Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1911-11-24
CHAPTER XIX.
The Mysterious Minicent.

BritZ Streaked from SANDS apart
ment to a dingy little den of a shop
on the top foor of a downtown
business rookery-one of the sky
of a quarter-century before.
1t was much more tedious to climb
the Ave flights of stairs to the sixth
story than to shoot In an express ele-
yator to the summit Of the Singer
Building. But Britt was too hot on
the scent to pay much attention to his
fatigue. He ran up the stairs lightly,
flung open a crazy outer door that
creaked an announcement of his COM
ing. and pushed a bit of paper toward
a young man of modern physique and
ancient visage who was working at a
bench. The paper was the note be-
ginning Curtis DEAR" and ending with
the first name of the mysterious Mil
licent. The anachronistic young man
looked at 1T inquiringly through steel
trimmed spectacles.
Rush a hundred copies OF this, Bur-
LEM said Britt. I'll send for them IN
q couple of hours"
The detective seated himself on a
stool behind the bench, and for several
minutes watched the photo engraver
at his work. His mind was not behind
his eyes, however. He was busy with
the possibilities unfolded by the little
scrap of paper he had found In the
sHindoo burglars possession. The
Headquarters nan never was In a hur-
~ to accept any clew at its face val
ne; nevertheless, he felt he had at
last something which. If not a direct
link BETWEEN his knowledge and his
suppositfohs, would go far toward con
meeting them. That the note was &C
dressed to Curtis Griswold he had
little doubt. It required small enort
Of reasoning to conclude that the East
erners had gone to Sands apartment
soon after visiting Griswold. But this
time, Britz had learned enough to
convince him that the Brahmin scholar
was az eager to get possession OF the
Missioner necklace az he waste get
the Maharanee diamond, anyway. II
not all the other gems belonging to
the famous string. BY a patient,
patchwork process, Britz had pieced
together the tiniest details OF the
lSwami's movements. He knew all
about the scholars presence in the
metropolitan Opera House on the
night Of the disappearance of the jew
els, and he had made himself &C
Quainted with the system OF espionage
maintained by the sage and his sub
ordinates ever since that time. That
system, he was aware. covered every
one connected, however distantly,
with the mystery. It was apparent to
Britx that he was working against
men who, while not trained detectives
in the Occidental sense, were fully as
persistent In their quest as himself.
There was no question the Swami had
directed all the energies Of the East
erners which the detective had follow
ed i~ntcrestedly throughout their vari-
Gus manifestations. Britz was con-
WINGED that he had the Brahmin priest
to thank for his WI kidnapping; and
he was equally certain that the same
little band Of brothers had searched
the homes Of Bruxton Sands and Cur
tbs Griswold. He was not given to at
taching much weight to intuition. re-
garding that faculty as a pale and us
ually ineffective feminine reflection Of
masculine logic.
But something told him he must be
stir himself even vigorously than
he had done to date, II he was to trace
the Missioner diamonds before the
suave, subtle men from the East could
innd them and put them forever be-
yond the reach Of any Westerner.
One thing was in his favor. Undoubt.
edly he had broken the Swami's line
Of communication by seizing the spies
before they could report the finding OF
the Millicent note In Sands apartment.
He had q vague sense that the scrap
OF paper would be Of immediate value
AZ . clue to the Brahmin-that If he
had not intercepted II, the scholar by
now would have been close upon the
discovery Of the diamonds. It remain
ed for Britx himself to ascertain the
identity and whereabouts Of Millicent
before the Oriental prisoners could
communicate with their chief. Those
ILA a 22UE