The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1895-06-28

what is the matter, man? You are as
white as though you had seen ghost!''
'Thank God, you are safe'' ferVently
calculated the detective, going forward
and grasping Mr.. Mitchel's hand.
Here, read this, and you will under
stand" He drew out the afternoon pa
per and handed it to him.
"Oh, that!" said Mr. Mitchell care
lessly. "T've read that. Merely sensa-
tional lie, worked off upon a guileless
public. Not word of truth in it, 1 as
sure you.
"Of course not, since you are alive
But there is a mystery about this which
is yet to be explained.
"What! A mystery, and the great
Mr.. Barnes has not solved its am sur
prisedl I am indeed. But then, you
know, I told you after Goldie made a
| fizzle of our little joke that if should
choose to play the principal part you
would not catch me. You see, l have
beaten you this time. Confess You
thought that was my corpse which you
gazed upon at the morgpe?"
We'll, "said Mr.. Barnes reluctantly,
'fthe Identification certainly seemed
complete in spite of the condition of the
face. which made recognition impossi-
BILE. "
Eyes, flatter myself the whole affair
was artistic. "
''Do you mean that this whole thing
is nothing but a joke; that you went so
far as to invent cables and letters from
Paris just for the trifling amusement Of
making q fool of me?'
Mr. Barnes was evidently slightly
angry, and Mr., Mitchell, noting this fact,
hastened to mollify him.
''No, no; it is not quite SO bad as
that" said he. 81 must tell you the
whole story, for there is yet important
work to do, and you must help me. No.
Williams, you need not 60 out. Your
anxiety over my absence entities you to
knowledge of the truth. A short time
ago heard that a very rare gem was in
the market, no less stone than the
original emerald which Corte2 stQle
f4pnl tho eFawA OF Montezuma. The
emerald was offered in Paris, and was
notified at once by the dealer and au-
thorized the purchase by cable. A few
days later received a dispatch warning
me that there was danger. ! understood
AZ ones, toF similar danger has lurked
about Qther large stones which are now
in my collection. The warning meant
that l should not attempt to get the
emerald from the custom house until
further advices reached me, which
would indicate the exact nature of the
danger. Later releiEed the letter which
Yas found on the body now at the
morgue and which ! suppose yog have
readf"
Mr.. Barnes nodded assent.
II readily located the man Palma at
the Imperial, and from his openly using
his name knew that had dangerous
adversary. Criminals who disdain
aliases have brains and Vsa them. / kept
away from the custom house until sat:
isfied myself that was being dogged by
veritable cutthroat. who, of course,
was the tool hired by Palma tQ rob, peg.
haps 20 kill me. Fhus acquainted with
my adversaries, / was ready for the en-
terprise. 3"
"Why did you not solicit my assist
ance?" asked Mr. Barnes
Partly because ] wanted All tho glory
and partly because | saw a chance to
make you admit that am still the cham
pion detective batfler. | sent my wife
and daughter to Europe that l might
have time for my scheme. On the day
after their departure | boldly went "a
the CUSTOM house aud obtained the
emerald, OF course l was dogged by the
hireling, but ! had arranged plan
which gave him no advantage over me.
! had constructed a pair of goggles
which looked like simple smoked glasses,
but in one of these had little mirror,