The Poisoned Pen

HE Y

GERM O

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ONFIDEN

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THE F

UNOFFIC

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INVIS

CAMPAIGN

OISON

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wing things into it from his chiffonier, as I entered after a hurried tr

ut taking off the wrapping-paper, "I've got your suit-case out. Pack up whatev

wn was sufficient. For Danbridge was on everybody's lips at that time. It was the scene of the now famous D

ung Dr. Dixon is the victim of a conspiracy-or at least Alma Willard does, which comes to the same thing, and-well, the senator called me up on

for some reason or other we had to ourselves, Kennedy spoke again for t

al about this case in the papers. Let's try to get our knowled

in Danbridg

ied. "What sort

rs and factories, of wealth and poverty, and above all it is interesting for its colony

A very talented girl, too-you remember her in 'The Taming of the New Woma

ar of ammonia on her dressing-table. Mrs. Boncour sends the maid for the nearest doctor, who happens to be a Dr. Waterworth. Meanwhile she tries to restore Miss Lytton, bu

iss Lytton was dead when he arrived

and then he has two patients, one of them himself. We must see him, for his experience must have been appalling. How he ever did it I can't imagine, but he saved both himself and Mrs. Boncour from p

opinion of the newspapers, I hastily turned the conversatio

he became acquainted with Vera Lytton, after her divorce from that artist Thurston. Then comes his removal to Danbridge and his meeting and later his engagement with Miss Willard. On the whole, Walter, judging from the newspaper pictures, Alma Willard is

s. It is the main occupation of a certain set, and the per-capita output of gossip is a record that would stagger the census bureau. Still, you can't get away from

ound it crumpled up in the jar of ammonia. Oh, there are lots of problems the ne

the station on the main street. Craig had wired him, and he had kindly waited to see us, f

to see that note that was found in

t-case a crumpled note which had been pressed flat again. On it

cure you

DI

handwriting?"

aid with reluctance, as if down in his heart he hated to prosecute Dixon. "We have lots

g Kennedy get a hint as to their contents

examination, of course always at such times

illegal to accommodate the senator," he said. "But, on the other

very gate, terrible as an army, with cameras. It was with some difficulty that we got in, even though we were expected, for

door with a glittering brass knocker, which gleamed out severely at

de the very human pallor of her face after the sleepless nights and nervous days since this trouble had broken on her placid existence. Yet there was a mark of strength and determination on her face that was fascinating. The man who would trifle with this girl, I felt, was

of wealth and family and tradition, he laid bare everything to us, for the sake of Alma Will

ng man was announced, Mr. Halsey Post. He bowed politely to us, but it

e the large factory in town, which you perhaps noticed," explained the s

ort toward securing Halsey Post as a son-in-law, but

lmost a whisper, lest she should still be listening, he said, "There is a story about town

ting to hear Dixon immediately acquitted.

ays he has suffered from Dixon. I don't know anything more about it, and I tell yo

dropped in at the little bungalow to see Mrs. Boncour. She was much better, though she had s

ink of, people who were jealous of her p

aid Dr. Dixon was an enem

ly. "One is not usually visited in perfect fr

parated. By chance he happened to drop in the day Mr. Thurston was here, and later in the day I gave him a letter to forward to Mr. Thurston, which had come after the artist left. I'm su

we made our adieus. "Just now I want to get the facts in hand.

had little to correct in the facts of the story which had been published so far. But t

the jar of ammoni

her dressing-table with the note crump

no idea why

umes of ammonia are one of the ant

d hardly have known t

have experienced after taking the powder. Perhaps she thought of sal volatile, I don't know. But most people know

cyanide?" int

. I pried open her jaws and smelled the sweetish odour of the cyanogen gas. I knew then what she had taken, and at the moment she was dead. In the next room I heard some one moaning. The maid said that it was Mrs. Boncour, and that she was deathly sick. I ran into her room, and though she was b

But more than that, the metallic taste and the horrible burning sensation told of the presence of some form of mercury, too. In that terrible moment my brain worked with the incredible swiftness of light. In a flash I k

made it right there in nature's own laboratory. But there was no time to stop. I had to act just as quickly to neutralise that cyanide, too. Remembering the ammonia, I rushed back with Mrs. Boncour, and we inhaled the fumes. Then I found a bottle

e, a wreck. Since then I have not left this bed. With my le

again to discover the nature of

ught of self. He is there to do things, and he does them, according to the best that is in him. In spite of

r to science. Could anything be more dramatic than

d of condemnation of Dixon, though the note was before his eyes? Sure

ession in his favour due to the faith of Alma Willard, was the nerve he displayed, whether guilty or innocent. Even an innocent man might well have been staggered by the circumstantial evidence against him and the high tide of public feeling, in spite of the support that

em. Meanwhile, in turning over the gossip of the town, one of the newspapermen ran across the fact that the Boncour bungalow was owned by the Posts, and that Halsey Post, as the executor of the estate, was a more frequent visitor th

field Hotel. Leland entered. His face was positively white. Without a word he took us by the arm

matter?" a

I feel that you should know about what I have just found. As I told you, we secured nearly all of Dr. Dixon's letters. I had not read them all

as written in a curious greyish-bl

HAR

your new love, so soon after the old. I suppose Alma Willard is far better suited to be your wife than is a poor little actress-ra

over from New York, tells me that there is some doubt about the validity of our divorce. You recall he was in the South at the time I sued him, and the papers were served o

ings stand. If we had married, I suppose I would be guilty of bigamy

t desert me, or the very earth will cry out against you. I am frantic and hardly know what I am writing. My head aches, but it is my heart that is breaking. Harris,

r little

E

and exclaimed, "That never

how it was folded. It was written on the wrong side of the sheet, or ra

part of the time this aftern

nnedy. "There was no way to slip this letter

nd there is no evidence of any one h

letters as if looking to see whether t

ne." Nervously he fumbled through them again. "On

t about?" a

about it. He explained it by saying that he did not have a copy of his reply, but as near as he could recall, he wrote that the compound would not cure a headache except at the expense of reducing heart action dangerously. He says he sent no pre

each other

ss Lytton, should he preserve this letter from

you suppose some one has broken in and substitu

ndertook to obtain some specimens of the writing of Vera Lytton. With these and the letter Kennedy was working far into the n

apartments. Thurston himself had not been there for several days and was reported to have gone to Maine to sketch. He had had a number of debts, but before he left they had all

wer, care of Mrs. Boncour, as requested. He insisted that the engagement between Miss Lytton and himself had been broken before the announcement of his engagement with Miss Willard. As for Thurston, he said the man was

d entered it quickly with her father, and the journey had been made in the car, while Halsey Post had quietly dropped off on the outskirts of the town, where another car was waiting to take him back. It was evident that the Willard family relied implicitly on Halsey, an

left Danbridge, he seemed to have dropped out of sight completely. Howeve

ion that Halsey was shielding the artist, perhaps through a sense of friendship when he found that Kennedy was interested in Thurston's movement. I must say I rather

was received that he was in Bar Harbour; the next it was a report from Nova Scotia. At last, however, cam

district attorney to be present with the note and the jar of ammonia properly safeguarded. Leland of course came, although his client could not. Halsey Post seemed only too glad to be with Miss Willard, though he seemed to have lost interest in the case as soon as the Willards re

egin this momentous exposition that was to establish the guilt or innocence of the calm young physician w

gan Kennedy. "Never before have I felt so keenly my sense of responsibility. Therefore, though

, two years ago, Mrs. Burgess Thurston. The Thurstons had temperament, and temperament is quite often the highway to the divorce court. It was so in this case. Mrs. Thurston discovered that her husb

e. Before a notary Thurston made an affidavit that he had never been served by the lawyer for Miss Lytton, as she was now known. Her lawyer is dead, but

ersation with one of his own clerks when the lawyer was due to appear. Kimmel appeared to act confused, as if he had been caught napping. The Southern lawyer, who had seen Thurston only once, fell squar

rs not that the engagement was later broken. The fact remains that if the divorce were set aside an action would lie against Dr. Dixon for alienating Mrs.

s he laid it down, Leland, who was sittin

he prosecutor know about tha

read Vera's letter. It was damning to Dixon, a

d was pale and staring wildly at Kennedy. Halsey Post, ever solicitous for her, handed her a glass of water from the table. Dr. Waterworth had f

o that presently. My next point is that Dr. Dixon says he received a letter from Thurston on the day the artist visited the Boncour bungalow. It asked about a certain headache

ate beside her. You are all familiar with the circumstances and with the note discovered in the jar of ammonia. Now, if the prosecutor will be so kind as to let me see that note-thank you, sir. This is the identical not

ennedy, who had been engaged by her father

gravely, "there are one or two points I wish to elabora

rston, but changed almost beyond recognition. His clothes were wor

nedy had said and intended he should hear, for as he entered he al

ly, "I am as innocent as you are

ed Kennedy, his eyes blazing, "that you were never

. As he met Craig's fixed glare he knew there was no hope. Slowly, as if the w

self. I was served

before Kimmel that yo

nn

e murmur

now to make another af

e replie

edy sarcastically. "What did you make

science in such a wretch, and the word itself seemed to stick in his throat as he went on and saw how feeble an impression he was making on us-"my conscience began to trouble me. I determined to see Vera, tell her all, and find out whether it was she who wanted this statement. I saw her.

dly down in a chair and cov

y," muttered L

h he had placed on the table. The colour had now appeared in Alma's cheeks, as if hope had again spru

Kennedy. "Take the letter which I read from Miss Lytton, which was f

little bottle, and wr

ure? Would you recommend it for a nervous hea

n wrote in the note that had disappeared. Then he dipped another pen into a second bottle, and for

e. Here in the open sunshine by this window I am going to place these two sheets of paper side by side. It w

beckoned us over to the window. As we approached he said, "On sheet number one I have wr

perceptible, but on paper number two, in black letters, appeared what Kennedy had wr

ed letter, and the other is like the m

ry, you took them out of the safe and left them in the sunlight all day. The process that had been started earlier in ordinary light, slowly, was now quickly com

nvisible when used for writing. But the original colour reappears as the oxygen of the air acts upon the pigment. I haven't a doubt but that my analyses of the inks are correct and on one side quinoline was used and on the other nitrate of silver. This explains the inexplicable disappearance of evidence incriminating one person, Thurston, and the sudden appearance of evidence incriminating

opening and shutting his lips and moistening them as if

ed so queerly crumpled up in the jar of ammonia on Vera Lytton's dressing-table. I have here a cylindrical glass jar in wh

the jar-and in a few seconds withdraw it. Here is a very quick way of producing something like the slow result of sunlight with silver nitrate. The fumes of ammonia have forme

had written. It was the same

cure you

DI

ely stopping in his exposure, Kennedy tore it open, re

t of paper-so. It leaves no mark. But it has the remarkable property of becoming red in vapour of sulpho-cyanide. Here is a long-necked flask of the gas, made by sulphuric acid acting on p

ashed it into the jar of ammonia. When he withdrew it, it was just a plain sheet of white paper again. The red marks whi

n it must have had the doctor's reply to the Thurston letter containing the words, 'This will not cure your headache.' He carefully traced the words, holding t

literating the writing, while at the same time the invisible writing in the mercurous nitrate involving Dr. Dixon's name would be brought out by the ammonia indelibly on the other side of t

e found in the ammonia-jar beside the dying girl and had jammed the

s prosecutor, "it will do nothing to the Dixon writing

g on both sides, the black of the original

raig read it with as muc

sure to place the contents of this pa

tten on the outside wrapper of a paper folded ab

faintness from the medicine the ammonia will quickly restore you.

but they were plainly written, and "

one corresponds to the writing on this red death-warrant by an almost inhuman fiend. I shall, however, leave that part of it to the handwri

-control, but with trembling forefinge

secret lover of Vera Lytton till threatened by scandal in Danbridge-Halsey Post, graduate in technology, student of sympathetic inks, forger of the Vera Lytton letter and the other notes, and dealer in cyanides in the silver-smi

YE

e Standard Burglary Insurance Company. What-really? The Branford pearls-stolen? Maid chlorofo

r the telephone that Kennedy became involved in what proved

into Craig's affairs, but because I simply couldn't help it. This was news that had not yet been given out to t

emember, when the Branford pearls were bought in Paris last year th

dded Kennedy. "Blake, I understand, is the head of the Burglary Insurance Underwrit

aiting for Blake to arrive. When he did come, it w

keenness about his manner that showed clearly how important he regarded the case. So anxious was he to get down to

noon ourselves, and we haven't given it out to the papers yet, though the local police in Jersey are now on the scene. The New York police must be not

ge of the up-to-date man of efficien

t for a short stay at Palm Beach. Of course they ought to have put their valuables in a safe deposit vault. But they didn't. They relied on a safe that was really one of the best in the market-a splendid safe, I may say. Well, it seems that while the master and mistress were both away the servants decided on having a good

there had been a struggle. A towel had been wrapped up in a sort of cone, saturated with chloroform, and forcibly held over the girl's nose. The next thing they discov

e thief or thieves, whoever they were, apparently gained access by breaking a ba

d fallen outside in such a way as it could not have fallen if the window had been broken from the outside. The thing

NOT go to Palm Beach. She did NOT engage rooms in any hotel there. And furthermore she never had any intention of going there. By a fortunate circumstance Maloney picked up a hint from one of the servants, and he has located her at th

k back in his chair a

ted Kennedy slo

. That was done by a yeggman of experience. He must have been above the average, but everything point

Mrs. Branford. By the way," he added, as we all rose to go down to Blake's car, "I once handled a life insurance case for the Great Eastern. I made t

make a signal example if it is as we have every reason to believe. There has been altogether too much of this sort of fake

s chief. "Never fear," he murmured. "The truth is wh

t, although it took longer to go by automobile than by train, the car made u

maid had been removed to a local morgue, and a police officer was patrolling

lled "burglar-proof" variety, spherical in shape, and looking f

Craig as he concluded a cursory examination of it. "It shows great resistance to high explosives, chiefly,

his fellow must have stripped the safe of all the outer trimmings. His next move was to make a dent in the manganese surface across the joint where the door fits the body.

y. "She was in the house. She wou

ast night. No, she probably did scream. Either at this point, or at the very start, the burglar must have chloroformed her. I don't see any other way to explain it. I doubt if he expected such a tough proposition as he found in this sa

nt he made a sort of little cup of red clay and poured in the 'soup'-the nitroglycerin-so that it would run into the depression. Then he exploded it in the regular way with a battery and a fulminate cap. I doubt if it did much more than d

ge. It must have been more like target-practice than safe-blowing. But the chance doesn't often come-an empty house and plenty of time. Finally the door must have bulged a fraction of an inch or so, and then a good big charge and the outer portion was ripped off and the safe turned ov

aloney gasped, "If I was in the safe-cracking

s go back to New York and see

t limited to any one class. Indeed, it is easier to foil the insurance companies when you sit in the midst of finery and wealth, protected by a self-assuring halo of moral rectitude, than under less fortunate circumstances. Too o

cted her. Resentment was no name for her feelings. She scorned us, loathed us. It was only by what must have been the utmost exercise of her remarkable will-power that she restrained herself from calling the hotel porters and having us thr

o have him place the whole matter in the hands of the best attorney in the city. Not only will I have the full amount of the insurance, but I will have damages a

ord," put in Kennedy, a

ppo

What if I do choose to close up that lonely big house in the suburbs and co

dded Kennedy, nettled a

t to Arizona for the express purpose of collecting insurance on

maton, "that supposing some one took advantage of your absence to rob your sa

that you were going to Palm Beach when in reality you were in New York?" pur

not know that you have been appointed my guardian, sir. Let us consider this interview at an end. Good-night," and with that she swept out of the room,

slowly filed down the hall to the elevator. A woman of Mrs. Branford's stamp so readily and successfully puts one in the

r to me and whispered. "That Maloney is impossible. I'll have to shak

n it badly at the very start. Only, be decent about it

"Maloney is right. The case is simple enough, after all. But we must find out some way to fasten t

ck into the Grattan Inn again. It was quite late. People were coming in from the theatres, laughing and chatt

e sat down and cast our eyes over the dizzy array of inedibles on the

ed about until my eye rested on a large pie

s in the writing-room-I can see her in tha

tly as you can, Walter," he said quickly.

e changing places-a fine-looking chap. By Jove, I've seen him before somewhere. His face and his manner are familiar to me. But I simply

s we reached the door we caught a fle

lady?" asked Craig of the negro who turned

e doorman. "Yes, sah, he stays here once in a while. Thank

we walked slowly down to the subway station. "Jack D

ost of creditors, no doubt. By the way, Craig," I exclaimed, "don't you think it would be a good plan to drop down a

-store which had a telephone booth. "I'll just call O'Co

rusting to the first deputy's honour, which had stood many a test, Craig began to unfold the story. He had scarcely got as far as des

culated, "tha

e asked i

n watching for a long time. It's full of crooks, and to-day they've all been as drunk as lords, a sure sign some one has made a haul and be

y, "I told you so," but he was eng

any other man in the city. From him crooks can obtain anything from a jimmy to a safe-cracking outfit. I know that this man has been trying to dispose of some unmounted pearls to-day among jewellers in M

will you go with me to

s some one in that gang

Cat is his name-to go with you. I'll help you in any way. I'll have any number of plain-clothes men you want ready to r

We were out in Montclair again before the commuters had started to go to New York, and that in spite of t

om cellar to attic in daylight. What he expected to find,

se, "there remains just one place. Here is this littl

tle thing and one of the old-timers in the industry would no doubt have opened it in short order. The perspiration stood out on

he had brought and disclosed a camera. He placed it on a writing-desk opposite the

r has so much greater speed than anything ever invented before that it is possible to use it in detective work. I'll just run these fine wires like a burglar alarm, only instead of having an alarm I

said nothing, for it was part of the agreement. Maloney seemed rather glad than otherwise. He had been combing out some tangled clues of his own about Mrs. Branford. St

reet these days, and that's just the thing that causes an increase in fake burglaries. Then there is another possibility," he continued triumphantly. "I had a man up at the Grattan Inn, and he reports to me that Mrs. Stanford was seen with the actor

d afford to patronise a good amateur-but after all an ama

s was a pretty good one. Meanwhile, of course, the po

ontinued: "What do you suppose she has done with the jewels? She must have put them somewhere before she got the yeggman to break the safe. She'd hardly trust them in his hands. But she might have been foolish enough for that. Of course it

d as if it were a new idea. "If we only had some evidence, even part of the jew

ght that he had started Maloney off on another trail, leaving us to follow ours unhamper

he said. "I think we can do better

er attitude toward us was very different from that of the first interview. Whether she was ruffled by the official presence of Blake or the officious presence of Maloney, s

possession of some facts that are very important. I have heard that several loose pearls which may or ma

f them. My first desire is to collect the insurance. If anything is recovered I am quite willing to deduct that amount from the total. But

e will be here in four days," she said, tearing the telegram petulantly, and not at

us to conclude the interview. Kennedy leaned fo

ower,'" he said slowly, "where Jack Delarue m

ined her composure. "Vaguely," she murmur

e meant it to have a personal application, "husbands do not forgiv

ot have affinities as often as some news

night," went on Kennedy inexorably. "I w

ust my every act be watched and misrepresented? I suppose a distorted version of the facts will be given

he truth about the pearls. If it involves some other person, it is still my duty to get at the truth

haggard. "I have told,

any more-I know

down in my heart I knew that the woman was hiding something behind that fo

his stay had been protracted because Maloney was there and he wished to avoid him. He had brought b

nically. "We are going to visit a haunt of yeggmen, Walter, that few outsiders have

ut what excuse are you going to have

ing over my shoulder. You are the reporter, remember, and I'm the newspaper photographer. They won't pose for us, of course, but that will be all right. Speaking about photographs, I got one out at Montclair that is

tinguish it above the other ramshackle buildings on the street, except that the other houses were cluttered with children and baby-carriages, while this one was vacant, the front door closed,

. The house itself was the dilapidated ruin of what had once been a fashionable residence in the days when society lived in the then suburban Bowery. The iron han

triking. What had once been a drawing-room was now the general assembly room of the resort. Broken-down chairs lined the walls, and the floor was generously

tel, now stained by age, standing above the unused grate. Double folding-doors led to what, I imagine, was once a library. Dirt and grime indescribable were everywhere. There was the smell of old clothes and old cooking, the race odours of every nationality known to

ily fixed on us, sizing us up. What should I say? Craig came to the rescue

he suggested. "That mak

of the slang I already knew by hearsay, such as "bulls" for policemen, a "mouthpiece" for a lawyer to defend one when he is "ditch

ried. "You have so

man. "Now here's the

e finder, who enters a

hat means he's from Ch

from Pitts

Slim'll be here to-night. He'll give you the devi

ipe for making "soup." "It's here in this cipher," said the man, drawing out a dirty piece of paper. "It's we

anslated the cu

ng careful to break all the lumps. Leave it set for a few minutes. Then get a few yards of cheesecloth and tear it up in pieces and strain the mixture through the cloth into another vessel. Wring

n one lesson by correspondence school. The rest of

ollar up and his hat down over his eyes. There was something indefinably familiar about him

beckoning to the proprietor, who joined him outside the door. I thought I heard

leaving us alone with the Gay Cat. Kennedy reached over to get a

I think," he whis

with a large section of my bank-account to be up on

eyes swam; I felt a stinging sensation on my head and a weak feeling about the stomach; I sank ha

e. When I opened my eyes I was lying on my back on a very dirty sofa in another room. Kennedy was bending over me with blood

staggered to my feet. "Then they dragged us through

ut, only half comprehending. Then my recollection flooded back with a rush. We had been locked in another room after the attack, and left to be dealt with la

slung over his shoulder, wher

nor, waiting in a room as we had agreed. There was only one window in our room, and it opened on a miserable little dumbwaiter air-shaft. It would

picture. His very deliberation set me fretting and fuming, and I swore at him under my breath. Still, he worked calmly ahead. I saw him take the black box and set it on the tripod. It was

over against the door. There, now the table and that bureau, and wedge th

d tinkered with the bo

that you, O'Con

ed his brain? Here he was, trying to talk into a camera. A little

utside the door. "By God, they've barricaded t

several hundred feet-through walls and everything. The inventor placed it in a box easily carried by a man, including a battery, and mounted on an ordinary camera tripod so that the user might well

ntral freightyards at midnight. Start your plain-clothes men out and send some one here, quick, to release us. We are locked in a room in the fourth or fifth house from the corne

nd my relief when I saw the square-set, honest face of O'Connor and half a dozen plainclothes men holding the yeggs who would certainly have murdered us this time to protect their pal in his getaway. The fact is I d

he high embankment that separated the yards with their interminable lines of full and empty cars on one side and the San Juan Hill district of New York up o

ee to one. O'Connor himself snapped a pair of steel bracel

Slim," he ground out

l's-eye on the three prisoners

as Maloney,

d on the three yeggs checked off from the list of the Branford pearls, leaving a few thousand dollars' wort

ake rushed over and grasped Kennedy's hand, asking eagerly: "H

pe, which contained an untoned print of a photograph. He la

k-shutter camera, the wire connected with the wall safe, Craig's hint to Maloney that if some of the jewels were found hidden in a likely place in the house, it would fu

rets of your clients, at the same time engineering all the robberies that you thought were fakes, and then working up the evidence incriminating the victims themselves. He got into the Branford house with a skeleton k

understand my awkward position? My apologies cannot be too humble. It will give me great p

y. The return of the pearls did no

ou and-and-depend on me, it is already forgotten," said Kenned

hen dropping her eyes she added in a lower tone which no one heard except Craig: "Mr. Kennedy,

I

ERM O

ty of not knowing just what to expect from them next. Still, I was hardly prepared one evening to see a tall, nervou

orgotten to latch the door. Well, Dr. Kharkoff, what ca

think I eluded him this time," he exclaimed, as he nervously took a seat. "Professor Kennedy, I am being followed. Every step that I take somebody shadows me, from the moment I leave my offi

ery, so that I did not withdraw. Somehow, apparently, h

nd even attended a meeting of our central committee the other night. But in the meantime Olga Samarova, the little Russian dancer, whom yon have perhaps seen, fell ill in the same way. Samarova is an ardent revolutionist, you know. This morning the servant at my own home on East Broadway was also stricken,

and looked over the transom to be s

nuine interest that he never feigned over a particularly knotty problem in science and crime. "I had th

hoped you would see him to-nig

s urgent

estly. "We can call a taxicab-it will not take long, sir. C

will go," cons

arkoff stopped short

t in the shadow. There

appear; he is very cle

nd has been waiting

bs waiting at the sta

e first, and Jameson an

can't fo

grin of the figure, which glided impotently out of the shadow

" commented Kennedy, as

alt. "Have you eve

ill you guarantee that he wil

Why, Walter, he is the most gen

roat or scuttled a

an produce a man such as Saratovsky deserves and some day will win political freedom. I have heard of this Dr. Kharkoff before, too. His life would be a short one if he were in Russia. A remarkable man, who fled after those unfortunate upris

the past generation. As we passed through the wide hall, I noted the high ceilings, the old-fashioned marble mantels stai

orehead and deep-set, glowing coals of eyes which gave a hint at the things which had made his life one of the strangest among all the revolutionists of Russia and the works he had done among the most d

nd we remained standing. Kennedy said nothing for the mo

ltry afoot. The Russian autocracy would stop at nothin

ercome by a chill that seeme

, Doctor. I am too weak to talk, even at this cri

isclosed a man in a Russian peasant's blouse, bending laboriously over a writing-desk. So absorbed was he that not

a dream. I fancied I was on the old mir with

vitch. I had not at first connected the name with that of the author of those gloo

ing," he explained. "It is then that

it was unmistakable. At last my eye rested on a careless heap of dainty wearing apparel on a chair in

nd betrayal by Rosenberg. She will stay with friends on East Broadway to-night. She has d

ant woman is Mademoiselle Nevsky-devoted to the cause. I know only one who

azanovitch. Kharkoff said nothing for a time, thoug

, the beasts-burned her body with their cigarettes. It was unspeakable. But she would not confess, and finally they had to let her go. Nevsky, who was a student of biology at the University of St. Petersb

ere not a woman, or if your universities were less prejudiced, she would be welcome anywhere as a professor. See, here is her laboratory. It is the

, Metchnikoff, and a number of other scientists adorned the walls. T

e writer of the doctor, aside

He was too weak to talk, but he asked that you tell Mr. Kennedy a

eads, gentlemen," cried Kazanovitch passionately, turning toward us. "You will excu

e doctor away also at the same

involuntarily at the heap of feminine finery on t

ir. Everything was littered with books, and papers, and at last he leaned over and lifted the dress from

ck them up, and I saw a strange look of surprise on his face. Without a moment's hesitati

d, sir," he said to Kennedy, sweeping a mass of books and papers off a large divan. "

ight smoke we waited for Kaza

is subservient, it does not mean that all is over. Not at all. We are not asleep. Revolution is smouldering, ready to break forth at any moment. The agents of

prejudiced by a puritanical disapproval of the things that pass current in Old World morality? Or was it m

ispense with the rhetoric and to get down to facts. "Surely,

completely baffled. Your American doctors-two were called in to see Saratovsky-say it is the typhus fever. But Kharkoff knows better. There is n

. An idea had occurred to him, and only polite

you could get some perfectly clean test-tubes and sterile bouillon from

answered

at I am going to have a hard day to-morrow and-by the way, would you be so kind a

aside for a moment, and they talked e

ke a microscopic examination of the blood of Saratovsky, Samarova, and later of his servant. The tubes will be read

e passed a door on the second floor, a woma

plied the doctor. "It is Samarov

now? Before they left Paris, Kazanovitch showed some partiality for Olga, but now Nevsky has captured him. She is indeed a fascinating woman, but as for me, if Olga would consent to become Madame Kharkoff, it should be done tomorrow, and she need wo

on our journey uptown, for it was

pparently in deep thought. As I stood by the table to fill my pipe for a last smoke, I saw that he was carefully reg

leaving any trace," he remarked in answer to my u

. Alexander Alexandrov

, Fra

of steaming a letter open is followed by reburnishing the flap with a bone instrument, and no trace is left. I can't do that, for this letter is sealed with

e edges projected about a thirty-second of an inch. He flattened the proj

y a hair line of strong white gum, and unite the edges of

t flat on the table before us. Apparently it was a scientific paper on a rather

on the artificial fertilization of the eggs of frogs. I consider

is unnecessary, and, in fact, I merely set down part of its contents here b

n a strong solution of sea water, then in a bath where they were subjected to the action of butyric acid. Finally they were placed in ordinary sea water agai

rri pernitratis to one ounce of distilled water. The other was composed of the same amount of the silicate with six drops of dilute phosphoric acid and six grains of ammonium phosphat

e opened Dr. Bastian found organisms in them which differed in no way from real bacteria. They gre

ans of radium emanations. Daniel Berthelot in France last year announced that he had used the ultra-violet rays to duplicate nature's own process of

e crystals show all the apparent vital phenomena without being actually alive. His work is interest

Kennedy, noting the puzzled look

. "There are a good many chemicals mentioned here-I wonder if any of them is poisonous? But I a

illery. "What I wanted to know was how you

ut of it. Meanwhile Craig was busily fig

late. Perhaps we had better both turn in, an

n the paper. With a reluctant good-night I shut my door, determined to be

to go out when he hurried in, showing plainly the effects of having spent

"I tried to reach Kharko

s a well-known physician on the East Side, states that he has been constantly shadowed by some one unknown for the past week or two. He attributes his escape with his life to the fact that since he was shadowed he has observed extreme caution. Yesterday

ate it?" I asked of Kenned

script,"

ript? How?

ly left the tubes there, and I got them. Here they are. As for the manuscript in the letter, I was going to ask you to slip upstairs by some strategy

to see you to

too. Come, let us breakfast and go over to the laboratory. They may arri

arance. There was a slightly sensuous curve to her mouth, but on the whole her face was striking and intellectual. I felt that if she chose she could fascinate a man so that he wou

things that are happening to us. Oh, Professor Kennedy, it is awful! Last night I was staying with some friends on East Broadway. Suddenly we heard a terrific explosio

ted. There stood another bomb just inside. If I had moved the door a fraction of an inch it would have exploded. I screamed, and Olga, sick as she was, ran to my assistance-or perhaps she thought something had happened to Boris. It is standing there yet. None of us d

mbling before

s plan. I take it that it was a chemical bomb and not one with a fuse, or you would

utomobile. "I will drive it myself," he ordere

k our lives. But strangers must not. Think, Professor Kennedy. Suppose the bomb should explode at a tou

sky, I am quite willing to take the ris

"Kazanovitch himself could do no

culiar oblong box, swung on two concentric rings

mly. It was a tense moment. Suppose his hand should unnecessarily tremble, or he should tip it just a bit-it might explode and blow h

water?" I suggested, having read somewhere that th

. It is known as the Cardan suspension. It was invented by Professor Cardono, an Italian. You see, it is always held in a perfectly horizontal position, no matter how you jar

that bomb at the door. If Mr. Jameson can only find out what has become of Mr. Kazanovit

find Kazanovitch. I shall be back again shortly before noon to examin

mber of places where he was known. I consumed practically the whole morning going from one place to another on the East Side. Some of the picturesque haunts of the revolutionists would have furnished material for a story in themselves. But nowhere had they any word of Kazanovitch, unti

ce, furiously smoking cigarettes and showing evident signs of having something v

atory, but I called up Nevsky, and she said he would be here at noon." Then he put hi

g nothing of my long

to Kharkoff's assistance, I did the same. He saw me following him and ran, and I ran, too, and overtook him. Mr. Jameson, when I looked into his face I could not believe it. Revalenko-he is one of the most ardent members of our organisation. He would not tell me why he had followed Kharkoff. I could make him confess nothing. But I am

pression the story made on me, but I did not let my looks bet

spy system in the city. In fact, even that morning I had had pointed out to me some spies at work in the public libraries, watchin

an elaboration of a particularly dramatic point, Kennedy quickly examined the walls and floor of the

he could trust you, that it would be safe for him to visit you to-ni

him, will make him think I have misunderstood him, that I have not lo

night at eight I shal

e novelist and

alenko story?" I asked of Cra

in this case," he an

eaders of the world to-day. There is only one person that I have any real confidence i

reply. There was no getting anything out of Craig until he w

sky, in spite of his high fever, ordered that the door to his room be left open and his bed moved so that he could hear and see what passed in the room down the hall. Nevsky was there and Kazanovitch, and even brave Olga Samarova, her pretty face burning with the fever, would not be content

ed on the table a small wire basket containing some test-tubes, each tube corked with a small wadding of cotton. There was also a receptacle holding a dozen glass-hand

some clue. The slightest trace, even a drop of blood no larger than a pin-head, may suffice to convict a murderer. The impression made o

y become gaseous. You can't collect and investigate the gases. Still, the bomb-thrower is sadly deceived if he believes the bomb leaves

hem, and find them to be a peculiar species of blasting-gelatine. It is made at only one factory in this country, and I have a list of purchasers for some time back. One name, or rather the description of an

stared fixedly at the fragments of

long cord saturated in sulphur, was merely a blind. The real method of explosion was by means of a chemical contained in a glass tube which was inserted after the bomb was put in place. The least jar, such as o

their own number was playing false? In at least this instance in the

the bombs. Bombs are common enough weapons, after all. It is the evidence of almost diabolical cunning

es sufficient to cause thousands and thousands of deaths without giving any adequate explanation for what purpose he requires them. More than that, any person claiming to be a scientist or having some acquaintance with science and scientists can usually obtain germs without difficulty. Every pathological laborator

hese germs of death, whatever they were? Yet that was precisely what some

a little pin-point of a culture made from the blood of Saratovsky. I will stain the culture. Now-er-

erms like dancing points of coloured light," I said. "T

o on. "They are of the species known as Spirilla. Here

there, too,"

ding about for a glimp

" asked a hollow vo

ghost than a living being. Kennedy sprang forward and cau

psing fever, but of the most virulent Asiatic strain. Obermeyer, who

rth from Samarova. The rest of us

be unnecessarily alarmed. I have something

e-print and place

ay to the Russian minister to France in Paris. Some one in this room besides Mr. Jameson and m

blue-print and searchingly scanning the faces. No one betrayed by

" he cried, his eyes half starting f

o means of deciphering it unless you chance to know its secret. I happened to have heard of it a long time ago abroad, yet my recollection was vague, and I

ts face, may be used to carry a secret, hidden message. The letters which compose the words, instead of being written continuously along,

the end of the letter 'n,' between it and the 'y.' There are

is up, it means a break. The stroke at the end of the 'y' is plainly down. Therefore there is no break until after th

-2; 1-1; 1-5; 5-1. By consulting this tab

g the following arrangement o

F G H IJ K 3 L M N O P

and second line. That is 'H.' Then 1-1 is 'A '; 1-

at was the terrible secret in that scientific essay I

dded to the real numbers over and over again. Or the order of the alphabet

?" asked Saratovsky, leaning forward, forg

paper on which he had writte

th should appear natural. Samarova infected also. Cook unfortunately took dose in food intended Kharkoff.

uilty, for the plot had centred about him. Nor was little Samarova, nor Dr. Kharkoff. I noted Revale

ink bomb perhaps all right. K. case d

thought. Or was "K." Kazanovitch? I regarded Re

n consul-general. Will advise you plot against Czar as details

tents of the test-tubes, the effect could not have been more startl

lding the paper up de

vs

Revalenko sprang up and grasped Kazanovitch by the hand.

u," replied Kazanovitch, "but how

w Kharkoff secretly and

ato

y stood coldly, defiantly. If ever there was a consummate actress it was she, who ha

om me by your false beauty-yet all the time you would have killed him like a dog for the Czar's gold. At

ains. Bah! I will not stay with those who are so ready to suspect an old comrade on the mere word

nt ago and crossed the room. "Olga," he pleaded, "I have been a fool. Some

ng her arms about Boris, as he imprin

sky with curling lips.

which cause what we call, euphemistically, the 'black plague.' It is the same species as that of the African sleeping sickness and the Philippine yaws. Last year a famous doctor whose photograph I see in the next ro

so quickly and completely undone, Nevsky flung herself

temptuous smile, as Kennedy gently wit

this way, after al

FI

was such a machine as one frequently sees threading its reckless course in and out among the trucks and street-cars, breaking all rules and regulations, stopping

about it as I was whisked up in the elevator, only to have it recalled sharply by the sight of a strongly built, griz

him say as he brought his large fist down

-one that interested him greatly. "Walter," he cried, "this is Fire Marshal McCormick. It's all r

nce, for the newspapers had lately been making much of the strange and appalling succes

s?" asked Kennedy, leaning back in his morrischair with his finger-tips together and his eyes half closed as

suring his words, "but this time I think there is some method in his madness. You kno

tion, a few months ago, especially as it included among its organisers one very clever business woman, Miss Rebecca Wend. There h

oint, replied slowly, "Practically every one of these fires has been di

n Kennedy, "surely the regular police ough

n made up their minds whether it is a single firebug or a gang. And in the meant

fires?" I asked, hoping that perhaps the marshal might talk more freely of his suspici

ue-except such as ar

wisting his

were waiting for

es, Green leaders have been arrested, but I can't say we have anything against any of them. Still, Max Bloom, the manager of this company, insists that the fire was set for

puted to be earning a good return on the investment, and I was at a loss to account for the fire. I have made no arrests for it-just set it down as the work of a pure pyromaniac, a man who burns buildings for fun, a man with an inordinate desire to hear the fire-engines s

y, "I see no evidence of

in a silk-house near Spring Street. But after a controversy the adjusters have reached an agreement on that case. I mention these fires because they show practically all the types of work of the various

own hastily, intending to use the list some time in a box head with an article in the Star. When he had finished his list I hastily

I go they talk about nothing else. If I drop into the restaurant for lunch, my waiter talks of it. If I meet a newspaper man, he talks of it. My barber

fires as due to one firebug. I admit there is an epidemic of fires.

or they use gasoline, benzine, or something of that sort. This fellow apparently scorns such crude methods. I can't say how he starts his fires, but in every case I have mentioned

ut of his pocket and laid it on

g talks with you almost every day about catching the firebug. That's me. I am the real firebug, that is writing this letter. I am going to tell you why I am starting t

ennedy, "he has a sen

ar

d McCormick, gritting his teeth

artment-store next. How does that suit Your Majesty? Wait til

myself, 'There's only one thing to do-see this man Kennedy.' So here I am. You see what I am driving at? I believe that firebug is an artist at the thing, doe

nd the Stacey interests control several. Mac, I'll tell you what I'll do. Let me sit up with you

nedy was seated. With one hand on Craig's shoulder and the other

eputation in the department is at stake, my pro

sympathetically. "To-night at eight I will go on watch

as if ten years had been lifted off his shoulders. A moment later he stuck his head in t

scowling to himself as if they presented a particularly perplexing problem. I said nothing, though my mind was t

t must

he list of incendiary fires against the moment when the case shoul

ng up the first one and speaking

air quickly. "Get out!"

ver used su

y a woman-I said written

id, rather

phologists. I found that our results were slightly different, but I averaged the thing up to four cases out of five correct. The so-called sex signs are found to be largely influenced by the amount of writing done, by age, and to a certain extent by practice and professional requirements, as in the conventi

d she wrote the first note for the fi

premeditation and, as De Quincey said, in a spirit of pure artistry. The lust of fire propels him, and he uses his art to secure wealth. The man may be a tool in the hands of others, however.

the case during our stroll or even on

ich the fire game is played in New York. In great glass cases were glistening brass and nickel machines with discs and levers and bells, tickers, shee

the auxiliary systems, come here first over the network of three thousand miles or m

zer h

now," he exclaime

he office moved as if they were part of the mechanism. Twice the alarm was repeat

articular district where that fire is have received the alarm instantly. Four engines, two hook-and-ladde

. "One," "four," "five"

dly speeding uptown, the bell on the front of the automobile clanging like a fire-engine, the siren horn g

o his chauffeur, as we rounded into a br

last were on Sixth Avenue. With a jerk and a skid we stopped. There were the engines, the hose-carts, the

s. Firemen and policemen were entering the huge buildin

" he asked as we mounted

ing. "Saw a light in the office on the third floor

erted, yet with the lanterns we could see the floor of

oose wire on the floor. He followed it. It led t

lights?" shouted McCo

nstairs, and they're off for the nigh

where you are until I follow

main room. Kennedy carefully opened the door. One whiff of t

those lanterns, b

ad, a peculiar, sweetish odour pervaded the air. For

d back farther with those lights

open the door and let this highly inflammable gas out or should he wait pa

glance out of the window and catch si

ss there and get all the saltpeter a

saltpeter and two-fifths sulphur, I should say. Then he lighted it. The mass burned with a bright flame but without explosi

ulphur dioxide. Now-before it gets any worse-I guess it's safe to open the door and let the ether out. You see this is as good a way a

made a rush for the little cubby-hole of an office at the other end. On the floor was a little can of e

in a room for a while and then causes an explosion from a safe distance with this little electric spark. T

the lights I exclaimed, "He failed this t

Walter," ass

the night watchman saw

ly mystified. "He mus

the lights

destruction first-and, judging by the charred papers about, he did it well. See, he tore leaves from the ledgers and lighte

and examined

this burnt paper and look it over later. D

of the firebug, and at last we left. Kennedy carr

l watch with you every night until we get this incendiary. Meanwhi

us again. This time he had another

. Watch me get another

this

SPA

d note," was all he said. "McCormick, since we know where the lightning is going to strike, don't

ght saw us watching at the fire-hous

hand under elbow, from the dormitory on the second floor. They showed us how to jump into the "turn-outs"-a pair of trousers opened out over the high top boots. We were given helmets which we placed i

'll 'roll' to every fire, just like the regulars. We won't take

at around trying to draw the men out about their thrilling experiences at fires. But if there is one thing the fireman doesn't

in our strange surroundings when the gon

ll was stir, and motion, and shouts. Craig and I had bounded awkwardly into our paraphernalia at the first sound. We slid ungracefully down the pole and were pushed and

river urging his plunging horses onward like a charioteer in a modern Ben Hur race. The tender with Craig and McCormick was lost in the clouds of smoke

lunged up the avenue and stopped at the allotted hydrant. It was like a war game. Every move had been pla

out in long streamers. The hose was coupled up in an instant, the water turned on, and the limp rubber and canvas became as rigid as a post with the high p

ad been swallowed up, as it were. For that is the way with the New York firemen. They go straight to the heart of the fire. Now and then a stream of a hose spat out of a window, showing that the men were still alive and working. About the ground floors the red-helm

h an explosion-it's the firebug, all right." I looked up. It was McCormi

engine that I had not taken time to watch the fire itself. It was now under control. The sharp

go inside?" I hea

ly nodded. As for me, w

team, while the water hissed and spattered and slopped. The smoke was still suffocating, and every once in a while we w

l manner of cunningly devised instruments were hacking and tearing at the walls and woodwork, putting out the last smouldering

gnisable mass. What was that gruesome odour in the room? Burned h

re with the insulation burned off. He had picked it up from the wreckage of t

lurted out the words before I could for

overed the remains with a rubber sheet, he stooped down and withdrew fro

nce. The whole adventure, though still fresh and vivid in my mind, seemed unreal, like a dream. The choking air, the hissing ste

me in and dropped wearily into a chair. "Do you know who

d her?" asked

both of whom had had more or less to do with her in connection with settling up for other fires, recognised her. She was a very clever wom

it?" asked Ke

ires and juggling the accounts. Failing in that she tried to destroy Stacey's store itself, twice. She was one of the few that could get into the office unobserved. Oh, it's a clear case now. To my mind, the heavy vapours of ether-they are heavier than air, you know-

ble. "Nothing. Only I found this embedded

urdered?" excla

od clue. No, McCormick, your theory will not hold water. The real point is to find this missing bookkeeper at any cost.

grabbed up his hat and started off to put the final mach

e left us, "but first I want to start something towar

en a line. But I telephoned in a story of personal experiences at the Stacey fi

n, looking as fresh as if nothing

glas is," he anno

can you produce him at any

se his accountants to audit the reports of the adjusters, Hartstein and Lazard, as well as to make a cursory examination of what Sta

ove to get away without being arrested. The trouble is that if I arrest him, the people higher up will know it and will escape before I can get his confession and the warrants. I'd much rather have the whole thing done

out the warrants. All that you'll need to do is to let me talk a few minutes this afternoon with the judge who will sit in the night court to-night. I shall install a little machine on his desk in the court, and we'll catch the real crimi

ments composed of many levers and discs and magnets, each instrument with a roll of paper about five inches wide. On one was a sort of stylus with two silk cords at

atched him curiously, and I asked nothing. Two sets of wires were attached to each of the instruments, and these he c

e desk from me. Don't let them move their chairs around to the right or left. And, above all, leave the doors open. I don't want any o

Bloom and Warren came together in the latter's car. Lazard came in a taxicab which he dismissed, a

me at such a critical moment. As near as I could make out, he had quietly pulled out the top drawer of his desk on the right, the drawer in which I had seen him place the

h of the writing on burned manuscripts which are unreadable by any other known means. As long as the sheet has not been entirely disintegrated positive results can be obtained every time. The

ken, although there may be no marks on the charred remains that are visible to the eye. This is the only known method in many

As for Craig, he did not mince mat

sent a large sum of money in the aggregate. Others were memoranda of Miss Wend's, and still others were aut

the fire marshal at various times. Curiously enough, I find that the handwriting of the first one bears a peculiar resemblance to t

d been a part of the conspiracy, after

arson trusts are not the ordinary kind of firebugs whom the firemen plentifully damn in the fixed belief that one-fourth of all fires are kindled by incendiaries. Such 'trusts' exist all over the country. They have operated in Chicago, where they are said to have made seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars in one year. Another group is said to have its headquarters in Kansas City. O

e in bad in this case, but that others are in worse. Miss Wend was originally a party to the scheme. Only the trouble with Miss Wend was that she was too shrewd to be fooled. She insisted that s

companies to Miss Wend as well as the incriminating evidence which she held of the 'firebug trust,' of which she was a member up

ime get rid of the dangerous enemy of the conspirators? I believe that Miss Wend was lured under some pretext or other to the Stacey store on the night of the big fire. The person who wrote the second and third 'A. Spark' letters d

and others. This talk of an arson trust is bosh-yellow journalism. More than that, we have been systematically robbed by a trusted head of a department,

he said, "have been suffering from the depression that exists in the trade at present. They are insolvent. Glance over that, Stacey

port was not to be ready until nine o'cloc

ge in Miss Wend's department, that you were losing money, that you were in debt to Miss Wend, and that she would

fiction," said Stacey, angrily turning t

nry Douglas, being duly sworn, deposes and says that one'-we'll call him 'Blank' for the present-'with force and arms di

rupted Stacey. "Let

signature showed. The name was signed

e I saw Henry Douglas. He had signed no such paper then. He could not have signed

on the right of his desk. From it he lifted the two m

utograph-the long-distance writer. In this new form it can be introduced into the drawer of a desk for the use of any one who may wish to make inquiries, say, of clerks without the knowledge of a caller. It mak

ich controls a pencil at the other end of the line. The receiving pencil moves simultaneously with my pencil. It is the principle of t

aced before Magistrate Brenner in the night court. At the same time, on this other, the receiving, instrument the figures of the accountants written in court have been reproduced here. You have seen them. Meanwhile, Dougla

rators see

t the pencil of the receiving instrument

County of New York. In the name of t

reading. He tore the writing from the

end and six other persons in fires which you have set. You are the real firebug, the tool of Joseph Stacey, perhaps, but that w

was no

y's waiting car. The chauffeur took off the brake and pulled the lever. Suddenly Craig'

lapped the irons on Stacey and Lazard in Stacey's own magnificently upholstered car, I remarked reproac

nly rock-salt bullets. They didn't penetrate far. They'll sting for some

NFIDEN

urke of the secret serv

is bluff way introduced a well-groomed and prosperous-loo

together when we can, and very often the city department can give the government service a lift, and the

w-backed hundred-dollar bill. He laid it flat on the table before us. Diagonally across its face f

of "shoving the queer," otherwise known as passing coun

they do with bills when they wish to preserve them as rec

anded Kennedy a pocket

ed the bill. He was abo

ous wallet again and la

which had been s

itten on his face, but before he could say anything, Burke laid

ting down the glass, "stop! How

all," he replied, "b

the government is counterfeiting its own notes! How much o

e more. "Of course I can't say exactly, but from hints I have received here and there I should th

salted away in some portable form. What an inventory it must be-good b

rought his fist down hard on the table with a resounding Irish oath, "the finger-print system, the infallible finger-print system, has gone to pieces. We've just imported this new 'portrait parle' fresh from Paris and London,

t," said Kennedy. "I can't diagnose yo

have some English bank-notes exchanged for American money. After he had gone away, the cashier began to get suspicious. He thought there was something phoney in the feel of the notes. Under the glass he noti

g on the wheel. He didn't seem to care about winning, and he cashed in each time with a new one-hundred-dollar bill. Of course he didn't care about winning. He cared about the change-that

bique Hotel-he had been stung with the fake Internation

race of him?" aske

ood loser and always paid with hundred-dollar bills. Now, you know women are NOT good losers. Besides, the hundred-dollar-bill story had got around among the gambling-houses. This joint thought it worth taking a chance, so they called me up on the 'phone, extracted a promise that I'd play fair and keep O'

Riverwood along the Hudson, and to a swell country house overlooking the river, private drive, stone gate, hedges, old trees, and all

o you think he owned up? Not a bit of it. He swore he had picked the notes up in a pocketbook on the pier as he left the steamer. I laughed. But when he was arraigned in court he told the magistrate the same story and that he had advertised his find at the time. Sure enough, in the files of the papers we discovered in the lost-and-found column the ad., just as he claimed. We couldn't even

ntal note of finding out more a

nnor prompted, "Tell t

o

to William Forbes, a noted counterfeiter, who, they understood, had sailed for South Africa but had never arrived there. They were glad to l

shadowed them ever s

It was said he was cranking the engine and that it kicked back and splintered

d t

t was said by the neighbours that Williams and Mrs. Williams-as they called themselves-had gone to visit a specialist in Philadelphia. Still, as they had a year's lease

ls to an Englishwoman who paid for it herself in crisp new one-hundred-dollar bills. The bank had returned them to him that very afternoon-counterfeits. I didn't lose any time ma

o help Burke. It was the same man, all right-I'll swear to that on a stack of Bibles. So will Burke. I'll never forget that snub nose-the concave nose, the nose being the first point of identification in the 'portrait parle.' And the ears

t that he was stumped, and he said so. "There are some points of agreement," he remarked, "but more p

dowing the house now and have been ever since then. But the next day after the last arrest, a man from New York, who looked like a doctor, made a visit. The secr

alked we could gather that something tragic must have happened

ust above Riverwood. It SEEMS Williams's car got stalled on the track just as the Buffalo express was due. No one saw it, but a man in a buggy around the bend in the road heard a woman scream. He hurried down. The train had smashed the car to bits. How the woman escaped was a miracle, but they found the ma

eh?" exclaimed O'Connor with evid

the little local hospi

ock and a f

s as he waited he said: "We must hold the woman. Hello, 297? The hospital? This is Burke of the secret service. Will you tell my man,

s dead, but we must get the rest. Mr. Kennedy, I'm sorry to have bothered you, but I guess we can handle this alone, after all. It was the finger-

t beginning to be interested. Does it occur t

oed Burke and O

bes be so foolish as to go about with a watch marked 'W. F.' if he knew, as he must have kno

is watch found on Williams. I suppose there is

et Wollstone goes away so willingly?" put in O'Connor.

here's a servant who goes in now and then, but the car h

that house myself for

ave no objection

ke. "I will go along with you if yo

I'll watch alone to-night and will see you in the morning

ked when they had gone. "How are you fi

engagement at the College C

cut

I intend to d

n old football sweaters under our overcoats. Half

ore those fellows. They'd think I was a dub. But I don't mind as

ow, noses are all concave, straight, or convex. This Forbes had a nose that was concave, Burke says. Suppose you were sent out to find him. Of all the people you met, we'll say, roughly, two-thirds wouldn't interest you. You'd pass up all with straight or convex noses. Now the next point to observe is the ear. There are four general kinds of ears-triangular, square, oval, and round, besides a number of other

" I asked rath

crime, and in the present instance I've just pride enough to stick to this thing until-until they begin

owing us. He pushed on, following the directions Burke had given him. The house in question was a large, newly built affair of concrete, surrounded by trees and a

parent, I thought, and I said so. Hardly had I said it when I heard the baying of a dog. It di

ardly think they would go away and leave a dog lo

pulled me along. We had seen not a sign of life in the house, yet he observed all the caution he would have if it had been well guarded.

uction-cup, which he fastened to the window-pane. Then with a very fine diamond-cutter he proceeded to cut out a large section. It soon fell and

Apparently the h

of library, handsomely furnished. At last the beam of light rested on a huge desk at the opposite end. It seemed to interest

o not realise the disruptive force that there is in a simple jimmy. I didn't until I saw the solid drawer with

n and cut in a flat oval shape, smelling of lysol strongly; several bottles, a set of sharp little knives, some paraffin, bandages, antisept

to ask questions, and I did not. Kennedy rapidly stowed away the things in his pockets. One bottle he opened and held to his nose. I could distinguish immediately the volatile s

d a tin box, one of those so-called strong-boxes which are so handy in that they save a burglar much time and trouble

nued to scrutinise the walls and corners of the room

room across the h

eam of a woman rang out

ne in the hous

t in the nefarious work of breaking and entering a dwelling-house at night. But it

ds that adjoined the estate on one side. Lights flashed in all the windows of the house at once. There must have been some

n carried from the house to the garage. As the door was unlocked I could see

s making for the station by a direct route across country instead of the c

once in his life thoroughly alarmed, "it

rd as we might, we could ne

d Kennedy, "but they are a

d in his pocket, and dre

foot, Walter

hen his with the ether. Then we doubled

our trail," panted Kennedy; "that is, if he is any g

if it had been open I am sure the station agent would have felt more like locking the door against two such tramps as we were, carrying a tin box and pursued by a dog, t

el near the station. Somehow we succeeded in getting a room without exciting suspicion. Hardly had the bellboy's footsteps ceased echoing

A few hundred dollars and a rope of pearls lay in it. It was a good "haul," but where was the va

snatch a couple of hour

stifling h

ff, still thinking about it and thinking that, even should they be captured, they might have sto

oused me by talking over the telephone in the

g had happened during the night at Riverwood, but he couldn't give a very clear

he descriptions of these people. I'm sure they will have to come into town to-day, and they wi

gured out that the counterfeiters would have to come into town for some reason or other. The incoming passengers were passing

' ought to come in, if ever," comm

after train emptied its human freight, yet the pale man with the concave

as long past the time when the counterfeiters should ha

one up to Montreal,

get it and leave New York after last night's events. We have failed-they have got by us. Neither the 'portrait parle' nor the ordinary photography nor any other system will suffice alone against the arch-criminal back of this, I'm afraid. Walter, I am sore and disgusted. What I should have

and I followed. In a secluded part of the waiting-room he sat down, his face drawn up in a scowl such as I had never seen. Plainly he was disgus

oat, he absently pulled out the little pieces of sponge an

tle knives in their case. I said nothing, for Kennedy was in a deep study. At last he put the things back into his po

himself. "I had forgotten that. What was the use of a pie

. "If you would tell me what the other th

of paraffin? Why, of course-I think I can guess what they have been doing-of course. Why, man alive, he walked right pas

ins to-morrow," he read. "Yes, I'll bet that's it. We don't have to know the safe deposit va

edy, what's all this lightning calculation? What possible connection is there between a

go next to work off some of the bills? The banks are on, the jewellery-houses are on, the gambling-joints are on. Why, to the racetracks, of course. That's it. Counterfeiters all use the bookmakers, only since racing has been killed in New York they hav

ready in fifteen

d abruptly, and started for th

e," he exclaimed as we ran plump

was a Western rancher; his broad-brimmed hat, long moustache, frock coat, and flowing tie proclaime

one side of his jaws to the other. "Now, tell me how your man escap

b-nosed peculiar-eared friend has. What do you think of the possibility of his goin

harply. "Say, do you add telepat

ing independently have arrived at the same conclusion. Come,

he train-announcer made his last call. Just then a taxicab pulled up at the street-end of the platform, not far from Tr

and I exclaimed disgustedly to Burke: "Well, if they are going to Lexingto

n saw that he was being watched and faced us defiantly, "Such imp

how us what's in that grip," said Kennedy

asted impudence? Get out of my way, sir,

Burke. "Surely you are getting in

arrest or not, Burke, as you choose. If not, I a

The man protested; the woma

in jail for this. Come on now to the nearest magistrate's court. I'll have my rights as an American citizen. You have carried your little joke too far. Knight is

ity that would follow such a mistake by the secret service than at anything els

chair as he could find in the judge's chambers, "what is the occasion

the way up from headquarters. Kennedy laid the Scotland Yard finger-prints on

ritain. Beside them are those of a man who succeeded in passing counterfeits of several kinds recently in New

As he came to the third, he raised his head as if abo

fingerprints of people taken fifty years ago that are exactly the same as their finger-prints of to-day. They don't change-they are pe

in grafting skin and in keeping muscles artificially alive for days under proper conditions. Could it be that a man had deliberately amputated his fingers and grafted on new ones? Was the stake sufficient

g and by injuries. Now, is there any method by which lost finger-tips can be restored? I know of one case where the end of a finger was taken off and only one-sixteenth inch of the nail w

he finger and flaps of skin are sliced off and turned up for the new end of the finger to develop in-a sort of shell of living skin. Inside this, the sponge is placed, not a large piece, but a very thin piece sliced off and cut

ot let it heal. In three days he pulls the sponge off gently. The end of the finger has grown up just a fraction of an inch. Then a new thin layer of sponge is added. Day after day this process is repeated, each

seemed to realise the thought in our min

to support the new finger-tissue that is developed. The meshes are filled in by growing tissue, and as it grows the tissue absorbs part of the sponge, which is itself an animal tissue and acts like catgut. Part of

, he decided to educate the tissue to grow out to cover it and appear like a normal finger. In these cases the doctors succeeded admirably in giving the patients entire ne

s man was playing a game in which there was indeed a heavy stake at issue. He was a counterfeiter sought by two governments with the net closing about him. What are the tips of a few fingers compared with life, liberty, wealth, and a beautiful woman? The first two

stranger, "but what has that to do with detaining my wif

by laying your fingers on this inking-pad and then lightly

mply. Kennedy glanced at the fourth set of prints, then at the third set taken a week ago, and

liams, the counterfeiter?

ed Kennedy. "You

glected to furnish you with photograp

t and laid it on the table. It bore the front face and profi

actually demanding this last piece of evidence. I had heard, however, that the Bertillon system of measurements often depende

arle" of Forbes, as it had first been described to us. Without looking further I involuntarily glanced a

of Forbes, of London. My nose is almost Jewish-my complexion is dark as an Arab's. Still, I suppose I am the sallow, snub-

Paris eluded the police very successfully until Dr. Charcot exposed him and showed how he changed the arch of his eyebrows a

have read in one of the papers this morning that a Mr. Williams was found dead in an automobile

ar to Riverwood, dressed in Williams's clothes with a watch that would show he was Forbes, placed on the track in front of the auto, whil

e and those from the London police card side by side. O

s fake detective should make fools out of us all and keep my wife longer in this court? I'm not disposed to let the matter drop. I wish to enter a charge again

wrath. He advanced menacingly toward Kennedy, who stood with his shoulders thr

inch of your life. 'Portrait parle,' indeed! It's a fine scientific system that has to d

, however. I had seen Craig do it dozens of times with the best boxers in the "gym." He simply jerked his head to one si

ce, and as he fell for

deliberately slap

's nose was quite out of joint, even from such a slight blow. It was

laid it on the table with the other exhibits, "don't forget that a concave nose built out to hook-nose convexit

his attention to the larger of Forbes's grips, which the Wollstone

ondike, and the Bureau of Engraving, all in one. Craig dumped the wealth out on the table-stacks of genuine bills, gold coins of two realms, diamonds, pearls

ly. "Gentlemen, you have here a master counterfeiter, surely-a ma

SAND

he Inter-River Transit," I remarked to Kennedy as I sketched

e, throwing a letter down on my desk. He ha

brief, as Jack's letters always were. "I have a case here at the tunnel that I am sure will appeal to you, my own case, too," it read. "You can go as far as you like with it, but get to the bot

does interest me. Whe

ho had not taken off his

rouble? Did you see in the society news this morning the announcement of Jack's

rouble, whatever it was, at the tunnel, though I d

and a strapping Irishman met us. "Is thi

e is Mr. Ort

r. The doctor have just took him out of the medical lock, an' he said if you was to

happened?" exclaimed Kenned

ylinder, lying horizontally, in which was a floor with a cot and some strange paraphernalia. On the cot lay Jack Orton, drawn and contorted, so c

e groaned. "No, I don't want to go back into t

but hearing us he op

of me? I'm a pretty sight. How are you? And how are you, Walter? Not too vigorou

asked, glancing blankly

touch of the 'bends' from working

say nothing. I, at least, wa

, fellows. Look at me! Do you think such a wreck as I am now

r friends in the hospital to-night, but for a few hours I think you had better rest. Gentlemen, if yo

iry chap, of just the build for tunnel work, where fat is fatal, he added: "This i

re we can get to him something has happened. The plot thickens before we are well into it. I t

nto his mood, and we walked block after block scarcely exchanging a word. His only remark, I recall, was, "Walter

as leaving. Evidently she had been visiting some one of whom she thought a great deal. Her long fur coat was flying carelessl

an with her say soothingly, "and you must k

and bowed. He returned our bows and handed h

uced us," muttered Kennedy, as

rse kept arranging and rearranging to ease his pain. The Irishman whom we

s. I sent her home with Capps. She oughtn't to be out alone at this hour, and Capps is a good fellow. She's known him a long time. No, Paddy, put down your hat. I want you to stay. Paddy, by the way, fellows, is my right-hand ma

we will show Taylor, my prospective father-in-law and the president of the railroad company from which I too

t the faintest touch of undue familiarity. "Look what

aig, do you know how I found him? Crawling over the f

e'll finish that tunnel an' beggin' yer pardon, Mr. Orton, marry that gurl, too. Didn't I see her with tears in her eyes right in this room when he wasn't lookin', and a smile when he was? Sure, ye'll be all right," continued Paddy, slapping his side and thigh. "We all get the bends more or less-all us sand

e, nothing to do with the bends?" asked Kennedy,

men, and lots of the poor fellows have died, too. You know, of course, how the newspapers are roasting us. We are being called inhuman; the

pounds. You see, we have struck the very worst part of the job, a stretch of quicksand in the river-bed, a

e were wurkin' at low pressure, in the rock, before we sthruck this sand. There's somethin' wrong, sir, or ye wouldn't be here yer

time. You may or may not know it, but there is some doubt about the validity of their franchise after a certain date, provided the tunnel is not ready for operation. Well, to make a long story short, you know there are rival

dences of rival influences hind

ing the time-limit of the franchise another year. Of course, if it had gone through it would have been fine for us. But some unseen influence blocked the company at every turn. It was subtle; it

of it, for it was in the article wh

the river so that we could work from each shore to it, as well as from the island to each shore, really from four points at once. And then, when everything was going ahead

ysm of the bends seized hi

to go down into the tun

ne," replied Orton, alm

so int

ddy will be glad to do the hono

onded the faithful Paddy, "an' it's a s

ng we shall be on hand. Jack, depend on us. We wil

s exploits. You're a pair of bricks, you are. Good-bye, fellows," and his han

ind reverting through the whirl of events to the glimpse of pain I had caught on the delic

uld see the old restless fever for work which came into his eyes whenever he had a case which interested him more than usual. I knew ther

I'm going to the laboratory and the university library. Be ready

leep. I think he had been dreaming out his course of action. At any rate, breakfast was a mere i

whispered conversation, Craig stowed the box away behind the switchboard of the telephone central, after attaching it to the various wire

e. If it had not been for Paddy, I fear we should have seen very little, for Shelton was not only secretive, but his explanations were such that even the editor of a technical journal would have had to blue pencil them considerably. However, we gained a pretty good idea of the tunnel work

and the tunnel doctor examined us and extracted a written statement that we went down a

," called Paddy, opening an

but could not catch the message, and in a minute he joined us. By this time I had formed the

the waves playing in the glad sunlight, we entered a rude construction elevator and dropped from the surface to the bottom of a deep shaft

hiss as of escaping steam. Pound after pound to the square inch the pressure slowly rose until I felt sure the drums of my ears would burst. Then the hissing noise began to dwindle down to a wheeze, and

breath of the tunnel. Every few feet an incandescent light gleamed in the misty darkness. After perhaps

at Paddy, the nasal ring o

urtain," he

unnel start to flood, the other half of the emergency cur

the "shield"-which is the head by which this mechanical mole advances under

ht and telephone wires were strung all about. These and the tools and other things strewn along the

ter overhead. At some points in the sand we could feel the air escaping, which appeared at the surface of the river overhead in bubbles, indicating to those passing in the river boats just how far each tunnel heading below had proceeded. When the los

rate, while Kennedy and Paddy were still crawling about the shield, he stoo

e waiting for Kennedy, I absently reached into my pocket and pulled out a cigarette and lighted it. It burned amazingly fast, as if it were made of tinde

d as he ground the cig

s dangerous to smoke

ing my anger at his manner. "

nd Orton's a fool to let

a voice inquire over my shoulder. It was

s reckless, and that he would hurt himself more by one s

tude for my own health. I could just barely catch his words over the tunnel telephone some feet away. I thought he said that everything was

constant level necessary. I saw Kennedy give a hurried glance about, as if to note whether any one were looking at us. No one was. With a quick motion he reached down. In his hand was a stout litt

ck, our curiosity satisfied by this glimpse of one of

ennedy, stopping suddenl

suppose," said I. "Let's whis

t if I had been whistli

't have

, you are indeed learn

istle in com

ennedy chaffing me for my ignorance. I was glad to see Paddy's huge form loom

nough of the air? It seems very smelly to me this mornin'-I don't blame ye. I

needn't stay down any

ll that is necessary-a

d of us. I think you ca

ave you do it than to

bends. Roughly, half a minute should be consumed in coming out from each pound of pressure, though for such high pressures as we had

he tunnel. The second half he did slowly, and it was indeed tedious, but it was safe. There was at first a hissing sound when he opened the valve, and it grew colder in the lock, since ai

s air again. We gazed out across the river with its waves dancing in the sunlight. There, out in the middle, was a wreath of bubbles on the water. That marked the end of t

, near the medical lock, as it is called-that big steel cylinder over there, where we found Orton. The best cure for the bends is to go back under the air-recompression they call it. The renewed pressure causes the gas in the blood to contract again, and thus it i

ouple of hours we dropped in on Orton at th

k of the case?" h

ertain things in motion which will give us a prett

t his lip nervously and looked out of the sun

ght to increase your anxiety, Ja

drew a letter from his pocket. Laying it flat on t

hat," h

opper, but they talked so low that I could hear nothing, though I know they were talking about you and the tunnel. When they came out, I had no time to escape, so I slipped behind a portiere. I heard father say: 'Yes, I guess you are right, Morris. The thing has gone on long enough. If there is one more big accident we shall have to compromise with the Inter-River and carry on the wor

ed by the envelope, and Orton wo

is afternoon, be over at your office at four. Be sure to have Shelton and Capps there, and you can tell Mr. Taylor that you have something very important to set before hi

s working nervously, and as we parted he merely said: "Of course, you'll be

l. Kennedy was there, too, grim and silent. We sat watching the two indicators beside Orton's desk, which showed the air pressure in the two tubes. The needles were vibrating ever so little and

glancing at Orton's desk clock. "Taylor will be here pretty soon, and I wan

t as a large town car pulled up outside the tunnel works. A tall, distingu

had seen him often at investigations

these blueprints, Walter. There, that's a little better. If I had known she was coming I would at least have had the place swept out. P

quickly crossing to his chair to lay a restraining hand on

oming?" he asked eagerly. "I would

ously around at the samples of tunnel parapher

and when I tried to excuse myself for a business appointment, demanded which

d direct means of being there, but he said nothing, and

e have been and are having altogether too many accidents in the tunnel, too many cases of the bends, too ma

r-compressors and an occasional shout of a work

erfectly clear, I will say that there are five things that must, above all others, be looked after in tunnel work: the air pressure, the amount of carbon dioxide in the air, the length of the shifts which th

made, and the amount in the air is not excessive. The shifts are not even as long as those prescribed by the law. The

k, followed by a puzzled expression that plainly indicated that he would l

under the pressure. In coming out of the 'air' if the nitrogen is not all eliminated, it stays in the blood and, as the pressure is reduced, it expands. It is just as if you take a bottle of charged water and pull the cork suddenly. The gas rises in big bubbles. Cork it again and the gas bubbles cease to rise and finally disappear. If you make a pin-hole in the cork the gas will e

table. The others regarded it curiously, b

have since analysed it. The quantity of carbon dioxide is approximately what it should be-not high enough of itself to

in Orton quickly

stituent of air. But th

sake, what did you

d Kennedy, "a very peculiar m

e mixture?"

t the end of the tunnel were not blow-outs at

st at this

all back all the men from the tunnel until the cause for the p

hand on his arm. "One moment, Orton," he said. "Let's hear Professor Kennedy out.

hat sort of flash oil is use

xty-degree Fahrenheit flash

ng air down into the tun

rai

o pockets where oil, moistu

dy," he said with a sort

er up. Like a skilful lawyer, Kennedy dropped that

s call up on the telephone and let some one know when you

Capps, quickly reco

tchboard you will find a small box which you saw me carry in there this morning and conne

d a large disc of thin steel, like those used by some mechanical music-boxes, only without any perfora

gaphone horn, sticki

a voice: "Number ple

all you. Try them again

tra

y, is an instrument known as the telegraphone, invented by a Dane named Poulsen. It records conver

the entire day's conversations over the telephone, preserved on this disc. I could wipe out the

e south tube with those men Orton has sent nosing around here. I'll let you know when I

ntly at Kennedy, as he

ing used in the machinery-not really three-hundred-and-sixty-degree oil. The water-jacket had been tampered with, too. More than that, there is a joint in the pipe leading down

rade oil-and they are ignited. What takes place is the same thing that occurs in the cylinder of an automobile where the air is compressed with gasoline vapour. Only here we have compressed air charged with vapour of oil. The flame proceeds down the pipe-exploding through the pipe, if it happens to be not str

ility of the men for the bends. Capps knew about it. He was careful while he was there to see that the air was made as pure as possible under the circumstances. He was so careful th

suddenly seizing his telephone. "Operator, give

had been only a few bubbles on the surface of the water, I could see what looke

only to be met by a group of blanched-faced workers who

l we come back. Orton, while we are gone, go over the entire day's record on the telegr

. In front of the closed door of the lock, an excited group of men was gathere

s beatin' 'em back with the stick. Now, he's got the door clear and has dragged one poor fellow in. It's Jimmy Rourke, him with the eig

l out safely without the loss of a life he'll save

ncy curtain to work, the frantic efforts of the men, in panic, all to crowd through the narrow little door at once; the rapidly rising water-and above al

ait for the air in the lock to be exhausted. When, at last, the door at our end of the lock swung open, the men with a cheer seized Paddy and, in spite

Vivian Taylor was standing defiantly, with burning eyes, facing Capps, w

o rise, "listen. Have you still that pl

aphone, while we all crowded a

I have argued Taylor and Morris into the right frame of mind for it, if we have one more big accident. What's that? How is my love affair? Well, Orton's in the way yet, but you know why I went into this deal. When you put me into his place after the compromise, I think I will pull strong with her. Saw her last ni

rom one or two of the

d pulled me with him qu

apps out quick before the rest of the men wake up to what it'

in the rear move quickly aside, and off came their muddy, frayed hats.

nd turning to Taylor, who followed her closely,

I

HITE

he mellow spring night air and the opera had won, but we had scarcely begun to argue the vital point

face the lines of sorrow were almost visibly deepening. Her nervous manner interested me greatly, though I took pains to conceal the fact that I noticed it. It

disappearance of their daughter, Georgette. I am sure I need say nothin

ONN

ge for the Missing Persons Squad to

. Gilbert, eagerly scanning Kennedy's face and using a euphemism

t of what the papers have said. Let me introduce my friend, Mr. Jameson. Yo

tar which had occasioned the discussion. The article had been headed, "When Personalities Are Lost," and with the Gilbert case as a te

d baffled the police before this, disappearances that in their suddenness, apparent lack

reason and have left behind them untarnished reputations. Of these a small percentage are found to have met with violence; others have been victims of a suicidal mania; and sooner or later a clue has come to light, for the

tudious efforts are being made to understand and to explain the strange type of mental phenomena exhibited in these cases, but no one has as yet given a final, clear, and comprehensive explanation of them. Such cases are by no means always connected with d

ly and had, some several days and some even years later, suddenly "awakened" to their first

his bushy eyebrows, quickly shifting from my face to Kennedy's, and asked, "And what was your conclusion-what do you think of the case? Is it

opinion," Craig replied with precisely that shade of hesitancy that mig

nces, the purport of which was tha

we have heard of Georgette." His voice faltered a bit, but he proceeded: "As you know, she was last seen walking on Fifth Avenue. The police have traced her since she left home that morning. It is known that she went first to t

er face in a lace handkerchief as

k I need hardly impress upon you the advantage of complete frankness, the fact that anything you may tell me is of a much more confidential natur

reassure both the father and the mo

d have leaked out, for I should have said that that old affair had long since been forgotten even by the society gossips. The fact is that shortly after Georgette 'came out,' Dudley Lawton, who is quite on the road to becoming one of the rather notorious members of the younger set, began to pay her marked attentions. He is a fascinating, romantic s

ather exceptional beauty of Miss Georgette Gilbert. If it had, all the shortcomings of the newspaper photographic art would have been quickly glossed over by the almost ardent descriptions by those ladi

o respect and, I hoped, understand our wishes in the matter. I believe so yet. Mr. Gilbert in a roundabout way came to an understanding with old Mr. Dudley Lawton, who possesses a great influence over his son, and-well, Dudley Lawton seemed to have passed out of Georgette's life. I beli

ugh she was concealing nothing she was measuring her w

ewspapers bringing his name into the cas

e. And yet I cannot quite believe that Lawton is as uninterested as he seems. I know that he has often spoken about her to m

et communication between them? Miss Georgette left no letters or a

very carefully, and I can't say they furnish a clue. In fact, there were very few letters. S

no other things in her life that would cause a desire for freedom?" asked Kenn

h her mother and I did not altogether

u nor the police have received even a hint as

ut as completely as if the

no stone unturned until I have probed to the bottom of this mystery. I have seldom had a case that hung on more slender threads, yet if I can wea

arking: "We'll at least get our walk, if not the show. Let's st

enough in New York and is very fascinating to many girls. In fact, he was one of those fellows whose sins are readil

tory. For my part, I could not determine whether he was merely anxious to avoid any notoriety i

g under the lights of the avenue, "really I don't see how I can be of any assistance. You see, except for a mere passing acquaint

marked Kennedy, carefully concealing under his nonchalance what I knew was working in his mind

ed Lawton quickly, as if desirous of getting rid of us as soon as possible. Then perhaps as if regretting the brusqueness with which he had tried to end the interview, he added, "Don't misunderstand me. The mo

we walked up the avenue after this baffling interview. "Could he have cast her of

Kennedy, "for the simple reason that he himself doesn't know until he has

reach the end of my imagination and give up the case, but Kennedy continued to revolve the matter in his mind, looking at it from every angle and calling up

out of the crowded city into nowhere is something that is much harder to explain. And it isn't so difficult to disappear as some people imagine, either. You remember the case of the

say that disappearances are not mysterious. Disappearances except for money troubles are all mysterious. The first thing in such a case is to disco

ted down something on a piece of pape

family

antic di

insanity, sel

minal

Aph

idna

d those who have financial difficulties. Dream on that and see if you

t started with a visit to the public library, where he carefully went over the ground already gone over by the police. Finding nothing, he concl

ppearance; but Craig was proceeding on the assumption that this purchase indicated nothing except that there had been a sale of handkerchiefs which had caught her eye. Having stopped at the library

display in the window, but only for a moment, for Craig quickly pulled

HT, OCCULTISM, CLA

quickly down the record, he picked out a work on clairvoyance and asked to see the young woman who had made the sale. The clerk was, however, unable to recall to whom she had sold the book, though she finally admitted that she thought it might have been a young woman who had some difficulty in

positive that it was NOT Miss Gilbert to whom she sold the book. Since we are down in this neighbour

en his place of business. As we entered, we could see groups of clerks, evidently discussing the case. It was no wonder, I felt, for the head of the firm was a

scovered the body of his daughter in a lonely spot in the Croton Aqueduct. The report came in from the polic

the extras would be out, and the news would be spread broadcast. The affair would be in the h

s head and bolted for the door. "Hurry, Walter. We mu

cene of the tragedy not very long after the coroner. Mr. Gilbert was there, silent, and looking as if

they could tell nothing beyond the fact that one of them had discovered the body in a thicket where it could not possibly have lain longer than overnight. There was no reason, as yet, to suspect any of them, and indeed, as a much travelled

great physical agony or after a terrific struggle. Indeed, marks of violence o

adventures, the death of a human being, especially of a girl like Miss Gilbert, filled me with horror and revulsion. I could see, however, that he had noted something unusual. He pulled out a little pocket magnifying

it. It was a large clipping from the section of one of the metropolitan journals which carries a host of such advertisements as "spirit medium," "psychic palmist," "yogi mediator," "magnetic influences," "crystal gazer," "astrologer," "trance medium

on with the coroner's physician. The physician was of the opinion that Miss Gilbert had been drugged as well as strangled, and for many hours, down in his laboratory, his chemist

s the different tests failed, he had become more and more k

that sample?" he asked of the physician

nd the many reagents standing before him. He picked up one and poured a little liquid into the test tube. Then, removing the precipit

as he held the tube up

e to make further tests before I can be positive just what it is. If I may retain this sample I th

ted, and Craig quickly dispatched the t

d this morning. I suppose you have concluded, Walter, that we can be reasonably sure that the trail leads back through the fortune-tellers and soothsayers of New York,-which o

ent I was endeavouring to formulate a theory in which Du

from the advertisements in the clipping described himself as "Hata, the Veiled Prophet, born with a double veil, educated i

you power to attract and control those whom you may desire, tells you of living or dead, your secret troubles, the cause and remedy. Advice on all affairs of life, love, courtship, marriage, business

lished himself on a street near Times Square, just off Broadway, and there we found several automobile

front parlour and asked if we had come to se

nt. "We ask all visitors to do that simply as a guarantee of good faith. Then if you will write under it what you wish to find out

two sheets. The second is chemically prepared, with paraffin, I think. By dusting it over with powdered charcoal you can bring out what was written on the first sheet

He also took a small fee of two dollars. A few minutes later we were ushered into the awful presence of the "Veiled Pr

emnly by name and proceeded dire

dimly lighted. Then Hata, the crystal-gazer, solemnly seated himself in a chair. Before him, in his hands, reposing on a bag of satin, lay a huge oval piece

young girl. She is trying to avoid him. Ah-he seizes her by both ar

undoubtedly read, but Kennedy was leaning forward over the crystal-gazer,

ding from her mouth,

urged Kenn

rikes her. He fle

ightly on the arm of the clairv

rk, dark. You will have to come back

ennedy, however, seemed elated by ou

o vapourings like that? Why, there wasn't a thing the fellow couldn't have

ped under a light to read the address of the n

to gratify the idle curious, but to direct, advise, and help men and women"-at the usual low fee. He said in print that he gave ins

at is sweeter, better, or more to be desired than perfect harmony and happiness? If you want to win the esteem

t soothsayers in the next column (and almost next door) it seemed

e seated about as if waiting for some one. The pad and writing process was repeated with little variation. Since we were the la

was an altar on which burned several candles which gave out an incense. The atmospher

onograph buried in the depths of the altar, answered in an unknown language which sounded much like "Al-ya wa-aa haal-ya waa-ha." Across the dim room flashed a pale blue light with a crackling noise, the visible rays from a

it up, saying that the spirits had no revelation to make to-night in the matter in which we had called. Inasmuch as we had not written on the pad just what that matter was, I was not surprised. Nor wa

xious to get rid of us, moved toward the door. Kennedy sidled o

ngs to look over in the meantime

harge all my students," answered the Pandit with just a trace o

xamined the collar and neck very carefully under the least dim of the lights in the room. He seemed to find what he wished, yet he continued to examine the robe until the sound of retu

just the faintest shade of trepidation. "My servant

inancial activities of the fortune tellers, who worked in close harmony with certain bucket-shop operators in fleecing the credulous of their money by inspired investment advice.

t into an alley. There is the street not twenty

on our list, so that with this unceremonious dismissal

of police protection, or persecution, one could not say which. I was wondering what sort of vagary would come next. It proved to be

ke an open book; he overcomes evil influences, reunites the separated, causes speedy and happy marriage with the one of your choice, tells how to influence any one you desire, tells whether wife or sweetheart is true or false. Love, friendship, and influence

wonderful Swami and, falling into the spirit of his advertisement, posed as "come-ons" and pleaded to obtain this wonderful magnetism and a knowledge of the Karmic law-at a ridiculously low figure, considering its inestimable advantages to one en

ther as he motioned us

ircular divan with pil

flowers in vases about

e renewed vital

h was of a vile, muddy, Turkish variety. Then from the jar he took a box of rock crystal containing a sort of greenish compound which he kneaded into a little gum-gum tragacanth, I afte

, legs, and arms. Then came a subtle warmth. The whole thing seemed droll; the noise of the Swami's voice was most harmonious. His and Kennedy's faces seemed transformed. They were human face

r me caught my eye. The countenance really smiled and laughed and varied from moment to moment. Her figure became rounded and living and seemed

in. Thoughts came to me like fury, bewildering, sometimes as points of light in the most exquisite fireworks. Objects were clothed in most fantastic garbs. I looked at my two animal companions. I seemed to r

I could see Craig getting, whereas I was lost in a maze of dreams that I would not have stopped if I could. Seconds seemed to be years; minutes ages. Things at only a short distance looked much as they do

und salaam. In an instant Kennedy had seized with both hands the long flowing hair at the back of the

e and the pressure of my grasp, Craig sullenly and slowly relaxed his grip. A vacant look seemed to steal i

street, but out of the corner of my eye I could see that K

t somewhat vexed and feeling a sort of lassitude and h

of disgust on your face," he said as he opened his hand and showed me three or four of the gum lozenges that he had p

thoughts like sky rockets through my brain I gave it up and a

nd by his "magnetic monochrome," whatever that might be, he would "impart to you an a

d cross, the winged circle, and the winged orb. The Guru himself was a swarthy individual with a purple turban wound around his head. In his inner room were many statuettes, photographs of other Gurus

ake represents eternity, the star involution and evolution of the soul, while the wing

ot," the "bunny hug," and the "grizzly bear." The book, as we turned over its pages, gave directions for preparing everything from food to love-philtres and the elixir of life. One very interesting chapter was devoted to "electric marriage," which seemed to come to those only who, after searching patiently, at last found perfect mates. Another

ic influence over his disciples or those who came to seek his advice. Besides this indefinabl

ars." I think he hesitated, to see how much the traffic would bear, from one to one hundred, and compromised with only one

sted in the table and was examining it when the Guru returned. Just as the door opened he managed

good English, "let me know, and you must try one of my

ry in New York, and in fact in every large city of the world-love-philtres, love-pills, and all the rest of it. And it is no

e fakirs are not so gullible, af

omething interesting to say to-night

I put in the time speculating which of the fakirs had been in some mysterious way connected with the case and in what manner. Many were the theories which I had forme

othsayers, assembled a curiously cosmopolitan crowd in his laboratory. Besides the Gilberts were Dudley Lawton and his father, Hata, t

ly. "Human hair," he resumed, "has recently been the study of that untiring criminal scientist, M. Bertillon. He has drawn up a full, classified, and graduated table of all the known colours of the human hair, a complete palette, so to speak, of samples gathered in every quarter of the globe. Henceforth burglars, who already wear gloves or paint their fi

e it is practically always possible to distinguish human hair from animal. I shall not go into the distinctions, but I may add that it is also possible to determine very quickly

of glass, that was all. But on the glass was what appeared to be merely a faint line. "This slide," he said, holding it up, "has what must prove an unescapable clue to the identity of the man responsible for the disappea

re clenched, as if she had struggled with all her power against a force that had been too much for her. I examined her hands, expecting to find some evidence of a w

lier in the case-that it hung on slender thread

e visited several of the fortune-tellers and practitioners of the occult sciences in which we had reason to believe Miss Gilbert was interested. They all, by the way, make a specialty of giving advice in money matters and solving the problems of lovers. I suspect that at times Mr. Jameson has thought that I was demented, but I had to resort to many and various expedients to collect th

of astonishment from our little audience. Still

numbered envelopes the names of the persons who furnished them. But before I open the envelope numbered the same as the slide which contains the hair which corresponds precisely with that hair found in Miss Gilbert's hand-and it is slide No. 2--" said Kenned

which I sometimes thought he enjoyed more keenly than

his power. What was that force? At first I thought it might have been the hackneyed knockout drops, but tests by the coroner's physician eliminated that. Then I thought it might be one of the alkaloids, such as morphine, cocaine, and others. But it was n

sensibilities to distraction, producing what is really hysteria. If the weather is clear, this drug will make life gorgeous; if it rains, tragic. Slight vexation becomes deadly revenge; courage becomes rashness; fear, abject terror; and gentle affection or even a passing liking is transformed into passionate love. It is the drug derived from the Indian hemp, scientifically named Cannabis Indica, better known as hashish, or bhang, or a dozen other names in the East. Its chief characteristic is that it has a pr

ts, she was frantic. This place offered hope, and to it she went in all innocence, not knowing that it was only the open door to a life such as the most lurid disorderly resorts of the metropolis could scarcely match. There her credulity was preyed upon, and she was tricked into taking this drug, which itself has such marked and perverti

I could see that his fists were doubled up and that he was holding himself in leash as if waiting for something, eyei

t as I did so, he leaped behind me, and before I could

hair was the Swami's. Georgette Gilbert was one victim who fought and rescued herself from a slavery worse tha

I

FO

at the Insurance Club, one of the many new downtown luncheon club

enough to warrant a tentative reference to the obvious fact that he had had a purpose in inviting us to the club

doing a ripping business-putting up the premium rate about every day i

iled somewhat wearily, I thought. "We are," he replied d

remiums or t

it is variously estimated that the forgers of the country are getting away with from ten to fifteen million dollars a year. It is just one case that I was th

ion dollars?" gasped Ke

e found it diffi

at one fell swoop, of course, but gradually, covering a period of some

g no

me to figure in the case, by having insured their bank against forgery. Of course our liability runs up only to $50,000. But the loss to the company as well as to its bank through this affair will re

s, some clues. You must have taken some action i

we have found that Bolton Brown has been leading a rather fast life, quite unknown to his fellow-officials. We know that he has been speculating secretly in the wheat corner that went to pieces, but the most significant thing is that he has been altogether too intimate with an adventuress, Adele De-Mott, who has had some success as a woman of hig

cter of the forgeri

s to five thousand. They have been so well executed that some of them have been certified by the bank, all of them have been accepted when they came back from other banks, and even the officers of the company don't seem to be able to pic

almost any office boy who comes in with it. The common method of forgers lately has been to take such a certified forged check, deposit it in another bank, then gradually withdraw it in a few days before there is

er of the company?"

e else besides Brown in it, it might be Michael Dawson, the nominal assistant but really the active treasurer. There you have another man

Why?" asked Kennedy,

ary of their honeymoon secret, more as a joke on their friends than anything else, they said, for Miss Sanderson was a well-known beauty and the newspapers bot

forgeries consists not so much in the checks, which interest my company, but in fraudulently issued stock certifi

oman, for women seem to rope in the suckers best in these get-rich-quick schemes. And, well, if it was Dawson the honeymoon has given him a splendid chance to make his get-away, though it a

Kennedy and it would not have taken a clairvoyant t

ially as there seems to be a doubt a

stock certificates were kept in the company's vault in the bank to which, of course, Brown had access. But then, as Carroll argues, Dawson had access to them, too, which is very true-more so for Dawson than for Brown, who was in the bank an

made his headquarters when he was in New York. The whole thing was done with such despatch that I could not help feeling that Carroll had been waiting to hear from his friend in the insurance company. The look of relief on Williams's face when Kennedy said he would go immediately

ter opportunity for speculation, and the banks, as many authorities will agree, have not made enough use of the machinery available to put a stop to embezzlement. This case is evidently one of the results. The careless fellows at the top, like this man Carroll whom we are going to see, generally put forward as excuse the statement that the science of banking and of business is

d until they had become a veritable obsession. It was literally true that they were all that he could talk about

, as he fixed his unnaturally bright eyes on us anxiously. "I've simply got to find the man who has so nearly wrecked the By

ntly out of the window as if he were

ier, Bolton Brown, has been

o have disappeared. Now let me tell you about what I think of that, Kennedy. I know it looks bad for B

deposited in other banks by people whom we can't identify but who must have opened accounts for the purpose of finally putting through a few bad checks. Then they came back to our bank in the regular channels and were accepted. By various kinds of juggling they were covered

y the thing will come back to Dawson and even if he is guilty, it will make me the-er-the ultimate goat. The upshot of it all will be that I shall have to stand the blame, if not the guil

t makes you think that you will find your

the company. This clerk told me that a long time ago Dawson said he had always wanted to go to South America and that perhaps on his honeymoon he might get a chance. This is t

one of them with his wife. What mak

rectly from her folks, who profess to know no better than we do where the couple are. That was an additional reason w

have

come in to-day from Atlantic City and New York. They seem to be in payment of bills, as they are for odd amounts. One is

25th. If he's clever he won't board that ship except in a disguise, for he will know that by that time some one must be watching. Now I want you to help me penetrate that disguise. Of course we can't arrest the who

th excitement as he unfolded his sch

I suppose Dawson was a

No speculating or fast

ow

ret drug fiend. I found that out after he left. In his desk at the By-Products office we discovered hypodermic needle

case unrolled it was assuming one ne

indicate that he had

antic City," re

g under his own name nor, I believe as far as I can find out, even under his own face. I think the fell

o do it, too. You will pardon me if I excuse myself now? There are certain aspects of

e. Of course that sort of game couldn't last forever. Some one was going to demand dividends on his stock, or transfer it, or ask to have it recorded on the books, or something that would give the whole scheme away. From each person to whom he sold stock I believe he demanded some kind of promise not to sell it within a certain period, and in that way we figure that he gave himself plenty of time to realise several hundre

. "And the girl?" he broke in. "She must be in the game or her letters to so

my opinion. Oh, you can be sure that if a proposition like this were put up to her she'd take a chance to get away with it. She runs no risks. She didn't do it an

of the forged certi

ry has been told in print they have

ly engraved certificat

utinised th

to study at my l

rroll, "and if you want

o for

nk you," said Craig. "I shall keep in touch with y

r I could see that Kennedy was thinking out a course of action. The quick pace at which

a bunch of special envelopes which he seemed to be saving for some purpose. He sealed it with som

with him more or less in the past about handwriting I did not have to be told that he was using a microsco

ce they look as good as the real article. Even if they are tracings they are remarkably fine work. It certainly is a fact, h

value in studying abrasions and alterations since it gives depth, in this case tells me that there has been nothing of that sort practised. My colour comparison microscope, which permits the comparison of the ink on two different documents or two places on one document at the same time, tells me something. This instrument with new and accurately coloured glasses enables

a and the microscopic enlarger, as well as this specially constructed document camera with lenses certified by the government. If it com

always some slight room for doubt in these special cases where a man sits down and is in the habit of writing his signature over and over again on one stock or bond after another. He may get so used to it that he does it automatically and his signatures may come pretty close to superimposing. If I had time, though, I think I could demonstrate that there are altog

recommended. The description of the woman with him who seemed to be his wife might have fitted either Mrs. Dawson or Adele DeMott. The only person who had called had been a man who said he represented the By-Products Company and was the treasurer. He had questioned the hotel people rather closely about the whereabouts o

ised and returned by an

em that I represented the By-Products Company in New York and was authorised to investigate the bad check which they had received. They couldn't describe Dawson very well-at least their description would have fitted almost

beards are common enough." Then I re

of making his identification sure, and a peculiar coincidence it is, too. It seems that one night this man and a lady who may have been the former Miss Sanderson, though the description of her like most amateur descr

r not wishing to appear in print in Atlantic City, as many have. The man seemed to notice that the photographer was a little suspicious and he hastened to make some kind of excuse about 'wanting the home folks to see how swell he and his wife were dining in evening dress.' It was a rat

ess on the package which the photographer did not see, and as there was a box for mailing packages right at the door on the boardwalk there was no excuse for not mailing it directly. Now if I could get hold of that plate or a print from it I

y's idea being that if Dawson was a habitual morphine fiend he must have replenished his supply of the dr

What did interest us was that again we crossed the trail of a man with a Van Dyke beard. He had been accompanied by a woman whom the druggist described as rather flashily dressed

ogists have said enough about it, but you don't realise it until you are up against it. Why, that might have been the DeMott woman just as well as the former Miss Sanderson, and

letter which he had addressed to Michael Dawson. On

over slowly and looked a

ack to the postman after he had opened it and found that it was just a note of no importance which I

now he opened

ickly with gum. On the envelope itself was some iron sulphate under more gum. I carefully sealed the letter, using very little moisture. The gum then separated the two p

d he was booked to sail under an assumed name and with an assumed face was to sail the following noon. And still we had no word from Chicago as to the destination of the pho

e he had been released on bail, but that he would be produced when wanted. Adele DeMott had not been seen for several days in Chicago and the police there were of the opinion that s

day had left and the photograph, even though it were found, could not possibly reach us in time to be of use before the

cer of the Telegraph and Telephone Company to whom Williams had given him a card of introduction. The upshot had been that he had called up Chicago and talked for a long time with Professor Clark, a former classmate of

I remarked as we walked slowly over

ent-mindedly, more from pol

n Dyke beard who goes on th

he said simply, "especially as the victim would feel pretty hot if we ca

res under the electric lights of the campus from the str

other contrivances which did not suggest to my mind anything he had ever used before in our adventures. I killed time as best I could watching him adjust the thing with the most minu

apparatus. "In case I do not see you then, get in touch with Williams and Carroll and have them come here about ten o'clock with an automobile. If I am not

before I could see him again. I made a hurried trip downtown to catch Carroll and Williams and then return

tion, though frequent talks over long-distance with Chicago seemed to reassure him. Thanks to the influence

sold the forged certificates of stock. Somewhere in that great city was a photograph of the promoter and of the woman who was aiding him to escape, taken in Atlantic City and sent by mail to Chicago. Who had received it? Would it be found in time to be of use? What would it reveal? It was

et?" appealed an anxious

for our man. It was Carroll who spoke. The strain of the suspense was telling on him and I could readily imagine that he, like

sy about his apparatus on the table.

ur detectives still insist that Bolton Brown is the man to watch, and th

"What's all this stuff on the table?" he asked

reply, for the telephone be

I'll try to repeat as much of the conversation as I can so that you can follow it. Hello-yes-this is Kennedy. Is that you, Clark? It's all arranged at t

an slowly to revolve and the stylus or needle pressed down on the sensitised paper with which the drum was cov

Clark and I have been intending to try it out for a long time. It at last makes possible the electric transmission

band yet, but gradually it was widening, though we could not guess what it wa

ities at various times for some years. Korn's apparatus depends on the ability of the element selenium to vary the strength of an electric current passing through it in proportion to the

been treated with a single-line screen. You know a halftone consists of a photograph through a screen composed of lines running perpendicular to each other-a coarse screen for newspaper work, and a fine screen for better work, such as in magazines. Well, in this case the screen

laimed, thoroughl

t right angles, like the other lines of a regular halftone. Whenever the point of the stylus passes over one of the lighter spots on the photographic print it sends on a longer electrical vibration, over the darker spots a shorter vib

sion which each stroke of the receiving stylus makes on the paper is black or light, according to the length of the very quickly changing vibrations of the electric current. White spots on the photographic print come out as black spots here on the

thing was doing. It was reproducing faithfully in New Y

still half incredulous in spit

ch I think may aid us i

s responsible for the

help us to penetrate

South America or wher

oking at his watch. "She sails in an hour and a half and

get in it and he bribed the photographer to give him the plate and take another picture for the booklet which would leave him out. The plate was sent to a little office in Chicago, discovered by the post-office inspec

klyn waited. "Morphine fiends," said Kennedy as he fanned the print to dry it, "are the most unreliable sort of people. They cover their tracks with almost diabolical cunning. In fact they seem to enjoy it. For instance, t

of the drug have less power to resist physical and mental impressions and they easily succumb to temptations and suggestions from others. Morphine stands unequalled as a perverter of the moral sense. It creates a person whom the father of lies must recognise as kindre

want to go down the bay on a tug you've got to catch Dawson now or never. The morphine business explains,

peculiar case. You have forged the name of the president of your company, but you have also traced your own name very cleverly to look like a forg

as hesitating, nonplussed, until Kennedy reached over unexpectedly and grasped Carroll by the arm. As he shoved u

safely in the custody of his counsel, ready to appear and clear himself as soon as the public opinion which has been falsely inflamed against him subsides. Your plan to give us the slip at the last moment at the wharf and board the steamer for South America has miscarried. It is now too late to catch it,

eard, it was the face of John Carroll, forger and morphine fiend. Next him in the picture in the brilliant and fashionable

OFFICI

he new Hotel Vanderveer one evening after reclaiming our hats from the plutocrat who had acquired the checking privilege. We ha

ed Kennedy,

inner given to the President not long ago and he told me a great yarn about how the secret service, the police, and the hotel co

nd had caught my eye. Much to my

y name, though he had seen me only once and then fo

d, wondering wh

the house a little-er-favour?" he ask

led attempt to secure a little free advertising for the Vanderveer

spered aside, turning q

e house man deferentially,

that you knew some interesting yarns about hotel detective life. I sho

ead?" interrupted the house detect

se me more. What is it-a 'c

d. "It's either a suicide or a murder. Come upstairs with me. There isn't a man in

the floor clerk, the house detective led the way down the thickly carpeted hall, stopping at a room which, we could

gh all the lights were turned on, the room was empty. McBride crossed the room quickly, opened a doo

e had been, too, though not with the freshness which makes American women so attractive. There was someth

It was enough for me that here lay this cold, stony, rigid beauty, robed in the latest creations of Paris, alone in an elegantly furnished room of an excl

estruck for

paper men to keep this thing off the front pages? Of course something has to be printed about it. But we don't want to hoodoo the hotel right at the start. We had a suicide the other day who left an apologetic note that was played up by some of the papers. Now comes this affair. The management are just as

Kennedy. "At least, under w

r with foreign labels, not an American label among them. I haven't the slightest doubt that her name was fictitious, for as far as I can see all the ordinary marks of identification have

the hotel offered any clue, no m

them. But she was evidently expecting some one, for her maid had left word at the desk that if a Mr. Gonzales called, she was at home; if any one else, she was out. For the first day or two she kept herself closely confined, except that at the end of the second day she took a short spin through the park in a taxicab-closed, even in this hot weather. Where she went I cannot say, but when they returned the maid

Did this Mr. Gonzales call

" answered McBride. "That was what the clerk was telling me when I happened to catch sight of you.

" asked Craig. "Did she leave any card

for a time as if he hesitated to ret

society news and the illustrated papers he is sure that he recognised h

aimed Kennedy. "Why, the pap

heiress who is rumoured to be en

had heard a few days before from our society reporter on the Star, "I b

er there may be in it, the fact remains that Madame de Nevers, supposing that to be her real name, has been dead for at least a day or two. The first thing to be dete

of the hotel clerk. He had been making a casual examination of the body on the bed, and finding nothi

have been done in a crowded hotel in which the rooms on every side had been occupied and people had been passing thr

es of glass. He was regarding them with an interest that was oblivious to everything else. As he turned them over and over and tried to fit them t

overed?" asked Craig a

de qu

had asked her to say to him that she was going away for a few days and that under no circumstances was her room to be disturbed in her absence. The maid was commissioned to pay

y or two longer, if the chambermaid hadn't been a bit curious. She hunted till she found another key that fitted, and opened the closet door, apparently to see what Madame had been so pa

aid? What has become of h

"From the moment when the bill was pai

on of her, one that you could send ou

uld give a pretty

o be a most unusual case," he remarked in answer to the implied inquiry

his head in

se the most potent, quickest-acting stupefying drugs. Some of their exploits surpass anything hitherto even imagined by the European police. The American police ha

'etyle, bromoform, nitrite d'amyle, and amyline are known to be utilised by the endormeurs to put their victims to sleep, and the skill which they have acquired in the use of these powerful drugs establis

efy, rob, and then leave his victim. There is something more to this case than a mere suicide or murder, McBride. Of course she may have committed suicide with the drugs of the endormeurs; then again she may merely have been rendered unconscious by those drugs and some other po

brought his right fist down with a resoun

cafe, where I saw a face that looked familiar to me. It was that of a dark-haired, olive-skinned man, a fascinating face, but a face to be afraid of. I remembered him, I thought, from my

ystem in the hotel by which I can turn all the help into amateur sleuths. I told him to be very careful about the dark-faced man

t three times during his chat with his companion Charley had wiped off his table with lingering hand. Twice he had put fresh seltzer in his drink. Like a good waiter always working for a big tip he had hovered

ch he did not name but which the younger man seemed to understand. They talked of wharves and tracts of land, of sovereignty and blue prints, the Monroe Doctrine, value in case of war, and a lot of other things. Then they talked of money, and though Charley was most assiduous at the time all he overheard was something about 'ten thousand francs' and 'buying her off,' and finally a whispered

care much what it was, at the time. It might have been an attempt of the dark-visaged fellow to sell the Canal to a come-on. What I wanted was to

uriously at not getting any apology. 'Sacre,' he exclaimed, 'what the-' But before he could finish I moved still closer and pinched his elbow. A dull red glow of suppressed anger spread over his face, but he cut his words short. He knew and I knew he knew. That is the sign in the continental hotels when they find a crook and quietly ask him to move on. The man turned on his heel and stalked

ct that incident with

d Kennedy, a

a man bidding good-bye to a woman at the rear carriage entrance of the hotel. The w

od description of the maid or could writ

"You know we have recently formed a sort of clearing house, we hotel detectives, and we are working together now very well, though se

tectives on the trail as well as the police of the city, and of other cities, will make the inquiries at the steamships and railroads, and all that sort of t

," agreed McBri

he door and McBride open

n we had already obtained so concisely from the house man. The coroner was, of course, angry at the removal of the body from the closet to the bed because he wanted to view

ouldn't have been illuminating gas, then. No, it must have been a poison of some kind. Then as to the motive," he added, trying to look confident but really shooting a tentative remark at Craig and the house detective, who said nothing. "It looks a good deal like that other suicide-at least a suicide which some one has en

ave the maid to be found by your organisation, McBride. Let me see, the theatres and roof gardens must be letting ou

ly moderate as American fortunes go nowadays, lived in an apartment facing the park, with her mother,

was late, Kennedy sent up his card with an urgent message to see them. They received us in a large drawing-

gan Mrs. Lovelace in a tone which was intended t

t of course he did not even hint as much in his repl

nderveer?" asked Craig, turning quickly to the daughter so as to catch the ful

er breath for an instant, but she kept her composure admirably in

d with forced calmness as he continued to l

evers has committed suicide at the Vanderveer and

again, from which I argued that whatever knowledge she h

ver saw her. I simply know

showed more plainly than in mere words that she

rcilessly. "One moment, please," he added, anticipating the blank look of amazement on h

merely raised her should

k or in Washington

ough that some of the newspapers have said so? If you

int. Whether or not the duke was in New York or Washington or Spitzbergen, he now felt sure that Miss Lovelace knew of, and perhaps something about, Madame de Nevers. In some way the

g decided to sleep soundly over the case, his infallible met

oner himself, who in a few words explained that he was far from s

iological investigations in cases of homicide and suicide. We are often forced to resort to private laboratories, as you know in the past when I have had to appeal to you. Now, Professor Kennedy, if we

y, though he did not allow the

cessary organs for a thorough test as to the cause of the death

aig's scientific workshop before that official appeared, accompanied by a man who carr

ade him a leading factor in its solution. Whatever suspicions he may have ent

talking half to us and half to himself as he worked. The next step was to place the matter in a glass flask in a water bath where it was heated. From

ennedy took a piece of paper which had been treated with iodised starch, as he later

hed for a bottle on the shelves before him, and I could see from the label on the brown glass that it was ni

hloroform," he exclaimed simply i

us chloroform case for which a man is now serving a life term in Sing Sing which I have understood there was grave doubt in the minds of the experts. Mind, I am not trying to question the results of your work except as they might naturally be questioned in court. It seems to me that the volatility of chloroform might very possibly preclude it

ut his confidence

practical working range of say twelve days, while in winter it may be found even after several months-by the right method. Certainly this case comes within the average length of time. More than that, no substance is generated by the process of decomposition which will vitiate

s if the turn of events was necessitating a co

dy in a tone that left nothing

t that it was done without a struggle? There were no marks of violence and I, for one, do not believe that

some bonbons and lozenges, a small hypodermic syringe, and a few cigars and

denly she must have found a pocket handkerchief under her nose. The criminal crushed a globe of liquid in the handkerchief, the victim lost consciousness, the chloroform was administered without a struggle, all marks of identi

loath to abandon his own suicide theory and had held it to the last possible moment. At any rate, so far he had said l

the note as he glanced doubtfully from it to us, "that you have heard that among the

ing up the apparatus he had just used. There was nothing in his manner even to hin

mind telling you that I believe it was more than a rumour. I have had a man w

he now handed to us. It

hurriedly for Wash

ramifications grew wider than anything we had yet expected. Why had Miss L

came from McBride saying that he had some important news for us if we would meet hi

of his desk, broke it quickly, and looked thoughtfully at the cartridge

nst before we get back to the laboratory,"

n the cafe and a woman who might very possibly have been Madame's maid had come to the St. Cenis as M. and Mme. Duval. Their baggage was light, but they had been at pains to impress upon the hotel that they were persons of som

trange couple if they were not in. As it happened it was the lunch hour and they were not in the room. Still, Kennedy dared not

a few minutes, finding nothing, "that this is pre-eminently a case

said. "I'm afraid they would discover it, that is, if they are at all the clever people I think them. Besides, I would have to send up to the la

the side wall hung a cheap etching of a woodland scene. Kennedy

nstruments?" he asked at length, turning to

later he deposited the instruments on a table. Where he got them I

y, falling to work immediately on the telephones. The detective despatched

them placed the capsules on the table carefully. Then he lifted down the etching from th

per and the glass on the picture he mounted them so that the paper and

se interest at what he was doing, "will produce a strikingly sensitive micropho

couple in whose room we were had very nearly finished

ng from the huge transmitter up to the picture moulding. Along the top of the moulding and out through the transom it was easy eno

developments from our hastily improvi

it was evident from the expression of Kennedy's face that some one had ente

ought I wasn't reckoning without reason. The couple, whoever they are, are talking in unde

down as he listened to the conversation I shall reproduce it as if we had all heard it. There were some anxious moments until at last they had satisfied themse

cular, Henri?" a woma

hotels. You remember I told you what happened at the Vanderveer the night you and M

ould not tell me just now at luncheon?" asked the wom

m Washington. Wait u

at does it say?" asked

suicide or not. Worse than that the Secret Service must have wind of some part of our scheme, for they are acting suspiciously. I must g

iscovered Marie's body?" asked the woman. "I hope that that wasn't the

rk, I am convinced. You are sure that all her letters were secured, that all clues to connect her wit

the coaling station on the Pacific ne

the man. "Louise, sha

ou ke

w I can,

et. We know that they are a fake. But we are going to sell them through that friend of ours in the United States War Department. But that is only part of the coup, the part that will give us the money to turn the much larger coups we have in the future. You can understand why it has all to be done so secretly and how vexatious it is that

does Miss Lo

and had let any of de Nevers's letters slip through to Miss Lovelace. She richly deserved her fate for that act of treachery. The affair would have been so simple, otherwise. Luck was with us until her insane jealousy led her to

n will you retur

r Department and in exchange he is to give us something else-the secret of which I spoke. You see the trail leads up into high cir

time slip by. There must be no mistake this time as there was when we were working for Japan and

for a man named Gonzales. I shall use the name Montez. He is to appear, hand over the package-that thing I have told you about-then I am to return here by one of the midnight trains. At any cost we must allow nothing to happen which

ree-thirty; the next, leaving an hour later, did not arrive until nearly eleven. He had evidently had some idea of causing some delay that would result in our friend down th

vised dictograph. "Come, Walter, we must catch the limited for Washington immediately. McBride, I leav

We took up our post so that we could see the outgoing travellers, and a few minutes later Craig spotted ou

ting him know that we were watching him. Nevertheless I could not help asking myself what good it did. Why did not Kennedy hire a special if the affair was so important as it appeare

g rapidly up the platform in the direction of the cab stand. Suddenly

we came to a turn in the shadow of t

match-box. Instantly Kennedy's po

nd out Kennedy, crushing several of the little glass globes

if we had not caught him between us.

l. Drive us around a bit. It will sober him up. Com

t the time as to the cause, but it was understood later that a crisis was narrowly averted at a very inopportune season, for the heads of the departments were all away, the Pres

the year. There was treachery of some kind and some trusted employee was involved, I felt instinctively. As for Craig he merely glanced at the insensible figure between us and remarked sententiously that to hi

did he show signs of recovery from his profound stupor. Kennedy stopped the cab in a s

the house when a man walking in the opposite direction e

!" he ex

ot have been more startled. Here, in spite of all our h

he man by the arm. "Come," he said quickly,

was the first to speak

ecret Service,

faces." He was evidently referring to our experiences together some months before with the

pers. Under the dim light from the street I could s

ea when I took up this case that I should be doing my country a service also. We must succeed at any hazard. The moment you hear a pistol shot, Burke, we

s of the house and a ne

ales in?" as

ing-room, where a dim light was burning behind the thick portieres. Withou

z is here," added C

in a few minutes returned with the m

r. There was no sound. He took a chair and tiptoed out into the dark hall with it. Turning it upside down he pla

xt I knew was a muffled step on the lan

French followed as the man pitched hea

rostrate figure. I do not know what the ethics are of firing o

or. A sickening odour seemed to pervade the air.

t of commission without killing him. A pull of the trigger, the cap explodes, the gunpowder and the force of the explosion unite some capsicum and lycopodium, producing the blinding, suffocating vapour whose terrible effect you see. Here, you upstairs," h

my eyes off the stairs I opened it. Burke s

ped. "I heard a sho

d we saw him deftly slip a bright pair of manacles on the wrists of the man on the floo

et of papers, and gazed eagerly at one after another. From among them he unfolde

hington, U. S. A., has secured some important information which will interest t

o to the Vandeveer Hotel and in a few days, as soon as a certain exchange can be made, either our friend in Washington or myself will call on you, us

ed of money I have secured the work for you. You had better take your maid, as it is much better to travel with distinction in this case. If, however, you accept this commission I shall consider you in honour bound to surrender your claim upon my name for which I

EAUR

pose. Then by means of the treachery of the maid Louise and his friend Duval, a crook who would even descend to play the part of v

me. This blackmailing must stop. Miss Lovelace knows something, thanks to you, but she shall never know all-never-never. You-you-ugh!-Stop.

he delicate hands he had been dreaming of as he lived over the terrible

real swindler of five continents. Marie de Nevers alive stood in the way of

o the War Department and tell them they can turn out their lights and stop their telegrams. This seems to be a copy of our government's plans for the fortification of the Panama Canal, heights of guns, location of searchl

rvice to find the leak

is not the man who pla

hem. To me this adven

ely the murderer of

SMUG

o had calculated by the calendar rather than by the weather were r

ough on this particular day there was a lull in the succession o

till half deserted, though the few pedestrians who had returned or remained in town like ourselves were, as usual, to be found

ic man's whistle to halt the crush of automobil

had recently been appointed to a position in the customs house of New York. Herndon, I may add, represented the yo

urb, and Jack tore down the

ok hands, "and wondering whether you and Walter were in town

s?" laughed Kennedy. "Or perhaps you hav

nt. "We're having a big shake-up down at the office, none of yo

coming?" inquired Craig

e force as a special deputy surveyor to rout out some smuggling that we know is going on. If I make good

asked Kennedy observantly.

m and walked us over to a stone bench

e peculiar death of Mademoiselle Violette, the little Fre

y. "What has that to d

thering us all summer. It's the first really big thing I've been up against and

smuggle gowns and jewellery from Paris. Smuggling jewellery is pretty common because jewels take up little space and are very valuable. Perhaps it doesn't sound to you like a big thing to smuggle dresses, but when you realise that one of those filmy lacy creations may often be worth several hundred, if not thousand, dollars, and that it needs only a few of them on each ship that comes in to run up i

incriminating herself-or himself. Strange to say, this new clue came from the wife of one of the customs men. She happened to be in a Broadway manicure shop one day when she heard a woman talking with the manicurist about fall styles, and she was all attention when she heard the customer say, 'Yo

, indeed. But then, I guess she meant that she had to pay the duty now. You know they ar

lied the customer

shrug of the shoulders and a

case was progressing favourably and he had become acquainted with one of the girls who worked in the shop. We might have got some evidence, but suddenly this morning he walked up to my desk and handed me an early edition of an afternoon paper. Mademoiselle

nection between her death an

lery this season. For one thing, we believe he has acquired from a syndicate a rather famous diamond necklace which it has taken years to assemble and match up, worth about three hundred thousand. You know the duty on made-up jewellery is sixty per cent., and even if he brought the stones in loose it would be ten per cent., which on a valuation of, say, two hundred thousand, means twenty thousand dollars duty alone. Then he has a sple

en from the bench and

en

the basement and first floor had been remodelled for business purposes. Mademoiselle's place, which was on

n the same street, while almost directly across was a sign which proclaimed that on September

there, and the former was expecting Herndon. Kennedy

f, the second as a workroom for the girls whom she employed, while she lived on the top floor, which had been fitted for light housekeepin

o take in the situation. "I suppose they told nearly all the story, but wha

his pocket. It had four round holes in it and through each hole he slipped a finger, then closed his ha

king hastily at the body, which showed n

ed under his little finger, there shot out as if released by a magic spring a thin keen little blade of the brightest and toughest steel. He was holding, instead of a meaningless

the underworld of Paris," broke out Ke

by expert medical testimony that we can determine whether it was placed on her fingers be

profuse flow of blood which we had expected to see, there was a single round spot. And in the wh

he weapon to the dead woman and back again. "Internal hemorrhage. I suppose you

from Pierre, the jeweller. They seem to have been engaged, and yet the letters stopped abruptl

The same notepaper and the same handwri

edy might he could find nothing further than

demoiselle's and were riding downtown to the customs house with Herndon. "What do

ps abroad, mostly Pierre. Pierre, as you see, was very intimate with Mademoiselle, and the letters simply confirm what the girls told my detective. He was believed to be engaged to h

r? What role does he p

seem always to be plentifully supplied with money and to have a good trade. Lang lives most of the time up on the west shore of the Hudson, and seems to be more interested in

Kennedy, "what about

ere they-ah

to go motor-boating with Lang, but only when her fiance, Pierre, was along. No, I don't think she ever had anything to do with Lang, if that's what you are driving at. He may h

d with his stenographer to get the very latest reports fr

lved a death. Really, I've come to look on smuggling as one of the fine arts among crimes. Once the smuggler, like the pirate and the highwayman, was a sort of gentleman-rogue. But now it has become a very ladylike art. The extent of it is almost beyond belief, too. It begins with the steerage and runs right up to the

er they call it? Well, here's another cable from our Paris Secret Service with a belated tip. They tell us to look out for a Mademoiselle Gabrielle-on La Montaigne, too. That's another interesting thing. You know the various lines are all ranked, at

ographer, who had entered while he was speaking, "and she is three

and 'bring in the ship,' as our men call it when the deputy surveyor and his acting deputies go down to meet it at Quarantine. I can't tell you how

oked more blue as they danced in the early sunlight, flecked here and there by a foaming whitecap as the conflicting tides eddied about. The shores of Staten Island were

t was not a revenue cutter, however, on which we were ploughing down the bay. The cutter lay, white and gleaming in the morning sun, at anchor off Stapleton, li

, where she had been waiting since early morning for the tide and the customs officials. The tug steamed alongside, and quickly up the high ladders swarmed the boarding officer and the deputy collectors. We followed Herndon straight

number at the bottom and handed the number back, to be presented at the in

we want to watch," I

tall dark fel

iled his declaration and was chatting vivaciously with a lady who was just about to file hers. S

do that, but now you simply sign your name-and take a cha

ector detached the stub and handed it t

out to the deck, s

ular," I heard him say, "I always used to get the courtes

of approaching autumn. We had passed up the lower bay and the Narrows, and the pass

g a sharp watch on the tall, thin man. Incidentally he sought out the wireless operator and from him

ponds with any of the goods mentioned in the first cable from Paris," a collector

e," was his laconic reply. "Tha

deposited on the wharf and slowly the passengers filed down the plank to meet the line of white-capped un

seen. In the semi-light of the little windows in the enclosed sides of the pier, under the steel

n inspector was quickly assigned to him. It was all done neatly in the regular course of business apparently. He did not know that

xposed to the gaze of that part of the public which was not too much concerned over the same thing as to its own goods and chattels. Reticules and purses were being inspected. Every trunk was pre

nied by us, posing as visitors, was sauntering about. At last we came within

. "Call the appraiser," he said at last, with the air of a man standing on his rights. "I object to this frisking of passeng

sure he knew he was being watched, but as the dispute proceeded he assumed the look of a man keenly amused. The matter, involving only a few

hat he must be so expert, that, if he really were a smuggler, he had all the poise

hispered. "She says she is just comin

guileless ingenue, M

rying to bring in as personal effects of a foreign resident gowns w

had got rid of us temporarily, but we knew the inspector would be,

shabby, and cheap. She denied everything, raged and threatened. But when, instead of ordering the stamp "Passed" to be placed on her half dozen trunks and bags which contained in reality onl

nd, "generally even for a first offence the goods are confiscated and the court or district attorney is content to let the person of

ppose if I must, I must," she said, and the only result of the diversion was that she

n rejoined us and we casually returned to the vicinity of our tall friend, Number 140, for whom I felt even less respect than ever after his apparently un

ess jewels, not a suspicious bulging of any garment or of the lining of a trunk or grip. Some of the goods might have been on his person, but not much, and certainly there was no excuse for ordering a personal examinat

d savagely as the stamp "Passed" was at last affixed and he paid in cash at the little window with its sign, "Pay Duty He

sengers as well, to prevent any of them from being in league with the smugglers, t

o, when Craig's attention was called

ked as he lifted one. It

Miss Gabrielle," answered an inspector. "Bonded for Tro

uld it be that the real seat of trouble was not here but at some other place,

a thing of value in them. Most of the contents consisted of clothes that had plainly been made in America and were being brought back here. It was anoth

the goods in Paris,

any doubts about his opinion on that score. "I thought perhaps we had a case of-what do you call it, Herndo

. No expressman would dare try it now. I m

en at every turn in the game. Herndon seemed to feel that there was a bitter sting in the defeat, particularly because the smuggler or sm

se," he remarked, "Mademoiselle Gabrielle wasn't an actress. But we can't deny that she had v

imate with her at first," I venture

blind, to divert attention from himself. I suspect th

ur backs were turned and whisked the goods invisibly into the country? I could find no explanation for the little drama on the pier.

essage came in from one of his shadows. The men trailing Pierre and Mademoiselle Gabrielle had crossed trails and run together at a little French restaurant on the lower West S

f the death of Mademoiselle Violette, they had paid no attention. It seemed evident that whatever the fate of the modiste, Mademoisel

The party had left the restaurant hurriedly, and though they had taken the only taxicab in sight he had been able to follow them in time to find out that they

front near La Montaigne's pier, after dinner. The change in Kennedy's spirits was obvious, though it did not in the least enlighten my curiosity. Even after a dinner which was lengthened out c

hbourhood did not appeal to me at night, and even though there were two of us I w

eet and turned down the next pier, where a couple of freighters were lying. The odour of salt water, sewage, rotting

ingerly across the dirty deck of the freight ship. Below we could hear the water lapping the piles of the pier. Across a dark abyss

taken from me. It proved to be a huge reflector in front of which was placed a little arrangement w

a couple of dry cells and a cylinder with a broadened end, made of vulcanised rubb

otion on the opposite side of the pier distracted my attention. A ship was coming in and was being c

as he rejoined us. To my look of in

hed and had pointed t

spered hasty word of

e along with him d

ed. The customs service night watchman-there is always a watchman of some kind aboard every ship, passenger

tric lights the longshoremen were working feverishly, for the unloading and loading of a giant trans-Atlantic vessel in the rush seas

by one of the many entrances and then proceeded down to a deck where apparently no one was working. It was more like a great house than a ship, I felt

nd chests, stacked up and marked as belonging to the ship. Kennedy's attention was attracted to them imme

to verify his suspicions, a sudden approach of footsteps startled us

eak into the boxes, if you think the stuf

e while their tools take all t

compartment looked about as

wn," a gruff voice s

men, and from the ease with which they shifted the cases

re polished but unfa

alised it. With a taunting laugh, some one turned a key in the lock and before we

ndon and our friends. We had run up against professional smugglers, of whom I

t, but it was impossible for a man to squeeze out. There was one of the lower decks directly before us while a bright arc light gleam

at the next wharf and speculated as to the location where we had left Herndon with the huge reflector. There was no moon and

the river front, with lights extinguished, and had pushed a cautious nose into the slip where our ship lay at the quay. None of your romantic low-lying, rakish cra

I grumbled as I understood now what was a

e followed. It was one of the boxes which we had seen outside

etectives locked in a cabin here. We can't stay no

gs into a little bundle. We'll take that, but you'll have to ge

ide, and from the sound we could infer that t

ellows in there. We're going up the dock. Sorry to leave you

nder the rays of the arc light overhead. He was holding something in his hand. It seemed like a little silver-backed piece of thin glass wi

ried, beating on the door, to which only a

ps after the code wireless message was received. But we have been overpowered and locked in a cabin with a port too small to crawl through. The cases have been lowered over the side of the ship to a motor-boat that was waiting below. The li

who might have chanced on the deck outside. There was no one. The only t

s the use of repeating it now? The thing to do is to get out of th

er, but kept his eyes glued on the Cim

aving back and forth as it was lowered to the dark waters of the river. It was a searchlight. At once I thought of the huge reflecto

sked eagerly. "Wh

r had been answered

tai

this side of La Montaigne, I knew, would serve. What I did, Walter, was merely to talk into the mouthpiece back of this little silvered mirror which reflects light. The vibrations of the voice caused a diaph

ries over there-and there you are. It is very simple. In the ordinary carbon telephone transmitter a variable electrical resistance is produced by pressure, since carbon is not so good a conductor under pressure. Then these variations are transmitted along two wires. This photophone is wireless. Selenium even emits notes under a vibratory beam of light, the pitch depending on the frequency. Changes in the intensity of

head in quickly recalled my attention. "Look out on the river, Walter," he c

ess motor-boat bobbing up and down, crowding on all speed, yet followed rele

was an unequal race. Nor would it have made much difference if it had been otherwise, for a shot rang out fro

shoved aside and a key in the door of our compartment turned

nquired anxiously. "We've got that st

ed Craig. "The cutter

eaded toward us. She came alongside, and Herndon quickly seized a rope, fastened it

ce that must have been Lang's protesting. "By wha

e capes of the Delaware, demand an inspection of any vessel's manifest and papers, board anything from La Montai

sides, you were violating

en another. Inside he disclosed thousands of dollars' worth of finery, while f

crushed, all his

It wasn't as easy as you thought to throw her over for a new soul mate, this Mademoiselle Gabrielle whom you were going to set up as a r

him by the wrist and ground his knuckles into the back of Pierre's clenched fist until he winced with pain. An Apache dagger similar to that which the little modis

ng him. "You can't cheat the government out of

NVISI

ad some expectations f

ce, with some emotion, so low that I had entered the room without b

remembered in his will. But, Professor Kennedy, I can't put it too strongly when I say that there

in an instant that the speaker was a practitioner of a type

on," introduced Craig. "You can talk as freely before

nds with t

ome unique features," Kennedy explained. "It has to do with Stephen Haswe

le had not yet taken flight, a house of mystery, yet not more mysterious than its owner in his secretive comings and goings in the affairs of men of a generation beyond his time. Further than the facts

ailing fast, that is, he appeared so the last time I saw him, a few days ago, after I had been superseded by a younger man. It is a curious case and I have thought about it a great deal. But I didn't like to speak to the authorities; there wasn't enough to warrant that, and I should have been laughed out of court for my pains. The mo

which Burnham stood in the case. Before the doctor could proceed further, Kennedy handed me a letter which had be

mall town in Ohio and a dat

tly with me in that respect, if not in money matters. I do not say this in the hope of reconciling you to me. I know that is impossible after all these cruel years. But I do wish that I could see you again. Remember,

ving da

ASWELL

from a photograph. It was the first time that Grace Haswell had ever been able to find expression for the artistic yearning which had always been repressed by the cold, practical sense of her father. She remembered her mother p

r and an easy living. Art was as foreign to his nature as possible. Nevertheless they went ahead and married, and, well, it resulted in the old man disinheriting the girl. The young couple disappeared bravely to make their way by their chosen professi

is Mrs. Martin or her h

to intercede for her. I did so. I took the letter to him as diplomatically as I could. The old man flew into a towering rage, refused even to look at the letter, to

rious curious speculations, or rather in loaning money to many curious speculators. It is not necessary to go into the different schemes which he has helped

to persuade Mr. Haswell to back him in his scheme, but he was never disposed to talk to me, for I had no money to invest. So far as I know about it the thing sounds scientific and plausible enough. I leave you to judge of that. It is only an incident in my story and I will pass over it quickly. Prescott, then, believes that the elements are merely progressive variations of an original substance or ba

in," commented Craig, turning from the doctor to me to c

very naturally does not have to go far before he also claims a control over telepathy and even a communication with the dead. He even calls the messages which he receives b

tly, as far as I am able to piece together the story, Prescott was demonstrating

ee it by means of my wonderful invention? If it is the truth, will you believe in me

w, with Haswell placed directly before it. He gave a cry. 'Mr. Haswell,' he exclaimed, 'I regret to tell you what I see. Yo

erly, 'and more than that I don't care.

ou bear something further? I think you ought to k

t is it? I

midnight or perhaps a little later,' repeated Prescott solemn

ye. You told me you were able to make gold. Instead, you make foolish prophecies. I'll put no m

er, Jane, whom he had hired after he banished his daughter from his life, heard a wild shout o

rdered, 'a li

the gas, Mr. Ha

a match, had struck it, had even burnt

which Prescott, by means of his weird telepa

gasped. 'Send f

except prescribe perfect rest for his eyes and keeping in a dark room in the hope tha

mbling and scrawling in his blindness, he

out the present whereabouts of Mrs. Grace

L,--Pierrepont

a changed man after his experience. He spoke bitterly of Prescott, yet his attitude toward his daughter was completely reversed. Whether

ame to the old man from a little town in Indiana. It read si

ing was changed. Jane grumbled a great deal, but there was no doubt a great improvement. Meals were served regularly. The old man was taken care of as never before. Nothing was too good for him. Everywhere the touch of a woman was evident in the house. The change was complete. It even extended to me. Some friend had told her of a

arouse suspicion?" asked Kennedy

pened to meet Jane on the street. The faithful old soul poured forth a long story about his growing dependence on others and ended by mentioning a curious red discoloration that see

tt and Mrs. Martin are in some way

voice earnestly-"practically every misfortune that has overtaken Mr. Haswell has been since the advent of this new Dr. Scott. Mind, I do not wish even to breathe that Mrs. Martin has done anything except what a daughter should do. I think s

rnham had come to a full stop after pouring forth his suspicions. "I should like to see thi

ery much interested in electrical inventions. He made his money by speculation in telegraphs and telephones in the early days when they were more or less dreams. I should think a wireless system of

yway. It is still early. Suppose we ride over to Brooklyn with

y showed the change. The furniture and ornaments were of a period long past, but everything was scrupulously neat. Hanging over the old marble mantel was a painting which quite evidently was that of the long since deceased Mrs. Haswell, the mother of Grac

-evident from the start that Mrs. Martin would throw cold water on anything requiring an outlay of money Craig accomplished his full purpose of securing an i

called it on the spur of the moment, when Jane, the aged caretaker, announced Dr. Scott. The new doctor was a youthfully dressed man, clean-shaven, but with an undefina

a social as well as a professional nature. Although they talked low we could catch now and then a word or phrase. Dr. Scott bent down

o Mrs. Martin than to the old man. "Perfect rest, and then when his

rheard. Kennedy was sitting in a chair near the head of the bed, some feet away, as the doctor leaned down. Haswell, still holding his wrist, pulled him closer. I could not hear what

d was apparently engaged in jotting down some notes, glancing now

e same time he smiled on Mrs. Martin. "Your father has a good deal of strength yet, Mrs. Martin," he remarked. "He

description of the supposed wireless picture apparatus which was to revolutionise the newspaper, the theatre

sted in is a way in which to recover his sight without an operation. He has just had a rather unpleasant exp

sappointment. From his preoccupied manner it was impossible fo

over here," he said when we had reached th

the house we had just left. He appeared a little surprised t

we were seated in the comfortable leather

uiries and I can find out nothing except that he is supposed to be a graduate of some Western medical school and came to this city only a short time ago. He has hired a small office i

ts me, too," remarked Kennedy

o at Mr. Haswell's. I should think it would be worth while to see him. Although he has no use for me because I have neither money nor influence, still you might take this card. Tell

nedy. "After I have seen him I shall drop in

ised, and we to

d warehouses clustered thickly. It was with a great deal of anticipation of seeing something happen that we threaded our way through the maze of streets with the cobweb structure of the bridge c

careful not to excite suspicion. Perhaps a disguise might have been better, but I think this will do. There-they add at least a decade to your age. If you

Prescott, surrounded by his retorts, crucibles, burettes, and condensers, received us much more graciously than I had had any reason to anticipate. He was a m

though he accepted us at our face value, and began to talk of his strange discoveries there was none of the old familiar prating about matrix and flux, elixir, magisterium, magnum opus, the mastery and the quintessence, those

tury. But I may say that it is no longer so regarded. I do not ask you to believe anything until you have seen; all I ask

piece or rather collection of apparatus over which Presc

it, but they refuse to consider the application or even to give me a chance to demonstrate my process to them. On the other hand, suppose I try this thing secretly. How can I prevent any one from learning my trade secret, leaving me, and making gold on his own account? Men will desert as fast as I educate them. Think of the economic result of that; it would turn the world topsy-tur

part of the collection of

ain, you know that we have found that all the elements fall into groups. Each group has certain related atomic weights and properties which can be and have been predicted in advance of the discovery of missing elements in the group. I started with the reasonable assumption that the atom of

em in the scale, so to speak. I have found it. I am not going to tell you or any other man whom you may interest the secret of how it is done until I fin

eality a manifestation of force or ether in motion, it is necessary to change and control that forc

ing note. In other words, a succession of blows or wave vibrations of a certain kind affects the ear and we call it sound, just as a succession of other wave vibrations aff

of the seven colours as you know from seeing them resolved in a prism. After that are what are known as the ultra-violet rays, which lie beyond the violet of white light. We also have electric waves, the waves of the alternating current, and shorter still we

ly charged ions, or electrons, moving units of negative electricity about one one-thousandth part of the hydrogen atom. Matter is ma

ps or octaves and twelve series. Selecting one, he placed his finger on the letters "Au," und

down the second vertical column on the chart, "that gold belongs to the hydrogen group-hydrogen, lithium, sodium, potassium, copper, rubid

m, lead, bismuth, and other elements known only to myself. For the known elements, however, these groups and series are now perfectl

s helium, quite another element. Thus the transmutation of matter is well known within certain bounds to all scientists to-day like yourself, Professor Kennedy. It has even been rumoured but never proved that copper has been transformed into lithium-both members of the hydrogen-gold group, you will o

id, and as it mounted in intensity I could smell a pungent odour of ozone which told of an electric discharge. On went the machine until we coul

ny substance in the group would do, even hydrogen if there was any way I could handle the gas. I place it in the machine-so. Now if you could watch inside you would see it change; it

d there glowed in it a little

ride. "And I can put this gold back and bring it out copper or hydrogen, or better yet, can advance it instead of cause it to decay, and can get a radioactive element which I ha

as if perfectly satisfi

at to think. It was all

too, that I turned to

ed? His face w

in the palm of his hand a bit of what might be a mineral. From my po

"what that curious greenish or bluis

his gaze from the bit of mineral in his own hand, but was not looking at the light. H

ion of energy, sir, that may run changes not only through the whole gamut of the elements, but is capable of transformin

he curious telepagrams I have he

ge from a livid white to an apoplectic red, although it may have been only the pla

ut for some reason or other I failed to consult the forces I control as to the wisdom of doing so. Had I, I should have known better. But I went ahead in self-confidence and enthusiasm. I told him of a long banished daughter with whom, in his heart, he was really wishing to become reconciled but was too proud to say the

something distasteful. The daughter hates me and I hate her. I have learned that she never ceases advising the old man against all schemes for investment except those bearing moderate interest and readily realised on. Dr. Burnham-I see you know him-has

opened it, and a messenger boy stood there

boy, signed for the me

m," he exclaimed, hand

like asphyxiation by gas or some other poi

dead, and Dr. Burnham wishes to see me immediately. It was only yesterday that I saw Mr. Haswell and he seemed in pretty good health and spirits. Prescott, though there wa

hone to his own laboratory, describing a certain suitcase to one of his students and giving his directions. It was only a moment later that we were panting up

rn what had happened. The faithful Jane had noticed an odour of gas in the hall, had traced it to Mr. Haswell's room, had found him unconscious, and instinctively, forgetting the new Dr. Scott, had

dead, all right," he whispered, aside. "I have tried eve

f illuminating gas in the room, alt

ent, turned from and ignored Dr. Burnham. "Have

surprised. "Shoul

Mr. Prescott, will you kindly

hem up until they were extended straight. Then he brought them down, folded upward at the elbow at the side. Again and again he tried this Sylvester method of inducing respira

"but they are trying to locate him from his office,

ut it proved to be the student to whom Kennedy had telephoned at hi

forceps, and other paraphernalia. The student quickly attached one tube to the little tank, while Kennedy grasped the tongue

to resuscitate persons who have died of electric shock, but actually

ordion bellows from the tank through one of the tubes into the lungs. Then it fell as the oxygen and the poisonous g

pe. The man was dead, medically dead, as dead as ever was any gas victim at this

alf-hour of unremitting effort, when the oxygen had long since been exhausted and only fresh air was being pumped into the lungs and out of them, there was a

," he moaned, rolling

e letter? Se

t was like a voice from the grave. What did it a

here I am-Grace.

embling hand to his forehead as if trying to collect his tho

acked up, and as he did so he remarked quietly, "I could wish that Dr. Sc

e apparent even to me that she did not share the desire to see Dr. Scott, at least not just then. She w

, even if you have saved my father, are no friends of either his or mine. You have merely come here in response to D

t have been found in ti

with evide

ark and continued t

, you, Mr. Prescott, you, Professor Kennedy, an

an's apparent lack of gratitude, and a thought flashed over my mind. Had the affair come to a contest between various parties fighting by fair means or foul for the old man's money-

and over my shoulder I could hear him gas

to obey her orders and leave the house. Burnham moved toward the door, but Prescott stood his ground wit

mebody behind us, "en

bending down, listening to

Mr. Haswell," he said.

d. They

iarly limpid blue. No couple with blue eyes ever had a black-eyed child. At least, if this is such a case, the Carnegie Institution investigators would be glad to hear of it, for it is contr

rantically past us. "I AM his daughter.

oved feebly a

in," she demanded. "See

. You are all en

but included the whole

nedy remorselessly. "Ye

y is he n

rm and the other on Dr. Burnham

take the trouble even to find out how you obtained that little globule of molten gold from the crucible of alleged copper. There are so many tricks by which the gold coul

ineral I had already seen in his

e clever than your real story. Let us piece it together. I had already heard from Dr. Burnham how Mr. Haswell was induced by his desire for gain to visit you and how you had most mysteriously predicted his blindness. Now, there is no su

reful not to pause long enough to give

when he uses them in moderation as Finsen did in the famous blue light treatment. But they tolerate no familiarity. To let them-particularly the shorter of the rays-enter the eye is to invite trouble. There is no warning sense of discomfort, but from six to eighteen hours after exposure to them the victim experiences violent

Now, for one thing, ultra-violet light passes readily through quartz, but is cut off by ordinary glass, especially if it is coated with chromium. Old Mr. Haswell did not wear glass

e are also in your machine induction coils for the purpose of making an impressive noise, and a small electric furnace to heat the salted gold. I don't know what other ingenious fakes you have added. The visible bluish light from the tube is

ophecy. You succeeded better than you hoped in that part of your scheme. You had already prepared the way by means of a letter sent to Mr. Haswell through Dr. Burnham. But Mr. Haswell's credulity and fear wo

s if in some way I knew you for what you were, as if I knew you had seen Mr. Haswell before you came to me. You, too, would have robbe

ned in his mocking laugh. Were we doomed to blindness,

h spectacles of Euphos glass, precisely like those you wear. No, Prescott, we are safe, t

ly wheeling, and startling us by the abruptness of his next exposure, "it is you and your wife here-Mrs. Prescott, not Mrs. Martin-who must

t and held him tightly in a grasp of steel that caused the

part was to destroy the eyesight of the old man, to make it necessary for him to call on his daughter. Your wife's part was to play the role of Mrs. Martin, whom he had not seen for

of the death of her father. It was an excellent scheme. But Haswell's plain, material newspaper advertisement was not so effective for your purposes, Prescott, as the more arti

you, Mrs. Prescott, read, destroyed, and acted upon. It hurried your plans, but you were equal to the emergency. Besides, possession is nine points in the law. You tried the gas, making it look like

lled a paper from his pocket. It was the old envelope on which he had written upon the occasion of ou

swell was telling Dr. Scott something in an undertone. I could not hear it. But the old man grasped the doctor by the wri

It is a system invented and developed by Professor Tamassia of the University of Padua, Italy. A superficial observer would say that all vein patterns were essentially similar, and many have said so, but Tamassia has foun

ut on that hand. I noted the same thing just now on the hand that manipulated the fake appa

can rest assured, Prescott, that the very cleverness of your scheme will penetrate the eyes of the blindfolded goddess of justice

I

MPAIGN

he newspapers print news again," I growled as I turned the

ing mail. "This is the bitterest campaign in years. Now, do you suppose that they are a

o pass an opinion on it, I picked it up. It was only a few lines, requesting him to call during the morning, if convenient, on Wesley Travis, the candi

ust be some scandal in the campaign

tead of politics it has at least this merit-it is current

tlemen in frock coats and silk hats. It would have taken no great astuteness, even without seeing the surroundings, to deduce instantly that they were engage

ed politicians and of the air of intrigue laden with tobacco. Rather, there was an air of earnestness and efficiency which was decidedly prepossessing. Maps of the state were hanging on the walls, some stuck full of various coloured pins denoting the condition of the canvass. A map of the city in colours, divided into all sorts of distri

een astute enough to shake off the thraldom of the bosses before the popular uprising against them. N

nd Billy McLoughlin, of the regular party to which both Travis and Bennett might naturally have been supposed to belong in the old d

t such a big 'barrel' as our opponents, for we are not frying the fat out of the corporations. But the people have supported us nobly, and I think the opposition of the v

they were sure that the thing was put up by some muckrakers and that there would be an expose of some kind. For the thief, whoever he was, seems to have taken nothing from my library but a sort of scrap-book or album of photogra

ntial. He hinted that they had been evidently among those stolen from Mr. Travis and that in a roundabout way they had come into the possession of a friend of his without his knowing who the thief was. He said that he had not made the photographs himself, but had an idea by whom

a price on them?" asked Kennedy, keenly

there are several of them, all in the same vein. Now," he added, and his voice rose with emotion as if he were addressing a cart-tail meeting which must be convinced that there was nothing criminal in riding in a motor-car, "I don't hesitate to admit that a year or so ago I was not on terms of intimacy with these men, but at least acquainted with them. At various times, even as late as last spring, I was present at conferences over the presidential outlook in this state, and once I think I did ride back to the city with them. But I know that there were no pictures taken, and even if there had be

r suppressed, according as we act. Now, you know that nothing could hurt the reform ticket worse than to have an issue like this raised at this time. We were supposed at least to be on the level, with nothing to explain away. There may be just enough people to believe that there is some basis for this suspicion to turn the tide against us. If it were earlier in the campaign I'd say accept the issue, f

is, shutting his square jaw d

a huge hat and a tantalising veil, stood in it for a moment, hesitated, a

I won't be blackmailed out of a cent. Good-morning, Miss Ashton.

When she had disappeared he returned and remarked, "I suppose you have heard of Miss Margaret Ashton, the suffragette leader, Mr. Kennedy? She is the head of ou

course be accepted as among those stolen from me, and in that, I suppose, he is right. The public will swallow it. When Bennett told him I would prosecute he laughed and said, 'Go ahead. I didn't steal the pictures. That would be a great joke for Travis to seek redress from the courts he is criticising. I guess he'd want to recall the decision if it went against him-hey?' Hanford says t

etter. Pictures appeal to the eye and mind much more than letters. That's what makes the thing so dangerous. Billy McLoughlin knows how to make the best use of such a roorback on the eve of an

ols of ourselves until they are published Monday as the last big thing of the campaign. The rest of Monday and the Tuesday morning papers do NOT give us time to reply. Even if they were published to-day we should hardly have time to expose the plot, hammer it in, and make the issue an asset instead of a liability. No, you must admit it yourself. There

nterested spectators, had not presumed to interrupt.

t he was too astute to leave them. I saw them for an instan

tolen and forged letters before, but alleged stolen and forged photographs are new.

d his campaign manners, and leaning forward almost like a prisoner in the dock to catch the words o

litics is a new game to me, Mr. Travis. If I go into this thing I want to go into it and stay in it-well, y

cried Travi

er-foundation, it is not reasonable to suppose that I should desert you and go over to the other side. Neither is it to be supposed that I will continue and carry such a thing through for you regardless of tru

r sceptically. "You are willing to risk it? You don't think

my conditions,"

. If we get in wrong by dickering with them at the start it

ad dubiously. "I'm a

ust as well. Photograp

the people who make th

accomplish with eit

?" reproached Travis. "You're not offende

d grasped his other. "Wesley," he said earnestly, "I

ee what he can do. Then if we make no progress we'll take your advice, Dean. We

roviso," pu

more to me than any of them. Call on us, either Bennett or myself, the moment you need aid. Spare no reasonable expense, and-and get the goods, no matter whom it hits higher up,

and clerical force as well as the speakers' bureau, where spellbinders of all degrees were g

ss Ashton was a clever girl, a graduate of a famous woman's college, and had had several years of newspaper experience before she became a leader in the suffrage cause. I recalled having read and heard a great deal about her, though I had never met he

se the work or the ability of the head of the press bureau, but it struck me, both then and later, that the candidate had an extraordinary interest in the newspaper campaign, much

ical leaders, and changes of sentiment, were very full and valuable. Kennedy, who had a regular pigeon-hole mind for facts, was visibly impressed by this huge mechani

d been eyeing Miss Ashton with marked approval, leaned over and said in a low voice. "

f her feelings was, although I fancied that the readiness of her assent had

at an attempt is being

dded Kenne

s had told her before even we were called in. I felt that not unlikely Travis's set det

litical enemies may have a spy or two," observed Kennedy, glancing abou

pretty careful. Some one is always over here by my desk or looking over here. There isn't much secrec

dy. "What time doe

t about nine, I think. T

-past nine, Could you be here? I need hardly say that you

ight arm shake and looking him frankly in the face with those eyes wh

but a host of small sums ranging from ten and twenty-five dollars down to dimes and nickels. Truly it showed the depth of the popular uprising. Kennedy also glanced hastily over the items

gning in these days costs money even when done honestly. The miscellaneous account showed some large indefinite items, and after a hasty calc

ately or put his fund in hopeless shape. Or does it mean that he foresees de

picions, though I could see that in his mi

n old building on one of the side streets in the thirties which business had captured. His was a little place on

or at least posed as representing a third party in the affair, and ab

o be published in the newspapers. We have found out all about them; we are satisfied, although the negatives have been destroyed. As for their having been stolen from Travis, you can put two and two together. They are out and copies have been made of them, good copies. If Mr

ne the library at Travis's from which the pictures were said to have been stolen. At the laborato

hotographs of the window, the cabinet, the doors, including the room from every angle. Outside he snapped the two sides of the corner of the house in which the library was situated. Partly by trolley and partly by carriage we crossed the island to the

the interval in developing his plates, for he now had ten or a dozen prints, all of exactly the same size, m

ine from those pictures distances and many other things almost as well as if we were on the spot itself. Bertillon has cleared up many crimes with this help, such as the m

oot rule on a table and taking that in the picture, but a more scientific and accurate method has been devised by Bertillon. His camera lens is always used at a fixed height from the ground and forms its image on the plate at an exact focus. The print made from the negative is mounted on a card in a space of definite size, along the edges of which a metric scale is printed. In the w

ust have known just what he was after. The marks made in breaking the lock were not those of a jimmy but of a screwdriver. No a

to show it. But take a glance at this outside photograph. To reach that window even a tall man must have stood on a ladder or something. There are no marks of a ladder or of any p

in the house or at least some o

ed, "a record. We have made some progress in reconstructing the crime, as Bert

een a put-up job? Was Travis himself faking, and was the robbery a "plant" by which he might forestall exposure of what had become

ing convention. He admitted having done so before the Reform League came into existence. Besides it seemed tacitly understood that both the Boss and Cadwalader Brown acquiesced in the sworn statement of the man who said he had made the pictures. Added to that the mere existence of

the middle of one end of the room in which, if she could keep an eye

ll. With a mallet he quickly knocked a hole in the rough plaster, just above the baseboard about the room. The hole did not penetrate quite through to the other side. In it he placed a round disc of

e carpet and a rug, eighteen or twenty huge coils several feet in diameter disposed in s

ext move. "I shall want to see you early to-morrow, and,-mi

t was not his taste in inverted basket millinery that prompted the requ

anxiously at his hotel after a big political mass meeting on the East Side, at w

?" inquired T

m, for the present. The time limit will expire to-morrow, and I understand Hanford is coming up for a final ans

actually pale. "You-you don't mean to say that there is no other way,

t way," said Kennedy m

, we could have done that anyhow. No, no,-I don't mean

ord when he comes up to-morrow. Have him arrange the details of

seemed

ennedy handed her a package, and in a few words, which I did no

were being snipped out of a huge stack of newspapers and pasted into large scrap-books, circulars were being folded and made ready to mail for the final appeal. The room

at her desk with her h

remarked enigmat

on, I wish you would let me know immediately. I must not be seen up here, but I shall be waiting do

ngle in which we could see without being readily seen, and our im

a case in which her personal feelings were not involved as they were here. She wa

I won't believe it,

ppened?" urged Ke

o do this?" she reproached. "I would a

ou ought to know. It is on you that I depen

ooked about the room curiously. Do you know, I felt very uncomfortable for a time. Then he locked the door leading f

pted Kennedy. "H

carcely giving one a chance to in

down here, and he tried to act toward me in the same old way-and that after all I know now about him. They have fixed it all up, Mr. Bennett acting for Mr. Travis, and this Mr. Hanford.

nedy, a light breaking on his fa

e compact. They-they haven't asked me openly yet to be the means

ould take it like this, no idea. Please, please. Walter, you will excuse us if

hope you're right. I'm all broken up by it. I'm ready to resign. My faith in human nature is shaken. No, I won't expose Wesley Travis for his sake. It cuts me to have to admit it, but Cadwalader used al

ton," he implored, "believe nothing. Remember one of

vis for giving in-more than I hate Cadwalader Bro

cted her deeply. It was as though the feet of her idol had turned to clay. Nevertheless i

urged Kennedy. "They w

h. Suspend judgment.

doing some rapid thinking as we walked uptown after leaving Miss Ashton, and I did not venture to question him on

than words that he saw his way more and more clearly, he asked me to visit the agent and hire the va

the wall, only this time he did it much more carefully, and it was evident that if he intended putting anything into this cavity it must be pretty large. The hole was square, and as I bent over I could see that he had cut through the plaster and laths all the wa

something entirely different that he had in mind now, however, and he was working quickly for fear of discovery. By his measurements I guessed that he was calculating as nearly as possible the centre of the box which he had placed in the hole

ts effect, for when we saw her a few moments after thes

udio," she said quietly, "and without letting them know

ennedy, greatly relie

g faintly, "I'm just femi

ard the next vacant office. To the left of the big calendar you will see a light pencil mark, a cross. Somehow you must contrive to get near it, but don't stand in front of it. Then if anything happens stick this little number 10 n

ext office. We could hear nothing of what was said, but when a door shut and it was evident that s

which were to be carried by her from the studio, while he remained to see who came out. I thought a change had

e past two days came the following evening, when Craig remarked casually that he would like to have me call on Bi

when the purse strings were loosed and a flood of potent argument poured for

ene, or action. Indeed a photograph is admitted in court as irrefutable evidence. For when everything else fails, a picture made through the photographic lens almost invariably turns the tide. However, such a picture upon which the fate of an important case may rest should be subjected to critical examination for it is an established fact that a photograph may be made as untruthful as it may be reliable. Combination photographs change

o the changes that may be wrought in form and feature. It is possible to represent a person crossing Broadway or walking on Riverside Drive, places he

convince all, except the expert and the initiated after careful study. A shrewd judge will insist that

ing on the steps of your house with yourself and Mr. Cadwalader Brown. He and Mr. Brown are in poses that show the utmost friendliness. I do not hesitate to say that that was or

uously. "How about the affidavits? There's no negative. You've got to prove tha

e bundle of metric photographs and the alleged photographs of Travis. He was pointing t

n from a study of the shadows. It is possible in principle and practice and can be trusted. Almost any scientist may be called on to bear testimony

gable casting the shadow is easy. To be exact it is 19.62 feet high. The shadow is 14.23 feet down, 13.10 feet east, and 3.43 feet north. You see I am exact. I have to be. In one minu

mb line, level, compass, and tape, astronomical triangle, vertices, zenith, pole and sun, dec

26, and there can therefore be no appreciable error except for a few seconds. For that date must have been one of two days, either May 22 or July 22. Between these two dates we must decide on evidence other than the shadow. It must have been in May, as the immature condition of the foliage shows. But even if it had been in July, that is far from being September. The matter of the

t. McLoughlin and Hanford were s

w that the general public has come to recognise the distortion of a photograph as denoting speed. A picture of a car in a race that doesn't le

curtain. The slit travels from the top to the bottom and the image on the plate being projected upside down, the bottom of the object appears on the top of the plate. For instance, the wheels are taken before the head of the driver.

you can print a fraudulent high speed ahead picture. True, everything else in, the picture, even if motionless, is distorted, and the difference between this faking and the distortion of the shutter can be seen by an expert. But it will pass. In this case, however, the faker was so sure of that that he was careless. Instead of getting the plate further from the paper on the right he did so on

allow all that stuff, do you?" asked Ha

rding him surlily. "Well," he said at length, "what of all this? I had not

asked Kenne

ully. We could not see it, but as he l

you get that

itive plate would have made photographs. A box, thoroughly light-tight, slotted inside to receive plates, covered with black, and glued tight, a needle hole made by a number 10 needle in a thin sheet of paper-and you have the apparatus for lensless photography. It has a co

s picture shows what happened before. At a critical moment Miss Ashton stuck a needle in the wall of the studio

ion on his face which I could not fathom. Not a word could I extract from him ei

ess. Everybody was involved. What had Miss Ashton overheard and what had Kennedy said to McLoughlin? Above all, what w

ed her to accompany me. The excitement of any other night in the year paled to insignificance before this. Distracted crowds everywhere were cheering and blowing horns. Now a series of wild shouts broke forth from the dense mass of people before a newspaper bulletin board. Now came sullen groans, hisses, and catcalls, or all together with cheers as the returns swung in another direc

orps of clerks was tabulating returns, comparing official and semi-official reports. As first the state swung one way, then another, our hopes rose and fell. Miss Ashton seemed col

arge enough to overcome the hostile city vote? I was amaz

edy as district after district showed that the

you mean?" we ask

g whom or where or when it hit if he did not let up on Travis. I advised him to read his Revised Statutes again about money in elections, and I ended up wi

comprehending. "The faked photograph

ckly. I saw that Kennedy had not told her or any one yet, until the

dding, "Before I complete my part of the

emulously, but with a look of happiness that

cLoughlin was shoving them away from him toward Bennett. A man who was facing forward in the picture was talking earnestly to some one who did not appear.

edy, "bring the account

ellaneous accou

seemed to me to show a shortage of nearly twenty thousand dollar

aign for money to replace it. With the aid of the crook, Hanford, McLoughlin's tool, you worked out the scheme to extort money from Travis by forged photographs. You knew enough about Travis's house and library to frame

val for Miss Ashton's hand. Perhaps into the bargain it would disgust her with politics, disillusion her, and shake her faith in what he believed to be some of her 'radical' notions. All cou

ve it yet. "How did you get

t it was a dictograph, though I could not tell how it was used or who used it. There it was, set squarely in the plaster. There also were

cket. Over my head I had an arrangement such as the telephone girls wear with a receiver at one ear connected with the battery. No one saw it, for I wore a large hat which completely hid it. If any one had known, and there

se coils of wire concealed under the carpet. They were wirelessly duplicated by induction in the coil abou

e thousand given to Hanford for his photographic work, and of the way Mr. Travis was to be defeated whether he paid or not. I heard them say that one condition was that I should carry the purchase money. I heard much that must have confirmed Mr. Kennedy's suspicio

lotted report. Kennedy seized it and read: "McLoughlin concedes the city by a small majority to T

ng no attention except to the p

Ashton to Travis," he said, adding gaily, "by induction of