The Paonia progressive and the Paonia newspaper., 1911-08-03
CHAPTER xII.-(contlnued.)

Monsieur" he went on. and there
was a tense note in his voice. the
ambassador of France had disap-
peared. gone. vanished, We searched
the house from the cellar to the serv-
ants quarters. even the roof. but
there was no trace OF him. The hat
he usually wore was in the hall. and
all his other hats were accounted for.
You may remember. Monsieur. that
Tuesday was cold. but all his top-coats
were found in their proper places. So
1t seems. Monsieur" and repression
ended in a burst OF excitement, IF
he left the embassy he did not go out
by either door. and he went without
hat or coat!"
He stopped helplessly and his gaze
alternated inquiringly between the be-
neyolent face of the chief and the ex-
pressionless countenance of Mr..
Grimm
IF he left the embassy" Mr.. Grimm
repeated. IF your search OF the
house proved conclusively that he
wasn't there. he did leave II. didn't
hef~
Monsieur Rigolot stared at him
blankly for n moment. then nodded.
And there are windows. you know"
Mr.. Grimm went on. then: "As | un-
derstRnd IT. Monsieur. no one except
you and the stenographer saw the
ambassador after ten o'clock in the
morning."
"oui. Monster. C'est-- Monsieur
Rigolot began ercitedly. Il beg par
don. ] believe that is correct"
You saw him about ten. you say:
therefore no one except the stenog-
rapher saw him after ten o'clock7"
THAT is also true. as far as ! know"
ANY caIlers7 Letters! TelegramsT
Telephone messages7"
Il made inquiries In that direction.
Monsieur" was the reply. Il have the
words of the servants at the door
and OF the stenographer that there
were no callers. and the statement of
the stenographer that there were no
telephone calls or kilograms. There
were only four letters for him per
sonally. He left them all on his
desk-here they are"
Mr. Grimm looked them over leisure
iy. They were commonplace enough.
containing nothing that might be con
strued into n reason for the disap
pearance.
The letters Monsieur Boissegur had
dictated were laid on his desk by the
stcnographer." Monsieur Rigolot rushed
on volubly. excitedly. In the anxiety
and uneasiness following the disap-
pearance they were allowed to remain
there overnight On Wednesday
morning. Monsieur"-and he hesitated
impressively-"thos letters bore his
signature in his own handwriting"
Mr. Grimm turned his listless eyes
Full upon Monsieur Rigolot's perturbed
face for one scant instant
NO doubt of IT being his signature?"
he queried.
Non. Monsieur. noni" the secretary
exclaimed emphatically. "Vous aver
that is. ] have known his signature for
years. There is no doubt The letters
wero not OF private nature. II you
would care to look at the copies OF
them7"
He offered the duplicates tentative
Iy. Mr. Grimm read them over slowly.
the while Monsieur Rigolot sat nerv-
ousiy staring at him. They. too.
seemed meaningless as bearing on the
matter In hand. Finally. Mr.. Grimm
nodded and Monsieur Rgolot re-
sumed:
"And Wednesday night. Monsieur.
another strange thing happened.
Monster Boissegur smokes many ciga-
rettes, OF kind made especially for
him in France. and shipped to him
here. He keeps them in a case on his
dressing table. On Thursday morning
bis valet reported to me that this case
VI cigarettes had disappeared"
-Of course" observed Mr.. Grimm.