The speaker rose and backed off, keeping his eyes on the man he did not trust. Having retreated some distance in this manner, he turned suddenly and disappeared behind the shrubbery.
Hammerswell had risen to his feet. He stood there for several moments. Finally he savagely muttered:
“I’ll find a way to fool that yelping cur! If I win to-morrow—and I must—I’ll get out of these parts in a hurry. I’ll disappear, and then Luke Grimes may amuse himself by trying to find me. Confound it all! he set my nerves on edge talking about Sullivan. People around here think Sullivan was drowned by accident. This Grimes is the only person living who knows the truth and can do me harm.”
He turned and walked slowly toward the hotel, passing within four feet of the dark figure huddled close to the cedars near the rustic hedge.
When Hammerswell had mounted the steps of the hotel and disappeared within, this figure moved and sat up.
“Ha! ha,” laughed a low, triumphant voice. “So you think Grimes is the only person aware of your crime! You’re soon to learn you are mistaken! You’re soon to find out that the black truth is known to Chester Arlington!”
CHAPTER XVII
A HAUNTED MAN.
After retiring to his room in the hotel, Benton Hammerswell found himself in a condition that was almost certain to banish slumber for some time from his eyes. Flinging off his coat and removing his collar and necktie, he brought forth from a closet a bottle of whisky and some glasses. Having taken a heavy drink, he lighted a fresh cigar and paced the floor of his room.
“Blazes take it!” he muttered, “why didn’t Grimes wait a day or two longer before coming here? Had he done so, he would have had his trip for his pains. Confound him, he has set my nerves on edge! He’s the only person who can prove anything serious against me, and as long as he lives I’ll never be wholly safe. Of course I may dodge him for a time, but he’s liable to turn up anywhere I go. If I could silence him in the same way I silenced Sullivan!”