LASH <?/ I I jJciRCUMSXANCE HARRY IRVING GREENE _ Author of 'Yosonde of the. Wilderness \ IlhisTrtv-ticms V>v MagnviA- O. )k^ ct _ SYNOPSIS. Abner Halliday, a miserly millionaire, s found gagged. bound and insensible in its room, ills safe rilled and s4o,(km miss us The thread of the story is taken up ,'>y hi j* nephew Tom. Hiving in the sum 'louse are other relatives; reckless Bruce Halliday and pretty Clare Winton. Bruce, vho is a bond broker, has been trying to .Use SIO,OOO to put through a deal and mve himself from financial ruin. He has applied to Ills miserly uncle anil to others for the loan but has been refused. Tom tends for William l.el Hie, an old-tline .friend connected with a detective agency. In relating the story Tom reverts to Ills Acquaintance with a Mrs. Dace, a wealthy widow, whose business agent Is Richard Vlackay. a boodle rand political boss. Pom is jealous of Mackay and Is deeply in love with Mrs. Dace. Bruce Halliday ,varus him to slum hr as an adventuress. I'oiti sis Mrs. Dace and Mackay togeth er. He afterwards meets the woman at v hors-'e race, and, happening to mention hat Brtice had a tip on the winner, she ; ;ives him SSOO to place on the race. The tip goes wrong and she loses her money, i ,ater Tom Invests in stocks. He makes noma money, and returns the lost SSOO to Mrs. Dace, It Is at tills juncture that tlm •heft of the $40,000 from old Abner Halli <iay occurs. CHAPTER IX.—(Continued.) "You say that is all you know about that, phase of the matter. Very good. But what else do you know?" Driven fairly into a corner I answered des perately: "I know he had a key to the house. While I was sitting with him at the interview I have just mentioned he became angry at the thought of un cle's refusal to assist him, and struck the table several times with some umall metallic object which he had tightly clenched in his hand. The /amiliar appearance of the object im mediately attracted my attention and I managed to see enough of it to know that It was a key to this place. I was somewhat surprised, not know ing how he had come into possession of it; but thinking It was his own business I did not mention It to him in his then condition of mind. 1 do not. believe that he knew that I had noticed it, or was even aware that he had exhibited it in his excitement, for Immediately after his outburst he thrust it back into his overcoat pock et. I think that I have now without reservation told you all that I know '.-oncerning hia words and actions within the last few days. He can un doubtedly explain his possessorship of the key as well as his whereabouts 'iast night to your entire satisfaction. But I hope it will not even be neces sary to hurt his pride by questioning him." LeDuc leaned forward with deep in terest in his face. "Then if there are :->ut four keys to the front door known to be In existence, and as your uncle has his own as well as the one which j-ou formerly possessed, aud as Mrs. Tebbets still has hers, the only one remaining to be accounted for should *>9 in the possession of your other jouoin. Miss Winton. If she still retains tiers, then the one Bruce had must of necessity be a duplicate, and a duplicate could not have been made without the maker having for a time had one of the originals. That phase of the matter we will take up, If nec t ssary, when we come to it, but what we want to know now Is regarding the >riginalß. And to ascertain that we nust know whether Miss Winton has narted keepership of hers. I nnist eee her at once." "Perhaps It would be well for me to call her up over the wire and ask her to come here," I suggested. "Un cle wfil be glad to see her, and I know she will dance with anxiety to come when she hoars about this." He nodded his acquiescense, and going to the telephone X briefly put her in pos session of the news with the request that she come to us immediately. In tier excitement and eagerness she iropped the ear Instrument instead of -eplacing it upon the hood and I i-ould hear her as she rushed about he room calling upon her mother for ner hat and gloves. Fifteen minutes later she was ringing at the front •door. I/oDuc shot mo a look full of ligniflcance. "Did you say that she and Bruce ire engaged, or something to that ef fect?" he inquired, referring to a re mark which 1 had dropped a few mo ments before. I nodded. "So Bruce intimated to me. I knew they were desperately fond of each >ther and he told me that had he not oeen wiped out he would have married her. At any rate, she does not seem to have her key with her this morn ing," was my answer. Down stairs we hrard Mrs. Tebbets opening the Joor, and a moment later with a pat ter of feet and a rustle of skirts Clare bounded in upon us. Her eyes were dilated and she seemed almost ready to burst from suppressed excitement. Her first words were about Uncle Abner and as to whether he was now ntirely out of danger. I assured her .hat he was and then introduced Le- Duc, requesting that she seat herself n moment with us before going into the other room. She dropped upon the edge or a chair, fidgeting and nerv ous. LeDuc, Immediately all court esy, laid aside his cigar. "I will detain you but a moment, VTiss Winton," he apologized, his faint labitnal smile breaking into an af 'tWe one. "But as 1 am investigating .his affair in the interests of your un »l<? and In the hope of recovering ittwro or less of his money, I am going •c resume that you, as one of the tomiiy, will be glad to give me your u>e!sUucce. At the present moment * 4**ctla« axj ftUaaUon to loe*t ing the keys of the house, it being evi dent that the premises were entered by the front door, as the back door was bolted from the inside. Will you be good enough to let me have yours for a few moments?" Clare moved nervously. "It's queer about that key; I can't find it," she said hastily. "I always carry it in my purse, but when I searched for it a few moments ago on my way over here it was not there. For the life of me I cannot imagine where I could have misplaced it, for I have been very careful to always i keep it in that one place. I simply i know I have not lost it, but it is just jas strange as it can be." She squirm ! Ed like a worried schoolgirl. "Suppose we go back a little. When ! do you remember of having it last?" lie pursued. Her forehead wrinkled with thought. ''Three or four days ago when I came over here. I have not had oc casion to think of it since until Tom called me up a few moments ago. 1 am as worried about it as 1 can be, but 1 am certain that I have not lost It." I saw LeDuc's gaze run over the graceful form of the girl and then settle upon her face with an expres sion that was beyond doubt one of unequivocal approval. That Clare, whose heart was as open to the world as is the heart of a flower to the light of the sun, could harbor any secret as dark as this was preposter ous to one who knew her. 1 had never met a girl with sounder morals or better instincts, and her character was of spun gold. And even though she loved Bruce and had always defended his frailties, I did not believe that she would have shielded him had she believed him guilty of as unnatural a crime as this, matter of history though it is that one can never tell what heights or depths a woman will achieve to save the man who carries her heart. Quietly 1 asked her when she had seen Bruce last, and knowing her mannerisms as I did became in stantly aware that my question had put her on the rack, for a faint shadow flitted cloudlike across her face. Yet she answered me with her accustomed frankness. "Day before yesterday—and I do not understand it either. He was to see me yesterday evening, but ho neither came nor sent word as to why he broke the engagement. It is -not like him to do such a thing, aud while I suppose there is some good reason back of It, I do not know what it is. Anyway, I am worried." She dropped her eyes and tapped gent ly on the floor with her toe. "I wish you would try and get him on the wire, Tom, and find out if he is all right. That is all I care to know at present." I assented and started for the telephone, but had made but a step or two before 1 heard first his familiar ring at the door and a mo ment later his equally familiar voice from the hall below. Then up the stairs he came and at the first foot fall I halted, listening. Usually he mounted something after the fashion of a scurrying cat in a series of light leaps, but now his feet pounded the boards with heavy uncertainty. 1 opened the door before him, but at the first sight of his face I stepped back. lie advanced to the doorway, fal tered there with one hand braced against the jamb and the crimson flushing his face as he saw Clare amongst us. His eyes were as red shot as a bloodhound's, and the hand that hung by his side was aspen. The unmistakable marks of an evil night were stamped about his mouth and his usually clear face looked puttyish and mottled. I heard Clare gasp as she arose and slowly approached him with unbelieving eyes. He stepped aside as though to avoid her, his glance falling to the floor. "I have heard about it —it is In the papers. Tell me the particulars," he said with a hoarse intonation. Prom the bottom of my heart I pitied him as 1 gently pulled the girl back to her seat and answered him in matter of fact tones. "There is nothing 1o tell at present except that the safe was burglarized last night and the $40,000 stolen. I spent the night downtown and found Uncle Abner bound and unconscious when I returned home this morning. He was not much hurt and is all right now. This is Mr. I/eDuc, who has been engaged by Uncle Abner to try and ferret out the matter. I think that is the whole thing in a nut shell." He stood as if in a half daze, his gaze rambling over us. "Any clues?" he mumbled at length. T made no spoken reply, merely bow ing in the direction of the detective. And at the signal LeDuc immediately assumed vocal command. "The only thing wo have learned as yet which seems to be of any particu lar interest is that Miss Winton's key has mysteriously disappeared. All the others have been accounted for and we are anxious to locate hers. She is unable to offer any explanation, and we therefore turn to you as one who is frequently in her company in the hope that you may offer a suggestion. Can you offer any thought along that line?" ■» He shook his head decisively and without hesitation, and I leaned back 1e my chair with a-long breath of astonishment. I had been thoroughly confident that he would at orce admit his possession of It and offer some explanation that would Immediately satisfy everybody. LeDuc was look ing steadily at him, apparently as puz zled by his answer as was I. To all outward appearances there was some thing hidden beneath the skin here, and 1 determined to make a quick thrust at the heart of the matter, bleeding him of his secret lor his own good. "Where were you last night, Bruce?"* 1 asked quietly. The pallor of his cheeks took on the unhealthy hue ol wet ashes and he st<x>d mute with an unpleasant narrowing of his eyes. For a long minute the silence was un broken, LeDuc scanning him Impa tiently and Clam, her pupils expand ed, leaning far forward in her iutent ness. Then he shifted sullenly upon his feet. "I have no reply to make to that question at present." I signaled to LeDuc, who instantly caught, the cue. "But perhaps if the young lady would pardon us—" ha murmured with a courteous bow to Clare. She arose upon the Instant, and glancing neither to right nor left, passed into my uncle's apartments., while Bruce glooming after her with tightened lips moved no muscle. Aw the door closed behind her I made an other effort In his behalf. "1 wish you would be reasonable in this matter, Bruce. You vught to know that you can trust us Implicitly when I give you my word as I il:« do. If you have any reason —any man's reason—to think that your where abouts last night if known to Clare would distress her, Mr. T>eDuc and I will bind ourselves upon our honor to keep your communication confidential. Later on you make such explanation to her as you may desire, but In view of certain statements which you made to me it is necessary that otir mutual friend here should know where you spent the night. Will you tell us?" A pale glow of passion, phosphores cent like, appeared deep behind his eyes and he answered me doggedly, almost defiantly. "No. it is a matter which at pres ent concerns only myself. Nor do 1 understand your Insinuations when you say it is for my own good that I make confidants of you. What do you mean by such attempted intimida tion?" Ignoring the gathering storm, I an swered him in a calm tone: "Bruce, I trust you implicitly nnd tell you now that it would take noth ing less than a bombshell of absolute proof to shatter that belief. That be ing the case, when T assure you that I have reason to believe that it is for your own good to do so, I think you might honor me with your confidence. Along that same line 1 am going to ask you another question. Do you ob ject to showing us the contents of your pockets everything?" Ho turned a dull red, seemed about to explode with the heat of his passion, and then growing suddenly cold bowed frigidly and began laying before us the con tents of his clothes. It was the us ual miscellaneous assortment of a man's personal carryings, and when he had finished a glance told us that the object for which we were search ing was not among them. "Tho pockets of your overcoat, please," purred LeDuc. With mocking deliberation Bruce began turning the folds and crevices of that garment inside out. Nothing of interest was exposed to us, and when he had fin ished we sat eyeing each other with silent lips. I brokt the hush. "Bruce, you had a key to the house yesterday. You pounded upon the table with it as we sat together down town and then put it back in your side overcoat pocket. 1 noticed it distinctly. Now Clare's key has dis appeared and it is impossible for us to overlook tho coincidence. Where did you get the one you had and "It's Queer About that Key; i Cant Fltut (k—" which ><>'• c:t, jot now show us? We have a right to know, and for your own good you should tell, bearing in m'nd that we are all your friends and believe in you beyond telling." His eyes narrowed. "You mean to say that T had a key to this house yesterday?" he returned with slow distinctness. I bowed. For a moment he stood looking at me with an expression I had never seen him wear before creeping over his features. Then he turned away abruptly. "I make no reply beyond saying that you are a very badly mistaken individual. Neither do I understand what you mean by all these intima tions, and furthermore I am indiffer ent. 1 have nothing more to say. You may both present the devil with my compliments for all I care." Pausing not at all, he went thump ing down the stairs, while I sat star ing at the detective, who In turn sat smiling queerly back at me. CHAPTER X. The expression on my companion's face remained unchanged as the sound of my cotisin's footsteps was cut oft by the bang of the closing door. The smile seemed to have grown into his features, so unaltered did it remain, and tiring of its monotony 1 arose and without apology passed into the next apartment. Clare was sitting be side the bed of Uncle Abner, stroking one of his gorilla-like hands as ho rolled his head from side to side with weak whisperings. Most of the lines which now harrowed his face were i/.ifamiliar to me. Heretofore he had always appeared as a fairly well-pre served man of nearly forescore, but now his face was as wrinkled as one's palm. He shot a sidewise glance full of apprehension as 1 entered, but see ing it was only I resumed his mutter ings. Clare's face was unwontedly serious. Her lips were tight fitting and thinned by compression; the laugh had entirely deserted her eyes, and altogether she was the picture of one who suffers uncomplainingly. Of course it took no wizardry to guess the cause of her unhappiness. Bruce, to whom she was engaged, and to whom she therefore must be devoted, had broken ills faith with her without explanation or apology; and 1f that had not been enough in itself, his ap pearance had been sufficient to shock any one who had pride in hiin. I knew Clare as I knew the alphabet. There never was a woman more generous, nor one who once having decided to give gave more freely. Therefore I knew that having bestowed her heart upon Bruce she had done so without stint or reservation. Her nature lay close to the surface, and what might have been a superficial wound to an other would hurt her to the core of her being. Sympathizing deeply with her I approached her from behind and took her cheeks in my palms. "It is bound to come out all right, Clare," I half whispered. She freed her face by a slight for ward movement and Uncle Abner, closing his eyes wearily, lay for the moment inert on the pillow. They seemed to be ignoring me in their silence, and unable to think of ativ thing to do or say which might re lieve the situation, I turned away and left them to themselves. LeDuc had gotten upon his feet in my absence, and hat in hand, appeared to be wait ing for me togo with him. The whole atmosphere of the place was offensive to me, and as I led him down the e»~.irs and out into the open 1 filled my lungs to the uttermost, as a con vict might who breathes the pure air of freedom after long confinement in a fetid cell. It was quite a while be fore either of us saw fit to speak. At the end of the block he threw his cigar into the street. "The police —you did not tell them about seeing your cousin have the key yesterday?" "Bruce, You Had a Key to the House Yesterday." be said half interrogatively, half as sertively. I told him 1 had not. His next question was, "Why?" "Because of several reasons. First of all, they did not ask me; second, because I have no idea that Bruce is guilty in this matter; and third, be cause I did not care; under the cir cumstances, to put his reputation in their hands. Also, 1 assumed that he would immediately acknowledge his possession of it and give an adequate explanation. You will readily under stand that I did not want the newspa pers to come out with a sensational story, and I, therefore, reserved that bit of information for my own investi gation. You may be sure, however, that 1 had intended to mention it to him privately when we met again, and only volunteered the information to you because I knew you would work up to it eventually and corkscrew it out of me. Furthermore, I know I can rely upon you to suppress details, which although as yet unexplained, in all probability have no real bearing on the issues." His reply came with out hesitation. "Tom, you have known me for years and you know that even as a boy I always played fair. Now, I have no more use for a professional crim inal than 1 have for a mad dog or a venomous serpent. They have shot me, stabbed me and laid in ambush to assassinate me, and when 1 think of them 1 am imbued with a great and righteous wrath. But when 1 come across a young fellow of good instincts who has fallen because of a reckless step, 1 would a whole lot rather give him a boost than a kick. I want you to get me right on that statement." 1 signified my comprehension. As he himself said, I>eDuc had always been a fair, even a generous, fighter, and his last assertion was wholly in accord with my understanding of the man. Glancing about to make sure that we were safely beyond earshot of any possible listener 1 broached a matter about which I had been think ing for some little time. "Billy, there is another thing which the police did not bring out and which I did not volunteer, but which you ought to know. My excuses for not having stated it before are practically the same as those I gave in Bruce's case, namely, because I do not be lieve it has anything to do with the crime and because I wish to shield a certain individual from nnnoyance and publicity. Under the same un derstanding that you are to consider it as a privileged communication 1 will tell it to you. It is this: There is one more person, at least, who knew that Uncle Abner occasionally had considerable sums of money on hand, and to whom 1 imparted in a casual conversation the circum stance of this particular amount being in the house. I had a little visit with her yesterday on my way downtown after my quarrel with my uncle. In it I told her of Bruce's misfortune. Also, 1 once left my keys at her house through an oversight and they remained there several days. And while 1 should bitterly resent even the intimation that she was a con scious party to the crime, it is neve/ 1 - the less a crevice through which the information may have leaked. 1 sup pose you would like to hear me out on this line." He slipped his arm through mine, drawing me closer to him. "By all means. It may prove decid edly interesting. My promise goes to this angle of the case as well as all others. Shoot ahead." "Then 1 do not mind telling you that I am in the habit of calling upon a lady who is—well, we will call her an exceedingly good friend of mine. I care a great deal for her, respect her thoroughly and believe she is fond of me. I have incidentally told her about Uncle Abner artd his strange ways, and one evening left mjr keys in her apartments altar ha Tin* opanad a bottle of wine with a corkscrew which I kept attached to my key ring. It was several days later that 1 called her attention to my oversight and re ceived them back from her. While X trust her Implicitly, yet she has a yel low maid who Is inscrutable to me and who always seems to be hovering within earshot. To my mind it is not impossible that this maid was in pos session of the keys while they were on those premises—in fact, her mis tress so intimated when she returned them-to me. That the maid through outside acquaintances might have taken advantage of any information which she chanced to overhear is within the realm of possibilities. You understand I merely offer this as a suggestion." "And do you know anything of the character of the maid's acquaintances on the outside?" was the swift inter rogation. I bit my lip. "No. But I do know this.l know that Richard Mackay is the business agent of this girl's mistress—Mrs. Dace of the Arcadia —and that he sometimes calls upon her. And know ing his reputation as I do, it has oc curred to me that stranger things have happened than that this girl might be under his Influence and re veal secrets to him that she has be come possessed of. T understand there is practically no limit to the man's machinations." LeDuc brought me to a sudden standstill. "Do you mean Richard Mackay, 'Couching Dick,' the boodler and arch conspirator?" he cried, his hand gripping my arm like a trap. "Yes. You will remember the fart that uncle mentioned the fact that the man who choked him cleared 'tis throat in a peculiar manner." The grip upon my arm loosened and for a moment my friend stood staring into my face. Then with a soft whis tle he drew me on again. It was sev eral moments before he once mere broke the silence. "Bye the bye, you had better give me your card with your telephone number on it so that I may be able to reach you over the wire in case of necessity," he suggested reflectively, and I felt in the pocket in which I always carried my card case in order to comply with his request. The case, which was an unusually handsome af fair, had been presented to nie hy Mrs. Dace, and 1 would not have lo?t it for a great deal, but at the end of a couple of minutes' search, which exhausted every nook and cranny of my raiment, I was corr.velled to give up the quest in despair. "I must have lost it," I announced, deeply chagrined. LeDuc looked at me with a question in his eyes. "And you had it last —when?" w*re his words. Iran the course of my actions during the past few dnvs through my mind until 1 recalled the occasion of its last use. "Last evening. After the theater I gave the friend who was with me one of my cards with the request that te call me up some evening when he was lonesome. I3ut I have a distinct recol lection of putting it back in my upper vest pocket. I would not have lost it for many times its value, and it was a rather expensive trinket «it that." Ruefully I continued my search for the fourth or fifth time as he sympa thized with me, following his con dolences with the remark that a pen cil memorandum in his book would answer the same purpose. Therefore I gave him the number orally and noted that he wrote it down correct ly. Then with an apolegy and an ix cuse of urgent business he darted aboard a passing car with a farewell flirt of his hand. (TO BE CONTINUED.) Country Makes a Difference. He—ln China, a fellow never sees his wife till after they are marrle-i. She —How strange. In England. tt'a the wife who never sees her hi»jritia4 after they in married*- A. V.
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