Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1897-06-22

..iaurlcKs. at once. lie ana are friends,
but have missed him round town lately,
was told at his club that he had left the
city. II you will kindly send his address to
madam.
VERY sincerely yours,
FREDERICK CHAMPNEY.
'234 Union street. Brooklyn
There seems to be nothing remarka-
Bile about the note. Do you think there
ISL" asked Hendricks, when he had fin
ished.
Not that can see." said Miss Delmar,
deeply interested.
Rather bold thing to do, if the fell
low that wrote it wanted to steer clear
Of you, should think" WILDLY re-
marked.
"The bold things are the very ones
we are less likely to suspect. as rule"
said the detective. But haven't told
you how IL came into my hands. My
mother. while very old and naturally
unsuspicious, has learned good deal
of caution from me, especially where
anything pertains in the slightest to my
profession; SO she did not reply to the
note but sent it down here to me. I fell
readily into the trap set for her. T
could remember no one by the name of
Champney, but fattered myself it was
one who knew me better than did him.,
SO, thinking that my mothers caution
In not replying to the note had perhaps
! caused the writer some inconvenience,
wired my address, and at the same
time wrote cordial note of explana-
ton and apology, which mailed to tho
address given.
"The matter might then have escaped
my memory, Ii the note had not left
sort of uneasy impression on my mind
that might suddenly be called to New
York, and, as was deeply interested
In this case, I dreaded interruption. It
was this frame of mind that caused a
very trifing circumstance to bring
back the whole thing to me.
1.-THE letter of apology which had
sent after the telegram happened to be
put in an envelope bearing the business
card of my hotel in this city, under
which, being rather methodical in al
most everything. had written the num-
Der Of my room. Well, in few days it
was returned to me marked: Not De-
livered.'
This at once excited a suspicion that
something was wrong-that some de-
signing person, for reasons of his own,
had tricked me into betraying my
whereabouts. The telegram had not
been returned. That showed that some
one at 234 Union street, Brooklyn, had
received it and signed for it in due
form, or should have been advised of
his failure to do SO by the telegraph
Office here. The letter addressed in the
same way had been returned. That
proved that Frederick Champney either
was not there or wanted me to think he
was not, and my curiosity was reused.
But, as your case was just then becom-
ing more interesting, I put the letter
away for safe keeping, along with the
note to my mother, to take up again
when was more at leisure, and dis
missed them from my mind. However,
as I said just now, there was something
strangely familiar about the envelope
we found ut the rag shop yesterday, and
could not for the life of me tell what it
could be. It was not until had left
you and reached my hotel last night
that found out. It was simply the
large capital D in the center of the New
York postmark. for 1t correspondent ex-
actly with the big d in the postmark of
the letter my mother had received.
You smile. You think that q very little
thing. Well, SO 1t was; but wait. The
ID indicated the station at which the
letters were posted; they had both been
mailed in the same postal district. I
know that much, you see, as q starter;
but was not satisfied. was sure the
two envelopes held a better clew be-
tween them, and I was bound to have it.
II lay awake half the night, thinking,
thinking. till 1 got SO wrought up !
could not reason logically at all. I
knew that would do no one any good, so
banished thoughts of oil kinds, and
was getting into drowsy state, in fact
was almost dropping off, when sudden
ly an idea popped into my brain.
II sprang up, lit the gas, and with my
magnifying-glass examined the letter
which had been returned to me from
New York marked: Not Delivered.
What do you suppose discovered? My
letter had been steamed and carefully
opened. 1t was perfectly evident. ]
could see indications of its having been
regummed and resealed. 1t is almost
impossible to put paste on an envelope
as smoothly by hand as it is done by q
machine"
$50 you thought" began WILDLY.
"That when the individual who had
written my mother under the name Of
Frederick Champney had received the
letter coming on the heels of my tele.
gram, his first impulse was to return il
unopened. being afraid the reception OF
it would tend to show his whereabouts
But, being curious to know what hao
to soy, he first opened it, read it, and
then sealed and returned it. Not baG
idea, eh?"
i WILDLY nodded. "It failed, however
to take you in"
u "And, moreover, it put me on to sub
stantial clew. See, here are the two
envelopes side by side-the one adj.
dressed to my mother and the other t.
Mr.. Strong. Now for points of re
semblance. The handwriting, though
disguised, is the same; the ink under
1 r~y1 e