The Argosy, Vol. 75, No. 4 — page 44: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

AT) RD PRs Be! ge oe = a ~ ~ i. A, “a= “~~ ae ie ea _ - =<... ~~ —— Pt ees OO es eS ee) — —<. " farms Se LO ae i ae nT de — pane = 746 THE ARCOSY. Frightened, she went to the door - which she knew opened into Radford’s suite. She knocked again and again, but received no answer. She rang for Williams and asked if Mr. Radford were at home. On hearing that he had left the house about twenty minutes or a half- hour before, she stood irresolute; but it seemed absurd to think that he had taken the invalid who showed such an unflattering dislike for his company. She asked the butler if Mr. Radford had gone alone, and learned that he had not seen him go, but had been told of his departure by his valet, who had not accompanied him. Then it was that she told Williams of the disappearance of the man whose presence in the house had been kept as quiet as possible. Williams had no advice or explanations to offer; he went headlong toward the dining-room and began looking over the silver. Nothing was missing; and he took up a careful investigation of the house to find that the north basement-door was unlocked. : It was the only route by which Bullen could have left the house without run- ning a great risk of being seen And it was the one he would probably have chosen, as the door communicating with the back stairs was nearest his room. Miss Thorpe went back to the bed- room. ‘Then she thought for the first time of the key which Bullen had kept under his pillow. She looked, and it was gone. But in its place was a leat from Radford’s address-book and a pile of bills. She stared at the money for a second, not daring to touch it. Then she picked up the bit of paper and read what was scrawled on it. “Soze you kin clean out them cow- boys and beasts,’ was what she saw. The money was for Natalie. She picked it up and counted it with grow- ing, breathless wonder. She sank on the edge of the bed, weak with the sud- den fortune that had come to her little friend. There was one thousand dol- lars in good, real bills. Dr. Stratton came while she sat con- templating the windfall and wondering if she dared break the news of her good fortune to Natalie, if there was no risk of the money being taken into the keep- ing of some one who might consider it still belonged to her patient. Stratton had barely seen the bills and heard of Bullen’s departure when he dashed across the room to the chiffon- ier. The drawer was open and the belt and money gone. “ Have you told Mr. Radford?” he asked, realizing that Bullen had taken his money, left his gift for Natalie, and gone. | “Mr. Radford isn’t here,’ Miss Thorpe replied. ‘‘ He went about the time that Mr. Bullen must have left.” Stratton instantly repressed the start that almost betrayed his surprise at her communication. Radford’s con- fession that he was hard pressed came back to him. ‘The presence of fhe man in the house which Ted had so inade- quately explained exerted its influence upon his thoughts. He turned abrupt- ly and went to Radford’s rooms. On the table there he found the wire which Mrs. Barrington had sent. He read it and was agreeably impressed that Radford’s going had simply been his natural response to the invitation of his mother and the chance to be with his fravcée. “Bess is coming out to visit us. Come at once. Bring all papers,’ was the wording of the telegram. Stratton returned to Bullen’s room, disgustedly asking himself if he was such a scamp as to rejoice in circum- stances that discredited Ted because he was successful in winning the girl he, too, desired. Miss Thorpe was fairly quivering with hope and fear alternately. She greeted him with a volley of questions. “Do you think Natalie may have this money, doctor? You know what it would mean to her—almost life it- self. She simply cannot live if she is COPMICLOOOKS (C@)