"And then what?"

"That's all. If I hadn't been almost out of my mind I'd never have told

that it was Jud Clark. That'll hang on me dying day."

An hour or so later Bassett went back to his room in a state of mental

and nervous exhaustion. He knew that from that time on he would be under

suspicion and probably under espionage, and he proceeded methodically,

his door locked, to go over his papers. His notebook and the cuttings

from old files relative to the Clark case he burned in his wash basin

and then carefully washed the basin. That done, his attendance on a sick

man, and the letter found on the bed was all the positive evidence they

had to connect him with the case. He had had some thought of slipping

out by the fire-escape and making a search for Dick on his own account,

but his lack of familiarity with his surroundings made that practically

useless.

At midnight he stretched out on his bed without undressing, and went

over the situation carefully. He knew nothing of the various neuroses

which affect the human mind, but he had a vague impression that

memory when lost did eventually return, and Dick's recognition of the

chambermaid pointed to such a return. He wondered what a man would

feel under such conditions, what he would think. He could not do it. He

abandoned the effort finally, and lay frowning at the ceiling while he

considered his own part in the catastrophe. He saw himself, following

his training and his instinct, leading the inevitable march toward this

night's tragedy, planning, scheming, searching, and now that it had

come, lying helpless on his bed while the procession of events went on

past him and beyond his control.

When an automobile engine back-fired in the street below he went sick

with fear.

He made the resolution then that was to be the guiding motive for his

life for the next few months, to fight the thing of his own creating to

a finish. But with the resolution newly made he saw the futility of

it. He might fight, would fight, but nothing could restore to Dick

Livingstone the place he had made for himself in the world. He might be

saved from his past, but he could not be given a future.

All at once he was aware that some one was working stealthily at

the lock of the door which communicated with a room beyond. He slid

cautiously off the bed and went to the light switch, standing with a

hand on it, and waited. The wild thought that it might be Livingstone

was uppermost in his mind, and when the door creaked open and closed

again, that was the word he breathed into the darkness.




readonlinefreebook.com Copyright 2016 - 2024