The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1905-07-15

death. You can't hurt him that way;
but with these forgeries in your pos
session you might make some sort of a
story good against him. Without them,
anything you could say would be an idle
FsThat is not the point, believe me,
Mr.. Forsyth, - the shrill voice quavered
almost .pleadingly. FThe contents Of
that package took three Of my most
skilled colleagues months to prepare.
They are proud Of their work-loye
those forged bonds as if they were, chill
dren. To their pride in their work I
should owe my life, if you would give
them back to me-
Forsyth could hardly believe his ears.
Could this tremulous dotard be the re.
doubtable master of crime whom he and
his uncle had been fighting turnout the
last crowded week? 81 really. don It see
how your not particularly valuable life
of bogus bonds,' he said, with genuine
curiosity. The appeal to his pity filled
him with vague uneasiness, the alleged
reason for it being so utterly absurd.
Yet Ziegler was ready with an explana-
ton, more or less PLAUSIBLE;
ing duped out of their handiwork," he
den entrance. "!They would perhaps
pardon the miscarriage Of the main
scheme, but to have parted with materl-r
al which might yet have been turned to
Fhaving allowed you to survive your tri-
umph over u.s. sIx
Forsyth saw now-or thought he saw
why the murderous crew had been
ordered off in ignorance of the mis-
carriage. It was to enable Ziegler to
make this desperate appeal for the
restitution Of the bogus bonds, so that
L L e. - I,
rades. It would be ample excuse in
their lettering chief had limited if he
had himself been deceived by the fab
ricated securities. But they had seen
him examine the parcel; they would
know that he had made the discovery
on the spot, and yet had not decreed
ponent. One flaw in this chain of rea-
soning Forsyth, himself no casuist,
overlooked. It did not occur to him
that the old practitioner. with the white
beard and the squaky voice could have
put himself right with his companions
If he had bounded them on to him
the moment he knew he was lingering
treasury bonds, good, bad, or indiffer-
emit.
"Well, Mr.. Clinton Ziegler,' said
FORSYTH, eager now to have done with
the matter in the only possible way,
Hyour appeal is dismissed with costs
ON the higher scale. What does it
! matter to me what happens to you7 II
you had had your way you would have
;; earned a legal hanging four times i in a
the last week: II your fraends save o Inc
. the better for all concerned, especially
as they would thereby get themselves
hanged also. -
; "Nothing will move youf"
,, Absolutely nothing; and now III
trouble you to clear off the premises II u
> you and your gentlemen outside don t
want to be treated as ordinary bur-
glarsa" ~.
you strangled9'
With the way Of escape open behind
him Forsyth laughed at the futile
, threat, and to the group outside in the
!! Dutch garden it must have sounded like
! friendly laugh Of mutual satisfaction
and farewell, for he gently pushed the
I old man before him to the garden door
8 and shut it on him. Then, having care
7 fully shot the heavy bolts, he CROPPED
. his way back to the stone steps leading
9 up into the house, triumphant, yet not
! wholly convinced. The ignominous col.
Z lapse Of Mr.. Clinton Zieg1er was almost
9 too good to be true, and he was pain
9 fully conscious that such an astute an.
9 tagonist was not likely to have thrown
! all his cards on to the table.
q The fact, however. remained that the
9 schemers had been deprived Of their
spurious bonds, without which their
q carefully planned design to obtain pos
T session Of the genuine ones fell to the
y ground.
Q poor chap will surely cease, now thai
9 there is no crime, past or contemplated
for which he can denounce them. For
b syth comforted himself as he stepped
g from the door at the head Of the stone
Il stairs and FASTENED along the dimly Iii
l. corridor, limping no longer. His des
If tination was the smokinproom, where
r. he guessed that the general would b.
If eagerly awaiting news.
i ITO Be Continued Next Saturday,