Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1911-12-22
The Crooked Seam
AN ADVENTURE OF PETER cREwE--THE MAN
WITH THE CAMERA EYES"
By HAIR OLD AFTER
xov,rss.is, W G. Chapman. the United

inal has succeeded in making good
his escape"
But you said the police hold out
every hope of discovering him"
Yes, Of course, sooner or later the
somewhere, probably in the posses
sion of a peddler. But to come back
to the dog"
I have here q photograph Of the
rug" persisted Crewe, drawing a
sheet of newspaper from his breast
pocket. The matter interested me
exceedingly" He handed it to Sir
Arnold. What are those arabesques
Immediately above the tear?" he
asked.
Meaningless and conventional Per
sian borders" answered the English
man. They are feature Of all rugs
Of certain century. That border
was cut OF by the marauder, appar-
emily aimlessly. But now. sir, in
sist upon discussing this affair Of the
dog. What do you advise me to do?"
Let me see him and his blanket"
Crewe answered. when would it be
convenient for us to CALI"
You can come back with me at
once" Sir Arnold answered. "And
IL you can solve the mystery / shall
be most grateful, and Mr.. Boone
will"
Crewe waved away the suggestion
OF the reward. He rose and took his
hat. Are You ready. Langton?" he
asked.
rose and we two followed Sir
Arnold out OF my office. We descend
ed to the street and took Lexington
avenue car to the millionaire's town
house. which was temporarily occu-
pied by the Englishmsn and his wife.
Once inside Crewe asked to be taken
to the collection Of textiles.
Sir Arnold led us into the chamber
IN which they were spread out for
classification. The mutilated rug was
not at first apparent. for the injury
/ had been much slighter than we had
( supposed. Only one extreme corner
had been removed. having been cut
out in a zig-zag fashion with a pair Of
| blunt scissors, and the wooden
threads were curled and warped over
I the texture. Crewe studied the rug
long ard earnestly.
THE arabesque was in the part re-
noved?" he asked. Then why was
there TO similar border woven into
the fabric upon the other corners %
Hero Sir Arnold felt himself upon
safe ground. This was his province
He turned upon Crewe somewhat
nnmpously.
MY good man." he said, "the craze
for everness of design did not, most
fortunately aflict the Persians of the
date when this fabric was made. The
weaver chose TO place a border upon
one corner of the rug alone. and that
fact, in itself fixes the date of It be
yond all doubt. And now, IL you
have quite satisfied your curiosity
will you look at my dog or not?"
Before Crewe could answer there
came a scampering of feet along the
passage and the animal bounded intc
the room with many demonstration:
of affection for its new master. Il
was a curly mongrel, of no particular
breed. and worth perhaps fifty cents
in the open market. Trailing from tt
back was the dog blanket. Crew,
stopped, unfastened It, and placed 1
upon the table.
And this, you say. is Of moderl
workmanship" he asked. What d.
those Persian words signify?"
That" replied Sir Arnold. liter
ally translated. is: May the wealth o
Azriban and the treasures OF Mulik'
castle go to the possessor 1t is {
purely conventional expression, WOW
en- into their blankets by the moderl
Syrians in imitation of the ancients
and wishes prosperity to the owner.
And the blanket cannot possibl
be OF the same date as the rug?
asked Crewe.
Sir Arnold smiled in a patronizin
way.
You can take II from me-" h
said. that there is no possible cor
nection between the rug and tn
blanket. They were made severa
hundred years apart. Do you mea
to suggest that the man who mutila'
ed the rug sold me the blanket?"
"onhand. should say that 1t is e1
tremely unlikely" answered Crewe.
Then will you tell me. sir. tn
meaning OF this persecution. and VIII
the former owner OF the dog desire
him back again, and why the blsnke
! is an essential feature Of the d.
mand?"
Suddenly Sir Arnold's brows col
tracted. He staggered slightly anC
raising his hand. pointed through tn
open window into Lexington avenu'
my God! There he is again." b
cried.
We looked in the direction indica
} ed and saw a man of sWarthy couI
tenance standing on the opposite sid
. Of the road and watching US intentl.
As soon as he saw that he was pc
, cefyed he shook his hand menacingl
: toward us and leaped on a passin
: street car. There was no possibilii
> OF capturing him; before we coul
have reached the door he would hay
, been out OF sight