The Holly chieftain., 1898-04-29
nearly sn.sy with forebodlnss bit SOW

teosty cukSy - ~ ~. 81 =. - > rs
"Iam sure 1 do, aimost." abe lsughed.
Il wonder II Mr.. Hendricau can have
discovered anything more? Hero he
comes now. heard the gate click. Let
me admit him."
She went to the door, and in a mo-
ment entered with the detective.
He knows something new. she ssau,
laughingly, to her lover 4 can zee It
in his eyes,"
"You certainly don't seem 20 per-
picked as you did when ! left you yester-
day" said WILDLY, ~ he cordially shook
hands,
"A little nearer, thst's ALL was the
reply OF the detective, as Ne sat down
and took out the envelope they had
found at the shop Of the rag dealer.
"You know" he went on to WILDLY,
II said yesterday that there was some
thing familiar about this envelope that
couldn't make out Well. last night,
as I was studying over it, this large D
in the center Of the postmark suddenly
recalled an incident to my mind. and
must relate 1t TO you, so that you can
follow certnin chain Of circumstances
in which am interested md which may
lead us to something definite.
Three days nfter had been detained
down here by the murder, my mother,
who lives with me in New York. received
a letter. Here 1t is. Iwillread 1t to you:
".Dear Madam
An important business matter makes
Il necessary to wire your son. Mr.. Minard
Hendricks. at once. He and are friends.
but have missed him round town lately,
I was told at his club that he had left the
city. II you will kindly send his address to
me. shall be greatly Obliged. am, dear
madam.
. Very sincerely yours,
FREDERICK CHAMPNEY
'2A Union street. brooklyn
There seems to be nothing remarka-
Bile about the note. DO you think there
is? askcd Hendricks, when he had fin-
ished.
"Not that can see, = said Miss Delmar.
deeply interested.
Rather bold thing to do. II 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 u rule, y
said the detective But haven't told
you how IL came into my hands. Nv
mother, while very old and naturally
nnsuspicious, has learned u good deal
OF caution from me, especially where
anything pertains In the slightest 10 my
profession: so she did not reply to the
note but sent it down here to me. Ifell
readily into the trap set for her. /
could remember no one by the name of
Champney. but flattered myself II was
one who knew me better than did him;
so. thinking Tint my mothers raution
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-
tion and apology, which mailed to the
address given.
"The matter might then have escaped
my memory, If the note had not left a
sort of uneasy impression on my mind
that ! might suddenly be called to New
York. and, as was deeply interested
in this case, l dreaded interruption. II
was this frame OF mind that caused a
very trifling circumstance to bring
back the whole thing to me.
"Fhe 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 methodicaI in al.
nosteverything. had written the mum.
Der Of my room. Well. in few days il
was returned to me marked. Not De.
livered.'
This Mt once excited suspicion thai
something was wrong--that some de-
signing person, for reasons OF hfs own
had tricked me into betraying my
whereabouts. The telegram had moi
been returned. That showed that some
one at aa4 Union street, brooklyn, had
received it and signed for It In due
form, or i should have been advised OF
his failure to do SO by the telegraph
office here. The letter addressed in th<
same way had been returned. That
proved that Frederick Chnmpney either
was not there or wanted me to think he
was not, and my curiosity was reused
But, az your case was just then becom.
ing more interesting. put the letter
away for safe keeping. along with the
note to my mother, to take up again
when l was more at leisure, and dis.
missed them from my mind. However
as said just now. there was something
strangely familiar about the envelope
we found at the rag shop yesterday, and
could not for the life of me tell what II
could be. 1t was not until had left
| IN Ina t<.l.S 4
that I found out. 1t was simply the
large capital d in the center Of the New
York postmark, for 1t corresponded ex.
nctly with the big d in the postmark OF
the letter my mother had received
You smile. You think that very little
thing. Well, so it was; but wait. The
D indicated the station at which the
letters were posted; they had both been
mailed in the same postal district
know that much, you see, MS a starter;
but was not satisfied. i wns sure the
two envelopes held better cIew be-
tween them, and was bound TO have t.
II lay awake half the night. thinking,
thinking, fili I got so wrought up
could not reason logically at all. ]
knew TINT would do no one any good. so
banished thoughts of all kinds, and
was getting into u drowsy state, in fact
was almost dropping on. when sudden
~ an idea popped into my bralli.
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 Delievered.'
What do yon suppose discovered? Ny