Waterbury Democrat., 1900-11-27
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y >'eiA make anything out of that gibberish, your i1nagina tion is more active than mine."
 Ut is not question of ina agination," said Sturgis; let us proceed systemat- ically. Here is telegram blank de- tached from C pad I found on Arbo- gast's desk. Compare its size with the outline of the marks on the blotter, and you will see, in the first place, that the message would just fit snugly On this sheet. Next, you will probably admit that the first line of marks on the blotter probably contain date; the second, a name; the third, an address; the last, a signature, and the interme- diate lines, message
 q am quite willing to concede so much; for no business man would be likely to write a telegram differently"
 .'Nery well. Now, then, let me hold this blank so that the reflection of it's vertical rulings may appear just above the image of the message. These lines, remember, separate the words of the message. Extend them mentally, and note how they divide the letters of the blotter. Will you hold these sheets while I transcribe the result?'
 In a few minutes more the reporter had drawn several lines on his copy of the reflection in the mirror.
 ''I don't see that you are any better off now than you were before," re- marked Dunlap, examining the result.
 Wait minute. These vertical lines, we say, divide the words of the message. There are five words to the line; only two on the last line before the sig nature; that is to say, 12 words in the message. Now, consider the first word. Evidently the e begins this word since it is a capital; and the four ish on the tail of the e tells us plain ly enough where the word ends. Note the space between the e and the e. Have you ever taken the trouble to as certain how constant in any giveD handwriting is the space occupied by the different letters? Try it some time. Count the characters which you have written in a number of differens lines, reckoning spaces and punctuation marks each as one character, and ob- serve how closely the results will tally. Easing my conclusions on this fact, I may safely affirm that the first word of the message is 'Game,' Gave Give or some other word of four letters beginning with e and ending with e. l shall proceed to fill up the balance of the message as I read it between the letters"
 Sturgis wrote slowly and carefully for few minutes.
 There; behold the result.''
 The message had now assumed this form:
 r, a,o Dec. s1. 1896.
 s6sHsr sams s9Hth SR HGsf and Wan Rs teaax sifssts J. W. Arbogast.
 "Compare this with the reflection of the original and tell me if you do not now detect various isolated marks and incomplete letters, all of which tally with the text l have inserted here." Dunlap made the comparison.
 ''I am obliged to admit that your con- l clusions now appear plausible" he re- luctantly admitted.
 Sturgis shrugged his shoulders. Well, call them plausible, and let us proceed. Chatham kept the appoint ment yesterday; but for some reason Arbogast was delayed in leaving the bank. Perhaps the necessary prepara- | tions for his flight took longer than he | expected"
 You think he intended to abscond ?" Why should he have changed the com bin atiOn of his safe, as he did, if not | to give himself as much time as possible | to reach place of comparative safety | before the books could be eXamined2" | asked Sturgis. Chatham, becoming | impatient, forgot the dictates of pru- | 6erce and started for the bank to as- certain the cause of his accomplce 1 delay. He met Arbogast at the Wall 1 street door. The two men reentered, l Arbogast setting down his satchel in the vestibule and leaving the outer | door ajar, as Guinlan found it few | minutes later, when he stole the satch- el. l have every reason to believe that | it was at Chatham's request that the l men returned. He wished to use the telephone, and he did so.'' | Your story is connected, and it is certainly not lacking in details" said Dunlap, incredulously; sin fact, the de- tails are far too abundant for the evil dence thus far advanced"
 Every one of the details is based up- on facts" replied Sturgis. s'What I l AAfS dccohlpiisHeu IHus lar mas peen simple enough, because luck has fla vored us. Yesterday being cleaning l day at the bank, the floors were l scrubbed some time during the after noon, before Arbogast was ready to | leave and before Chatham had arrived. l It thus happens that almost every footstep of the two men has remained ] faintly but distinctly outlined upon the wet floors, which have since dried. pre-