The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1913-02-06

locked his door. and was found the
next morning lying fully dressed on
the bed. The most careful examina-
ton of his papers failed TO throw any
light on the affair, and at the official
inquest a verdict OF suicide was re-
turned.
1t transpired that NJ r had
withdrawn large amounts from his
bank. no trace of which could 30
found. He neither speculated nor
gambled, and he always noted down
every cent be spent Yet OF the hun
dred thousand francs that had disap-
peared no record could be found.
What had become Of the cash? His
heirs moved heaven and earth to find
1t, but in vain
Although | concurred In the verdict
of suicide, | was not satisfied. for I
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 q trace of his deadly
work
When a 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. I knew they were speaking
the truth, and I also knew that l could
not hope for any help from them.
After an anxious search I at last
| made an important discovery. NJ.
F. 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
! ame de V, he had pressed her
! hard to fix their wedding for an early
| date. whereupOn 1t was arranged that
| it was to have taken place toward the
| end Of June. In less than a fortnight
however, he had suddenly become
respondent, and, to the lady's surprise
had informed her that the wedding
had n be postponed.
All this was related to me by Mad
| anne de v, 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 I found this scrap Of pa
| per. 1t is in his handwriting, and the
| notes in pencil refer to a sale of 6
small estate he owned. I am afraie
you will not find it very useful"
| examined the leaflet with care.
| Madame" replied, this scrap dis
closes four distinct facts, which
| pieced together, may supply a valu
able clue"
What facts?"
1.-THE address printed at the top o
the page is that Of shady cafe II
the Boulevard Rochechouart. Ant
did you notice the curious character
at the back?"
yes, did. I fancied they wer'
Hebrew letters"
mo, they are Arabic. From all thi
I deduce: First, that your friend, wh'
could have gone to such a place onl!
under compulsion, did not meet tn
people he had come to see; second
that. having had to wait for them, b.
whiled away the time by scribbl1ni
these notes on a piece Of letterpape
he found lying on the table; third, tina
he grew impatient and restless, To-
the characters at the back are jottea
down nervously and lack the firmnes
of the other writing; fourth, that, a.
Arabic is not language usually laugh
at college. it is more than probable
that M. F. spent some time in ou
African colonies"
"Why, yes" Madame de v ex
claimed. ct remember he once de
scribed to me a scene he witnessed II
Gran"
THAT simplifies Matters I rs1oined
land I can now set to work"
It is not always easy to dive into
dead mans past. The moment tn
human machinery has been brough
to a standstill everything that ono
gravitated around hun seems to dis
appear. He is forgotten by friends
and detractors who prosecuted him t
his last breath have potent reason
never to mention his name.
, But the threads supplied to me b.
} that note would, I expected, put m
on the right course, and felt coul
not have any peace as long as the mis-
creants responsible for M. r
death went about unchallenged.
The statement made to me by N
-'s daughter that her father
reputation was above suspicion wa
undoubtedly true as far as Paris wa
concerned. If, therefore, there was
blot in the mans life I had to loo
for it elsewhere, and Oran at ono
presented itself to my mind.
I made discreet inquiries, and Learn
ed that some twelve years ago n
: F., while in Oran, had allowed hin
self tc he foolishly implicated in
| scandal which. thanks to powerrr