Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1914-12-03

those occurrences. For. surely, Mad.
anne x would scarcely guard the secret
OF thai drawer with poison!
Does any one besides your client
KNOW or The existence Of these letters 2"
l asked. at last.
Il think not" YER Mr.. Horn
blower. smiling drily. They are not
OF a nature which my client would care
10 communicate to n one. In fact,
Mr.. Lester, as you have doubtless sus-
pected, they are compromising letters.
we must get them back at any cost"
AS a matter OF fact l pointed out,
tilere are always at least two people
VINO know Of the existence of every let
ter-the person who writes it and the
person who receives it,"
II nae thought of that. but the person
VINO wrote these letters is dead"
dead! L repeated.
he was killed in a duel some months
ago., explained Mr.. Hornblower, grave.
ly.
b Monsieur X?" I asked quickly.
BY Monsieur "" said Mr.. Horn
blower, and sat regarding me, his lips
pursed, as ain indication, perahps, that
ne would say no more.
But there was no necessity hat he
should. l knew enough of French law
and or French habits of thought to rea-
llZe that II those letters ever came into
possession of Monsieur X. the game
would be entirely in his hands. His
wire Would be absolutely at his mercy.
And the thought flashed through my
mlnd that perhaps in some way he had
learned of the existence of the letters
ana was trying desperately to get them.
That thought was enough to swing the
balance in his wife's favor.
Il am sure 1 said. that Mr.. Van
tine would instantly have consented to
your client opening the drawer and
ia atkins. nnf tho 1nffn,c W. 90, - So.
eeutor, also consent. for. Whoever may
w the cabinet, the letters are the
property of Madame X. All this pro-
NldlnS, of course, hat this should prove
to be the right cabinet. But l must warn
you, Mr.. Hornblower, that l believe two
men nave already been killed trying to
open that drawer" and l told him, while
he sat there staring in profound amaze
ment, OF my theory in regard to the
death OF Philip Nantine and of the un-
known Frenchman. II am inclined to
think concluded, that vantine
upon the drawer While ex-
aiming the cabinet; but there is no
doubt that the other mar knew of the
drawer, and also, presumably, Of it's
contents.
"Well!" exclaimed my companion. 81
have listened to many astonishing sto-
rles in my life, but never che to equal
this. And you know nothing Of this
Frenchman?"
Nothing except that he came from
HaVre on La Touraine last Thursday,
and drove from the dock direct to VAN
tines house"
My client also came on La Tou-
ralne-but that, no doubt, was a mere
coincidence"
THAI may be-" / agreed, but it is
scarcely q coincidence that both HI and
your client We're after the contents Of
that drawer"
you mean :"
." mean that the mysterious French
man may very possibly have been an
emissary of Monsieur X. Madame may
have betrayed the secret to him in an
u~nguarded moment
Mr.. HornbloWer rose abruptly. He
was evidently much disturbed.
You may be right" he agreed. II
will communicate with my client at
once. take it she has your permission
be the right one, that she may open
the drawer n remove the letters"
IF she cares to take the risk" l as
scented.
Very well; l will call you as soon as
! have seen her." he said. I'm any event,
| thank you for your courtesy" and he
left the office.
He must have driven straight to her
family residence on the avenue; or
perhaps she was awaiting him at his
office; at any rate, he called up inside
the half hour.
My client would like to see the cab
met at once he said. She is in a very
nervou condition; especially since she
learned that some one else has tried to
open the drawer. When will it be CON
Nenlent for you to go with us?"
L a go at once 1 said.
Then we will drive around for you.
We should be there in Is or 20 min
utes."
Very WELL" 1 said, I'll be ready. /
of course, want to take a witness
with me-"
That is quite proper" assented Mr..
Hornblower. I'VE can have no objec-
ton to that. In 20 minutes, then"
l got the Record office as soon as I
could, but Godfrey was not there. He
did not come on usually, some one said,
until the middle Of the afternoon. I
rang his rooms, but there was no reply.
Finally | called up the Vantine house.
Parks" l said, II am bringing up
some people to look at that cabinet. 1t
might be just as we'll to get that cot
u of the way and have all the lights
going"
The lights are already going, sir" he
said.
Already going? WhSt do you mean?"
Mr.. Godfrey has been here for quite
a while, sir, fooling with that cabinet
thing"
He has" And then I reflected that
| ought TO AVE guessed his where
abouts. Tel him, Parks, that / am
bringing some people up to see the
cabinet, and that l should like him to
stay there and be a witness of the
proceedings"
CONTINUED next week.