The sun., 1895-02-24

| pOlCc. hnu ttATleu tne nlKnt tfhln lOI tnlCe.
| When left my room at the MOTEL, the cham
| bermaid had given me. In hopes of a larger fee,
no doubt, little photograph Of Challoner thu. =
as liked Uhaloner, and gave her an extra
| franz. much to the ChaRrin OF the Boots"
From Venice went to Como aud crossed into
| Switzerland, where met friends. .
about tie middle Of August, when hope re- re.
| turned.
There Is n dreary time Just about dawn. when
amsn lie prone to wake and mediate on his Sins
past, present. and possible
u was during such period OF meditation.
when Thought was abnOrlnRlly quCkened, that
new clue, new phase of the robbery occurred
to me; Next morning. despite my friends ey-
the Chief Of Police and told him my Theory. '"'
DiavolO!' lie cried. There are still
Wishing to remain unknown | spent u week
chanoe letters At the end of the week / grew
restless and went To see the chief, lie was
nOpgSfHn ndsss nds mn had H, f
bird Ind down. lie, evidently suspected moth;
for Swltzerla land, so the frontier police had been
notified and % would d watch vat, A. for him him; ,,,.,
"surclym cried the chief. THE. devil him
shook H iO me by Vi the hand and laughed pleasantly
So, walking home in an aimless way, turned
into the narrow little via Tsetina that leads to
tnB VIA tie BuOnI, WntfC Slhnus lno
Cornelio. In whose garden, had often slaked
my thirst with beer, beneath the green roof of
trellised vines.
Imagine my astouishment when. on entering
the garden. saw Chailoncr seated at one of the
further tables, beside glass Of foaming beer,
name. deiiEhtedly. At the sound he jumped
from his chair, upsetting the little table and his
Where did YOU, drop from, Chaloner ?"
asked, AS we shook hands.
- on. I'm a rover. as you know, he answered
" Rut what lnye brought to Florence
this time. You can't have business hereE'
o. Yes, have replied Important bust
My dear fellow said Challoner, with a
dep,reestng smile; you might q, rs well hunt for
long ago" . -on,,o, An non.r {. ann,
and. besides my hope was never stronger"
ordered beer for both OF us. When the
waiter had brought the beer and left us said,
Of the thief, and viii get him soon. How does
that strike ,.! you, ChsllonerT 1s
YES" replied. its beyond question. In
am armed with badge and credentials and
carry convenient revolver in my pocket. 80
But surely that can't he legal" said Chal-
90 guess II s legal enough" said. Any how,
IN risk the legal part and try 1t on; And, by
My dear fellow" said Chaioner, WARMLY
begin to hope once more your enthusiasm is so
fs n r ny Ssa 3 SS, HI, nsnS
but But did iJ nOt !eks his hand Pushing M back Yd my my
trouble. on6 Challoner. You can repay Inc those
What do you mean" said Challoner in
surprise, his arm still stretched across the table
" mean, said |, that this warrant bears
your name, and unfoded and shook it out be-
For a moment the outstretched hand quiv-
cred and the face the little table opposite
ma hafa me G - nRI a co nj
another man. Then he drew himself up with all
it is Incredible" he said. slowly. "incred-
ible. could forgive much from you; but this is
serious. cannot pass /: over. 1 will appeal at
once to the British Consul,
Yes" said |. "he is anxious to see you. he
says and 80 are the people in Scotland Yard.
But you can appeal later. Just now paying is
Challoner sat looking at me. calm. digniicd.
silent. After moment he said: cannot re-
gret your actions to-day. as thought you were
in one way do regret them. as they have
spoiled for me the little surprise had in store
What do you mean" asked. sharply:
L" mean." said ChalOner " that have found
the thief and recovered the money-in part"
For a full minute sat and stared at Chal-
loner astounded at such marvellous effrontery
unembarrassed, his voice clear and steady, and
his attitude easy and natural. yet ] had enough
medium and clairvoyant, an embezzler of church
fnnds and remarkably clever olnckmailer
But, rs looked at ms cOmpOSure under my
attack, almost admired him.
Well :" said Challoner exPectantly.
Pay me my money" replied.
"On one condition." he said.
What condition y asked.
This" said Challoner. Ridiculous as your
your power for the moment. How do know
but that after pay you you will have me ar.
rssted rso,s wi WIN you promise that after pay
Yes" said |, ~ PROMISE,
o. w In friy vnnt
draft on my bankers at once"
,..Y "Yon will not" replied You will pay me
But suppose , haven't ], got it" he said cooly
thing OF the kind" replied. Listen! You
have not spent it. for | know f;,, how you 70 have
BANK in Forsnsee for a have Inquired nor any ~
Rome or Venice. for the police have inquired.
and you have been nowhere else snce.I last saw |
you. shall call the gendarme who is outsider" |
Challoner drew a thick roll OF notes from his |
pocket and proceeded to count them slowly.
You may II you like he said, without stop |
resumed my seat and watched him. 1t was
a strange scene. 4 waiter stood idly swinging |
mis- napkin in the doorway; the voice OF a street |
singer sounded family and brokenly above the |
through the roof of OF Shifting eaVe. @ottied the
little yellow painted iron table, with its partly |
empty glasses, by which Challoner sat; never |
once betraying by look OF gesture that his |
thoughts were occupied by anything more seri- |
Gus than counting notes.
When he had done he pushed the pile of
notes over to me silently. l counted them
rapidly, and found only $500 francs.
1t Is 800 francs short" said.
1T is your fair proportion of what l re-
covered" replied Chulloner. II am u loser in
the same proportion"
| threw the notes on the table and looked
him squarely In the face.
"Challoner," said l. this farce has got TO
stop. Will you pay, or will you, not?"
Chaloner. view Of that fact, % do you 'h insist
II do" said ].
He bowed slightly and said sneerngly: "You
can speak plain English at least" Then search
ing in his pockets he produced four notes OF
100 and one of 30 francs, and laid them on tho
table with the others.
That is still 80 short" said besides, Ihad
about 80 more in my purse"
For answer he took handful OF coppers
aud small silver from one OF his pockets and
pulled the others inside out, replacing them one
by one.
:" think will so now" he said coldly rising
to his feet
Watt a moment" said. when you left
Florence you forgot this. Perhaps you would
ike to have IT again" and Withdrew from my
pocket the little photograph found In his room.
Yes ~ said l'lallDneF uuicklV - NOulI It'a