The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1897-10-12
WHO'S W;FIo7'
b HUGO 81. YuRTERRf, n d
III will be easy enough, I reflecte

"It will be easy enough" reflected
~ ! began adjusting my garments,
which the attendant, with some gentle
protestations, placed within reach.
A few minutes later went out from
the hospital. Iwould not use car
riage, for that would have been con-
fession Of weakness, and for the same
reason I refused to accept the cane that
was offered to me. II took some resolu-
ton aud compression Of the lips for me
to walk with my usual gait and with
out the appearance Of suffering, but l
succeeded, and it was good thing for
me, for the exercise did wonders in lin
bering the muscles, SO that when !
reached my apartments scarce trace Of
my hurts remained.
TWAS to be expected that before Har-
old left the country he arranged mat
tiers 80 a. to prevent any letters falling
into my hands whose secrets he wished
to keep. I know that he sent out many
missives which presumably were for
that purpose, for IL was understood that
whatever rlissives reached his rooms
were to be opened by me, and was to
do with them as I saw at.
When I passed into the attractive
apartments, I found two letters which
had come during my brief absence. The
writing, Of course, was unfamiliar, but .
glance showed that one was from wo.
man and the other from man.
THAT" I unused, holding of the
delicate white envelope, with its pretty
superscription, "is from the young lady
whom I tried to help yesterday. Some
thing tells me that it is the opening Of
an era in my life. I will leave it to the
last, and meanwhile find out what this
fellow is driving at"
1t was an ordinary envelope, the di-
rection in an ordinary business hand,
and sat down, with my elbow leaning
on the table and my side toward the
light, crossed my legs (somewhst GIN
gerlyA and deliberately read the follow
ing astounding missive. which was dated
two days before in the city Of Chicago:
DEAR JRp-All promises WELL but matters
arc still in delicate situation. Some Of the
farmers have settled in Kansas and will reap
good crops II the grasshoppers don't bother
them. The same Is true Of the Dakotas, Of
Texas and the southwest. Maybe tho good
work will extend to California. We're suro to
win in the long run, but it's-expensive Only
tho true stuff can DO used at this stage of the
game. Send ten thousand by return mail to
thy address ut the Auditorium. BUDp.
I read this extraordinary missive
through several times, until every word
was impressed upon my memory. I
turned the sheet over and looked at the
other side. Not another word was writ
ten, nor was there the slightest clew to
tho identity Of Budd" Of the Auditori-
UNI hotel, at Chicago l held the en-
velope up to the light, but nothing was
there to enlighten me. The direction
was to Mr.. H. o. Westcott, so there
could be no doubt that 1t was intended
for the owner of these rooms. who was
then upon the ocean, and that it was in
accordance with our understanding that
the letter was opened by me and was to
be disposed Of by no other person.
But what in the name of the seven
wonders could it mean2 Except for the
closing sentences, would have been un-
able to make even conjecture. The
true stuff" could signify nothing else
but good money, for it was followed
Immediately by demand for the re-
mittance of large sum.
Admitting all this, which was un.
questionable. the references in the OPEN
ing of the missive must be to bad money.
The FARMERS" were the counterfeits
that were being sent into different parts
Of the west, and consequently the
"grasshoppers" must be the detectives
or officers that were sure to be hot on
the trail of the "shovers of the queer. "
Such was the Interpretation l put
upon this remarkable document which
had come into my hand, and the more
I thought of the matter the more certain
did feel that I was right, though never
forgetfui of the possibility that I might
be wholly wrong from the beginning.
Often after theory is once formed all
subsequent discoveries seem to fit it ex-
actly, until the final discovery knocks
everything to smithereens.
Here, as l viewed it, was q clear in
dication of some illegitimate scheme
afoot in which Harold Westcott held a
personal interest. No criminal would
dare make so direct demand upon
him for money unless he had solid
foundation upon which to base the de-
mand. Harold was one Of the principals.
All Of which confirmed q shadowy
suspicion that had never been wholly
absent from me-namely, that the man
had cogent reasons for wishing to dds
appear" for year other than the one
he gave me- Surely person who has
an abundance Of money and who leads
an upright life has no cause to fear a
residence in New York.
My reflections awoke resentful feel
ing toward Harold Westcott His con-
duct was cowardly in thus entioing an
other into trap in order to avoid the
penalty he himself had incurred.
Suppose worse came to worse and
fell into the hands of the law officers. ]
could not deny my identity. The only
possible doubt Of that was in the mind
of the vicious brute Jack, and his testi-
mony would hardly avail me-
Could it DO that was in error. and
that the scheme was lawful onep The
best way out was to ascertain the truth.
~