The Lake County times. [volume] (Hammond, Ind.) 1906-1933, 1907-06-29

You'll get no more out Of me. / want
none Of your girls or property l want
Philip Anson's life. and I'll have it If
I swing for IT."
My dear Hunter. you are talking
wildly. Have another drink"
Grenier, cool as an icicle, saw unex-
pected vistas opening before him. He
must be wary and collected Here was
the man who would pay and the man
who would dare all things
Mason's trueulent determination gave
hope even TO Langdon. He. too. gifted
with certain power of vicious rea-
soning, saw that this new ally might
prove useful. But he was afraid of
such bold utterances and hoped to
achieve his purposes without binding
himself even tacitly to the commission
of crime. for Mason not only looked.
but talked. murder.
Il think l had better CO." he said
suddenly Your brandy is too strong
for my head, Grenier Call and see
me in the morning"
The astute rogue whom he address
ed raised no objection to his departure
lie instantly embraced Langdon's atti-
fude In his wider horizon.
Yes" he agreed. let us sleep on it.
We will all be better able TO discuss
matters more clearly tomorrow"
Thenceforth the fat in Shaftesbury
/ avenue became a spiders web into
| which the flies that buzzed around
/ Philips life were drawn one by one,
! squeezed dry of their store of informa-
/ ton and cast forth again unconscious
of the plot being woven against their
master
Within month Grenier knew An
sons habits, his comings and goings,
| his bankers, his brokers. many of his
| investments, the names of his chief
employees, the members of his yachts
crew, the topography OF his Sussex es-
! tate Nothing was too trivial, no de-
tail too unimportant, to escape a note
undecipherable to others and niche
in q retentive memory.
He made a friend of one of Philips
footmen by standing treat and listen
| ing reverently to his views on the next
days racing. He persuaded one kitch-
en- maid in Park lane and another ut
Fairfax Hall that he had waited all his
| life to discover Il woman he could love
devotedly. 1t was most important
discovery when he unearthed in a din
| gy hotel the man whom Philip had dis
missed for tampering with the locked
portmanteau From this worthy he first
heard of the quaint adjunct to the be-
longings of the young millionaire, and
! ivIHi Di0 hOf
there was hardly q servant in Philips
employ who did not credit the Glad
stone bag with being the repository Of
the mllionaire's fortunes.
Ordinary people will credit any non
sense where diamonds are concerned.
Even an educated criminal like Victor
Grenier believed there might be some
foundation for the absurd theory which
found ready credence among the do
mestics.
lie never made the error Of planning
burglary or adroit robbery whereby
the bag might come into his possession
If it did contain diamonds, and espe-
cially il it contained unique specimens
it was absolutely useless to him. But
his vitals yearned for Anson's gold
and the question he asked himself in
every unoeeup;ed moment was how he
might succeed in getting some portion
of it into his own pocket.
One day a quaint notion entered his
mind, and the more the thought OF il
the more 1t dominated him. He was
tall and well made, if slim in figure
and his face had never lost the plastiei
ty given it by his stage experience.
He had only heard Philips voice
once but his features and general ap
pearance were now quite familiar Il
him, and he undertook a series of ex
periments with clothing and makeup
to ascertain if he could perSonate An
son sufficiently well to deceive any on
who was not an intimate acquaintance
Soon the idea became a mania, and thu
; mania absorbed the mans intellect
! To be Philip Arson for a day, week
What would he not give for the power
One evening when Jocky Mason en-
tered Grenier's apartments he started
back, with an oath. as a stranger ap
: | preached him in the dim light anC
! said:
well, Mason. and what do 70,
, want?"
: The ex-burglar and man slayer seem
ed to be so ready to commit instan
murder that Grenier himself wa
;. alarmed
Hold hard, old chap" he said in hi
natural voice. II am only trying a.
experiment on you
i. What tomfoolery is this?'' shoute
= the other. gazing at him with the sus
!. picious side glance Of a discomfite
:, dog which has been startled by som
person familiar to it in ordinary guist
: but masquerading in outre garments.
"A mere pleasantly. / assure yoJ
Good heavens, man, how you mus
:, hate this fellow Arson if you are S
!, ready to slay him at sight. From you
= own story. he only acted as ninety min