Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1902-03-06
say, my good man, please come

"Who gave you this letter." said M.
verduret.
"a messenger, who said he was paid
for bringing it."
do you know him."
81 know him we'll"
"Go and bring him here"
After the porter had gone VI. Verdu-
ret drew from his pocket his diary and
compared u page of it with the notes
which he had spread over the table.
"These notes were not sent by the
thief" he said.
"Do you think so, monsieur"
"I am sure of it-that is, unless the
thief is endowed with extraordinary
penetration and forethought. One
thing Is certain-these notes are not
part of the $4,000 francs which was
stolen from the SAFE"
"Yet," said Prosper, who could not
explain this certainty on the part of
his protector-"yet"-
"There is no yet about It. I have the
numbers of all the stolen notes"
"vVhat! When even ] did not have
them?"
'But the bank had, fortunately. When
We undertake an affair, we must an
ticipate everything and forget nothing.
1t is no excuse for Il man to say, L
did not think of it. when he commits
some oversight. l thought Of the
bank"
If in the beginning Prosper had felt
some repugnance about %con6ding in
his fathers friend, the feeling had now
disappeared.
lie understood that alone, scarcely
master of himself, governe" only by
the inspirations Of his inexperiencc,
never would he have the pitient pen
etration of this singular ran.
verduret continued talking to him
self, as if he had forgotten Prosper's
presence:
"Then. as this package did not come
from the thief. it is plain that it can
only come from the other person who
was near the safe at the time Of the
robbery, but could not prevent it, and
now feels The probability Of
two persons assisting at the robbery, a
probability suggested by the scratch,
is now changed into undeniable GER
tainty. Therefore / was right"
Prosper, listening a~ttentively. tried
hard to comprehend this monologue.
which he dared not interrupt.
Let us seek" went on the big man,
this second person whose conscience
pricks him and yet who dares not re.
veal anything"
He read the letter over several tines.
scanning the sentences and weighing
the words.
evidently this letter was composed
by a woman. Never would one nal
doing another man q service and send.
ing him money use the word 'sUccor.'
A man would have said loan. money
y or some other equivalent. but succor-
never. No one but a woman ignorant
Of masculine susceptibilities would
have naturally made use OF this wore
to express the idea 1t represents. As
to the sentence There is one heart.
and so on, 1t could only have beer
written by a woman. Now let US zee
II we can discover whence the printed
words were takep to compose the$C
sentences"
He approached the window and be
gan to study the pasted words with al
. the scrupulous attention which IN an
+ tiquarian would devote to an old, hal
effaced manuscript.
Small type" he eaid. Every slende'
and clear, well printed. The paper i
=, thin and glossy. These words hav,
not been cut from n newspaper or
| periodical. ! have seen type like this
l recognize it at once Didot Otter
, uses it. SO does Nine. de Tours"
He stopped with his mouth open anC
p, eyes fixed, making a strong appeal t
his memory.
, Suddenly he struck his forehead.
Z, Now ! have it,! he cried. Now
t have it! WHY did l not see it at once
! These words have all been cut from
prayer book. We will look at least
and then we shall be certain"
t He moistened n Of the words past
t ed on the paper with his tongue, an,
when 1t was sufficiently softened b
detached it with a pin. On the othe
t side was printed a Latin word-Deus.
q "Ah, ha!' he said. with n little Iaug
Of satisfaction. II knew it. Fathc
Taberet, If he were here, would b
:. pleased to see this. But what has be
. come OF the mutilated prayer book
Can 1t have been burned? No. becaus
!. a heavy bound book Is not easily burr
ed. 1t Is thrown in some corner"
NJ. Verduret was interrupted by tn
porter. who returned with the messeI
ger from Pigalle street.
"Ah. here you are" said the big ma
en~couragingly. Then he showed til
envelope of the letter.
4 "Do you remember bringing this lie
ter here this morning."
"Perfectly. monsieur. I took parti'
4 ular notice of the address. We don
often see anything like it."
'Who told you to bring it, a mar
a woman?'
is Neither, monsieur; it was a porter
$. This reply made the porter laug
y very much, but NJ. Verdurct did N
. eve smile.
"a porter? Well, do you know til
. colleague Of yours!'
Il never even saw him before"
a "IIOw does he look?'
y "Neither tall nor short. He wore
green vest and had on his medal"
>. "Your description is so vague that
l. would suit every porter in the cit