Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1906-06-28

over the card l fouQu fOr nm; then he
drummcl upon 1t With his finger nail,
and his embarrassment expressed it.
self in Il puzzled smile.
The fact is | lind myself in Il diff
ticulty," he confessed ut last. Yours
is the first reply l have received. Poo.
pie who can afford to send long telc.
grams don't rush to the advertisements
in the Daily Telegraph: but. on the
other hand, l was not quite prepared to
hear from men like yourselves. Can,
didly and on consideration | am not
sure that YOU are the stamp of men
for me-men who belong to good clubs.
l rather intended to appeal to the-er-
adventurous classes"
I'VE are adventurers," said Ratiles
gravely.
But YOU respect the law"
The black eyes cleaned shrcwdly.
1--WE are not professional rogues, if
that's what you meun," said Rattles,
smiling. But on u beam ends we
are. We would do a good deal for
$1,000 apiece, ell, Bunny::"
"Anything," l murmured.
The solicitor raped his desk.
III tell you What want YOU to do.
You cal but refuse. It's illegal, but it's
illegality in a good cause. That's the
risk, and my client is prepared to pay
for it. He will pay for the attempt in
case Of failure. The money is as good
as yours once YOU consent to run the
risk. My client is Sir Bernard Deben-
ham of Broom Hall, Esher."
81 know his son." l remarked.
Ratles knew him, too, but said moth
ing. and his eye dropped disapproval
in my direction. Bennett Addenbrooke
turned to me.
"Then," said he, you have the priv,
ilege of knowing II of the most COM
and the fons ct origo of the whole trou-
BILE. AS you know the son, You may
know the father, too, at all events by
reputation. and in that ease | needn't
tell YOU that he is Il Very peculiar man.
He lives alone in 4 Storchouse of treas
ures which no eyes but his ever ho-
hold. He is said to have the finest col
lection of pictures in the south of Eng
land, though nobody eve sees them to
judge. Pictures, tiddles and furniture
are his hobby. and he is undoubtedly
very eccentric. Nor can one deny that
there has been considerable eccentric
ity in his treatment of his son. For
years Sir bernard paiCP his debts and
the other day, without the slightest
warning, not only refused to do so
any more, but absolutely stopped the
lads allowance. Well. III tell YOU
what has happened, but first of all
you must know, or YOU may renem-
Der. that l appeared for young Debcn-
ham in a little scrape he got into
a year or two ago. l got him off all
right, and Sir Bernard paid me hand
somely on the nail. And no more did
I hear or see of either Of them until
n day last week"
The lawyer drew his chair nearer
ours and leaned forward with a hand
on either knee.
telegram from Sir Bernard. was to
go to him at once. l found him wait
ing for he in the drive. Without a
word he led me to the picture gallery,
which was locked and darkened, drew
up a blind and stood simply pointing
to an empty picture frame. 1t was a
long time before l could get a word out
Of him. Then at last he told me that
that frame had contained n of the
rarest and most valuable pictures in
E~ngland-in the world-an original We
lasquez. | have checked this" said the
lawyer, land it seems literally true;
the picture was a portrait of the In
fanta Maria Teresa, said to be one Of
the artists greatest works. second only
to another portrait of one Of the popes
in Rome-so they told me at the Ma
tional gallery, where they had it's his
tory by heart. They say there that the
picture is practically priceless. And
young Debenham has sole it for
Is, 1000"
"EThe deuce he has, said Raffles.
inquired who had bought it.
"a Queensland legislator of the
name of Craggs-the Hon. John Mon
tagu Craggs, NJ. l.. c., to give him his
full title. Not that we knew anything
about him on Tuesday last; we didn't
even know for certain that young
Debenham had stolen the picture, but
he had gone down for money on the
Monday evening, had been refused and
it was plain enough that he had helped
himself in this way. He had threat
ened revenge, and this was it. Indeed,
when l hunted him up in town on the
Tuesday night be confessed as much
in the most brazen manner imag.nahlc.
But he wouldn't tell me who was The
purchaser, and finding out took the
rest Of the week; but l did find out,
and a nice time I've had Of it ever
since-backward and forward between
Esher and the MetropoIc. where the
Queenslander is staying, sometimes
twice a day; threats, offers, prayers,
entreaties-not one Of them Il bit of
good"
But" said Haftles, surely it's a
clear case! The sale was illegal; YOU
can pay him back his money and force
him to give the picture up"
Exactly, but not without an action
and "a vr1N1in p,nr,11j n,,J t1,x .~,