The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-03-13

tunity," said I, that is, If anything
was to be found there"
He seemed to be in a sympathetic
mood toward me, or perhaps-and this
is the likelier supposition-he had a
minute of leisure and thought he
could afford to give himself a little
quiet amusement. However that is, he
answered me by saying:
THE opportunity is not lost. You
have been in that cabin and have not
ed, have no doubt, Its extreme SIM
plicity. Yet 1t contains, or rather did
contain up till last night, distinct evil
dences of more than one of the crimes
which have been perpetrated in this
lane"
Good And you want me to guess
where you found them? Well, it's not
fair"
"Ah, and why not?"
Because you probably did not find
them on the first attempt. You had
time to look and change your mind and
look again. l am asked to guess at
once and without second trial what,
warrant, 1T took you several trials to
determine"
"Humphr' He could not help but
laugh. And why do you think it took
me several trials?"
Because there is more than one
thing in that room made up of parts.
"Parts?" He attempted to look puz-
zled, but I would not have it.
You know what 1 mean" 1 de-
clared; 40 parts, %, or whatever the
numbers are she SO constantly NUT
ters."
His admiration was unqualified and
sincere.
Miss Butterworth,' said he, you are
a woman after my own heart. How
came you to think that her mutterings
had anything to do with a hiding
placer"
Because it did not have anything to
do with the amount of money 1 gave
her When 1 handed her 25 cents, she
cried, Seventy, 2S and now 10v Ten
what? Not 10 cents or sic, but TEN
Why do you stop?"
81 do not want to risk my reputation
on a guess. There is quilt on the bed
made up of innumerable pieces. There
Is pavement under foot of neatly laid
brick
And there is a Bible on the stand
whose leaves number many over TO-
All, was it in the Bible you found''-
His smile put mine quite to shame.
II must acknowledge" he cried, that
looked in the Bible, but l found moth
ing there beyond what we all seek when
we open its sacred covers. Shall l tell
my StOry?'
He was evidently bursting with pride.
You would think that after a half CEN
fury of just such successes a man
would take his honors more quietly.
But pshaW. Human nature is just the
same in the old as in the young He
was no more tired of compliment or of
awakening the establishment of those
ne conlded in than if he was out on
his first great case. OF course in pres
ence of such great weakness L could
do nothing less than give him a SYM
pathetic ear l may be old myself some
day Besides, his story was likely to
prove more or less interesting
Tell your story" I repeated. Don't
you see that I ami was going to saw
ION pins and needles till 1 hear it."
but that is vulgar expression for a
woman like myself, and might prove I
was becoming deteriorated by the bust
ness into which / had been pushed
more or less against my will; so 1 al
tered the words happily before they
were spoken into-"that 1 am in a state
OF the liveliest curiosity concerning the
whole matter? Tell your story, OF
course"
''Well, Miss Butterworth, if I do II
is because | know you will appreciate
it. You, like myself, placed weight up
on the numbers she is forever running
over, and you, like myself, have con-
ceived the possibility of those numbers
having reference to something in the
one room she inhabits. At first glance
the extreme baroness Of the spot SEEM
ed to promise nothing to my curiosity,
l looked at the floor and encountered
no signs of any disturbance having
taken place in those syrnmetrcally laid
bricks for years. Yet I counted up to
20 one way and 2S the other and mark
ing the brick thus selected began to
pry it out. 1t came with difficulty and
showed me nothing underneath bu,
green mold and frightened insects
Then I counted the bricks the other
way, but nothing came of it, The foo,
does not appear to have been disturbed
for years. Turning my attention away
from the floor, 1 began upon the quilt