Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1911-10-06
CHAPTER Ix.-(continued.)

could not nelp a feellng Oh oppression
at the slow progress of events. AS yet,
the in~tricacies of the mystery were
vaguely outlined in his mind. He saw
them as a floating mist, heavy with
possibilities but charged with delusive
signs of reckoning trails that he In
stinctively NEW led to nowhere. He
was still treading lightly the mazes
of the case. One false step might be
fatal, and he preferred to remain in
a crouching attitude Of watchfulness,
ready to spring from cover at the
proper moment.
Much as he deplored his enforced
Inactivity, he nevertheless had faith
In the final outcome. A quick mental
survey of the case convinced him that
the first necessity was to find the
maker of the paste stones. Whoever
made the duplicate Maharanee would
surely recall having lone SO. There
we're few Europeon firms that could
have made the stone. 1t was doubtful
whether any American manufacturer
could have turned out a substitute to
fool the eyes OF Mrs. Missioner, ven
for a night. 1t Is hard enough to get
the compact brilliance Of the diamond
In a small paste gem; infinitely more
difficult Is it to manufacture a coun-
terfeit Maharanee. Britz knew that
whoever copied the cut and luster Of
that marvellous stone was an expert
Of high caliber. No faint simmer of
glass could have availed to deceive
Mrs. Missioner. The laboratory fire
that cleaned from the duplicate was
the work of years of experiment, and
only in Paris, Britz believed, was the
art OF manufacturing paste gems suf-
dciently developed to bring forth a
satisfactory duplicate of the Mahara-
nee.
Three weeks, at least, must elapse
before word would come from Logan.
The emissary sent abroad was himself
q diamond expert. Before entering
the Detective Bureau, he had been a
foreign agent Of the United States
Treasury Department. II the dupli-
cate necklace was manufactured
abroad, Logan would ind the manu-
f~acturer without delay. Brtz had
faith in his man, and he waited I'M
patiently through three weeks of tor
ment for the first cablegram. It came
finally, and he opened 1t with v
fingers.
missioner necklace manufactured
from drawings by three firms. Orig
inal never In possession of manufac-
turers."
4Britz let the telegram fiutter to the
floor.
Il knew it," he burst forth. They
wouldn't have dared to take the orig
inal out of the safe without immedi-
ately replacing 1t with the duplicate"
He picked up the message and
burst into the Chiefs room.
Read it," he exclaimed.
y The Chiefs eyes drank in the
words, but his brain failed to grasp
their underlying meaning.
Il don't see that this proves any
thing" he remarked.
st proves everything" volleyed
Britt. 1T proves that the thief was a
clever draughtsman. It proves that
he spent weeks sketching the neck
lace, stone by stone. and 1t proves,
too, that he went to Paris to have the
duplicate made"
1T proves all that" agreed the
Chief. "But who had the opportunity
to see the necklace a sufficient num-
Der OF times and long enough to make
the sketches? Who but Miss Hol-
comb
Il will find someon who had al
most as good an opportunity" Britt
returned confidently.
And If you do. what will 1t mean?"
asked the Chief.
1T will mean something to work
on the detective said.
The text twenty-four hours Britz
spent in the quiet of his home,
his mind focused on the prob
lem before him, trying to map out his
line Of procedure. Plan after plan he
discarded as worthless. He could have
struck out blindly In the hope Of
stumbling on a trail, but that was not
Britz's method. Crime mysteries were
to him scientific problems to be solved
by scientific means. Step by step he
went owe the ground already covered,
and then swept the outlook with the
keen searchlight of his mind.
BY a process of elimination he tried
70 sift the real thief from the group