1
• little lift* on the
mi rely be to our
ran talk with her bef
the wlinen* aland and.
lives in
profit by
What do
All four
the plsn
U:
knows something which will throw
It will
if we
9 takes
shv
I think tiiat we will
to see her tonight,
think about H?”
_ readily agreed to
^ _ y _ a long-distance call
was made to Virginia Madison. Luck
ily she was at home snd agreed to
meet th* flye in Houston in thrc«-
houtm.
The drive to the city seemed end
less and 'tils; aapseraation passe<l
between J the five ' tbron^hmit the
hundred-mile journey. Nope of them
with the exception of the Colonel
seemed t<> have any idea tohat oene-
fit would rotoe frcyn their talk with
the Madison : girl. *t¥ey weren’t even
very sure thSt Innocent! wasn't guil
ty. All the yvidener pointed to him
—maybe he -did murder Keetdn.
* Woody indicated the feelings of all
of them whefi he declared^ “We’ll no
everything tl|*t we ran to prove that
Keeton WastVt murdered by another
Aggie, but i^ look* alomst hopeless."
Arriving at the Madison home. Uv*
boys were fairly dazzled by Vir
ginia’s beauty- i**rd almost commit
a murder for that girl mySelf," Tom-
irginia's parents were
seemed to be as anxious
iter to help ih any way
As usual. Colonel Ash-
to business ^rithout
my said,
there alsd
as their da
they could
burn got do
wasting time*
“I know |hat this is unpleasant
for you. Vie Alula, hut we're sincere
ly interested in helping four frieml
AI who is m a pretty tight spot.
Now tell me. if you will, which one
of the two bMU'Wet* you really in
terested Sn?**» * i
It was eagy to see that Virginia
was on the ferge of tears, but she
came through with a real Spartan
spirit and aitswered the Colonel.
“I always have beer .nri still am
in love with Al. Buster was sweet
and I liked him a lot. but in a dif
ferent way than I cared fof Al. Bus
ter knew it too.** she went on, “and
seemed to accept it as a fact which
he couldn't change. The last time
we saw each other -a week ago last
Saturday n|g^t we agreed that w*
would never meet agaia; at least, not
without tellinj ’ AL**
And thus it went—the Colonel ask
ing question after question and Vir
ginia answer^ig them as best she
could. It seetned as though he was
making discookagtagtir! HUM progress.
Everything pointed in the same di-
ractlou ...
NOVEMBER,
Hv
\
Buster had been cleat
. . . The two had had
without Al knowing anj
them . .L muaHy, they
to stop Seeing each
that the real romance between Vii
i
“
There
Keeton's Si
*
ingeuius about
had done it.
4.
MmMp Weed Al and
and Al would be broken up if Al ever
learned of the secret meetings th *
two had held. Then Buster was mur
dered. suppobodly by Al after learn
ing that Ha rkouinuite bad been dst-
ing hi* sisobtheart. *
to College ' late
Ashbum admitted that
failed to make as much
as he had hoped for, “One
he said. “Why
the investigators are unable
to defiklus Utmrtly what Keeton, ate
which poisoned him,? If we knew
this we might be able to make a .{
little headway in this case."
• The day of the trial dawned clear
and cold. ^Everything still pointed U>
Innocent!’* guilt. The courtroom of
Bryan’s . Brazos County Courbhounr
was- packed with cadets and civilians
alike. I jOaioael Ashbum. Woody
Bodie, Doug, apd Tommy had been
unable t# make any appreciable head
way until the day - before the trial
at which time Woody had turned up
s sensational piece of evidence which
would b^ revealed jU the trial.
Ten witnesses were to- be called the
first day after the jury was selected
and the psesc< ut ini’- ami attor
neys had made their intmductotpr •re
marks. Virginia Madison and nine
cadets were listed among the. open
ing day's witnesses. The nine cadets
included Bert Burns, assistant senior
yell-leadqr; Mick Williams, a friend
of Virginia Madison and a Cayalry
senior; loo Radford and (ieorge
Castleberry, the cadets who found
Keeton dead; and five of Immcenti’s
acquaintances whom the defense was
calling as “character" witnesses: T.
A. Arnold, "Rip" Bsrnhill, Ross Cox, .
Tom Hilt snd Frank Daugherty.
It 1 was almost %ime for the trial *
to begin, the courtroom was packed
and noisp, everyone was anxiously
awaiting the judge to enter and start
proceedings, and then it happened.
» It happened so fast that no one
remembered exactly what did happen.
Suddenly theree masked gunmen, one *
of them with a sub-machine gun, en
tered the courtroom.
“I>on*t move, anyonet” the taller
of the three warned. “If everyone
here remains quiet and doesn’t try
any funny stuff no one will get Mart.'*
. In .the meantiafte the other two
were forcing Virginia out of | the
courtroom. , They woiked quickly and
smoothly. Nobody moved until the
three, with Virginia, were out of the
courtroom.
A car was waiting on the court
house lawn which Whisked the four
away.
Virginia Madison—the star witness
for the defense—kpd been kidnaped!
(To be concluded
/
w
..
I
i
lift