The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1902-07-17
CHAPTER VII-COntinued

ret drew from his pocket his diary and
compared a 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?"
Il 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 100000 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. have the
numbers of all the stolen notes."
what! When even I did not have
themY'
'But the bank had, fortunately. When
we undertake an affair, we must an
ticipate everything and forget nothing.
1t is no excuse for a man to say. I
did not think Of it. when he commits
some oversight. I thought Of the
bank"
If in the beginning Prosper had felt
some repugnance about confiding in
his fathers friend, the feeling had now
disappeared.
He understood that alone, scarcely
master of himself, governed only by
the inspirations Of his inexperience,
never would he have the patient pen
etration of this singular man.
Verduret continued talking to him
self, as If he had forgotten Prospers
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 remorse. 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 attentively, 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 times,
scanning the sentences and weighing
the words.
"Evidently this letter was composed
by a woman. Never would one man
doing another man a service and send
ing him money use the word 'succor.'
A man would have said loan, money
or some other equivalent, but succor-
never. No one but woman ignorant
of masculine susceptibilities would
have naturally made use Of this word
to express the idea it represents. AS
to the sentence There is one heart
and so on, it could only have been
written by a woman. Now let US see
If we can discover whence the printed
words were taken to compose these
sentences"
He approached the window and be-
gan to study the pasted words with all
the scrupulous attention which an an
tquarian would devote to an old, half
effaced manuscript.
Small type" he said, livery slender
and clear, we'll printed. The paper is
thin and glossy. These words have
not been cut from a newspaper or a
periodical. l have seen type like this.
l recognize it at once Didot often
uses it. So does Nine. de Tours
He stopped with his mouth open and
eyes fixed, making strong appeal to
his memory.
Suddenly he struck his forehead.
Nov I have itv' he cried. "Now
have it! Why did not see it at once:
These words have all been cut from a
prayer book. We will look at least,
and then we shall be certain
He moistened one of the words past
ed on the paper with his tongue, and
when it was sufficiently softened he
detached it with pin. On the other
side was printed a Latin word-Deus.
"Ah, ha!' he said, with little laugh
of satisfaction. 81 knew it. Father
Taberet, if he were here, would be
pleased to see this. But what has be-
come of the mutilated prayer book?
Can it have been burned? No, because
heavy bound book is not easily burn
ed. 1t is thrown in some corner"
NJ. Verduret was interrupted by the
porter, who returned with the messen-
ger from Pigalle street.
"Ah, here you are" said the big man
encouragingly. Then he showed the
envelope of the letter.
do you remember bringing this let
ter here this morning?"
Perfectly, monsieur. 1 took partic-
ular notice Of the address, We don't
often see anything like it,
"Who told you to bring it, man or
q woman?"
Neither, monsieur; it was a porter
This reply made the porter laugh
very much, but M. Verduret did not
even smile. ~,
"a porter? Well, do you know this
colleague of yours?'
never even saw him before"
How does he lookY'
Neither tall nor short. He wore a
green vest and had on his medal