The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1914-11-19
CHAPTER x-(continued).
Copyright, ]

In bed, INT I'd look after things. ]
thought that was the best place fol
him, sir
st Is" I agreed. "Keep him there
the day, If possible; in any event, Mr.,
Godfrey and l will be there this e.
ing. Call me at the office, if you need
me for anything"
Very good. sir" said Parks again,
and L hung, up.
1 Glanced through Godfrey's
account of the affair while ]
ate my breakfast. and noted with
amusement the sly digs taken at Com
missioner Grady. Under the photo
graph Of the unknown woman was the
legend:
MI. vANTINEs MYSTERIOUS
CALLER.
(Grady Please Notice.)
And it was .intimated that when
Grady wanted any rea information
about an especially puzzling case, he
had to go to the Record to get 1t.
This, however. was merely by the
way, for the story Of the double
tragedy, fully illustrated, was flung
across many columns, and was plainly
considered the great news feature of
the day.
I glanced at two or three other papers
on my way downtown. All of them
featured h tragedy with a riot of
of pictures-pictures of d'Aurelle and
Vantine, of Grady very large), OF
simmonds, of Goldberger, of F'reyling-
huisen, Of the Vantine house, diagrams
of the ante-room showing the position
n which the bodies were found, an
atomical chart showing the exact ma
ture of the wounds, pictures Of the
noted prisoners of history with a high
ly colored list of their achievements
but. when it came to the story Of the
tragedy itself. their accounts were far
less detailed and intimate than hat in
f., the Record.
They were, indeed, for the most part,
mere faTragos of theories, guesses,
blood curdling suggestions, n myster-
lous hints Of important information
confided to the reporters but withheld
from the public until the criminal had
been run to earth. That this would
soon be accomplished not a single paper
doubted. for had not Grady, the mighty
Grady. taken personal charge of the
case? (Here followed a glowing his
tory of Grady's career.)
1t was evident enough that all these
reporters had been compelled to go to
Grady for their information, and I
could fancy them damning him between
their teeth as they penned these
p~anegyrics. 1 could also fancy their
city editors damning as they
these incoherent inlaginings with the
admirable and closely written story in
the Record. and I suspected that 1t was
the realization Of the Records triumph
which a caused the descent Of the
phalanx OF reporters upon the Vantine
place.
I went over the whole affair with Mr..
Royce, as soon as he reached the office,
n spent the rest of the day arrang-
Ing the paper relating to Vantine's
affairs and getting them ready to pro-
bate. Parks called me up once or twice
for Instructions as to various details,
n Vantine's nearest relative, a third
or fourth cousin, wired from some
where in the west that he was starting
for New York at cnce. And then, to-
ward the middle of the afternoon, came
the cablegram from Paris which I had
almost forgotten to expect.
Royce G. Lester, New York
REGRET mistake in shipment exceed
lngly. Our representative will call to
explain.
Armand ct Fils.'
So there was an end Of the romance
Godfrey had woven, and which I had
been almost ready to believe-the ro-
nance Of design, Of a carefully laid
plot. and all that. It had been merely
accident. after all. And I smiled a lit
tie sarcastically at myself for my
credulity- No doubt my own romance
Of a secret drawer and a poisoned
mechanism would prove equally fabu-
lous. In my over wrought state of the
night before. it had seemed reasonable
, enough; but here. in the cold light of
day, 1t seemed preposterous. How
Grady and Goldberger would have
laughed at 1t!
! I put the whole thing i1npatiently
away from me, and turned to other
work; but I found I could not conquer
! g certain deep seated nervousness; so
at last I locked my desk, told the boy
I would not be back, and took a cab for
a long drive through the park. The
4 f-ocI #nJr <h0 r1,1l1 80 49, k-. L.
sight Of the children playing along the
paths, did me good, n I was able to
greet Godfrey with a smile when he
called for me at Z o'clock.
I've engaged a table at a little place
around the corner" he said. TT is
managed by a friend of mine, and
think you'll like it."
I did. Indeed, the dinner was so good
that 1t demanded undivided attention
and not until the coffee was on the
table and the cigars lighted did W.
speak Of the business which had
brought US together.
"Anything new?" I asked, as W.
pushed back u chairs.
"No. nothing of any Importance. The
man at the morgue has not been iden-
titled. In the first place. the Paris
police have never taken his Bertillon
measurements"
"Then he's not a crimtnal?"
HI has never been arrested
Godfrey qualified. More peculiar
is the fact that he hasn't been rec.
ognized here. Two million people prob.
ably. saw his photograph in the papers
this morning. Some Of them thought
they knew him and went around tc
the morgue to see his body. but nothing
came of it. The police have no repor1
Of any such man missing"
That is peculiar. isn't 1T" I com
mented.
It's very peculiar. 1t means Of
TWO things-either the fellows friends
IRE keentng dark purposely. or he
didn't have any friends, here in New
York at least. But even then. one
would think hat whoever rented hin
a room would wonder what had be.
come of him. n would make som
inquiries"