Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1899-02-23

covered on TIE moor Inside. III course,
one would have supposed that the per
son last in the room had locked the
door behind him. and her had taken
out the key and pushed it under the
door: but the extraordinary thing was
that the key would not go under the
door. | triei il myself. The door was
too close 10 the floor to allow of the
key being pushed underneath
Won Mitschka, for the first time since
l had known him, burst into a hearty
laugh.
Confess. row. said he. .that q
thrill-a very gentle me perhaps. but
a perceptible thrill of-of some feeling
ii would be hard 10 name-let us say a
vague fear, of the supernatural,
but OF the mysterious. of the inexpllca-
ble-ran through your veins as YOU re
allied that fact. and what 1t mennt?"
We'll. l vas uncommonly surprised;
and / dyn't mind admitting TO You that
fer an instant / was conscious of some
such feeling as you describe. The room
was empty. 1t had no other outlet
The lock was a special one, which had
been put on under the Princes super
vision. and the key was unquestion-
ably the one that belonged TO the lock.
II could act have been thrust under the
door. nor put into the room in any 9th.
err way. by the person, (whoever he
wasD who was known 20 have gone into
the room. locking the door after him.
How did the key get there!"
"And what was your answer TO the
question:" asked Won Miischka, with
a smile.
THAT in spite Of ~Ivanovitch's pro-
testations that the thing was impossi-
bile, there must have existed n second
key 10 that door. Tho pretended prince
left the key OF the door on the floor to
n.ystify the police. and when he locked
the door behind him on going out OF
the room, he used the second key
"You naturally think SO: and | sup
pose the police thought the same. But
you are wrong. There was no second
key. The thing was managed In this
way. When the door was burst open,
in the person of the lieutenant Of po-
lice and his men, the gendarmes ad
vanced first into the room. Their
backs were at that moment turned to-
wards the %ervants grouped together
outside the door
'.0f course"
at was but natural that one or two
of the servants should follow the po-
Zee n few steps into the room"
Eyes"
"Weli, m OF them happened to have
n hole In his rousers pocket. and my
own idea IL hat the key must have
slipped through the hole on the floor.
When the police locked around. there
was the key ready for them 10 pick
APP"
'Childishly simple" I exclaimed:
sand yet / assure you that the fact
that the key had been picked up in the
bedroom by the police puzzled me OK,
treniely. / Thought, Of course. that the
police had gone info the room alone.
But you have not vet told me the most
Important part of the story. How did
the pretended Prince get into the
Princes carriage without the know
ledge Of the coachman and footman?
And. above al. how was the real
Prince ahductedg"
There was not so much difficulty
about that "a you would suppose"
said the chief. I'VE had n carriage.
painted to resemble that of the Prince.
with coachman and footman in clothes
identicai In appearance with those
worn by his servants. This carriage
kept we'll In front OF the waiting We
hicles- We had private warning that
the prince was taking leave OF his
hostess: and our carriage got so close
10 the entrance that the coachman was
able to give ,he ci'cial at the door the
name os the Primo. just before the
Prince appeared In the vestibule.
Hence. there was no necessity to call
the Princes name aloud and his coach
man male no effort 30 GENE up ut the
critical moment. Tie Prince descend
cd the steps saw what looked exactly |
Ike his own carriage waiting at the
door 80 receive him, got into il and was
driven away
And the false princetF
"IIais aa hour later. n az our peo-
pie called out TO the Princes coach
man. aud told him that the Princes
carriage lad been called, and that the
Prince was waiting for him. The poor
INA made his way as fast as he could
towards the grand entrance, and a
few steps from il he met a man of the
same height and build as his master,
walking towards the carriage. with
the collar Of his cloak turned up owe
his ears. This man put his hand on
the door OF the brougam. opened II,
aud signed to the coachman TO stop.
The man was attending to his horses,
and. OF course. he did as he was bid
without peering into the face of the
person who had signalled to him TO
stop. Who but his master could have
been expected 10 act in suth a wayy
AS for the footman. the same agent
who had told the coachman that he
was wanted, smoke at that moment 10
the footman. dis;raciing his attention:
end the poor fellow literally did not
know that anybody had get into the
carriage till he heard the door bang.
or course. he was ready 10 swear. hon.
estly enough. that the Prince bad left
the French Embassy at that hour IN
his own carriage"
"And the zeal Princeg'
'srhe real Prince was driven of al n
rapid pace In the direction of his own
house. Suddenly the br0ugham turned
jnto n side street. and before the
Prince could as much as let down the
window to ask the reason OF this. he
was whirled into the yard OF one Of the |
houses. and the gates were shut lie.
hind him. There was a short scuflc. /
but the Prince was hopelessly ever
matched, and was not allowed TO utter