Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1902-03-12
The letter. like the address, was COM
posed Of printed words cut out and
pasted on the paper.
Il .,rna short hIlf pYnlinit.

| II.
posed of printed words cut out and
pasted on the paper.
1t was short, but explicit:
Nv Dear Prosper-A friend who knows the hor.
ror OF YOUR situation sends this succor There Is
one heart be assured, that shares your suferings.
90 away. Leave France. You are young. The fu.
ture is before you. Co. and may this money help
you.
AS M. Verduret read the note Pros
per's rage increased. He was angry
and perplexed, for he could not e1-
plain the rapidly succeeding events
which were so calculated to mystify
his already confused brain.
Everybody wishes me to go away!'
he cried. "Then there must be con-
spiracy against me-"
NJ. Verduret smiled with satisfaction.
"At last you begin to open your eyes.
You begin to understand. Yes. there
are people who hate you because Of
the evil they have done you. There are
people to whom your presence in Paris
Is a perpetual menace and who will
not feel safe till they are rid of you"
"But who are these people, mon
sieur? Tell me who presumes to send
this money"
"If knew. my dear Prosper" said
Verduret sadly. "my task would be at
an end, for then ! would know who
committed this robbery Of which you
lare accused. But have finally pro-
cured evidence which will sooner or
later become convincing proof. have
heretofore only made deductions more
or less probable. now possess knowl.
edge which proves that I was mistak.
en-. I walked In darkness; now I have
q light to guide me. Now we must
take advantage of this evidence. gain
ed by the imprudence Of our enemies.
We will begin with the porter"
He opened the door and called out:
81 say, my good man, please come
herew
The porter entered, looking very
much surprised at the authority exer-
cised over his lodger by this stranger.
"Who gave you this letter." said NJ.
verduret.
"A messenger, who said he was paid
for bringing It."
"Do you know himT
81 know him we'll"
"Go and bring him here"
After the porter had gone NJ. Verdu-
ret drew from his pocket his diary and
compared q page of it with the notes
which be 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 350.OO0 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 ell the stolen notes.
"What! When even ! did not have
them"
"But the bank had. fortunately. When
we undertake an affair. we must an.
ticipate everything and forget nothing.
It is no excuse for q man to say, I
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 confding In
his fathers friend. the feeling had now
disappeared.
He understood that alone, scarcely
master Of himself. goverued only by
the inspirations Of his inexperience,
never would he have the patient pen
etration Of this singular ran.
verduret continued talking to him.
self. rs If he had forgotten Prospers
presence:
Then. as this package did not come
from the thief. 1t is plain that 1t can
only come from the other person who
was near the safe at the time Of the
robbery, but could not prevent 1t. and
now feels remorse. The probability of
two persons assisting Mt the robbery, q
probability suggested by the scratch.
is now changed into undeniable GER
tainty. Therefore I was right"
Prosper. listening attentively. tried
hard to comprehend this monologue.
which he dared not interrupt.
LET US seek" went or 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 q woman. Never wonld one man
doing another man 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 hove 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
tiuuarian would devote to an old, half
effaced manuscript
Small type" he said. very slender
and clear, we'll printed. The paper Is
thin and glossy. These words have