Charlevoix county herald. (East Jordan, Mich.) 189?-1953, 1914-10-10

In his hand he carried the small
piece of candle which they had
brought with them. He went out on
the landing. Merseins followed. First
they looked in the other offices on the
same floor, then they went down to
the general offices below. Under
meath the stairs were several large
cases. They threw the light from
their candle in all the corners, but
found no one.
Imagination" said Jacques, laugh
ing. "My, weren't we scared! l felt
as limp as a rag, and you looked like
a ghost. 1t is hardly likely that any
one would come here at night. 1t
must have been some noise in the
street"
Laughing, they once more climbed
the staircase. But to make quite sure,
they looked again in the small Offices
before going into Calesse's private
room. Then treasured, they continued
their researches.
"Our suspicious are absurd" ex-
claimed Merseins suddenly.
"You say that because we have not
| discovered anything yet"
mo; see here" he said, holding
out letter. "What more proof do
you want that our suspicious are
groundless. Here is letter from Cal
cutta written by John j. Smith"
81 have not seen this" said
Jacques, taking the letter from his
friend. what does it say?" He
read aloud:
Dear Calesse: | am very pleased
that | am now able to pay back the
loan that you were good enough to
let me Lave.
AS the result of some good specu-
lations, | am sending you the sum of
three hundred and fifty thousand
francs (350,000 francs). 1t is in
shares, the list of which | enclose.
1t is needless for me to tell you how
grateful | AM for the service you did
me- Kind regards. Yours faithfully,
JOHN j. SMITH"
"Wha. do you say to that2"
Jacques asked:
what are the shares ?"
Turn the page and you will see"
Jacques gasped when he saw list of
shares exactly the same as those
mentioned in Jean Farade's receipt.
81 was right" he said slowly
"when | told you he'd be able to ac-
count for the possession of these
! stocks. What a blessing we did not
! try to show him up then. But don't
suppose | am going to throw up the
| game just because he has been smart
enough to invent this trick to foil us"
But what can you base your sus-
picions on now?"
"You don't find this a strange CO.
| incidence? This John ]. Smith sends
! three hundred thousand francs, and
on the receipt that belonged to Jean
| Farades the sum was three hundred
and fifty-seven thousand francs,
what's the date ?"
capri. 49,"
THAT letter arrived in France at
the same time as the victim; perhaps
| it came on the same boat, and how do
we know that this is genuine ?"
"You lived in Calcutta. Did you
ever meet a John j. Smith ?"
81 know there is a man of that
name in Calcutta, but ! have never
met him."
What does J do?"
"The same as Calesse, but | know
very little about him. The man may
| be a right, and, besides, what is
! there to prove that he sent this ?"
at is sent from Calcutta, as you
! see by the stamp on the envelope"
Eyes, but how do we know that
this Smith sent it? We can't be sure
unless we go to Calcutta and find out
| for ourselves"
Don't be absurd. The best thing
| for us to do is to hand over that re-
ceipt we found to the police and tell
them all that we have discovered.
1.-THE receipt is locked up in my
desk, and it is not going to be taken
| out of there until we have unraveled
the mystery" said Jacques firmly
"Come on. There is nothing more for
us to do here. We may as, we'll CO."
The moment they had gone a secret
door in closet which connected Ca
/ lesse's office with the next office was
opened. A man crept out stealthily
We went down on the ground floor
| and made sure tina. the street door
was closed and locked; then he hur-
ried back to the private office on the
first floor.
He examined the letter box and
saw that the letter from John j.
Smith had been stolen.
"BigreW he muttered. "If | had
not happened to have had some work
to do here tonight it would be the end
of Calejse & Company. Well, /
warned Calesse about him. III finish
what | have to do, and then I'll keep
my appointment with Calesse."