Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1901-06-19
"A Yarn From
Scotland Yard.
80
A LONDON DETECTIVE
STORY.
A LONDON DETECTIv.


pregnant chuckle that always rivete,
attention-your public knew about a.
much of that affair as the rajah him
self, and he went away blissfully un
conscious that Scotland Yard had beer
holding it's breath for solid month
No, shall give no name to the obscur,
restaurant. run by foreigners, whert
the beautiful scheme was brought Il
a head. Enough that one evening
was supposed to be doing over my pa
per at one of the tables there. Yes,
was staring might and main at the
gentleman for whose appearance / ha(
waited a week, the man launched upor
unsuspecting London by a set of fanat
les who hoped to send a thrill shudder
ing from here right away to India.
l had no tangible proof yet. All the
same, / was ready to stake my hard
won reputation on the instinct that
tingled through me at first sight OF
that wax white, black bearded face
flashed on to a mirror from the door
way opposite. Entering, he sat down
near the door, whispered for macaroni
and coffee and began rolling ciga-
rette with thin, nervous fingers, while
l knew he was mentally photographing
every detail in the room. AMBER
yes, the furtive glance paused at my
self. Good! Splendid! He was fresh
from the continent beyond a doubt,
hour each day to make up" as the
foreigner who should have been there
to meet him. but whom we had
thoughtfully prevented from doing So.
The macaroni came. He just tasted
1t, shuddered, slipped at the coffee and
began smoking hard. No attempt at a
signal. The situation was exquisitely
delicate. We didn't want London to
send up roar. The plot and every one
concerned in 1t had to be traced home
in strictest secrecy; false move now,
and the vile tentacle thrown out over
sea by the anarchist octopus might be
instantly withdrawn. Luckily, the
newspaper could tell nothing about the
intercepted letter in cipher to Luigi Ar
boretti, the clever scoundrel who, hand
ed across his own border year before,
had found a refuge in London. The fer
ret eyed correspondents could not. and
never really did, discover that this lat
est plot of all aimed at stirring up re-
bellion and hatred in India by murder
ing on English soil one of its most pow
erful provincial rulers-our distinguish
ed visitor. His highness the Rajah Dhu
Djaleen.
Minute after minute went by.
watched him breathlessly in the mirror
there. He stared as steadily back. No
life in his eyes yet; but-what was he
up to-? Twice he had held his cigarette
at arms length, stared fixedly at it,
put the lighted end in his mouth and
blown a Whit of smoke in three direc-
tons. A sign? The letter had mention
ed none. had cigarettes. but might
make fearful blunder that way. At
my wits end, looked down at the
newspaper again. Something like this
stared up at me:
"The Rajah Dhu Djaleen reached
London late last night after his visit to
Scotland. His highness was said to be
in the best of health and spirits, and
proceeded straight to his suit at the
Cosmopolitan hotel. 1t is understood
that, although the rajah has been re-
ceived in conference in the highest
quarters, his visit will remain strictly
informal one" etc.
In two seconds had shipped out the |
item with my thumb nail, held it up as
IL In a yawn, and then rolled it into a
pellet. A backward flip, and the pellet |
lay near his feet. Would he bite? For |
another minute held my breath; then
his cigarette dropped. When he pick
ed 1t up, the pellet was gone. Yes; it |
was a big bound my heart gave at the
certainty that there sat the man select
ed to set an Indian province ablaze and
put big blot on Britain. For time he
never moved; then, almost before
knew it. he was seated opposite me and
had clutched and pocketed that paper
with the dangerous elimination.
"Vous Estes he breathed.
"Arboretti" ] gave him back. with
an accent. keep to English here.
have been Swallowed by Naples and
Paris detectives and dared not give you
The sign openly. Why so late?"
"Ahl ! was followed. know 1t. 1t
look me the week to turn and twist
aud get to-where I am. l have car
led 20 of the capsules. filed with
In the false crown of this
nat the whole way. You are not speak
ng. 1t is for tomorrow"
"No-er-say Thursday" 1t wanted
bit OF saying, as his hot breath puff
ID on my face. l was bound to risk
! feeler on my own account. "Why
vas 1t to be the rajah? They could
lot have chosen worse place than
II these people had
tut an idea, they would"-
Then let It be tomorrow" He
'aught my hand tightly. "But say
yes! Let 1t be over. 1t might mean
madness for me. have had the great
truggle not to drown my senses In
ognac. /; quite ready. wait for
'othing save your plan. There is the
lotel. Sh0 me way into It. and 1t
$ done. For myself care nothing.
Tomorrow. ,.es! It is perhaps the last