Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1896-01-25

home to him, lie could not be imprison-
ed, though he would lose the bet. Now
here is another set, evidently tire right
ones. Mr.. Mitchell Was plainly surprised
ut sight OF the list which found. l am
sure be did not know of its existence.
Therefore he may equally well have
known nothing about this duplicate set
Of jewels. In that case the occurrence of
the train robbery on the very night CT
the wager may be simply a coincidence.
lie says that the dead woman was d
blacblnaiier and that lie gave her the
address of his Paris jeweler. May he
not have bought his set from that very
man and may not this woman have
stolen the duplicate set recently and
brought them to this country? Plainly
the Paris jeweler must DO looked up. 7
have his name, which copied from the
bill Of sale. If this line of argument is
true, some one has followed this woman
from France i'll order to rob her. after
allowing her to accomplish the risky
business of smuggling. Is that person
our friend Ihauret: Along this line of
argument we arrive at the conclusion
that Mir. Mitchell has not yet committed
his crime. Ee limited that should re-
member this if I should exculpate him
from these already committed. But do
l? Why did he show NE that ruby and
say that he meant to present it to his
sweetheart: viii he give it to her and
then lob her Of il: If SO, will she be in
the plot and make q hue and cry. SO that
the papers may make a noise? That was
a part OF the agreement in making his
bet. But, after all, what about that but
ton: No explanation explains which
does hot throw a light upon that
Here Mr.. Barnes was Interrupted by
the announcement that Mr.. Randolph
wished to speak with Kim. Tt must be
remembered that Mr.. Randolph was not
| aware OF the fact that the conversation
| i'll the sleeping car had been overheard.
| Brought face to face with Mr.. Barnes,
he felt confused and hesitatcd.
Nr. Randolph, l believe" said the
| detective, giancing at the card which
had been sent in. BE seated You have
| come to see me about this Mitchell case?'
The rising infection with which tho
/ last word was spoken seemed almost
unnecessary to Mr.. Randolph. For if
the man could ask such question he
might as well have made it q positive
statement. This assumption OF knowl-
edge made him more than ever confident
of the skill CT detectives. and especially
of the one before him.
| ''You know that:' said he "Would
yen mind telling me howl
| 1--WE detectives are supposed to know
| everything, are we nCt!' This was said
with an affable smile, but the answer
plainly indicated that Mr.. Barnes pre-
ferred not to be Intercepted. Mr.. Ran
dolph therefore concluded to hurry
through with his unpleasant business.
"Mr. Barnes, l have i confession to
make, and
Il must interrupt you, to remind you
that whatever you say is unsolicited,
and that if you incriminate yourself the
evidence will be used against you
''Thank you for your warning, but 1
have come here that may not be i'll
eliminated. The facts, in brief, are sim
ply these Then he narrated as accu-
rately as lie could recall them all the
circumstances in connection with the
wager. Mr. Barnes listened as though
it was all new story to him. He even
jotted down a few notes on bit of pa
per as though for reference. At the con-
clusion he said:
'This is Il most astounding tale, Mr..
Randolph. 1t is very difficult to believe
that man like Mr.. Mitchell, who GER
taiu!y seems to be gentleman, would
IN 9rtake to become Il criminal simply
TO win a SUM of money. Now yen must
have been thinking this over, and, if
so, you have some explanation to offer.
Would you mind telling it 20 me-"
q should be glad to DO So" Mr.. Ran
dolph spoke eagerly. In his heart he
was fond Of his friend, and therefore
lis theory was ore which III measure
would excuse him. Ee was delighted to
have the chance of confding his views
to the detective. lyon Sec" he contin-
ned, sit is Cne Of the most difficult
things in the world 10 say who is and
who is nCt perfectly sal.e. Some experts
conyeol that Iira-tcnths OF the people
in the world are affected by mania in
some form or ether. | hold that any
man who makes a collection Of any
kind CT things, using them for other
than their legitimate uses, is il meas
ure insane.
edo you mean legally insane? That
is to say, irresponsible"
"As to responsibility, cannot say.
But think such mania might tempt
q man to an illegal act. l must explain
my idea further. Postage stamps IN
doubtedIy have very important value.
One who collects them after they have
been Cancelled, paying many times their
face value for them, is in NY opinion
| I,-n--inu.r on Tnir p.cCD