The Emmett index. [volume] (Emmett, Idaho) 1893-1925, 1912-09-05
The Window at the
White Cat
Continued from Page 6.

Wardropf"
Several years." wardrop replied
carelessly. II used TO keep contraband
here in my college days. cigarettes and
that sort OF thing. ! haven't been In
II since then"
Hunter took his foot off a small OBJ
Ject that lay on the floor.
Here Is the fountain pen you lost
this morning. Mr.. Wardrop," he said
quietly.
When Hunter had finally gone at 6
O'Clock, summoned TO town on urgent
business. we were very nearly where
we had been before he came. He
could only give US theories. and after
all. what we wanted was. fact-and
Miss Jane.
Why had Wardrop lied about so
small a matter as his fountain pen?
The closet was empty. What object
could he have had In saying he had
not been in 1t for years? ] found that
my belief In his sincerity Of the night
before was going.
1t would have been easy enough for
him to rob himself. and. If he had an
eye for the theatrical. TO work out
just some such plot. 1t was even pos
sible that he had hidden for few
hours in the secret closet the contents
Of the Russia leather bag. But. what
ever Wardrop might or might not be.
he gave me little chance to find out.
for he left the house before Hunter
did that afternoon. and it was later,
and under strange circumstances, that
met him again.
Hunter had not told me what was
on the paper he had picked out of the
basket in Miss James room, and |
knew he was as much puzzled as | at
the scrap In the little cupboard with
eleven twenty-five on 1t. 1t occurred
to me that 1t might mean the twenty
second day of the eleventh month. per-
haps something that had happened on
some momentous, long buried 22d OF
November But this was May, and
the finding of two slips bearing the
same number was too unusual.
After Hunter left | went back to the
closet under the upper stairs and with
some difficulty got the panel open
again. The space inside, perhaps eight
feet feet high at one end and four at
the other. was empty. There was
row of hooks. as If at some time cloth
ing had been hung there. and a fat
shelf at one end. gray with dust.
struck another match and exam.
ined the shelf. On Its surface were
numerous scratchlngs in the dust lay
er. but at one end. marked out as If
drawn on a black board, was a rec
tangular outline. apparently that of
smallish box and fresh.
NV match burned my fingers and
dropped it. The last fash showed me.
on the floor of the closet and wedged
between two boards. small white
giobule. 1t did not need another
match to tell me 1t was pearl.
| dug it out carefully and took It to
my room. In the daylight there | rec
ognized it as an unstrung pearl OF fair
size and considerable value. There
could hardly be a doubt that l had
stumbled on one of the stolen gems.
II Wardrop took the pearls. | kept re-
heating, who took Miss Jane?
/ tried to forget the pearls and to
fathom the connection between Miss
Maltland's disappearance and the abb
sence of her brother-in-law. The scrap
Of paper. eleven twenty-five. must con-
meet them, but how? A family scan
inlp Dismissed on the instant. There
could be nothing that would touch the
remoteness of that little OLD
adv Insanity? Well, Miss Jane
MIGHT have had a sudden alteration
and wandered away. but that would
cave Fleming out. and the paper
dragged him In. A common enemy?
I smoked and considered for some
ime over this. An especially malig-
,ant foe might rob or even murder
,ut II was almost ludicrous to think
# his carrying away by force MISS
lanes ninety pounds of austere flesh.
rhe solution. had it not been for the
flood stains. might have been peace
nj one. leaving out the pearls. alto
-ather hut later Developments show
d that the pearls refused to be omit
ed. To my mind. however. at that
ime. the issue seemed a double one
believed that some one. perhaps Har-
Y Wardrop. had stolen the pearls. hid
on them in the secret closet. and dis
,osed of them later. made note to
~ TO follow up the missing pearls
Then clrng TO the theory that MISS
falkland had been abducted and was
cling held for ransom. But-and
tuck here-the abductor who would
teal an old woman and take her out
,to the Nav night without any cover
,g-rot even shoes-clad only IN her
ipht clothes, would run an almost GER
ain risk Of losing his prize by pneu-
,onia For second search had
hown not an article OF wearing ap-
orel missing from the house.
Inst before dinner | made second
,und of the grounds. About nun
red feet beyond the boundary hedge
found circular tracks. broad ana
cen. where an automobile had backed
nd turned. The lane was separated
Y high hedges OF Usage orange from
10 properties on either side. and each