Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1908-04-23

Martin Hewitt.
Investigator.
Ole Stairway Cameo
Mystery.
Published by Arrangement With
Harper & Brothers.
CONTINUED .
By ARTHUR MORRISON.

Il was amazed and Mortified. l put
the thing away and went home. All
that night 1 lay awake in a state of
distraction, quite unable to decide
what to do. To let the cameo go out
Of my possession was impossible. Soon
er or later the forgery would be dis
covered, and my reputation, the growth
Of nearly fifty years of honest applica-
ton and good judgment, would be gone
forever. But without considering this
there was the fact that I had taken
$4,000 of Lord Stanway's money for a
mere piece of glass, and that money l
must, in mere common honesty as we'll
as for my own sake, return. But how?
Even If I confided in Lord Stairway
privately, returned his money and de-
stroyed the cameo, what then? The
sudden disappearance of an article so
famous would excite remark at once.
1t had been presented to the British
museum, and if it new appeared in
that collection and no news were to be
got Of it, people would guess at the
truth at once.
what could do? Every e%xpedient
seemed useless but one-the one l
adopted. 1t was not straightforward,
l admit; but, oh, Mr.. Hewitt, consider
the temptation-and remember that it
couldn't do a soul any harm! No mat
ter who might be suspected, l knew
there could not possibly be evidence to
make them suffer. More I needn't tell
you. You know it. 1 have only now
to beg that you will use your best in
fuence with Lord Stairway to save me
from public derision and exposure. I
will do anything-pay anything-any-
thing but exposure at my age and with
my position"
"Well, you see" Hewitt replied
thoughtfully, eve no doubt Lord
Stairway will show you every consid-
Grafton, and certainly l will do what
l can to save you in the circumstances;
though you must remember that you
have done some harm o have
caused suspicious to rest on at least
one honest man. But as to reputation,
I've a professional reputation of my
own. If I help to conceal your pro-
fessional failure, 1 shall appear to have
failed in my part of the business"
"But the cases are different, Mr..
Hewitt. Consider. You are not ex-
~pected-it would be impossible-to
succeed invariably, and there are only
two or three who know you have look
ed into the use Then, your other con-
spicuous successes
"Well, we'll, we shall see. One thing
1 don't know. though-whether you
climbed out of a window to break
open the t%rapdoor or whether you got
up through the trapdoor itself and
pulled the bolt with a string through
the jamb, 50 as to bolt it after you"
There was no available window;
used the string. as YOU say. My poor
little cunning muro seem very trans
parent to you. l f.. How, to begin
with, coulc you p~ssibly know that
the cameo was a forgery? Did you
ever see it,"
"Never. And if l had seen 1t l fear
I should w have been able to ex.
press an opinion on it; I'm not a con-
noisseur. AS a matter of fact, 1 didn't
know that the thing was a forgery
in the first place; what I knew in the
first place was that it was you who
had broken into the house. 1t was
from that that 1 arrived at the conclu-
sion, after a certain amount of thought,
that the cameo must have been forged.
Gain was out of the question. You,
beyond all men, could never sell the
Stairway again, and, besides,
you had paid back Lord Stanway's
money. l knew enough of your repu-
tation to know that you would never
incur the scandal of a great theft at
your place for the sake Of getting the
cameo for yourself, when you might
have kept it in the beginning with no
trouble and mystery. Consequently
had to look for another motive, and at
first another motive seemed an impos-
sibility. Why should you wish to take
all this trouble to lose $4,000? You
had nothing to gain; perhaps you had
something to %save-your professional
reputation, for instance. Looking at
1t so, it was plain that you were sup
pressing the cameo-burking it-since
once taken, as you had taken it, it
could eve come to light again. That
suggested the solution of the mystery
at once-you had discovered after the
sale that the was not genuine"
eyes, yes, I see But you say you
began with the knowledge that I broke
into the place myself. How did you
know that? I cannot imagine a
trace
my dear sir, you left traces every
where. In the first place, it struck me
as curious before l came here that
you had sent off that check for $4,000
to Lord Stairway an hour or so after
the robbery was discovered. 1t looked
SO much as though you were sure Of
the cameo never coming back and
were in a hurry to avert suspicion.
when / came here I saw suspicious
indications in many directions, but the
conclusive piece Of evidence was that