Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1911-02-02

good at guessing those tricks. See II
you are sharper than l."
Iunfolded the paper. For a moment
| had the beside to laugh. Then !
looked at It. in amazement. 1t looked
like the work Of crazy person.
At the top of the page the doctor
given to my story:
"The Man Without a Face"
Underneath this the ailenist had made
a sketch.
was speeches. as gazed at this
face without mouth, without nose,
without lineament, where the eyes
only behind the spectacles. seemed
to send back my own scared look.
At the bottom of the page Tdeciph-
cred this obscure algebraical formula:
2Bx2Rx2sxDxGx1-
Mon Dieu!" cried, In alright.
mon Dieu, Mr.. Teck, what does all
this signify? Is this joke or is 1t the
work Of crazy persons"
II don't think so,'' replied the law
yer. II imagine that 1t is a problem,
and you are the only one who can solve
1T. am no good at mathematics but
all the same know what an equation
is. In this little problem, which In APP
pearance Is very complicated, or very
simple, as you like, there is a certain
figure which will enlighten YOU"
eyes. vest" I stammered. "The x
must be the enigmatical fgure!"
i although having no resemblance,
1t is easy enough to see It is intended
to be a sketch Of your face, which has
been burned with the vitriol."
"Why, what do you mean ex-
claimed
.'That is my opinion. and give 1t
for what 1t Is worth AS to the for
mula, it's like Greek to me-"
Puzzled at the first term Of the equa-
ton, / searched beneath these letters
to see If could make out what the
doctor wished to convey to me.
found nothing
Then, all Of sudden, by reading
the same line over and over again,
beginning the line with his sign and
speaking aloud, "2B" the repetition Of
the OBJ in Barrabas flashed across my
eyes. obj"
A moments reflection showed me
that In this formula the doctor had
only used oonsonants. took my pen
and quickly wrote on pad my two
names and replaced the vowels with
periods
obtained this result, which was
hieroglyphical enough:
D.. GIL. S. B. RR. B. S.
then added the similar consonants
ton:
ENTHUSIASTICALLY.
A sold perspiration broke out on my
forehead. was not so ignorant as
Mr.. Teck. I knew what the X meant.
My mind directed my pencil to pass
from one sign to the other, to figure
out some OF the terms Of the equation.
eliminated the x, and, returning to
my first attempted, crossed the first
five letters in the second part of the
equation, which was obviously easy to
solve. Then was able to transcribe:
.xB. RR. B. SD. GL. s.
In other words. Barrabas, positive,
was equal to the negative, Douglass.
Have you solved the problem
asked Mr.. Re \ amiab'M.
folded the paper and put It away
in the drawer Of my, desk. Then, after
a short silence. said quietly:
II shall fnll,w your advice, ,sr.
Teck. It Is quite probable that DR..
Kingsley is right shall stay here
in America and look after the business
for him. E,.'ia, lily that will be better
than returning to France just at pres
ent and so risk losing both our for
tunes" -, ..
Without understanding the meaning
Of my words, Mr. reck got up and
shook hards with me cordially, say
ing:
Il knew very we'll that man like
you. worth millions, would do nothing
RASH"
So the doctor was the only one in
the world who had suspected my
identity. It was no longer doubts
that he had; 1t was formal accusa-
ton inclosed in the mysterious paper
which the lawyer had brought me. In
tllS command tueTc was uluuSil
warning which l understood clearly.
After Evelyne's compromising con-
fession the doctor had put two and
two together and discovered that was
not his father but his wife's own
father. Through his lawyer he had
given me to understand that he did not
wish me to come between Evelyne
and him. Evidently from his manner
of leaving me the entire management
|ol his personal fortune. he had no in
tention Of divulging the secret he had
guessed. To enter into a feud with
hin, at this moment would be 10 de-
|stroy Evelyne's happiness forever. To
20 and uselessly disarm myself for the
future. had no alternative.
All through the adventures Poly
dore had beer the che to think OF az d
now that he had paid the penalty OF
his crime there was nothing for me to
do but obey my scn-in-law's order. and
perhaps eventually Evelyne's happi-
ness would be worked out, for there
were still little Pierre and Susanna.
Yes, a thousand times the doctor
woo rirhfi 7 had f7od so as to Sl1rOud