Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1902-05-28
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II shall do the things you name," an
swered Getchikoff, land dead man
buried In the Caucasus mountains will
not prevent me-"
'You are what we call in America a
buffer" said Darrell. AT this pres
ent moment you are shaking in your
boots, and the cause is that one word
forgery. Oh, have reasoned this
thing NIL out. Who tore up the docu-
ment found beside the body of Ladis-
10y in Paris? Ladislov himself; the
thing is certain. Why did he attempt
to destroy 1t? My friend Gordon an
swers the question from Paris. Here
is a copy Of the telegram"
And he gave 1t to Getchikoff, whose
brow dripped as lie read.
THAT was warrant for the Prin-
cess Vera Shevaloff," continued OAR
rell. 1T was the sort of document that
is sometimes furnished in blank to GER
tain officials, including the governor
generals of provinces. 1t bore the cars
name and was apparently counterslgn-
cd by your father. OF course such doc
uments possess no validity us war;
rants outside Of Russian dominions,
but creatures like Ladislov, the spy,
occasionally have to exhibit them when
making kidnapping arrests that IRE
winked OF by the police of continental
cities, and in any case the warrants
have to be shown when the prisoners
reach the Russian frontier.
''My friend Gordon telegraphs that
the document is forgery. He means
that your fathers countersign as gov
ernor general Of stavropol. the prov
ince, to which the prisoner was to be
taken, was forged. The sign manual
of the car was undoubtedly genuine.
"s's observe that my friend says SO.
o, then, filed in this document
udulently and signed your fathers
.me?'
II don't knowr' exclaimed Getchi-
koff, with dry throat. "You cannot
prove that did it."
My dear general, you were seen to do
It." answered Darrell. "You filed that
document out in the French cafe the
day refused to lend you my pen.
Gordon knows 1t and has his witness
es." he continued, making his story the
stronger Us he saw the others terror
increase. let us be just to you. You
We're drunk when you did it-carefully
sintoxicatcd to the right point by your
good friend, Captain Ladislov. We will
consider Ladislov for moment. He
was In the pay of the Gorsk family,
who are Stayropol people, and they
desired revenge upon the Princess Vera
for the death Of their relative. In
some way they contrived to have this
blank warrant distracted from your
fathers papers and sent to Ladisloy.
There is no other possible method Of
accounting for his possession and use
Of 1t. Your father, believing that the
Getchikoffs had injured Vera's family
enough, had refused to aid in her cap
tug
H'You can't know all these thingsv'
exclaimed Getchikoff. ~
$ "Why, man, you told me that your
SELF" rejoined Darrell. "You men
toned your fathers sentiments to me
while we were riding down from Paris
to Stavropol-while you were plotting
to have me suppressed on my arrival
and 1t was the only sincere thing you
said to me. He was away from the
city during these events, which made
matters easier. But let us return to
Ladislov. You were the man who
could forge your fathers hand. If you
should do it, Ladislov figured that your
father, should 1t be impossible to keep
Vera's arrest from his knowledge,
would not dare to punish those con-
cerned IN 1t because you were the chief
sinner. 1t is no small thing, my friend,
to tamper with document bearing the
cars signature. 1t bars you, for your
life's sake, from Stavropol. You have
said that only one of US can return.
You are not the onev'
Getchikoff reached out his hand for
pitcher Of water that stood on the
table and In clasping it broke off the
handle and upset the vessel upon tho
floor.
..Be calm" said Darrell. Remember
that these facts are known to Gordon
in Paris and most Of them to our con-
sui in Stayropol. alone can suppress
them. Well, we have now barred you
from your native land. How about
Paris? Gordon says Ladislov helped
you with your matrimonial venture.
OF course he did; he had to win you.
He had the usual wide knowledge pos
sessed by foreign spies. 1t was COM
paratively easy to find rich woman
who would marry SO presentable a
man us yourself, and he knew that
rich wife was what you wanted-a
rich Partisan.
'Now. what became Of Ladislov7 He
was killed. By whom? By the owner
of n revolver which sent from sta
ton in France to Gordon in Paris.
revolver which distracted from your
travelling bag, Getchikoff. was play
ing detective and playing the game
hard. Did you miss the weaponT'
II did," answered Getchikoff, with
rage, ''but did not suspect you were
thief"
'In the matter of suspicion seem to
have had an advantage" said Darrell,
''for did suspect that you were n muir
derer."
81 am not!" exclaimed Getchikoff,
with sudden earnestness and sincerity.
Darrell stepped close up to him and
spoke In low tone.
II am perfectly well aware Of It,"
he said. you We're in that cab with
the nrincess helninp I,aflisloy in his
infamous trick. When threw Lads
Low down from the box, you jumped
out of the door. You slipped and fell.
Lying on the sidewalk. you drew re-
volver and fired at me. Ladislov sprang
up ut that moment, and the bullet
struck him in the back, but he was too
much excited to suspect that he had
sustained serious injury. You both
pursued the cab, but became separated.
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