Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1910-07-21
A MYSTERY REVEALED

Winslow Fairchildr was an inventor.
de had worked u number of years be-
fore striking anything Of actual value.
Then he happened to fall In love.
There is nothing to settle Il man down
to steady practical effort so much as
love and marriage. The first invention
Fairchild made after his engagement
he sold for $1,000. On this he mar
ried.
His workshop was q single room on
an upper floor in a business block in
the city. There he used to go at 9
o'clock in the morning and work all
day at his inventions. In q few months
be had perfected a machine which he
believed would make his fortune. He
made a very excellent model Of the
choicest wood, with brass fittings, keep
ing it d secret and locking the model
in his shop when not there, so that no
one could get at it. When. however.
his lawyer came to ask for a patent
he vas informed that the same ma
chine had been perfected a few days
before.
Great was Fairchild's disappoint-
ment. but greater was his surprise that
some one else had been working on the
same plan as himself and at the same
time. Nevertheless he applied himself
diligently and in the course of a year
had another novelty ready for patent
ing. What was his establishment to find
that in this also some one had got
ahead Of him. This time he began to
suspect that his plans had been copied.
But who could have done so? He kept
them locked in a safe in his shop, and
there was no evidence of the safe ever
having been opened by any one except
himself. He made an inspection Of the
entrances to his shop, but there was
only n door, on which he had placed
a lock that no one would be likely to
pick. There was nothing about the
room that gave any evidence Of having
been tempered with. However. before
completing other plans and another
model, every night before leaving he
placed a seal on the door and on each
of the two windows. The seals were
v broken except by himself when
he returned to work in the morning.
Nevertheless when he applied for a
patent on his next machine he found
that he had been forestalled.
Hoping to get rid of the trouble by
changing his shop, Fairchild rented
a room in another building. Here he
made a new machine. Giving the
plans to his lawyer, he awaited the
result with feverish anxiety. The re-
port came. as usual, that the invention
had been patented.
BY this time he had spent every cent
he had received for his first invention
and had made nothing more. A child
had been born to him. and his neces-
sary expenses were increased. There
was something so Irritating, so wear.
ing on him, that some mysterious per-
son or spirit vas taking advantage OF
his brain work. leaving him and his
family to starve, that he at last broke
down with nervous prostration. He
applied to a detective agency, but as
he could not give the slightest clew to
the mystery and had no money to pay
for having the matter followed up
they declined to take the case.
Meanwhile as his spirits sank his
wife rose to the occasion. She con.
tended that there was no way for any
n to steal the plans except at the
shop and determined to keep a watch
there herself. Her husband was too
discouraged to make a new invention.
but he wrote out a bogus plan and set
up Il former model. While it was ap-
preaching completion Mrs. Fairchild.
leaving their little one in care Of her
husband. Went to the shop. She en-
tered 1t %stealthily. so as not to put
any n on guard. She sat in the dark
till long past midnight. but saw moth
ing unusual. The next night she went
again to the shop and sat in the dark
1t was a forlorn hope sitting there
with only the dim model to see against
the window. 1t was perhaps II o'clock
when she began to feel sleepy. She
shook off the temptation. but despite
her efforts her eyes became heavy.
She pfnched herself to keep awake.
Suddenly there was a fash so binding
that she was forced to close her ewes
for IL second. and when she opened
them all was darker thar ever.
Mrs. Fairchild waited awhile so as
not to alarm any one then stealthily
left the shop and. going to the nearest
police office. told the officers she
thought there were robbers in the
building where her husband had his
shop. Several Of them accompanied
her. she having the good sense to warn
them to make a search with great eau.
ton. They searched every floor. at
last coming to the one where the shop
was located. One man stationed him.
self on the landing above. one below.
There were but two rooms on a floor,
and the men directed their search to
b e room back of the shop. The
door was locked. and there was no ap-
pearance Of Il light within. At Mrs.
Fairchild's request the policeman broke
open the door. Directing a bullseye