The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1907-12-01
.CirculllStantial.C
The Astorian's Novslet to In Four Chapters

tly, 'and you ARE jacks dearest man
friend. | trust you implicitly" And
| with this reassuring statement she lcf,
me.
| Why was II that the room seemed va
] vacant after she had gone? Why did
+ cit for an indefinite period gazing
Into nothlngnessf Why did the faint,
lingering "Reminiscences Of the odor
which she had brought into my Office
seem like incensef sat ut my desk
until daylight faded into dusk and
dark decpened into night before fully
realized that II was time for mo 10
leave. A walk even In the close at
mospherc Of a suitry autumn evening
was attractive. and | resolved to pat-
ronize no conveyance. found Wash.
ington square almost deserted and sat
down on a bench 10 rest. A fog was
forming, and from the damp grass a
sort OF dlaphanous brocadc Of violet
and silver was beginning TO RISE float.
Ing drcamily hlther and yon like ghosts
In flowing garments. Yet above, the
blue arch was resplendent with stars.
Flcccy clouds chased one another
across tho face OF the moon, sharing
while they refractcd Its brilliaDee. And
as sat and gnzcd and wondered at
tho power and glory revealed there
came into my soul peace even as !
remembered that. after all the moon
shines with but n reflected light
Next morning Miss Etherldgc paid
her visit TO the Tombs, with me nv her
attendant squire. II was necessarily
/ satisfactory, yet after II was over l
found that II had comforted Jack
amazingly. Yet he was still obdurate.
| ly determined 10 90 10 prison, willy
nilly." And so within ten days / had
the grief TO shake hands with him ut
the Forty.second street station as he
sat In n smoker bound for Sing Sing,
handcuifcd TO dudishly dressed man
who / asccrtaIncd had been sentenced
to a long term for squandering the for
tune Of his orphan niece, the only child
OF his brother, who had committed her
10 him on his deathbed.
For several weeks thereafter ! found
II difficult 10 perform even routine dn.
ties. The prison rules prohibited com.
mnnication with Scarborough for a
month to come. had undertaken TO
become channel Of communication,
more or less subtcrranean. between
Jack and his betrothed, but had heard
| nothing from Miss Etheridge. The en-
forced inactivity was becoming un.
endurable. Over and over again ]
asked myself, what can ! do TO help
him7 Over and over l read again the
minutes Of the trial In the vain hope
Of discovering some loophole through
which his innocence might be made to
appear. At length. not with any ex.
pectation OF accomplishing any tangi-
Bile result, but simply to relieve my
mental tension by making myself be.
lieve that l was doing something, l
determined to consult Inspector Ma
honey.
The inspector was at the head Of the
detective force and highly esteemed
alike for his sagacity and his probity.
While he had never been suspected Of
acumen such as DR.. Doyle ascribed
to Sherlock Holmes, II was said Of him
that his perceptlve powers were ex.
traordinarily acute and that In many
q perplexing case he had been able to
designate the criminal upon having
bare recital Of the facts.
He listened to my story with every
appearance Of interest, putting Ques-
tion now and then In reference to
what he seemed to regard as salient
points. When | had finished he look
ed thoughtful for few moments and
then said: II should say that the
strongest point against your friend Is
the finding Of the gold filings on the
floor Of the alcove In which the coin
disappeared. Taken In connection
with the other evidence brought for
ward by the prosecution, that circum-
stance would convince any jury In the
absence Of any stronger defense than
you were able to put up"
admitted that he was correct. 1t
not only would have convinced q jury;
1t had done 30.
'very well, them" went on the In
spector, "find the man who put those |
filings where they would be so con-
veniently found and you will soon get |
on the track Of the lost noble In
other words. find the man who manu-
factured this damaging bit of evi-
dence and you have found the thief"
was indignant at myself that this
simple idea had never occurred to me-
I had formed the theory that the find.
Ing Of the gold dust had been one of
those unaccountable condolences which
40 often present themselves for no 9TH
er apparent reason than to battle the
Intellect and peryert justice.
"Have you," asked, formed any
definite idea as to the identity Of the
thiefT
The Inspector laughed. "That is a
plump, straightforward question:" said
he, "and I will answer It by another.
What Is your theory as to the dlsap-
pearance Of the coin? On your judg.
ment, who besides your friend had any
chance Of making away with 1t be-
tween the time he took 1t from the
tray and the moment when he was
furnad nvar IN Tho officar pftar furthar |