The Delta independent., 1911-09-29
CHAPTER XIX.
Tho Mysterious MlIllcent.

Tho Mysterious MIIllcent.
Britt streaked from Sands apart
ment to a dingy little den of shop
on the top floor Of q downtown
business rookery-one of the sky
scrapers of a quarter-century before
It was much more tedious to climb
the five flights of stairs to the siTtb
story than to shoot In an express ele-
vator to the summit Of the Singer
Building. But Brftz was too hot on
the scent to pay much attention to his
fatigue. He ran up the stairs lightly.
flung open . crazy outer door that
creaked an announcement Of his COM
ing, and pushed 4 bit Of paper toward
. young man Of modern physique and
ancient visaEe who was working at =
bench. Tho paper was tho motto be-
ginning Curtis dear" and ending with
the frst name OF the mysterious Mil
licent. The anachronfstic young man
looked at it inquiringly through steel
trimmed spectacles.
Rush n hundred copies of this. Bur
len," said Britt. III send for them in
= couple Of hours"
The detective seated himself on .
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
Hindoo burglars possession. The
Headquarters man never was in hur-
81 of re faro val
ue; nevertheless, he felt he had at
last something which, II not direct
link between his knowledge and his
suppositions, would go far toward con-
Meeting them. That the note was ad-
dressed to Curtis Griswold he had
little doubt II required small ehort
OF reasoning to conclude that the East
erners had gone to Sands apartment
soon after visiting Griswold. But this
time, Britt had learned enough to
convince him that the Brahmin scholar
was as eager to get possession OF the
Missioner necklace as he was-to get
the Maharanee diamond, anyway, II
not all the other gems belonging to
the famous string. BY patient,
patchwork process, Britt had pieced
together the tiniest details OF the
Swami'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. 1t was apparent to
Britt that he was working against
men who, while not trained detectives
in the Occidental sense, were fully az
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 interestedly throughout their vari'
GUS manifestations. Britt was con
vinced that he had the Brahmin priest
to thank for his own 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 o.
masculine logic.
But something told him he must DO
stir himself even more vigorously thar
he had done to date. II he was to trace
tho Missioner diamonds before thu
suave. subtle men from the East coult
nnd them and put them forever be
yond tho roach OF any Westerner
One thing was In his favor Undoubt
eddy he had broken the Swamis linz
Of communication by seizinR the snis'