The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1913-10-19


who Law browsing on the sofa in my
study.
sfpeoplc know from your letters IN the
newspapers that you were mixed up
in this case, that you started that case.
But the part which you played In IL
all, the plain facts OF the story. the
upshot OF the mystery: these arc things
OF which they know nothing.
"Poohl 4 heap OF nninterest'ng
twaddlc.
what Your present of fifty thou,
sand francs TO Nicolas Dugrival s wife!
Do you call that embarrassing? And
what about the way in which you
solved the puzzle Of the three PFC
turesS'
Lupin laughed:
Eyes. that was a queer puzzle, Ger
tRinly. | can suggest title for you
If YOU like: what do you say to The
Sign of the Shadow?'
And YOUR successes In soclctN ana
with the fair sex?' continued. The
dashinc Arscne's love affairs, ::
And the clue TO the your good actions
Those chapters in your life TO which
vou have so often alluded under the
names of The Wedding Ring, Shadowed
bv Death. and so on. why dc-
Law these condolences, and confessions.
my dear bupin! Come, do what
Il was at the time when Lupiu,
though already famous, had not yet
fought his biggest battles; the time
that preceded the great adventures OF
The Hollow Needle and Sl3. lie had
not vet drcamt Of anncNing the ac-
cumulated treasures of the French
ROYAL House 'nor Of changing the man
OF Europe under the kaiser s nose
he coutcnted himself with milder sur
prises and humber profits, making his
daily effort. doing evil from day TO
day aud doing n little good as we'll
naturally and for the love of the thing
like n whimsical and compassionate
Don Quixotc.
He was silent; and / insisted:
"Bupin, I wish you would!
To my astonishment, he replied:
fTake A sheet Of paper. old follow
and a pencil.
j obeyed with alacrity, delighted at
the thought that he at least meant to
dictate to me some of those pages which
he knows how 10 clothe with such Wig
or and fancy, pages which ], unfortu-
nately, am obliged to spoil with te-
dious explanations and boring develop
ments.
'"Are you ready9" he asked
Quite
"Write down 20, /, IL, D, a. ID
"What2"
"Write it down 7 tell YOU.
He was sitting mp now, with ms
eyes turned to the open window ana
his fingers rolling Turkish cigarette
He continued: -,
'SWrite down, 81, IA, IA, 8.
He stopped. Then he went on;
''3, ), 10. 1o.'
And, after pause:
IS. IS. 25
Was he mad? / looked at him hard
and. presently, | saw that his eyes
were no longer listless, as they had
been n little before, but keen and at
tentive and that they seemed to be
that apparently captivated them.
Meanwhile, he dictated. With inter
walls between each number;
.Is. Q, 10, II, 10
There was hardly anything to be
seen through the window but patch
of blue sky on the right and the front
of the building opposite, an old pr,
vate house, whose shutters were closed
as usual. There was nothing partlcu-
lar about all this. no detail that struck
me as new among those which L had
had before my eyes for years.
And suddenly I understood
or rather I thought ] understood, tor
how could ] admit that Lupin, man
So essentially level-headed under his
mask of frivolity, could waste his time
upou such childish nonsense? what
he was counting was the lntermlttent
flashes of ray of sunlight playing
on the dingv front Of the opposite
house, at the height of the second
floor!
.bI5 - - said Lupin.
The flash disappeared for few sec
onds and then struck the house, again;
successivoly, at regular intervals, ana
disappeared once more.
| had instinctively counted the fash
cs and l said, aloud;
Caught the ideal ! congratulate
vou!" he replied, sarcastically.
lie went 10 the window and leaned
direction followed by the ray OF light.
Then he came and lay on the sofa
again. saving: go,
OTIS vour turn now Count away!
The fellow seemed so positive that
! did as he told me. Besides, / could
not helm confessiug that there was
something rather curious about the or.
dered frequency Of those CLEANS on
the front OF the house opposite, those
aOpcaTaH1cS anu OlSdpptdidu'ec, lu' "
and turn about. like so many flash
signals.
They obviously came from Il house
on our side of the street, for the sun
was entering my windows slantwise,
It was as though some one were alter
natelv opening and shutting a case
mept. or, more likely, amusing himself
by making sunlight flashes with pock-
es mirror.
HIt's a child having camel
cried. after moment or two, feeling
a little .irritated by the trivial occu
patton that had been thrust upon me
"Never mind, 90 on,
And 7 counted away. And
put down rows Of figures.
And the sun continued TO play in from,
of me. with mathematical precision.
"Well!' said Lupin, after longer
pause than usual.
HWhv, il seems finished.
There has beer. nothing for some min
utcs.
We waited and, as no more ligh
flashed through space, ] said, testing
"Mv idea is that we have been vast
ing our time. a few figures on paper
poor result,'
Lupiu. without stirring from his sofa
reioined: