The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1910-05-21
 THE CLUE
by CAROLYN WELLS
Copyright, 1909, by J. B. Lppincott Company


the doctor was making a long call, SC he was not at all unwilling to obey
 this impetuous and masterful young
 man. Away they went doubtless ex. ceeding the speed limit, and in a short time brought up suddenly al the railroad station.
 Rob jumped out, flung a bill to the chauffeur, gave him a card to give to his master, and waved goodbye as the motor-car vanished. He strode into the station, only to be informed by the ticket agent tha, a train had left for New York about quarter of an hour since, and an other would come along in about five minutes, which though it made nc regular stop at Mapleton, could be Jagged if desired.
 A few further questions brought out the information that young
 woman corresponding to the descrip- ton of Miss Dupuy had gone on that train.
 Fessenden thought quickly. The second train, fast one, he knew would pass the other at siding, and if he took it, he would reach New
 York before Cicely did, and could meet her there when she arrived at the station.
 Had he had longer to consider, he might have acted differently, but on the impulse of the moment, he bought a ticket, said, Flag her, please" and soon he was on the train actually in pursuit of the escaping girl.
 As he settled himself in his seat, he rather enjoyed the fact that he was doing real detective work now. Surely MT. Fairbanks would be pleas ed at his endeavors to secure the in terview with Miss Dupuy under such difficulties.
 Grand Central Station was frustrated by an unforeseen occurrence. His own train was delayed by a hot box. and he learned that he could not reach New York until after Miss Du- puy had arrived there.
 Return from way station was possible, but Rob didn't want to go back to Mapleton with his errand un- accomplished.
 He thought it over, and decided on radical course of action.
 Instead of alighting there himself, he wrote telegram which he had despatched from the way station to Miss Kitty French, and which ran:
 Gone to New York. Make M. tell C.'s address and wire me at the Waldorf.
 It was a chance, but he took it and, anyway, it meant only spending the night in New York, and returning to
 Mapleton next day, if his plan failed. He had as strong conviction that Marie knew Cicely's address, al- though she had denied it. If this were true, Kitty could possibly learn it from her, and let him know in time to hunt up Cicely in New York. And if Marie really did not know the address, there was no harm done, after all.
 The excitement of the case stimu- lated Rob's mental activity, and he gave rein to his imagination. If Cicely Dupuy were guilty, she would act exactly as she had done,
 he thought. A calmer, better-bal- anced woman would have stayed at
 Mapleton and braved it out, but Miss Dupuy's excitable temperament would not let her face inquiry discreetly. Rob proposed if he received the address he hoped for, to go to see the girl in New York, and by judicious
 kindliness of demeanor to learn more
 from her about the case than she would tell under legal pressure. AS it turned out, whatever might
 be his powers of detective acumen, his intuition regarding Marie's in- formation was correct. Kitty French, quickly catching the tenor of the telegram, took Marie aside, and commanded her to give up the address. Marie volubly pro- tested and denied her knowledge, but
 Kitty was firm, and the stronger will conquered.
 Luckily, Marie at last told, and
 Kitty went herself to send the tele-
 gram.
 Marie accompanied her, as it was then we'll after dusk, but Kitty did not permit the girl to enter the tele-
 graph office with her.
 And so, by ten o'clock that even ing, Rob Fessenden received from the
 hotel clerk & telegram bearing an ad-
 dress in West Sixty-sixth street, which
 not only satisfied his wish, but caused him to feel greatly pleased at his own sagacity.
 It was too late to go up there that evening, and so the amateur detec- tive was forced to curb his impati- ence until the next morning. He was afraid the bird might have flown by that time, but there was no help for it. He thought of telephoning, but he didn't know the name of the peo-
 .