Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1905-07-14
CAUGHT AT LAST.
A STORY OF CRIME AND RET
R1BUTIoN.


festations of bis wonderful power Of
analysis invariably realized my
helpleesneas when tried to follow the
intricate yet Iightning.llke processes
Of his mind.
This inscrutabie man, to whom the
pursuit and capture of desperate Grim
inals was merely an intellectual pas.
time, affording play for a set of facul-
ties that threatened to become afro.
phied when not under the stimulus of
active exertion, did not surprise me,
therefore. when he laid aside the scien,
tiffc text took on Curves: Their In.
fiuence on Arts, Mechanics and Sports"
which he bad been perusing, and turned
to me with melancholy smile, making
at the same time the seemingly irrel-
evant remark
Doubtless you remember. Hankns,
the incident of the fountain pen that
was lost by his grace. the duke OF
Grggsvtlle, and the interesting adven'
ture leading finally to the apprehen-
sion and conviction of the miserable
chandler that stole it3'
Perfectly" answered, What re-
minded you Of it?'
Nothing except that I detect the
perfume of vtofets,-that Is all"
Pardon me-" | said, "but what IL
the connectionf
Merely that the DUKES fountain pen
contained violet ink" he re1oined,
Struggling bis shoulders cpntemptu-
Dusly at my obtuseness.
IF mistake not. Hankins." be pro-
eeeded. the perfume Of which have
spoken indicates the approach of a"
Here a soft knock at the door inter
rupted him, and pale, elderly woman
Of striking appearance entered the
room.
Good morning, madam" he said,
with keen glance at her. Are you
having trouble with any Of your board
ers?"
You mistake, sir" She answered,
with dignity II do nut keep board
ing house. am the proprietor Of a
small candy shop In Cheapside. But
am in trouble
He gave me look out of the corner
Of HIS eye, which | instantly inter,
preted as an assurance that the caller
had some reason OF her own for con-
cealing the truth as to her occupation.
ITO what unfortunate circumstance
am | indebted for the honor Of this
visit?" he inquired, with a grave cour'
tesy.
She seemed to hesitate. and he add
| ed:
You may speak With perfect free
dom before my friend Hankins. He Is
my inseparable companion In all my
investigations. III fact, he continued.
with increasing gloom, Il have never
been able to shake him off But de-
tain you. madam Pray proceed.
You are Mr.. Seamy Ketcham?"
He bowed.
co." she exclaimed. wildly, claspins
her hands, Il want to know who steals
the soap!"
"Who steals the soap?" he echoed,
with a gasp. Calm Yourself, madam.
have no doubt we shall be able TO
help you. Tell ME yonr story.
Il Will. SIR. am Mrs. Hertrain You
must know that our living rtUms are
directly over my shop. We have a
spare bedroom for the use of uneXpect-
ed visitors. II Is fitted up, of course,
with chest of drawers and wash
stand 1t Is my custom to keep a cake
of toilet soap of the best quality on
| the washstand. To make long story
short, sir. somebody always steals It. ~
Seamy Ketcham reflected.
Are there any circumstances CON
nected with these thefts, madam, that
might serve as clue to the perpe-
TRAITOR" he asked.
only this. SIR she answered. Yes
terday morning, when | ascerIained
that the cake had placed there the
day before had been stolen, wrote on
a card: Don't Steal This Soap, and
stood 1t conspicuously on the wash
stand This morning the soap was
found to have disappeared. as usual,
and the thief had scrawled at the bot
tom of the card; Why Not?
Have You that card2'
"Yes. SIR. Here IL is. And here the
mystery deepens, This morning | was
compelled 10 close the shop for few
minutes. having some unexpected and
important business TO attend to. and
my assistant having been taken sud
denly H. put this placard on the
front door: Will Return Presently
Don't Rattle the Door When I came
back found that the same person had
scrawled Why Not" at the bottom
of the placard Here IL is, as sou see
Seamy Ketcham scarcely glanced at
the card He jumped to his feet In
stantly and put on his hat.
Mrs. Hertrain,' he said, I'VE will
go to your shop, If you please. Come
along Hankins.'
Twenty minutes later we were at her
place of business, II was full of Gus