The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1912-09-25

* thunderDoU, sat dOWn again De-
fore the desk. with the air Of a
man who has done at least part
of his duty.
There's your explanation. sir" he
The owner OF the Grafton Building
stared at him almost emptily. There
markable proposition so unique, SO ut
teriy unexpected. that his tired brain
refused for the moment to grasp IT In
According to the reasoning Of the
detective, those precious Coison notes
were at the very moment not oVO Ieet
distant; and yet, II seemed, the roper
had removed them quite as thorouSn,yy
been within the thiefs own pocket.
But, Burieigh," ., Grafton began, CROP
Ing for words, ''that-oh, that can't De-
you know"
why notT'
ITS too-too absurd"
mot that, sir-its too clever. That !
what 1t is. It's one Of the cleverest
lodges a auick-minded crook ever
but how could he have known that
Mr.. Elsford and were coming up IN
that eievator7'' a.
know The situation which confronted
him was that somebody was coming,
snd that there was chances OF MS
being seen and questioned. Had ne not
been quick enough Ss% tbs ~ pspe s IN his pos
session he might have walked into seri'
Gus trouble"
far An too N ma sss" to drop them and run.
continued Burleish. AT the very last
moment II occurred to him To mall them
10 himself, and he did It in jiny and
slid for the fre-escape as quickly az
Grafton shook his head rerplexediy.
ST don't know-Im blest II / know
what to think" he muttered
"Td be willing to stake slo Dill tha'
! am right"
my dear Mr.. Grafton said Bur.
leigh. rather impstiently. we are none ne
entirely wrong in the theory have ad;
Yes sighed Grafton. 81 suppose
that we've bound to assume that the
dickens could the thief have been
"A plan with. quick wit and taste
who knew all the details Of your papers
Can you a. namo to that soanty de-
Certainly. 1t answers none Of m,
buetnes associates"
"Nor anyone employed about youl
you discussing the natter"
This particular matter has not beer
much discussed at home. and II IT hat
been. there was no one to oyerhear
well. hardly know that the fel
lows identity concerns us Just now
any way" Burieigh chewed his cigar
AND AND his brew wrins!ed in thought
actly the ordinary kind of thief case
II we had the man right here befor'
us In the office 1t would be entirely be
yond him to return your documents un
hr1 t1h hA
velope to him-some time this after
noon. We're not so muc hon the trail
OF man as we are on the trail OF tina
white streak you saw when coming up
But, Burleigh. since we know tina
they're down there in the box"
well, there's some way of gettint
must be some means by which we cal
lay hands on them" 80
How"
downstairs by. the box"
Until morning."
ives until I'll shs % ,qn eG hs 1s n
neighborhood If T."
"And thenT'
Then, of course, we'll explain mat
ters to him. I'll tell him that mailet
a letter by mistake last night and asl
him to hand It back. In all probabilit!
even more than that, my name and ad
dress are printed on the corner of TIT
Exactly. And what will the ma,
trust that he'll be decent and hant
II overland let that settle tho who'll
'Then you're wrong. sir. for he't
never in this world dare to do It! HI
tnEa n himRelf n
\ hand over that letter. or any other
N"But, compound It! He'd know me
must count for something in this town.
cried Grafton, and the very rarely evi
dehced sense OF his own personal i'm
por{ance in Kenyonville showed forth
'I believe, honestly that he would ham
the thing over to me-"
wrong again. The Government mai
service Is no respecter Of persons. ono
a stamp has been affixed to an enVelop
and the envelope directed and mailed
states until It is delivered. and all tn
millionaires in the State wouldn't b
able to alter it, =,
"I-well. hang It, suppose d
know that" said Grafton. he.piessly.
He walked to the window and stare
down upon the deserted streets wit
their twinkling arc lights at the cor
ners-the arc lights that had belonge
In good part to him, little earle
in the evening.
One OF the infrequent cars came sail
ing down from the suburbs. and h
watched Its tiny yellow bead of ligh
approach and pass out OF sight below
Gould we waylay that man. Bur
leigh?" he asked. desperately
what"
BE there In the corridor when h
arrives. and rush him away from tn
box. after he's opened it-or crowd hir
away and snatch the letter before h
gets wind OF what Is happenings"
"You have never paid particular a.
tention to your mail collectors" sal
the. detective, rather tartly.
"Why?"
Because each OF them carries hi
pass key on a very short, very stor
chain and above Ave seconds after OF
particular man felt a tug on that chat
there would be trouble brewing for M
Grafton, the millionaire, and for Nj
Burleigh, the detective"
1T suppose so. sighed Grafton.
"Oh! that notion is altogether to
absurd. you know. 1t wouldn't bette