with a discriminating taste, and settled himself before the fire. The day wore out before his patience did, and with every indication of ful- filling the prognoils of Sum Fat; by nightfall the wind had developed into an enthusiastic gale, driving before it shected rain and great ragged wastes of mist. And the second day was like unto the first. The third day broke full of the spirit of the second; but toward noon the rain ceased. In the evening, weary of the sedulous attentions of a cloud of famished mosquitoes, Whita- ker sait in darkness, not tired enough to go to bed, too tired to bestir himself and seek distraction from a tormenting train of thought. A pool of limpid moonlight lay like milk upon the floor beneath a window and held bis dreaming gaze while mem- ory marshaled for his delectation a pageant of wasted years, infinitely des- olate and dreary in his vision. How long he sat unstirring, preocet» pied with fruitless inquiry, he did not guess, But later he reckoned it could not have been long after ten o'clock when he was disturbed. The sound of & footfall, hushed and stealthy on the veranda, roused him with a start, and almost at the same instant he became aware of a shadow that troubled the pool of moonlight, the foreshortened shadow of a man's head and shoulders He sit up, tense, rigid with surprise and wonder, and stared at the sithow etted body at pause just outside the window. - The fellow was stooping to peer in. Had Druramond hunted him down to this isolate hiding place? On the thought he leaped up, in two strides slanimed out through the door. \I gay I\ he cried loudly. But he oried, apparently, to. empty air. The and as qutetly as hechad appeared. Pausing and glaring round the clear- ing in complete bewilderment, he de- tected or elge fancied a slight move- ient in the shadows on the edge of the encompassing woodland. 'heed1ess of the risk. he ran If: the man «were Indeed Drumniond and if Drum- mond were indeed gullty of the assault now four nights old, Whitaker broke for the spot. It proved to be the en- . trance to one of the woodland paths, |/ and naturaliy-whéther or no his imag- ination were in fault-there was no- , -. 3 14] U U Instantly,: first! (hus “(u He Sat Up Tense, Rigid With Surprise, Whllnker in a rago set himgelf to fol low. Before he realized he-could have eovered the distarrce, he emerged abruptly into the clearing of the Fiske place. Here he pulled up, for the first time alive to the intrinsic iGiocy of his con duct, and diverted besides by the dis covery that his impression ef the early evening, that the cottage was tenanted, had been well founded. The ground floor win dows shone with a dim but warm illumination, He could see distinctly part of a living room rather charmingly furnished in a sum- mery way. At its firther end a dark halred woman in a plain black dress with a short apron and lace cap sat reading by - lamplight-evidently a maid. Her mistress-Judging by ap- pearances-was outside on the lawn below the veranda, strolling to and fro in company with a somewhat short and heavy man who wore an automobile duster and visored cap. By contrast, her whiteclad figure, invested with the illusion of moonlight, seemed un- usually tall. - Her hair was fair, shin- ing like a headdress of palest gold as she bent her head, attentive to her companion. - Aud Whitaker thought to discern an unusual | quality in her movements, a quality of charm and a graciousness of mien rarely to be no- ticed even in the most benutiful of the women he had known,. Of a sudden the man paused, pro- duced a watch from beneath his dust er, consulted it briefly and shut the case with a smap. He said something tive, Promptly, as if annoyed, pearing round the house, one side with an effect of critical amusement. | Then, with a low laugh, she crossed the veranda and entered Whitaker, Mngering and ing into the woods, be ready for bed before long.\ \Yes madam.\ moved briskly out of sight. ingly posed. his memory. Something-a movement or perhaps tion from the woman. He saw the other man standing boldly in full tainly Drummond. ing his naroae-\Dricomond!1\ him. the woodlant underbrush, untll, his way back to the bubgslow, in» rmpisa 40 \ CHAPT ER XS, 'The Spy., washed and, radin bay dimplea‘ with gent glow of tho'dawn. 'body waiting there to be caught. \Bungalow he. explained, senten- untusetiousbly fed al But if anyone had been there, boe bak with &A demand for a. but in a brusque tope, and was answered by what sounded like a pleasant nega- he turned and strode hastily away, disap- Alone, the woman watched him as long as br was in sight, her head to the lighted room. At the same time watching without in the least understanding or even questioning why he was doing this thing so contrary to his instincts, heard the heavy rumble of a motor car on the far side of the house and saw the machine swing off across the clear- In the living room the woman was saying: \You may go now, Elise. Ill The maid rose and Her mistress, casting aslde a schrf of embroidered Chinese brocade, stood for a moment in Heep thought, her head bowed, the knuckle of a slender forefinger tapping her chin-charm- Wiitaier abruptly un- derstoofl why it was he loltered, peep- Ing-she was absolutely beautiful, a creature both exquisite and superb, & matchless portrait for the galleries of a slight sound-hbed drawn his atten- moonlight, all his attention concentrat- ed on the brillant picture framed by. the window. He was unquestionably, without knowledge of the nearness of the other-of Whitaker in the shad- ows. And though his back was to the moon and his face further shadowed by a peaked cap, Whitaker was abso- lutely sure of the rnan-he was cer- Without pause for thought, he spring toward him, in a guarded voice utter- But the fellow proved too alert and quick for Whitaker's hands closed on noth- Ing more substantial than thin air; at the same time he received a blow upon his bruised shoulder smart and fordble enough to stagger him and evoke an in- voluntary grunt of prin, And before he could regsin hig balance the fellow was thrashing polsfly away through Forthwith he struck of mnd blun« dered senselessly. through the forest, misled by its elfstva phaytasmagoria, - renitzing* af Zength he did but dupHcate #in earlior folly, he gave up the chase unde Alregdy the sun was Warm int breeze bland,, Stamcling at the winds» sad shadlnmhls syes against the glare, \Whitaker \'jurveyed. a world neg- tg the Tandlocked vaegpant catspaws 'and amitten with' sunlight: as with a scimitar of fire; the eirth fresh'and fragrant, steaming faintly in the ar- In another moment hb wasrat the Hitchen doof, interrupting Hum Fht's \frst mintutinal attentions to his teeth Walt. WEEKLY EDITION 6 ¥; | ing: to the surface with his flesh ti.‘ | gling with delight of the cool wat then, vilth the-deéliberate and power 1 movements of .an experienced swA‘ er, struukaaway from the- land. T4, 'pundred yards out he;paused, roll\ , pver on his back, sand,-hinds clasp | \ beneath MB headpflonted serenely, su, | light warming his face, t | 'body rejotcing in the euave, clean, fin. [ embrace. __ Then 'something distawbed him-. I dull fittering, vibrant upon his sw | merged eardrums. Extending his arn {and movinrg «his hands gently to pr ) | iserveils poise; humans head fro 'the water. - From the landinpweatage c- | the Fiske place & motor 'boat wi' | standing out. 'The chutntngaf Ite pro had aroused him. Heipould s but a gingle person . for.all 'its er Seated asterp, dividing.: her 'att between tho side, ageating' wheel an T the engine, sppwasmlwtherisnorax | of the onlooker. ,Only 'her. Ahead an shoulders- wed apoveithe: comming- | her bed Ehining. crown, he .shouldeaas cloaked with a light wra gathered at the throat, Whitaker, admiring, wondered . . Sweeptog.in a wife-are 'as it gath ered speed, the:hoat-presontly shot.ou smartly on. a straight course for 'th barrier beach. Why? What-bustress: And at an hour so. early No afair of hiss -Whitiker uflmltter as much freely. And yet he was bef ginning his fourth day on the Greav Wasi bay. without having.et foot upox, its Great South beach! Ridiculour oversight! And: one to be remedicc' 'without another hour's delay. Grinning with amused toleration of his own perverse sophistry, he turnei over on 'his side and struck out in the. wake of the motor boat. 'When at, length he waded ashore he found thE‘ motor boat moored in shallow water at the end of a long and substential, dock, He patted the flanks of the ves sel as he waded on. i \Good little boat !\\ said he. t Walking rapidly, very soon he stood: at the head of a rude flight of wooden steps which ran down from the top of ; a waveeaten sand bluff, some ten or ; twelve feet in height, to the broad and: gently shelving ocean beach. Midway between the sand bluff and the break- ing waters stood the woman Whitaker had followed, (There wasn't any use mincing terms-hle had followed her in his confounded, fatuous curiosity!) Her fice was to the sea, her hands clasped behind her. Now the wind modeled her cloak. sweetly to her body, now whipped its skirts away, discloss ing legs straight and slender and gra- clously modeled, seemed, for bathing. d she‘thete bis gaze sweep up from the beach nm‘j glong the brow of the bluff. He paused, frowning. Some twenty feet or so dis- tant the legs of a man, trousered and booted, protruded from a hollow be- tween two hummocks of sand. And the toes of the boots were digging into the sind, indicating that the man was lying prone; and that meant (If he were neither dead nor sleeping) that he was watching the woman on the beach, warmed Whitaker's bosom. It was all very well for him to catch sight of the woman through her cottage win- dow, by night, and to swim over to tha beach in her wake the next morning, but what right had anybody else to constitute himself her shadow? Be- sides, it was possible that the man was Drummond. Ho strode forward and stood over the man, looking down at his back. It was true, as he had assumed-the fel- low was watching the woman, And his back was very like Drummond's. A lille quiver of excltement mingled with anticipative - satisfaction | ran: through him, Now, at last, the myg- tfery was to be cleared up, his ful@e: relations with the pstudo-suicide h- fined and established, Deliberately he extended his bare foot rind nudged the man's ribs. f \Drummond . _. .\ he said in & clear voice, decided but unaggressive.; With an oath and what seemed a single, quick motion, the man jumped| to his feet and turned to Whitaker m startled and inflamed countenance, |, \What the devil!\ he cried angrily.; \Who are you? What do you Wint’q Whit d'you mean by coming round, here and calling me Drummond?\ { He waseno more Drummond than ho‘ vas Whitaker hinaself. \For - that roatter'\ - something, clicked in Whitaker's brain and subs conselously,he knew tint his temper| was about to take the bridge-\Wwhat 'do you mean by spying on that lady] youder ?\ It being indisputably none of his: .concorn, the unfairness of the question: 'only lent it offensive force, 'The men! 'made this painfully clear through the medium of an intolerable epithet and, 'an attempt to Ind Ais right fist oni Whitaker's face. - The face, however, was elsewliere when the fist. reached‘the -polut for, which :At had.been. almed ;and \Whit~ aker cloged imprpflipflmthetfllow 8! body followedi{blesarti, Abrown.oft bat- ance by- the ‘mewxnnob- :stmcted , blow., What followhd4..had entered-Ipto- thd ealculatfons of n#ither, | Whiteicer reit himself sudderily falling through air thick with a blinding,.choking etoud of 'dust. ana -sand, \The body of ithe other |, was ammuneouslymrench tromdais grasp. Then LeiBronght up aganat solidity with a bump that seemed o expel. everyfcnblc Inch of 'airfromfhiv lungs. Andths heard him- self ery out.sh@iply. with-the pain of 'his wealerabkle, newly twidted. . . . He ant up, \ gabping for breath, theisand from , his. face and eyes, and'arfsopmas humming wite settled a 'liftle, comprehended what hud happened. Half 'burted in .the debris of a mint ature \landslide he sit at the foot of thoibluf®. Immediately above his head n mgged\ break showed where the sand, held together sofely by beach grass, 'had griven way beneath the weight ot tha'mgoniqts She was dressed, It Whitaker turn to go, and turning let: | Indignation, righteous indignation, ' grt ive ger are abe ana s wu aa \I| THs |thouss iitoday ing to { who 1 ghtin All blacks and it local : {ithe b band - '+Inlcety (Pogso Ing #. mnnes CUT {Conn Fo 2; fe r Ced is to deleg: the T Kendal men 4 by fo: ”dam-a ‘the st Fat iflnd 1 style pinch In cor Iemu}; [fitting 'form | Th | t |Neigt be Val {new} 'Beek \drea lot hi {mong \stung hank. It at the they agke {vent pear
