Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1901-11-15
CHAPTER XII,
A RECONSTRUCTED DRAMA.

A RECONSTRUCTED DRAMA. -.
As he spoke, Sturgis handed Dunlap
the sheet of paper upon which he had
traced a plan Of the Knickerbocker
bank. ~
From this point on" he continued,
II have indicated the various trails on
the diagram. The dotted lines repre-.
sent Arbogast's footprints; the con-
tinuous lines show Chatham's trail"
How can you distinguish between
the two?" inquired Dunlap.
''There is no difficulty about that"
replied Sturgis. 1.-THE differences are
very marked. I know Arbogast's foot
because I have seen it; and know
that the other one is >Chatham's be-
cause you recognized the man from
the description gave of him.
Eyes, I know. But how could you
describe him SO accurately when you
have never seen him"
ct shall come to that presently" said
Sturgis, smiling; you mnst~let me
tell my story in~my own way, if l am
to tell it commercially" !, *
Every WE'LL" said the banker, resign
eddy. Hold on, though" he ex-
claimed; you speak of two sets of
trails; but what is this third set of
lines, marked by alternate dots. and
dashes?" = 30
.They represent the traces of third
/ individual, who will appear upon the
scene later on. He has not yet re-
ceived his cue. But, since: you mention
him, we may put him down in the cast
ask the, unknown quantity of the.
problem; for I do not yet know Ills
name. Now, then; let me see. Where
was I? Your interruption has made
me lose the thread, sOh, yes; the men
were in this room. Arbogast, nervous
and excited, paced back and forth,
like Gagged animal. Chatham was
more collected. 1T was warm in the
bank, as compared with the intense
cold outside; he removed his overcoat
!! and threw it over the back of that
chair in the corner. This fact is
shown by the direction of the footsteps
toward the chair, and by a mark d.
rectly below the arm of the chair
where the garment ~trailed upon the
wet floor. Chatham's carelessness was
fraught with serious consequences;
for, as luck would have it, there was,
! in one of the pockets Of his coat, an
important letter, which slipped out
and fell upon the floor approximation
uppermost.. Here is the envelope it
self, which | have, pieced together.
You will see that it is soiled only upon
the back, and here near the chair is
the faint oblong mark which Is left
upon the floor. Chatham went to the
telephone, in the cashiers office. He
probably did not see the letter fall.
It caught Arbogast's eye, however;
and you can imagine his surprise when
he saw that it was: addressed to his
wife, What had his accomplice 5: to
write to his wife !? Arbogast evidently
was not restrained b y any feelings of
delicacy in the matter, OF else he was
! already suspicious Of Chatham; for
j. he picked up the envelope, tore it open,
and read the letter. which lies before
i you, as / have piecedsit together. s #
i makes interesting reading, i do not
] wonder that Arbogast lost his head
when he sawit. Read # for yourself :
..hy ';excla lined Dunlap, Q fte Il q
/ ing. the let tel. this ,announces his in-s
tentions:of committing Is uieide.
~ Precisely; and. vet .Arbogast=did not
commit suicide; probably never had
/ my lntention q DOING so;;S u 81 J, ~ any
rate, did not write that letter gu
will observe, thatssi IL not signed; stlle
anne Is typewrit J. like the: restso the
letter. which. moreover was not y cit