The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1897-06-09

coat, when the sound of voices in the adj
joining room, which happened to be
Mr.. Cardew's private office, made him
partition between the two walls was so
thin that he was able to hear distinctly
every word that passed between the
partner and the detective.
1t may pc wondered why Mayhem de-
sired to overhear the conversation. He
did SO simply because he made prac-
tice of housekeeping whenever he had
chance. In days gone by he had
picked up one or two valuable tips
by this rather disgraceful process, and
he therefore listened now with all his
ears.
First of ALL" said the detective, ~
must ask you if everyone has left the
office, for the plan l am about to pro-
pose to you, Mr.. Cardew, is one which
must never go beyond ourselves if it is
to have any possible chance of success
81 believe everyone has gone home,
returned the other; but ler us come
and make certain"
Hearing these words, the ingenious
Mayhem slipped behind the huge safe
in the corner of the room. so that when
the two men looked in, they saw no one
there.
Were safe enough" said the detec-
tive, gruffly. And now, sir, I'll detail to
you what propose"
go on" said Mr.. Cardew, quietly. II
am listening. Whatever you propose
in reason shall be carried out, and |
am resolved to discover the culprit con-
cerned in all these disgraceful thefts,
even if it costs me 1000 to do It."
The detective gave the partner a
somewhat contemptuous look. as
though he despised him for his display
of excitement. Then he said, very
slowly and deliberately:
What l propose is this, sir. Next
Saturday morning, at II o'clock. leave
on conspicuous part of your desk in
this room your purse. Let it be well
filled with gold-not with notes-for
thieves often fight shy of notes for OBJ
vious reasons Notes have numbers,
and numbers are awkward things some
times. Let the gold, therefore, be the
only thing in the purse, and leave it
as l have said where everyone can see
it. You might scatter one or two other
articles of personal property. such as a
handkerchief, a cigar-case, ETC.. on the
desk, SO as to give the business an I'M
prearranged appearance. Having done
all this, let it be known that you are
going out and will not be back for a
few hours. Come back at one, and see
if the purse is still on the desk. If it
is not, send downstairs for me, and |
shall be in waiting at the door with a
couple of plain-clothes men. Your next
action win be to have every door in
the place locked. and allow nobody to
leave until he has been thoroughly
searched. If you have cloak-room or
hat-room, that must be searched also,
as it is quite as likely the thief would de-
post the stolen property in his over
coat as anywhere else"
Mr.. Cardew rose and paced the room
excitably.
my dear sir" he said, speaking in a
quick, nervous tone, II really don't
think I could possibly sanction such a
course as that. 1t is most English
most arbitrary-most humiliating."
Doubtless it is" returned the other,
coolly; but it's about the only way
can see of clearing up this business.
If you'll allow me to make the remark,
sir, / would remind you that just now
you said you would give thousand
pounds to do So"
$50 L would, so I would, but cannot
humiliate my assistants, some of whom
are old and trusted servants"
There will be no humiliation. You
can explain the circumstances, and
am sure every sensible man-jack of
the only one under the circumstances.
Besides, you can tone it down by an
nouncing holiday, or something of
that sort, to make up for their tenn
porary inconvenience"
Eyes, 1 might do that" replied Mr..
you say, when they realize the circum-
stances, they cannot possibly take of
Tense. Well, WE'LL" and here he sighed
slightly, IF you are convinced that this
course is for the best, take it, by all
means"
very good, sir" said the detective,
as he rose to take his leave. 'On Satur-
day next, then, at one p. N. / shall be
at the door. If you want me you had
better let me know yourself, as in cases
of this kind third persons are always
dangerous. Goodnight, sir"
He left the room quickly, Mr.. Cardew
accompanying him to the door, and let
ting himself out at the same time.
Then Mayhem slowly took his way
home, thinking deeply all the time.
Here was chance at last, glorious,
wonderful chance of getting his rival
Jack Langley into disgrace. Itwould be
as easy as smoking cigarette On Sat
urday he would find an excuse for en-
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