The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1908-01-16
CHAPTER VII.
THE KEY TO THE MYSTERY.

THE KEY TO THE MYSTERY.
Thomas led the way through the hal
and up the stair.
Which room will you look at first
sir?" he asked.
Let us see Mr.. Tremaine's room
first"
Very well. sir" said Thomas. and
opened a door n stood sid to let
us pass.
There was nothing at all extraor-
binary about the room. 1t was large,
weli-lighted. we~ll-ventilated, well-fur-
nlshed-just the sort of a bedroom one
would naturally expect to find In a lux
urlous country-house.
Godfrey cast a glance about 1t. Their
ne went to one of the windows. opened
1t, and stepped out upon the balcony,
He walked along the balcony to the
end where the heavy creepers were.
LOOK a o at them, and finally came
back to the window.
Inats all" he said. as he stepped
through into the room. "Of course. I
d1dn,t expect to find anything here
our friend Is much too clever to be
caught mapping that way. Thomas. I
suppose this table is just where it was
When Mr.. Tremaine had the room?"
Yes, SIR"
Godfrey sat down at 1t, measuring the
distance from it to the window.
lester. he said. II wish you'd go
out and come up the walk and see il
you can see me sitting here"
l ran down the stairs and did az he
directed. but could catch not a glimpse
OF him.
"Well?" he called down, coming to
the open window.
Il can't see you at ALL" I said.
! SO. Come up again.
He was sitting again at the table
when I opened the door.
Now. take q look at it Lester" he
said. You'll see that the table is so
Tar away from the window that IT'S
quite impossible for anyone on the
ground outside to see a person sitting
at IT,. Yet Drysdale stated distinctly
NAT ne saw Tremaine sitting at the
tapie writing when he came back from
mat mysterious walk. What would yoa,
argue from that?"
III Tremaine had moved the table
nearer to the window"
And why should he do thato"
\ get a better light. perhaps" I
He might have done it, in the day-
time, to get a better light. but ~ nfs,bt
he would get a much worse one Over
there by the window thar here. The
lights, you'll observe, hang from the
center OF the ceiling"
Then he did it." I said. "in order
that he might be seen from outside"
that's 1t; not only that he might
him. l wonder if this is the Kind or
paper he wrote on?'
we keep a supply Of ft in al Tn,
guest rooms. sir" volunteered Thouaa
Godfrey o It up and looked
at 1t. It was a plain white Ifnen
OF good quality. with the word srEdxe-
mere. in II at the tor.
Inere We're also on the table pens. an
inkstand. and two or three blctters. He
turned the blotters over, BUT onfy ars
OF them showed any sign Of havfrr
been used, and the marks on It were
very faint-yett they seemed to interest
Godfrey. He bent over them with
puzzled face: then he got out a little
magnifying glass and studied them
again.
Lester" he said, at last. 81 ,v,.h
you'd take a look at this and he
pushed h blotter and glass toward
me. What do you make Of Il? ="
! gazed through the glass at the
marks, but for q moment could make
nothing OF them. Then they resolved
themselves into a string OF letters
marching backward. fairly distinct at
one end but fading away to nothing
ness at the other.
Somebody seems to have heer
scribbling a lot OF disconnected letters
on q piece of paper" I said, at last. Il
can't make out any words. The let
YES. n here's an l."
"Thomas,' said Godfrey, .swiu Won go
down and ask Mr.. Delroy ii he has =
sample of Mr.. Tremaine's HANDWRITING
and, II 30. Is he will let US see 1t for a
moment 2"
looked at Godfrey In surprise.
You think those marks have soma
value 2" I asked.
Godfrey drummed abscntly on the
table and stared out OF the window.
! don't know" he answered. but In
an Investigation OF this kind, no point
Is too small to be important. We've
got to examine everything. weigh ey-
erything, pile UP every little atom OF
evidence, II we expect to tip the scnie
n our direction. It's very probable
that Tremaine never made these marks
at all; even II he did. they probably
nave no Significance. But. In any event,
lt p co any harm 10 make snre;
and, besides. I'd like to see a sample
Of his handwriting. just for It's "
sake-the handwriting Of d mar like
tina ought TO be Interesting. All, here
is Thomas,
.Here,s letter. sir. said Thomas.
contents.
Hes a good penrian,H lie said; sec,
Lester and he handed me the sheet:
but Its quite 4 different hard from,
the one on the bloster-mGch broader
and more masculine-iust such a hand
as 2 would naturally expect a mar
like Trenlaine to write,
Re examined 1t again for n moment
1nem Ioided IL up. and handed 1t back
to Thomas.
Perhaps Mr. Dglroy will want i.
again. ne said. Now let us see Mr,
AZ ne got up from the table. 1 aotfced
.nas ne stu held the biotter IN his
tlaI1d. and I saw him place 1T carefully