The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-11-07

real came-but he lost it all at play.
When he was bankrupt in cash. and al
most in character, he was brought out
here this last season to act as crOupier
at the Casino, just to keep him from
starvation. l heard of him; l never saw
him, for, as you will understand / do
not frequent those places; heard of him
as a man with history, man who
had been in good in the best society,"
knew men and cities, but had sunk into
mere adventurer, vaurien and chew
alier d'industrie. 1t is possible that he
knew the prince by sight, had met him
or heard of him in Europe, and when
he came up here-if he ever came
Which is as good as proved" / put
in.
Not to my satisfaction You stick
to your point, however; it is like you
English. But will you explain why no
one, none of us, at any rate, has met
him or heard of him? Biskra is small
place. Why are there no traces of
him?"
THAT is the darkest part of the bust
ness, TO my mind
You shall not say, monsieur. that we
have not tried our best to clear up that.
There shall be no imputation of foul
play undetected where [ command. I'm
| mediate search shall be made through
the district-a complete search. Your
Prince Charmant must be very securely
hidden, if he escapes our people. He
shall be found, whether alive or dead"
He was not found. nevertheless. But
! a day or two later the baron sent for
me, and said they had laid hands upon
the two rogues, PicpuS and Della
Croce.
'They are both in Algiers, known to
and identified by the police No doubt
they await your arrival with the mdgot,
the great prize for which they have an
gled so cleverly. Now we shall arrest
them. [ am writing to beg that this be
done at once, for by Interrogation they
may be got to confess what they have
| done with the prince-at least when in
custody they cannot carry out their pro-
gramme. They will not be silenced by
the payments they demand, but they
cannot very we'll communicate with the
press"
This news in a measure ended my
mission, which did not extend beyond
laying bare and neutranzing clever
attempt at eXtortiOn. But [ could not
rest satisfied with that had still to
fulfill a duty to my employer. I must
unravel the more serious mystery of
| the princes disappearance.
SO prepared to return without delay
to Algiers and assist, so far as | might
be permitted, in the examination of the
cOnsDirators.
Their luck interposed in my favor,
and in no profession does the action of
blind chance go further than in that of
the detective. The strange fact has
been proved again and again, and
might be illustrated by many curious
examples.
The very day before that fixed for my
departure | was wandering aimlessly
! through the little town of Biskra,
when chance-the detectives good for
tune, rather-took me into an Arab
caravanserai on the outskirts near
where the road comes in from Toug-
court and Ell Wayla, the farthest con-
fines of the French territory.
1t was of the same character as
those [ had seen in the far east, a
great square enclosure, the center filled
with refuse and garbage, among which
! stood the camels, horses and other ami
mails, while on the four sides were low
doors opening upon the travellers
rooms.
A little on one side was a new ar
rival-one of those old-f3shioned hooded
vans seldom seen out of France, and
only there in out of the way districts
remote from railways and large towns
They are used by quack doctors, cheap
jacks, wandering photographers and
the like. The proprietors of this van
seemed to combine all these callings
with that of horse dealer; for a num-
Der of promising colts stood around
tethered by their fetlocks, and an old
man in blue blouse and sabots was
giving them water. Suddenly L saw
him look toward the back of the van,
give low shrill whistle, and whisper:
Care! La patronne. Eft patiti-et
patita!'
Following the direction of his signal
saw two young people flying apart
with a. haste that showed they were
doing wrong. 1t was the old, oldtstory;
love was not running smoothly, and the
chief obstacle was, no doubt this stall
wart female in the mans red beret
who had just entered the caravanserai
l drew near, amused, as l saw the
youth snatch up a water bucket, the
girl hurriedly resume her task of shred
ding cabbages in the pot-a-feu, while
the woman-1nistress or mother, prob
ably both-called one an idle vagabond
and the other a shameless mink
Then l caught the lads face and was
held instantly spellbound.
1t was undoubtedly Prince Stanislas
de Medea.