Louisiana capitolian., 1880-02-07

lily SWIIUuS cApIOSIUus
He watched them closely from be-
hind his blue glasses, when suddenly
Pete Aram exclaimed in q loud wlis-
per in Italian,
"Ah, here it is ut last!"
The "clderly gent" looked and they
silently read it together. When they
finished the item they turned and
looked mt each other in CONSERVATION
for few moments, then Mansfield
broke the silence by exclaiming in
Italian, still:
"By heaven, what mystery is this I
Who was the man who met the fate
intended for that internal detective y
"And how came he by the box, and
in such u locality, tool" rjoined the
other, In the same tongue.
"TwO questions we must have an
swered," observed Mansfield. "Anl
] mean to 90 at once to the house and
see those two women they may en-
tighten us. II this Varnoe has es-
capped the doom intended for him,
| must try another plan, for | shall
not leave this city until | have re-
moved him from my path"
"All very we'll, my friend" ,"rejoined
his companion, "but my advice still
is, let the man alone, he has only done
his duty in the line Of his profession.
You and I won'l do the same, il We
were placed in his situation, just as
We follow our vocation and do not
like to be interfcrcd with while we
do it. Do we, now"
The detective smiled ut the logic of
this plilnnthropic rogue, but fIowned
ominously ut the response Of the
greater villain of the two:
"IIang your philosophy, Pete. Just
think what " series Of cnjoyments he
has snatcIed away from us when he
detected US; for | think he had more
to do with it than those two pig
headed Scotland Yard detectives. |
was told that this man was the sharp
est hound after his game Of any in
the country. believe it, for 1t took
u shrcwd one to detect you and my
sister, gotten up rs you were, by cx.
changing sexes"
"WI'at will be your next attempt"
asked Pete with q yawn; proving
thereby that he had lost all interest
in the affair since the badly conceived
plot had failed.
"'rhat I shall decide upon after l
have questioned those women," was
the curt reply, for Mansfield had no
ticed the others pcrccptible yawn,
and it angcred him not a little.
,srhQdctcctivc left the room before
they did, and ut once proceeded to
the house on Plum street, where he
arrived with an officer of wcll.known
courage. He did not trust himself
alone with two such men. Ono so
vindictive and the other as agile as u
cat and rs full of resources as u Chi
ncsc jugglcr.
Having arranged matters with the
two women, Varnoc at once laid his
plans. The place was II low tavern.
The officer was in citizens dress and
was instructed to take " seat in the
bar-room, while the detective went
into the rear apartment, leaving the
door ajar. He assumed the same
Disguise hc wore at the time he caus-
cd the arrest Of the precious trio ut
the Girard House several years be-
fore, and he knew that Mansfield
would recognize him the moment he
appeared before him.
Half an hour after he entered
the house the delectablc pair
of ,ogucs entered and called for
drinks. While partaking, Mansfield
observed with an Indifferent air:
"My good woman, wasn't it in this
street where a singular explosion oc-
cured not long since ?"
"Why, yes, sir, it happened in this
house, sir" replied the woman, excl
tcdly.
"Is that so? Please tell me all
about the affair.""
The woman told what the reader
knows already, and when she had
finished, Mansfield asked:
"And it was not discovered what
caused the explosion -
"No, sir, believe not"
"But to-day's paper states that it
was supposed to have been caused by
some Internal machine which the
man had brought to the house, re-
marked the villain.
"Wcll, yes, sir,' rejoined she, che
did bring a kind OF box with him,and
as the box was not seen after the cx-
plosion, it must have been blown to
pieces"
"Was the man known to You 7"
''Jerry Moore known to me p cried
the woman;" "well, should think
so. I've known him for five years or
more"
"Where did he get the box7"
"Im sure can't tell YOU" was the
reply, "tor he just camo in and went
stairs, and then the explosion took
place, and he never spoke u word
from that time till he died"
81 can answer tlatqucstion," spoke
Il deep voice from the adjoining n,
partment, and the next instant the
detective appeared within the door.
A cry Of rage and surprise combined
issued from the thr0ats of the two
miscrcants, for boil, recognized the
rcdoubtablc Varnoe.
Mansfield braced himself against
the wall, his left hand thrust in his
breast pocket, while Pete Aram
cast his restless eyes about the room,
seeking the most accessible avenue OF
escape. The police officer regarded
them with apparent Indifference, but
kept his vigilant eyes on the move
ments of both. Varnoe continued:
"The man stole the box from the
Office of the detective, where it had
hnnn cor,.in1 nv Hnrocn MnnsfinlI's