Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1896-02-27
CHAPTE Y.

ness, and that gentleman soon presented
himself
Mr.. Van Rawlston," said Mr..
Barnes, II am detective. May have
few moments Of strictly private con-
versation with you?"
Certainly was the reply. "Step
into my study. We will be entirely safe
from prying ears there. A moment
later the two men were seated in com
Portable leather chairs facing each other.
Mr.. Van Rawlston," +" began the de-
tective, to explain my purpose at once
l have only TO say that / desire your
permission to attend the masquerade
which will be held here tonight. am
aware that this must seem an odd re
quest, but l make it entirely in your
own interests. -
If you will explain more fully, sir,
may be quite willing to grant your re-
quest" said the other
You should know that masquerade
is dangerous kind of entertainment.
At such affairs large robberies have often
been committed-the thieves operating
boldly and escaping through the aid of
believing that such crime is contem-
plated tonight.
Ny dear sir, impossiblel Why, no
one will be admitted save those with
whom we are well acquainted. Tickets
have been issued by the society which
gives the festival, and every one must
unmask before being allowed to enter
Therefore, while am grateful to you
for your warning, hardly think that /
need your services. "
Mr.. Van Rawlston, regret to say
that you are mistaken. In the first place
your close scrutiny Of all who enter will
probably be relaxed as the night wears
ON. Again, there are ways of getting in
unperceived, and once within the thief
would be unsupported. But this is no
guesswork on my part. do not think,
l know, that unless am here to prevent
it robbery will be committed. Indeed
l may even fail to prevent it. -
why, sir, you speak as though you
know the person who is to play the Grim
inal.
81 do. For several weeks my men
have been watching certain suspicious
parties. From data furnished by my
spies I am sure that plans have been
perfected by which one or more of your
guests will be robbed during the prog
ress of the entertainment. ="
''Still it seems incredible. AS have
said, no one will be able to enter with
out our knowledge"
"Of course cannot intrude upon you,
Mr.. Van Rawlston, but if you are
obliged to appeal to the police tomorrow
for the recovery of stolen property you
alone will be to blame if the thief shall
have had several hours the start of us. I
have warned you. That is the best can
do. wish you good morning" Mr.
Barnes rose to go, but Mr.. Van Raw
ston stopped him.
lone moment" said he. "If you are
so sure that there is scheme of robbery
afoot, of course must not be so rash as
to refuse your aid. What do you advise?
We could postpone the festival" 4"
BY no means. The course to pursue
is to keep what have told you strictly
secret-in fact, if possible, dismiss it
ep9tiirelE ee9ifr Ag1.ff from your ming. SO that NV
that suspicious have been aroused. Do
as I requested at first, and as 1 know
my man will be able to keep an eye
upon him should he be present.
81 suppose it must be as You say. But
you must be in costume. l have it The
have ordered some costumes
which they will give to those who come
You may have one of
those.
What costume shall 1 ask for?'
"Oh, they are all alikel They are the
Forty Thieves.
"The Forty Thieves?" Mr.. Barnes
was surprised. ''Is not that an odd cos
tuner"
"Oh, mol 1t was Mr.. Mitchel's idea.
He is the chairman of the committee.
He argued that rather than provide a
lot of meaningless dominos the strag-
glers, who will be chiefly invited guests
who are not members of the society,
may be thus garbed and still fall into
the scheme of the evening, which
is that every one shall play the part
of some character of the Arabian
Nights.
Every well, Mr.. Van Rawlston, for
once the detective will don the garb of
thief After all, you know the adage,
8 1t takes thief to catch thief. "
VERY good, Mr.. Barnes-I believe
that is the name on our card? Yes.
Well, come tonight early, and you shall
be fitted out. Later, if you should wish
to speak to me, shall be dressed as the
sultan, character about as foreign to
my true self as yours will be to you. "
Mr.. Barnes left the house thoroughly
satisfied with the result of his visit. In
the first place he had learned something.
Mr. Mitchell had decided upon the cos
tuning of the guests He had arranged
that at least 40 of them should be dress
ed alike Could there have been any Sc
cret design in this? If so, Mr.. Barnes
was glad to be one of the 40. Again,
this would be better than to use the
Aladdin costume, for the reason that he
had come to count Mr.. Mitchell as so
clever that it would not have astonished
the detective at all if it were known to
him that this Aladdin costume had been
ordered In that case the absence of such
q costume among the guests would con-
fuse the conspirators. Mr.. Barnes had
fully decided that more than one person
was interested in the approaching even
ing
AS early as o'clock the maskers be-
gan to arrive at the home of the Van
Rawlstons. The host appeared for the
time in evening dress and received and
welcomed his guests, all of whom wore
wraps that covered their costumes, thus
hiding the disguises which they meant
to use later on. Mr.. Barnes was ON hand
early and loitered about the hall in his
thief's garb, scanning the faces of all as
they passed in. After very brief period
of waiting he saw the Remsen party
alight from their carriage, escorted by
Mr. Randolph. Soon after Mr.. Thauret
entered He handed note to Mr.. Wan
Rawlston, who upon reading it at once
shook him cordially by the hand. Then
almost as suddenly an expression of sus-
picion passed across his face, and he
looked toward Mr.. Barnes, who, how
ever, turned away, refusing to notice
his glance of inquiry. Evidently the
host, not knowing Mr.. Thauret and re-
the detectives words. had
begun to suspect that perhaps the note
which he had just read was fraudulent.
Mr.. Barnes was fearful that he would
make some remark which would ruin