The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1907-10-10

fcal DbotC. ]
entered the store; the old man drew
forth the picture and frame. As he
aeld it near the feeble rays Of the
lamp observed q curious look over
spreading the face of Jones. Picking
up the frame he scanned it closely for
several minutes; handing the old man
q bill heard him say: "That will pay
your bill; come around tomorrow"
The old man smiled and soon departed.
Ny first impulse was to accost the
old man and ask for an explanation of
his strange act, but, ere could formu-
late plausible excuse for, SO doing /
observed Jones place the object under
his coat. lock the door, and depart.
Impelled by anunknown force 1 fol-
lowed him. He wended his way di-
rectly to the X Police Station.
The night was warm; the windows
of Detective Browns private office
were open; and the darkness made it
possible for me to obtain position
where l could overhear the converse
tion of Brown and Jones, as, seated IN
the Office, they discussed the affair at
hand: "By George!" exclaimed Brown;
then continued: "I'm glad you came
Ifstraight to me. You see this frame
was made by Jewel Bros. for Prince
+ Harold. and presented by him to Prin-
cess Anne. She placed her photo IN it
and vowed that as long as he was loyal
to her it should be her dearest treasure.
Well, time passed and one day the
Prince became involved in some scan
dai with an actress. About this time
the photo and frame disappeared. In
vestigation proved that the reports
about the Prince were malicious, but
thequestion was, What had become Of
the frame and photop The intimate
friends of Anne declared that Harold
had bribed someone to steal it. He de-
MED it. The result was an estrange.
ment, and royalty took sides with the
Prince or Princess. Already consider.
able trouble has resulted and for sever.
al months the police of Europe and
America have been endeavoring to 10.
cate this object. And to think that ]
shall have the honor of solving this
mystery"
"Well," said Jones, II suppose there
is fair reward offered"
"Rewsrd?" repeated Brown; "Yes
large enough, in fact, to enable us tc
live easy for the rest of our lives
on see when this trinket disappeared
the Princess broke her engagement
with the Prince and later married some
Earl. Therefore the Prince became
suspicious and offered big reward fol
the return Of the trinket and definite
information concerning Its disappear
ance; and to protect his wife from In
situations the Earl also offered lib
eral reward. Now, we must discover
: the person who pawned the article ant
obtain his version then-well, return
the trinket, collect the rewards, ant
: settle down."
A few days later, as was saunter
: ing thru Evergreen Park, Jones accost
ed me and said: well, we'll! What luck
was on the lookout for some0n,
whom could trust to do little erran,
. for me. The fact is desire to send
: package to Prince Harold of Esson
: England. and if you will undertake tn
. mission will pay you we'll for tn
trouble. What do you say?"
Pretending to be greatly surprised
! asked various questions which wer
: warily evaded. However, we finall
: made satisfactory arrangements.
Q was to deliver the package to Prime
: Harold-to no one else!
|, As the great ocean liner plowed it
!, way thru the salty blue water yner
}, tally debated the probable result of m
y mission. Were l to deliver the pack
r age to the Prince, then Brown an
Jones would receive the rewards Will
= II. The temptation to open th
package presented itself to mel dt
9 cided to do so.
+. During the hushed silence of th
d night. in the solitude ofmy apartmen
Y l opened the package Wrapped witt
. In it was purported statement Q
! facts, whereby Detective Brown be
. found the much-desired frame an
, Iphoto in the possession Of form(