The Washington times., 1912-10-02

l dropped down the mall chuts. Parker. the
whom BE- ,hoSass va: Mr. s.' or sSs I ls;i
fss building near mdnishs a s
terry ana from ,Ss 70 siSn s ns
that the thief, after sfeaiinE the papers.
dropped them. mailed in one Of the nrm's
| the maii;chute, and that they arc now
lying IN the general boz on the love. moor.
. Srad'0 r. persuade. Brady. politician: to
| ana open the box.
CHAPTER XIII.
The Morning After.
In URLBIoH's eyes fairly started
TX from hi, head. 49,. ,.
| bofesr' he repeated.
Yes. the very same. ia know II
among a million! The man must have
been Brady, and he must have dropped
| itv
Burleigh was recovering himself now.
1T may have been lost by one Of the
regular mail collectors. SIR" ..
Grafton's eyebrows rose slightly.
| 1T may have been. but-what does II
matter now2 We've got the thing, and
We can walk Into that Internal box!
What's the time nowr'
1T lacks a minute to haif-past six.
SIR" ,. 80 - =,
Then come along and wen have It
over. We've got half an hour leeway
OF the collector. as II Is" '..'.r..
1T may not be the key, SIR"
II II isn't we shall soon find out
but II H." chuckied Grafton. 'T know"
Burleigh laughed. and they hurried
on. The way was short now: they
turned the last corner and walked the
dozen steps to the door OF the Grafton
building; Orators smile was weak.
IN BY iyrs George ,ss, Burleish! lin shak-
Grafton stepped to the box. Yes, the
key did Mt! drafton's frankly trembling
hand twisted Il: the lock fell back; the
Iron side hinged out. The box was
And then, as Grafton's hand felt
about. hollow moan left his lips.
".Burleigh! Burleigh! It's emptyr'
| The letters gone, sir7" cried the
Clean sons1tSst ss. is a. empty a.
| the day II was made?'
For moment the men stared at each
other.
=, IT can't have Sssnw -;.. Burleish COM
" sYes. s,rf" Th ast Waterman appeared,
ready for the street.
Who has been At this mail box,"
Why. the collector, SIR"
l
hoyrH"
said that thipss are rushing 20 down
at the office that they have to start out
half an hour earlier. beginning today.
Grafton was not listening. with
hrm, but sadly dragging footsteps, he
walked to the door and stared out into
"Burisish: he mu..sred. with sour
but,irs only Just begun"
Grafton reached his office once more.
a little past o'clock.
Five or six hours of sound sleep had
worked wonders for Kenyonville's big
man. Where In the early morning
things had appeared black and hope.
awful shock of the empty box. all OF
Ms old-time optimism had returned.
He saw clearly that the situation was
more than serious: he admitted that II
might even be termed desperate. But
now and noon of the day after tomor-
row many pleasant things might hap
pen. II they did not-well. Grafton
might ind himself faceto face with the
But at the worst he was able to do
II. and he did not admit the worst, al.
though there were several pushing
|
Who had committed the robbery He
gave Il up! To whom. then, had the
envelope been mailedf He shook his
head: that problem hinged upon the
ciined 20 positively and amazingly. to
allow him even a sight Of the wretched
at the moment.
After half an hour Of careful thought
tective had not yet put In an appear.
ance Word sent from his house an.
nounced that he might be expected n
the middle OF the afternoon: at the
' We'll. that, too. was Just as We'll
Grafton concluded. when the detective
did appear all Of his keenness would
be needed; the more he rested now the
better for their ultimate t success n th'
However. he decided. after little
further consideration. some investfgat'
ing on his own. part could do no harm
He revolved the matter for time
desk he directed the office boy to ash
Mr. Jennison's attendance at the priv
The chief clerk. a man of twenty
in a moment or two. Grafton looked
lust close the door. Jennison."
The other compiled.
NOW have q Cnair. NO. never Inlut
the notebook now. I've nothing to die
|, tate this morning that can't be givei
, to one OF the stenographers. I want 4
have sort OF consultation with you
Jennison."
The chief clerk inclined his head.
! Eyes, SIR
"Now-um Let's see. left earl!
! last evening did not?'
: "a little earlier than usual. sir?"
"And what time did you 20 homer
Perhaps fifteen or twenty minute
later"
: "You were. as usual. the last one on
! Of the Officer
Eyes. Miss Carter left q. few mo
, ments before me. was the last to 60
Z Mr.. Grafton" ..
$50 I supposed" Grafton's penci
: drummed absently on the open desk o
4 his side. Everything was as usua
i when you went7".
4 "Why-yes, sir"
q you looked around7'
'T always do
And you noticed nothing out Of tn
ordinary"
Nothing whatever"
1.-THE safe was closed and loclsed?"
Certainly"
! "And this desk?"
Jennison regarded II thoughtfully an
n n,IzTled froWn appeared on his brow