The Afro-American advance. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1899-19??, 1899-12-09

tation-an action which was not lost on
the aktute detective. who. having COM
pleted his examination, without an
otEer word Accompanies the chef into
lis sanctum.
''Weli, Sherman" I remarked banter
ingly, when we were left aione-for the
temptation 10 have a quiet fling NJ him
proved irresistible-"bow Jared the
quest? Did the lady prove amenable %
your Establishments :"
'Yef, sonny" he retorted. displaying
his sireng, white teeth In an exasperat-
ing grin, you can congratulate me. ]
reckon. right nowi"
And with short laugh he turned on
his heel and strobe away, leaving me
absolutely dum.onnded at his amazing
rudacity.
"oh. by.the-bye." be remarked, stay
ing at the door. there's your paper.
Guess we're still friends, anyhow. :.
shak9 No? Well. Just as You please"
IA he drew the journal from his
breast.pocket. all unobseryed by him
a small fragment of paper fiuttered to
the hoer.
"well, for cool liar" burst ont.
hotly. you certainly take III" But he
only replied with a hooking laugh. as
he swung through the door and disap-
penred.
Enthusiastically stopped and
picked up the crumpled bit Of paper
which had fallen from his pocket.
Smoothing II out ! discovered upon II
what ai first sight appeared TO be an
arithmetichl calculation Of some sort.
II was scribbled In pencil, and read as
/ follows.
| 543-4-0--400.2.
iZ4s.3 ~ 10 - 222.7.is-i711.14-6-
s10.s.37-21.2 0.-29.17.3.
Turning the paper over curiously IN
my fingers scrutInized the figures
again and again In vain endeavor 70
decipher their meaning, and then, sud
denly. as noted the indistinct impress
Of the circular dating-stamp. which
| proclaimed that Il had passed through
| the post office, IL struck me that this
was no arithmeticai calculation, but
cipher message OF some kind.
But what could IL mehn7 $3.50
Puzzled, dropped into the window
seat. and. as l did so. my eyes III upon
he folded cover Of the Journal beside
me. The top portion OF the front cover,
bearing the familiar title and the date,
alone was visible. "5a3--4-Di" repeat
cd, abstraciedly. And then, all In mo-
ment, II occurred TO me that | also had
many times jotted down just such an
other batch of figures In certain futile
attempts TO win an initial letter com
petition. which some time previously
had been announced weekly by this, my
fayorite Journal. The idea was TO form
the hest sentence from the initial let
ters so taken. and ms | noted the num-
Der Of that issue and the date Of the
pnper-April 0~the connection struck
me, and | OWNED that the key lay to
ioy singers.
Eagerly turning the leaves found
the page indicated. 400" and scrutin-
lied the second column for the elew to
the hidden message. Nor did look in
vain, for at a glance discovered that
the initial letters OF many of the lines
the page down were licked by very
faint pencil-mark.
This. then, was why the willy Sher-
man, who had never TO my knowledge
manifested any interest in the period
ical literature of the day, had borrowed
my journal. lie had had some Interior
motive This weekly paper was key
to prearrangcd code Of correRpon-
dence with some acquaintance. The
mystery was n mystery no longer. The
enigma was solved
Deducing that tho figures given in
Dictated the number of the respective
lines, | set to work with my pencil, and
ia few moments had evolved the fol-
lowing message from the initial letters
OF the lines corresponding to the num-
bcrsi
"Meet- 7--mail-~I'il--- Q - swag %.
K.-~Kit."
For some seconds gaked at the words
before me az loss to compre bend their
meaning. Then, their full significance
dawned upon me, and | sprang to my
feet with a suppressed cry OF triumph.
$50. Mr. sherman" muttered. you
have employed your slack time to some
purpose"
Without loss OF time sought the de-
tectve and the chief. and straightway
placed the facts before them. The OIL
Ger listened to my hreathless expiana.
tions in silence, and. when had fin.
lShed my recital. his face was Alumined
by meaning smile.
"Mr. Whitworth," he remarked, de-
liberately, carefully placing the papers
In his pocket, II congratulate you on
your perspleuity. From the iirst sur
missed the culprlt must be looked for in.
side the building Ny examination Of
the case strengthened this belief. The
screws along the side, proximate to the
missing relic, have been tempered with.
allowing the case 20 be tilted upw ards
from It's supporting pedestal and the
insertion OF the depredator's hand
The marks OF the screwdrlver were
fresh upon them, and, though scarcely
apparent 10 the naked eve, easily dis.