The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1888-04-13

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"Another failure" he said to himself,
'and worse one than before"
As he spoke he continued aimlessly
turning over the portmanteau's con-
tents.
"Wbat a fop the fellow isl" he ex-
"Why, half of his luggage
is brushes. And now that i notice it,
what strange brushes they are! What
heavy backs they havel"
The backs of the brushes certainly
looked very thick, and when Mr.. Wylie
examined them closely, be found that
they we're even thicker than they look
ed, for the hair in the centre was much
shorter than at the sides, and the backs,
therefore, must be deeper there. In-
deed, they looked so suspicious that the
detective at once began to try if they
did not open in some way or other.
He soon discovered that they did. The
iop scale of polished wood ran 10
kind of groove, and was easily move
able. He pulled it back, and there, in |
the middle, was hollow space crushed |
full of letters. Trembling with excite |
ment, he lifted them out and looked at |
them. To hisadelight they were the
very ones he was in search of
There were two cases, each contain
ing two brushes. In the first brush he
opened there were sixteen letters from
Lad, Noodle; in the second there were
fifteen. These were all in English.
The brushes in the other case had also
moveable backs and contained letters,
hut glance at the handwriting showed
him that they were no Lady Noodles.
He glanced rapidly over the letters.
Their contents were of the most inno-
cent character, mere commonplace con-
gratuations, condolences and inquiries
such as a friend would write to q
friend.
81 don't see," said the detective to
himself "why she should be afraid Of
her husband getting these. But she
said there were only forty of them,
aud there are only about thirty here
Let me see. BY jove, have it She
old me there were only few of them
that were of doubtful character. 1t
il ust those few that ere missing. He
mas them in his pocket and I've failed
again."
He sat silent and still for moment,
dazed by his discovery; but he quickly
Gained his habitual GOODNESS and de-
cision.
"Well,' he said, 81 may as well see
what the other letters are about
He began RAPIDLY to read them.
They were in various handwritings,
but most of them in one which he
somehow or other thought he had seen
before. These letters were signed
simply with an "H.," and were couch
ed in the most affectionate terms.
81 wonder who this H can be 7" he
said. "She's evidently very much
goue on the Count and no mistake.
There's 1ove' or darling for every
other word Here's an invitation for
the 18th; how sweet it is. But here is
one in which she has gone farther than
the III. It's signed Helena Now,
Ii wonder who Helena is? Hullo,
what's here? A letter from man, and
signed 'Svendeleri'-the old Jewish
money lender and receiver of stolen
goods. That, at all events, looks sus.
picious.'
He read the letter very carefully
When he had finished it he lay back
in his chair and drew long breath.
"Good Heavens he said, when he
had recovered his composure, 'this is 8
discovery Was there ever anything
so fortunate I'm off by the morning
train, and our friend will be safely il
quod before he has a chance of seeing
Sir Charles"
"But stay" he said to himself, "i
isn't quite so simple as thought.
must account for how / came by thit
paper, which will be difficult. Besides
I'm not sure it will be evidence agains
him unless it's found in his possession
, LIT me see ~
He paused and reflected. Then
, after few moments, with cry o
triumph, he set to work replacing tn,
contents of the bag. When every
, thing was in except the letter from
, Svend' leri and LAZY Noodles CORES
pondence, he selected about ten of thu
most innocent of her letters, and, re
placing the remainder in the backs o
the brushes, locked up the portmanteau
Then he placed Svendeleri's letter il
: one of Lady Noodles, put them in hi
: pocket restored his disguise to what i
was when he claimed the Counts lug
gage, and taking the portmanteau il
his hand, left the Office. When b
reached the Strand, he called hanson
d and drove to Euston. At Euston h
,skrd for the station master. That oi
J. fetal was duly forthcoming.
d This I find" said the detective t
:, him. sis not my portmanteau after al
Il thought it was at first, as it has m
y initials on the side and is about tn
Is same size, but find that my key won
e go into the lock, so it can't be mine
G mo, sir, it isn't yours" replied tn
station-master sit is Count Ulrici'
t. He's been kicking up deuce of ro
II about it. We've had half dozen tel,
grams from Rottenborough alread,
l. I'm glad it's recovered. What aboi
L your own, sir p
lnals lne quesJlon. lou nau Oe
y ter telegraph down the line about it.
must have been put out at one of ii
/ stations the o'clock train called at,
N suppose. III call and hear what new
b you have tomorrow. Good night
p And the detective walked off.
d Before o'clock the next mornin
b Mr.. John Wyle was at Euston, not di
guised this time, but in his usual CO
le tune. He took a ticket by the fir
n train for Rottenborough, where he a
% rived about s After swallowing
r. hasty breakfast at the hotel in that il
a teresting town, he obtained a cab al
y droye to Darklingbourne. There
Ne inquired for Sir Charles Noodle. S
le Charles at once saw him.
5 He explained to Sir Charles that
n was detective, He had long, he sal
f. been shadowing foreigner who W
10 suspected of great crime, and who
D, learned lately, was about to try to lie,
il blackmail upon Sir Charles by preten