The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1908-10-12

nlmsei7 even taciriv TO tie commission
of crime. for Mason not only looked.
but talked. murder
Il think I had better go" 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.
He instantly embraced Langdon's atti-
tude in his wider horizon.
Yes" he agreed, let us sleep on it.
We will all be better able to discuss
matters more clearly tomorrow"
Thencefortn the fat In Shaftesbury
avenue became spiders web into
which the dies 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 a 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 note
undecipherable to others and niche
in a yetentiye 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,
IA
Fairfax Hall that he had waited all his
life to discover a woman he could love
deyotedly. 1t was most important
discovery when he unearthed in 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
judicious inquiry soon revealed that
there was hardly servant in Philips
employ who did not credit the Glad
stone bag with being the repository OF
the millionaire'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 re1dy credence among the do
mestics.
He never made the error Of planning
burglary or adroit robbery whereby
the bag might come into his possession
If 1t did contain diamonds, and espe
cially if 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 unoccupied moment was how he
might succeed in getting some portion
Of it into his own pocket.
One day quaint notion entered his
mind, and the more the thought of il
the more it dominated him. He was
tall and we'll made, if slim In figure
and his face had never lost the plastici
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 to
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 one
who was not an intimate acquaintance
Soon the idea became a mania, and the
mania absorbed the mans intellect
To be Philip Arson for 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 and
said:
well, Mason, and what do you
want?"
The ex-burglar and man slayer seem.
ed to be so ready to commit instant
murder that Grenier himself was
alarmed.
Hold hard, old chap" he said in his
natural voice. II am only trying an
experiment on you
what tomfoolery is this?" shouted
the other, gazing at him with the sus
picious side glance of a discounted
dog which has been startled by some
person familiar to it in ordinary guise
but masquerading in outre garments.
"A mere pleasantly, 1 assure you
Good heavens, man, how you must
hate this fellow Arson If you are sc
ready to STAY him at sight! From your
| own story, he only acted as ninety mine
people out of a hundred would have
done in helping the cop"
"What 1 want to know is why yor
are playing tricks on me. 1 won
stand it I'm not built that way"
Nov. Mason, be reasonable. Can
ask anybody else if I resemble Philip
Arson when made up to represent
him?''
perhaps not, but you ought to have
warned me. Besides, am worried to
| day"
"What has happened now?"
- went to report myself at South
| wark police station. Who should fine
! there but Bradley, the chap we used t.
| call Sailor. He is an inspector now
| and of course he knew me at once"
| What of that?'
| HE pretended to take an Interest ii
me and tried 70 lead me on to tai
| about you"
l hn Il anil