The Springfield herald., 1912-03-22

more cuuBeied my Drains over IL the
more benumbed they became. until
at last picked up my hat and rushed
out OF the house. Having but little
idea that ! would learn anything by
so doing. nevertheless Immediately
boarded a car and going to the shop
of my tailor threw the note on the
counter before him. What do you
know about that note, Johnson" de-
manded.
He picked it up. adjusted his eye
glasses and read 1t with a slowly
forming and negative pursuing OF his
mouth. Then he held 1t forth.
Nothing at all. What ia there about
it?" took the card from him and
replaced 1t carefully in my pocket as
l made my reply.
"Only this-that 1t is a forgery And
while l did not for a moment think
that you had any information about
1t, l went to the pains OF coming here
know anything concerning the where
about of the clothes mentioned" His
answer furnished me the second sur
prise of the day.
"Oh, yes, do. The suit is here
all right 1t was brought in yester-
day by strange men who said you
wished me to press 1t for you. have
done SO and 1t is now in perfect condi-
ton" / looked at him with the in
credulity with which one faces a per
son who makes an incredible state
ment with straight face and under
the guise of seriousness.
Let me see the suit" ordered
lie did so, and I inspected 1t critic
ally. l could discover nothing amiss
| with 1t externally. and searching the
| pockets found they were empty. How
ever, that was to be expected, az
could remember having nothing in
them when had hung 1t away, GER
tainly nothing of any value to any
body bh myself. had only succeed
ed in thickening the mystery which
enveloped this extraordinary transac-
ton. and puzzled beyond expression,
I arranged with the tailor that in the
future he should allow none OF my
clothes which he happened to have
in his possession to leave his hands
upon an order ostensibly written by
me unless the order contained n
secret mark which we then and there
agreed upon. Then instructing him
that II any one called for the suit in
question and presented an order for
the same not bearing the minute
token of It's genuineness which we
had Just invented, that he was to de-
tain him until he could summon an
officer and have him arrested. de-
parted. What possible object any
person could have had in wishing to
secure possession of suit OF my
clothes which contained nothing OF
the slightest worth. and who having
secured possession Of 1t should go to
the trouble of conveying 1t from my
house to the tailor shop was utterly
beyond my comprehension. The for
ger had not injured the clothes, as
some petty-minded enemy might have
done out OF a spirit of spite. and al
together l could conceive of no pos
sible benefit or satisfaction any one
could have derived from such an
elaborate and criminal subterfuge. Ut
terly baff1ed. l determined to say
nothing more about 1t for the time
quietly awaiting any new develop
ments that might arise.
The next morning another strange
thing had happened. was dressing
for the day at my customary hour for
arising when suddenly the house
keepers knuckles fell upon the door
in series of nervous taps. She al
most never came to the upper floor
before the breakfast hour, and ! there
fore searched her face with some GU
riosty as ! told her that she might
enter. She Immediately burst forth in
an excited volley.
oh Mr. Tom. The house has been
burglariZed again in the night. What
on earth are we coming to with such
people prowling all around in the
darkness? | never was SO frightened
in my life. | declare | nearly fell in
faint when | discovered it. Please
come with me and ! will show you.
Dumfoundedly, and with my necktie
still dangling from my hand, l fol-
lowed her squat figure as she climbed
down the front stairs, waddled
through the dining room and kitchen
and then one foot at time descend
ed the steep stairs that led to the
basement There was only one door
entering from the outside into these
lower regions and that was never
used-in fact, had been bolted ever
since my occupancy of the premises.
The aperture in the side of the house
through which the coal supply was
dumped from the drive into the bin
was protected by an iron grating
which was always carefully locked
after such an operation, and the low
windows which admitted light to the
furnace room had fixed iron bars on
the outside. The police, LeDuc and
myself had gone over this region
thoroughly in our search and had
found that the locks had not been
tampered with nor the gratings dis
turbed; the dust and the rust had
proven that beyond contention. Now
to my amaZement | saw that the
door had been forced by some power
full instrument that had torn the re-
ceiving socket for the bolt bodily
from its fastenings. My hair arose
with cold tngling of my scalp,
much as it might have done had 1
been suddenly confronted by some
uncanny object in the dead of night
| CTo BE CONTINuED)