Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1908-03-19

whom he would like to have observe
any indications of his little etching ex-
periments. But, anyhow. be that as it
may" Hewitt concluded, "your draw
ings are safe now, and if once Mirsky
is caught-and think it likely. for a
man in his shirtsleeves, with scarcely
any start and, perhaps, no money
about him. hasn't a great chance to get
away-if he is caught. 1 say, he will
probably get something handsome at
st. Petersburg in the way of imprison-
ment or Siberia or what not; so that
you will be amply avenged"
eyes, but l don't at all understand
this business Of the drawings even
now. How in the world were they
taken out of the place and how in the
world did you find it out"
Nothing could be simpler, and yet
the plan was rather ingenious. Now.
as the drawings were in your inner
office. the only people who could have
got at them besides yourself were
your assistants, sc hat it was pretty
clear that one Of them at least had
something to do with the business.
You told me that Worsfold was an eX-
cellent and intelligent craftsman.
Well, if such a nan as that meditated
treachery he would probably be able
to carry away the design in his head
at any rate. a little at a time-and
would be under no necessity to run the
risk of stealing a set Of drawings. But
Ritter, you remarked, was an inferior
sort of man, not particularly smart
think, were your words-only a me-
chanical sort of tracer.
"When l looked round the rooms, l
pushed open the glass door of the bar
rier and left the door to the inner of
flee ajar in order to be able to see any
thing that might happen in any part of
the place without actually expecting
any definite development. While we
were talking, as it happened, our
friend Mirsky-or Hunter, as you
please-came into the outer office, and
my attention was instantly called to
him by the first thing he did. Did you
notice anything peculiar yourself?"
mo, really, [ can't say l did. He
seemed to behave much as any travel
er or agent might"
"Well, what l noticed was the fact
that as oon as he entered the place he
put his walking stick into the umbrella
stand ove there by the door, close by
Where he stood, a most unusual thing
for a casual caller to do, before even
knowing whether you were in. This
made me watch him closely. l per
ceived with increased interest that the
stick was exactly of the same kind
and pattern as Il already standing
there, also a curious thing. l kept my
eyes carefully on those sticks and was
all the more interested and edited tC
see when he left that he took the Other
stick-not the one he came with-fronl
the stand and carried it away, leaving
his own behind. I might have followed
him, but l decided that more could be
learned by staying, as, in fact, proved
to be the case. This, by the bye, is
the stick he carried away with him.
took the liberty Of fetching it back
from Westminster because l conceive
it TO be RltterS property"
Hewitt produced the stick. 1t was
an ordinary thick malacca cane, with
a buckhorn handle and a silver band
Hewitt bent it across his knee and laid
it on the table.
eyes," Dixon answered, that is
Ritter's stick. l think l have often
seen it in the stand. But what in the
world'-
zone moment. I'll just fetch the
stick Mirsky left behind" And HeM
lit stepped across the corridor.
He returned with another stick, aI
parently an exact facsimile of the 9th
other.
"When your assistants went into til
inner ROOM, | carried this stick off 70
a minute Or two. | knew it was NO
Worsfold's, because there was an I'M
brella there with his initial on th
handle. Look at this"
Martin Hewitt gave the handle
twist and rapidly unscrewed it fror
the top. Then it was seen that til
stick was a mere tube of very thi
metal, painted to appear like a malat
ca zane.
cit was plain at once that this wa
no malacca cane. 1t wouldn't benz
Inside it 1 found your tracings, role
up tightly"
"And this-this was the way the
were brought backv!' the engineer e1
claimed. 81 see that clearly. But hoy
did they get away?"
"See here. Mirsky gets hold Of Ri
ter, and they agree to get your draw
ings and photograph them. Ritter
to let his confederate have the draw
ings, and Mirsky is to bring them bac
as soon as possible, so that they shan
be missed for a moment. Ritter habi
ually carries this malacca cane, and til
cunning of Mirsky at one suggest
that this tube should be made in on
ward facsimile. This morning Mirsk
keeps the actual stick, and Rite
comes to the Office with the tube. Fl
SEXES the first opportunity, probabl
when you were in this private roo1
and Worsfold was talking to you fro1
the corridor, to get at the tracings, 70
~ ~