The Topeka state journal., 1905-08-07

ter from the suspected pocket. he drop
ped it through a crack between two
planks of the platform. Conroy was
surprised that the man had not torn
the letter, and yet, of course, the odds
were enormous that it would lie un-
seen forever.
There was, indeed, another explana- ;.
tion which Conroy discovered soms
hours later, when he had hired a youth
full native of that region to crawl un-
der the platform and secure the letter.
1t had already been torn and was all
in small bits inside the envelope. Prob
ably Clifford had received it that morn
ing; had read it while breakfasting, and
had intended to dispose of it in the
nearest ash can upon the street.
An hours work in the room which
had been assigned to him at Sunny
side suficed for the task of putting the
pieces together. Then Conroy pasted
them neatly upon thin paper and re-
viewed the letter as whole. 1t had
been mailed in London and ran as fol-
lows:
| Dear Clifford-I write this in hurry
/ to catch mail Miss NJ. is dead-and
who that has a heart will not be gladz
You that have none will rejoice in your
| own way, for while she lived there was
| always danger that some enemy would
retell the old story. Fifteen years of mad
| ness! Poor woman, poor woman! OF course
| | have never exaggerated your conduct.
+, You were engaged to her. she loved you,
! you saw chance for a rich marriage,
you Tilted her, and the shock dethroned
her reason. That's the worst of it and the
whole of it, May God forgive you. R.
1t was now nearly 10 o'clock. but
Conroy, armed with this weapon, which
Providence had put into his hands.
could delay to use it. The trivial affair
which had brought him to that house
was already upon the way to a eon-
clusion, for he had recognized in one
of the footmen an old and clever Of
fender. But, in any case, he would
have given all his thought to the more
serious matter. for surely Mr.. Hol-
lender would rather lose a few pieces
of plate than that his daughter should
marry a rascal.
Conroy descended the stairs and
found the lower part of the house de-
} serted, except for a few servants, for
Passing through the dimly lighted
drawing room, he came suddenly face
to face with the object of his search.
MISS I1OllenueT, SdlQ me- 4 IN SlaQ
to find you alone. Here's something
: that you certainly ought to see. Per-
haps I ought to show it to your father,
but 1 guess this way will be the quick
est, and for that reason the best. It's
letter that 1 saw Mr.. Clifford dispose
Of
A hand suddenly fell upon the detec-
! tive's wrist and a voice vibrant with
wrath spoke in his ear.
$50 this is your errand here is it?
5 The robbery story was only a blind.
5 eh? You're on my traili"
: Conroy wrenched himself free OF
Cliffords grip and preserved his hold
upon the letter. At the same moment
: he heard Miss Hollender's voice. cold
and smooth as ice.
= rOf course~I could not read letter
of Mr. Clifford's under any circum-
Il stances she said ''but If 1 did so,
whatever the contents might be, could
, not know him better than 1 do at this
present instant. His inference in re-
gard to your business here, Mr.. Con-
roy, will be all that 1 shall require.
D That 1 owe to you. and thank you
: heartily