Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1900-01-13


to the desk for her; and she thanked
him with a smile.
Probably she was a good deal Of
fiirt. And probably / was not the only
young man whose acquaintance she had
made in the street. i got away before
she saw me. Another week passed.
Life had lost its SAVIOR. 1t was OF no
use trying to deceive myself. Perhaps
the best thing to do was to take up nv
detective business again. / had made
so brilliant a success of ii alreadyi But
that was the only avenue towards
reconciliation. She would forgive me
when / found the thief of ''Daisy's
Quest" But where should begin? 1t
looked hopeless, and it might take
months-or years. Meantime that
greasy fellow in the green goggles
would be making Roadway; slowly, per
haps, but the turtle got there in the end.
Suppose did take up "Daisy's
Quest" again and gave all my spare time
and money to the enterprise, what were
my chances of accomplishing anything?
Ii l gave years to it, Miss Robertson
might at least give me credit for devo-
ton to the cause; might, and probably
would, grow thin and haggard-that
might touch her. But, again, / might
devote no end of time and money to the
case, and Miss Robertson be no wiser
and no better for 1t in the end. / still
had her umbrella; that was some COM
fort II could only take il back to her
l should be willing to undergo some of
the choicest fortunes of the Spanish In
QUESTION. The more L ponGered the less
light saw ahead of me.
was az the lowest ebb of courage and
hope, and seriously thought of boldly
calling at Miss Robertson's house to re-
turn that umbrella, for life of the kind
led was not worth living, when some
thing occurred. Upon getting home to
dinner one night found dirty scrap
OF paper with these words scrawled
upon It:
II can tell you where Danders is to be
seen.
JAMES SULLIVAN.
Bartender at as East Thirteenth street"
Ny brain was on fire in minute. All
the whisky in Sullivan's saloon could
not have made it work at a quicker pace.
NO dinner for me that night. In ten
minutes had found a cab and was
bowling along to 31s East Thirteenth
street. found my barkeeping friend
exasperatingly cool 1 had expected to
find him eagerly waiting for me. On
the contrary, L had to introduce myself
and refresh his memory with hat FIVE
dollar bill before he could remember
much about Danders. Yes, Danders had
turned up again, but not in that saloon.
Sullivan had met him at the saloon of a
friend of his in Twenty-second street
near Ninth avenue, and upon making
inquiries had discovered that he (Dan-
ders) was accustomed to spend most of
his evenings there.
OF / started for Twenty-second
street. 1t was past eight o'clock when
/ sauntered into the saloon with as good
an air Of indifference as / could sum-
mon up. Was Danders thereP A dozen
men We're in the saloon, some playing
cards, some reading the papers or COS
siping. In one corner was a man whose
face was strangely familiar to me.
set down before a glass of beer and
while pretending to read newspaper
studied Danders. 1t was Danders with
out doubt-"a small young fellow,
reddish hair, chin-whiskers, seedy
dress;" he filed Sullivan's description.
But where had seen him before? /
have a capital memory, and was able
to reconstruct gradually the scene in
which Danders had played part in my
life. 1t was in some gloomy place. The
light was bad. The man was carving
something in his arms. But what? Ali
l had 1t now. 1t was load of books.
Then the truth flashed upon me. DAN
ders was the clerk at the library whom
L had met in the alcove when had gone
to look at that copy of the Londoner.
My work was done. / finished nv beer
and went to the house of my friend the
librarian, getting his address from the
directory.
"Can you tell me whose handwriting
that lisp" / asked him, producing Dam
ders' letter to the Gazette.
Certainly" said he, without a Sec
ond's hesitation. Its the writing of
Jameson, the man who has charge of
the magazine department of the Ii
brary"
Then told him what had learned.
Il never fully trusted that fellow"
was my friends comment as he agreed
to meet me at the library the next morn
ing.
When l got there he was already in
his private room, and before him was
the famous card bearing Miss Robert
sons name.
I'm afraid that you don't half know
your business, Mr.. Detective" said he,
with a smile.
I'm afraid not" said /.
Take another look at that card, and
tell me if you discover nothing Pc
culiar."
YES" said ], new light breaking in
upon me. "The words Londoner, Is4S,'
are in imitation of the rest of the hand
writing of the card, but are by anoth-
er hand"
"Of course" responded the librarian.
Now that we know the truth, we are
wonderfully sharp, are we not? Those
words are in Jameson's hand disguised
to initiate Miss Robertson's handwrit-