The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1904-11-20
CHAPTER V.

his plans 10 catch the Black Arrow man in
the act Of secreJing the letters
CHAPTER V.
The grounds surrounding the Capitol
are so omen and well-lighted that IL Is
one of the least favorable spots IN
Washington for anyone To choose for a
hiding place This is particularly true In
winter when the leaves have fallen and
the strong glare from the electric lamps
searches out every nook and crevlce or
the park A single Waterman can take
up a position in a sheltered part OF the
building and detect the presence OF
anyone in that part Of the grounds
which comes within his view. In this
way three men could watch the entire
open place without patrOlling the walks.
This fact impressed itself upon Robert
Singleton in his elaboration of cam
paien for the following Monday The
writer of the anonymous letter had eN-
plicitly stated that the envelope would
be hidden i'm the northwest section OF the
grounds surrounding a public building
the description Of which could only
mean The Capitol He therefore deter
mined that me best opportunity uI
meeting the mysterious distributor OF
clues would be Co watch the open hldlng
place. II that failed for amy reason
there stin remained the park In which
another letter would be secreted on the
afternoon. lie decided that his best
courae would be 10 secure good hiding
place Immediately after dark and Keep
watch all night if necessary.
lie spent sunday in his rooms. read
ing and taking occasional maps. During
the day heavy snoWstorm set IN and
- by evening the city was covered with
white blanket His best chance seemed
10 be a dependence on his own unalded
efforts, for the presence of several de-
tectIVes IA the grounds could not escape
the attention OF the man with the en-
velope and would probably cause him 10
give up The attempt. Accordingly. ne
teIephOned 10 the bureau and Informed
the captain on duty that he had decided
not 10 use the men detailed for his as
slstance that night His next step was
% elothe himself in a thick suit that he
kept for hunting. Slipping a flask OF
whisky into an inner pocket and a re-
vOlFer into a second. he made his way
tC the nearest car line and rode 10 the
Capitol
In the limits defined in his letter there
was but one place that could serve for
purposes OF hiding. The heavy snow
fan made it impossible 10 place "a let
ter I'm the shrubbery or behind the tree
signs without serious danger OF having
IL destroyed by the melting snow. There
WAS only one place within the limits
that Was protected from the lnclement
weather. brick grOtto covering "a fOun-
tain just on the stairway leading To- the
building from Penusy Ivania Avenue
Inside tie er0JIo We're numerous inches
between tnc roof and walls. any one OF
which would just hold "a FOLDED envelope
and screen 10 from observation There
could be no doubt that the hider would
select one oI these receptacle The
grotto itself was not for distant from
the street, and across that We're several
dOorWays OF business offices thar were
ga the shadow and furnished ideal SEN
tinel boxes. The amateur detective
chose the most favorable one of these
and making himself as comfortable as
possible. commenced his long vigil
u seemed 20 him that the night would
never pass away. After the first hour
the heavy fan OF snow ceased and b.
vas able 90 keep the grounds around
the grotto under careful inspection
without s-raining his eyes In the effort
An electric lamp not ten feet AWAY
sputtered al intervals and allowed tb,
surroundings 10 fade into gloom; then
recovered its power and sent a search
Ing white Aght across the grounds. ir
which the bare limbs Of the nearby
trees s~ayed up and down under tueii
weight OF ice and sleet. casting Tong
shadows back and forth alOrg the rx-
az
er0und Ike a carpet.
Somewhere back OF him he could hear
the gong iu church tower striking
every quarter OF aH hour ANA Il seemed
an eternity between the striking. Ills
hands and feet became numb and dead
from the cold which penetrated his
warm clothing. The flask he had placed
In his pocket seemed 20 hold very IItte
whisky and he held himself down 10 d
Few drops al a time ia his dght against
the cold. When midnight came he fell
as though he bad been watching an
eternity and notwithstanding the long
sleep be had secured during the day. De
commenced 10 feel droWsy At the pass
ing Of every car he would become keenly
alert and when one shipped he would
strain his eyes 10 follow the movements
OF the alighting passengers. By
o'clock he was worn out and strongly
inclined 10 abandon the attempt IN dis
gust, but having waited 50 many hours
sense OF pride kept him an hls self
imposed task
And then like a flash his Wearincss
disappeared. Across the open plac,
around the statue al the commencement
Of the stairway 70 the building he sud
denly saw a man with his hat slouche,
over his face step into the half shadow
of the wall and turn 10 look up am,
down the street Satisfied. apparently
with his scrutiny OF the street. IN,