The Springfield herald., 1913-01-03

heirs moved heaven and earth to f,nd
1t, but In vain.
Although l concurred In the verdict
OF suicide, I. WAS not satisfied. for
scented blackmailers. Those who. like
me. have lived In an atmosphere of
crime, will know the mischief wrought
by these scoundrels.
In the pantomime of life. wherein
criminals play such an important role.
swindlers and sharpers often imper-
senate the funny man." But the
blackmailer is the VILLAIN" the traitor
who stabs his Victims in the back. and
rarely leaves a trace OF his deadly
work
When few days after NJ. F-'s
funeral called on his daughter and
expressed my view. she Indignantly
declared that there could be nothing
hidden in her fathers life-a man
whose reputation had been above sus-
picion. Her husband was of the same
opinion. l knew they were speaking
the truth, and I also knew that could
not hope for any help from them.
After an anxious search l Mt last
made an important discovery. M.
p had engaged himself to Bar
onne de v In Tours. and had con-
cealed this fact from his daughter and
his friends. Deeply in love with Mad
anne de v, he had pressed her
hard to fix their wedding for an early
date. whereupon 1t was arranged that
1t was to have taken place toward the
end OF June. In less than fortnight.
however. he had suddenly become
Respondent, and, to the lady's surprise.
had informed her that the wedding
had to be postponed.
| All this was related to me by Mad
anne de VI, who was eager to as
sist me in sitting the matter. AS
rose to take my leave she said:
THE last time my poor friend was
here he left his cigarette-case behind.
and inside found this scrap of pa
notes in pencil refer to a sale Of
small estate he owned. ! am afraid
you will not find 1t very useful"
examined the leaHet with care.
Madame" replied, this scrap dis
closes four distinct facts. which.
pieced together. may supply valu-
able clue"
What facts?"
1.-The address printed at the top OF
the page is that of shady cafe In
the Boulevard Rochechouart. And
did you notice the curious characters
at the back?"
YES. did. fancied they were
Hebrew letters"
NO, they are Arabic. From all this
deduce: First, that your friend. who
could have gone to such place only
under compulslon. did not meet the
people he had come to see; second.
that, having had to wait for them. he
whiled away the time by scribbling
these notes on piece OF letter paper
he found lying on the table; third. that
he grew impatient and restless. for
the characters at the back are jotted
down nervously and lack the firmness
of the other writing; fourth. that. AS
Arabic is not language usually taught
ct college. 1t is more than probable
that NJ. F. spent some time in our
African colonies"
why, yes" Madame de '" ex-
claimed II remember he once de-
scribed to me scene he witnessed in
Gran"
THAT simplifles matters" rejoined.
land l can now set to work"
1t is not always easy to dive into a
dead mans past. The moment the
human machinery has been brought
to standstill everything that once
gravitated around him seems to dis
appear He is forgotten by friends.
and detractors who prosecuted him to
his last breath have potent reasons
never to mention his name.
But the threads supplied to me by
that note would, l expected, put me
on the right course. and I.felt l could
not have any peace as long as the mis-
creants responsible for NJ. F-'s
death went about unchallenged.
The statement made 10 me by M.
F-'s daughter that her fathers
reputation was above suspicion was
undoubtedly true as far as Paris was
concerned. II, therefore. there was
blot in the mans life l had to look
for 1t elsewhere. and Oran at once
presented itself to my mind.
made discreet inquiries. and learn
ed that some twelve years ago M.
F.. while in Oran. had allowed him
self to be foolishly implicated in
scandal. which. thanks to powerful
protection, had been hushed up.
While I was trying to clear up that
side of the problem, 1t was also es-
sential that should know something
of the people who frequented the
cafe in the Boulevard Rochechouart,
and selected as my observatory a
rival establishment few doors of.
whence I could watch those passing
in and out.
knew could rely on my memory.
and on the first day recognized many
who in various ways had passed
through my hands. Not few OF them
had anything but clean records. but
they were either book-makers, sharp
ers, or tricky. horse-dealers. fire.
quenters of the whose spe-
cialty lay In different direction.
One evening. half an hour after
had reached my post of observation,
saw a clean-shaven man walk up and
take his seat outside. After a while
he tapped at the window for a waiter,
who replied to a question put to him.
whereupon the man flew into a rage