Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1914-03-26

Burton E. Stevenson
,n;- ,u,e ol the man uellpcrately set
Nantine to open the drawer in order
that she might run no risk? Or was
! she also ignorant of the mechanism?
| Above all. did she succeed in getting
away With the contents of the
drawer?"
What was in the drawer?'
"Ah. if we only knew"
"Perhaps the woman had nothing to
do with it. Vantine himself told me
that he was going to make a careful
examination of the cabinet. No doubt
/ that is exactly what he was doing
when the woman'S arrival interrupted
him. He might have let her out of the
house himself. and then, returning to
the cabinet. stumbled upon the secret
drawer after she had gone"
Yes: that is nnite possible too. Rnt
there are objections. and rather
weighty ones. In the first place. if
the Frcnchman got the drawer open,
who closed it,"
Perhaps it closed itself when he let
go Of it
"And closed again after vantine
opened it,"
Yes"
ITS possible. We must remember
that the prisoners of those days We're
very ingenious. But there is Il thing
that isn't possible. and that is that a
poison which. if it is administered as
we think it is. must be a liquid, could
remain in that cabinet fresh and ready
for use for more than 800 years. 1t
would have dried up centuries ago.
Nor would the mechanism stay in or
der so long. 1t must be both compli-
Gated and delicate. Therefore it would
have to be oiled and o%verhauled from
time to time. If it is worked by n
spring-and don't see how else it can
be worked-the spring would have to
be renewed and wound up"
"WellT' | asked as he paused.
well. it is evident that the drawer
contains something more recent than
the love letters Of Louis NIN. 1t must
have been put in working order quite
recently. But by whom and for what
purpose? That is the mystery we
have to solve. and it is Il mighty pref
ty one. And here's another objection
he added. That Frenchman knew
about the secret drawer. because, ac-
cordinG to our theory. he opened it and
got killed. Why didn't he also know
about the poison?"
That was an objection, truly. and
the more l thought Of it the more seri-
GUS it seemed.
st may be-" said Godfrey at last,
that DAurelle was going it alone
!, that he had broken with the gang
The gang"
'Of curse there is a gang. This
thing has taken careful planning and
concerted effort. And the leader OF
!, tlle gang is a genius. | wonder if you
understand how great a genius? Think
He knows the secret Of the drawer OF
Nine. de M~ontespan's cabinet. But
} above all. he knows the secret of the
| poison - the poison of the Medici
t DO you know what that means. Les.
ter?"
What does it mean?" l asked, fol
Godfrey was getting ahead Of me.
ut means he is a great criminal
really great criminal-one of the elect
5 from whom crime has no secrets. Oh
serve. He alone knows the secret OF
the poison. One Of his men breaks
away from him and pays for his mu
2 tiny with his life. He is the brain
the others are merely the Instruments!
"Then you don't believe it was by
accident that cabinet was sent to Van
tine|
by accident? Not for an instant
1t was part of n plOt-and a splendid
plot
Can you explain that to me too?
| queried a little ironically.
He smiled good naturally at my
tone.
"Of course this is all mere romano
ing he admitted. II am the first to
acknowledge that. l was merely fol
lowing out our theory to what seemed
it's logical conclusion. But perhaps
we are ON the wrong track altogether
Perhaps D'Aurelle, or whatever his
name is, just Numbered in like a moth
into a candle flame. AS for the plot
we'll. / can only guess at it. But sup
pose you and | had pulled off some big
robbery
He stopped suddenly and his face
went white and then red. Lester!