The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-04-13
Our Daily Sport Story

Before the end but everything Is fixt stii you mite ansered or Come. M DEMENT,. This was evidently his third communi- cation. the first. referred to previously. never having reached me- I felt that it would have prepared me for the sec ond and third. since the writer appeared to take 1t for granted that I compre- l hended his meaning.
 A fact can be met with more com- plaisance than a doubt-the latter will not down, but tugs continually >at both | reason and imagination. Endeavor as might. could not throw this last | meaningless scrawl off my mind. Some thing between the lines called for in- Vestigation. but the cues were so elusive as to give little hope that it could be successfully undertaken. There was no adequate address; Dement, might not be known to the directory; and what was more probable than anything else, he | might prove to be a harmless crank if | found.
 In my next letter to Miss Davidson sent the card for her inspection, and was greatly astonished at her reply. If you can get off, she wrote, q ad- f wise you to take trip west and try to solve the mystery. Very much may de- pend upon 1t. While 1t may look to you like fools errand, I feel confident 1t 1 will not prove waste of time. Some 1 recreation, in your nervous condition, will be worth great deal to you, any, | how"
 Here was much ado about nothing, I said to myself-the advice was prepos- terous!
 Nevertheless I set about carrying out her idea. but with the utmost secrecy. No one should have cause to taunt me after the futility of my search was dem | onstrated. Considering my movements for several hours subsequently,, I won der that my acquaintances were not im- i pressed with the suspicion that was plotting some far-reaching conspiracy. Arriving In Denver. I was not long in 1 finding that I was not on hotter trail than before left for the city. 1 found no trace of M. Dement, after diligent in- quiry. In casual way I mentioned the matter to my only friend of long standing there, carefully concealing the fact that I was engaged in the wild goose chase.
 ''The circumstances of receiving the messages is amusing" he said. T have often seen an old fruit vendor of the name, and think he Is sometimes call | ed Mack. He is a sort of landmark been here a long while. But that sim pie old man cannot be identified with | the affair, I should think"
 | "Assuredly not acquiesced. and the subject was dropped.
 Soon dSgruntled with the quest, was sitting the following evening in the de- pot, awaiting a home-bound train, when noticed q paragraph in the afternoon paper to the effect that Mack Dement,, the fruit vendor and children's friend had been found dead; but that had no interest other than making me revert to 1 the conversation of a day or two before concerning him.
 | Perhaps six weeks went by, when received written request from a Dem yer attorney to visit that city. It was bare of detail, but urged my immediate compliance. With some impatience wired for particulars. but was only in- formed that he had business of special importance to me. and that should be prepared to satisfy legal requirements as to my Identity.
 1 When I found myself in his private office he revealed to me the startling in- formation that one MacAdoo Dement, had beqteathed a legacy of about ten thousand dollars to me-if could show that I was the Richard Sloan, Jr. meant In the will. Whereupon he catechised me closely. While I insisted that I could not by any possible construction or implication be the legatee, he was satisfied that I was.
 l The question am now about to ask is not material" hS said, after a pause, but curiosity leads me to propound it. Were you at any time in the past called upon to defend-and rescue-a young lady from kidnappers? If so, what was her name?"
 was thoughtful a moment, then re- piled:
 "Yes-from supposed kidnappers. That was when I was a boy-fully ten years ago. It was Miss Godfrey. She and her mother had but recently moved into the neighborhood, and we knew but lit- tie about them. Both died shortly after | the sensation
 We'll" resumed the attorney. Mac Adoo Dement, was the girls father-she and her mother went under assumed names. The parents had been divorced, but the daughter kept up a correspond ence with her father cs long as she lived. Among his papers is an old let ter acquainting him of your gallant ac- service. for the bequest is made as a token of his gratitude. I find that gratitude was one of ..ls most dominant traits, despite his frailties. By the way, he thought of informing you that you were to be his heir-he has no relatives living-and in fact did write; but the note was not properly directed, and week previous to his death came back | from the dead-letter office.
 The mystery of the postal cards was | thus made clear. l was now anxious to know who Dement, was.
 | "He was a street hawker," the law yer said. T do not know why he took lun this Bfa. as he made considerable