Telegram-herald., 1891-12-20
II.

= said wssaoat being ssen ocrseIves.s
III.
",I1rx. man. what has taken posses
ssea os your
Li1lsll IooAsd up IN surprise and saw
BY tas look la lis friends face that il
WA time f1r hi-a To clear his cAArsctsr.
Il. lsat so BAD as that. Maurice.
an tying u recover something that is
eithsr soSz 0< stelen. and detectives must
not b. ,,a1apeTei by conventional moral
itiss."
What have you lossy
~ F.los. Tia plot Of my last novel.
cane down here few weeks ago to
work. because this is the quiesest plscc
Ia tae world before il beeosass fashion
able. bat became 800 absorbed aud lose
couat of tao time. One morning !
looksd cat aai found tho ground COW
cred With people. ought TO have re-
treatsl then. bat was deep in acrisical
CHAPTER. and rsshly determined to risk
it AID say Ill got that particular in
spiraron down on paper. Well. paid
FOR 10. l took my portfolio down TO
rustic seat which l had come 10 look
upon IS my peculiar property. aud tried
to pzy no attention TO tho inane multi
taaas who saunterel AMI nirtei on
every han3. reviewed nay work up to
the point had then reached. glanced
mentally over what remained To do.
Everything was in perfect order. Then
! settled down u work. Ny thoughts
isust have wandered little, for my
G nsciearo presently aroused me with
the iesi' < that was wasting my morn
ing. drew my papers toward me. and
could think OF nothing. Ny plot was
gon,. absolutely and beyond recall"
DO you mean yen had forgotten it~
Forgotten? Forgotteas How dc you
define memo-y.'
''Oh. if you are going into metaphysics
Surrender at discretion"
.'rhe custodian OF mental property
conveys tie idea. doesn't it? Wen,
certain part OF this mental property
pasS - from the possession OF this crs-
todian- II cannot have been lost-.hat
is u say. annihilated. The fact that it
ono, existed proves that 1t must always
exist. IL not in one form, then in an
other; ii not here, then somewhere else.
Now, under what conditions can mental
properly exist? Manifestly only in the
Inird Of some person. Therefore, If an
idea his passed ont of my mind, you can
not escape the logical conclusion tha. it
must have passed Into the mind Of some
ono else"
Then your theory Is that your miss
ing plot has fastened itself upon the un-
suspecting brain of some poor fellow who
came out here for rest? don't wonder
you ars anxious about it. Just fancy the
victims bewiiderment, ainazement. hor-
ror at so sudden an inroad Of ideas.
Was it a very exciting plot, Mark
No. 10 was to be Q realistic story.
Tint is the worst part OF it. Any one
might use IL up unconsciously without
ever n,specting that il was not his own.
OF cours-. il he were to pat IL into a
book l could identify it. / feel very
sure should recognize it at sigEt. But
the great danger is that the present pos
SCISSOR viii simply squander it on his own
life. Hs viii use il up on some Irritation,
probably, where any one OF a dozen COM
nonpl,ce ideas would have served as
WELL
''-Ah. then you had just reached the
firtatious stage OF development"
"My hero and heroine had been parted
by quarrA. That's an idea, Of course,
that had been utilized before. But they
were to DO brought together in very
original and unique manner. That's the
idea that Is gone"
1T Is to Be- dsvoutly hoped then that
the plot selected some unpreoccupied
bachelor to experiment upon. 1t makes
my hair stand on end 10 think what the
consequences may be il an idea in that
particular stage Of development should
attack some young man, say, who mad
taken the opportunity while off with the
old love % get on with new. He
would be bound TO follow out the plot,
wouldn't he, and make up with the old
whether he wanted 10 or not? Mark. you
don't know what complications You may
be responsible for. You must recover
that dana n2erors Mot at ONCE"