The Arvada enterprise., 1913-01-23
CHAPTER III.-(contInuedJ

attempted hcT ne.
CHAPTER ll.-(Contlnued)
/ glanced quickly at Davis. I fully
expected to zee in his face something
OF the same astonishment had felt. /
was disappointed. With n casual
glance at the envelope he turned to
Dowd as II waiting for him to 20 on.
ITS evidence In the Elscr case" the
detective went on. turned in by the
man on post who reported the suicide.
He was that old party that was found
dead in his room up on West Twenty
third street. TO my mind. it's just a
plain cagc Of suicide-au old man tired
OF living. The poison bottle was there
on the floor beside him | don't see
nothing suspicious about II, but the
chief has taken a notion that there's
something behind It and wants to
know where this letter came from. We
searched the room, but this torn en-
velope was all We could find. The
postmark's torn through. but he
thought maybe you could trace it any
how"
"I'll see what | can do and I'll let
you know in the morning" said the
inspector calmly, dismisslnE the de
tectivo with nod. From his matter
of-facc tone and apparent lack OF in
tercst would not have been surprised
II he had refused this undertaking,
too. as he had mine. though It seemed
to me that the two bits of yellow pa
per connected the two suicides at the
same hour as something decislyely
more than mere coincidence.
As soon. however, as the detective
had left the room the inspectors whole
manner changed with the glitter Of
excitement in his alert eyes he turned
to me and cNplosivcly said:
quick. let me see that yellow
scrap"
had placed it carefully in my wal
let after he had refused my request.
As | drew II out now he almost
snatchcd 1t from my hand. Putting It
Oh his desk beside the torn envelope.
he picked up reading glass and
studied both pieces carefully. His in
spcCtiOn lasted for several minutes,
and meanwhile. !. too, studied the torn
envelope.
Both in color and texture the paper
SO closely rcsemblcd the scrap that !
was positive that they were Of the
same lot. The envelope bore the ad-
dress of Andrew Elser. in West Twcn.
ty.thlrd street. Part OF the postmark
most of 1t. In fact-had been de
stroycd. as II in the careless opening
Of the letter with the finger. All that
was dccipherablc was capital "A"
and part Of another letter that might
have been either an "N" or an "R " In
the lower part OF the circle was a frag-
ment OF a letter that looked MS II It
might have been an N" noticed,
TOO. that the stamp had been stuck on
rather carelessly, in lopsidcd man
ncr.
My friend. his inspection completed.
turned to me apulngouCalIy
q beg your paIdou, Harding Kent"
he said, you were entirely right.
These two bite OF paper are koy.notcs
in an important mystery, one that it is
well worth my while to try to solve"
what made You change your mind
so suddenly" ] asked, for though I
quite 0Etcod with him. his manner
had puzzled me not little.
He leaned back Iu his chair and
turned Il so that he faced me. He had
a sharp, explosive way OF speaking.
biting of his words almost before he
Ind completely enunciatod them.
Cant you sco2 One footprint lends
nowhere. Two footprints start path.
When you brought that yellow scrap
to me YOU We're merely guessing that
It might have something TO do with
the strange happenings Iu the Parrish
home. There was no way in which
you could have positive knowledge.
nor could l. You were only guessing
Indeed, ] wasn't" exclaimed in
diEnpu ly What drew my attention
to It was General Farrishs cxclama.
ton Of terror ur the sight OF 10 Just be
fore he fell. paralyzcd"
Davis shook his head dctormiucdly.
THAT moaut mugh-or nothing. It
may have been mere acuilc hystoriu
supcruduccd by tho great shock. At
some time I'm his HE he may have had
some unpleasant experience which
was associated in his suhconsclous
memory with o yellow document.
Wrought up MS he was by the news Of
his daughters attempt to kill herself,
the brain cells called into action were
those that had recorded other disturb
ing experiences, perhaps month ago,
perhaps forty years ago. No impros.
sIons IL he brain records are ever
tost. The sight Of the yellow paper
probably recalled some other yellow
g. 'ra wRs then no evidence