The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1914-12-03

Inose occurrences. For, surely, Mad
a.he \ would scarcely guard the secra
OF mat drawer with poison!
Does any n besides your ellen,
nloW OF the existence Of these letters2'
l asked, at last.
think not" were Mr.. Horn
blower. smiling drily. They are not
o. a nature which my client would care
~ to any one. In fact,
nut. Lester, as you have doubtless sus-
p s : they are compromising letters.
we must get them Jack at any cost"
As q matter of fact" / pointed out,
there 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."
! nad nough of that. but the person
who wrote these letters lis dead
"Dead2" / repeated.
he was killed in a duel some months
ago" explained Mr.. Hornblower, grave
BY Monsieur x?" I asked quickly.
BY Monsieur *" said Mr.. Horn
blower. and sat regarding me, his lips
pursed, as an indication, perahps. that
ne would say no more.
But there was no necessity that he
should. I knew enough Of French law
and Of French habits of thought to rea-
ilze that if those letters ever came into
VI h.,L lit
would be entirely in his hands. His
Wlfe would be absolutely at his mercy.
And the thought flashed through my
nlnd that perhaps in some way he had
learned OF h existence OF the letters
and was trying desperately to get them.
Ifat thought was enough to swing the
balance in his wife's favor.
l am sure I said, that Mr.. Van
tine would instantly have consented to
u client opening the drawer and
taxing out the letters. And, as his ex-
ecutor, / also consent, for, whoever MAY
own the cabinet, the letters are the
property of Madame x. All this pro-
Vldlng, of course, that this should prove
to be the right cabinet. But l must warn
you, MIR. Hornblower, that 1 believe two
men nave already been killed trying to
open that drawer" and / told him, while
ne sat there staring In profound amaze
ment, of my theory in regard to the
death of Philip Vantine and of the UNI
KNOWN hrenchman. Il am Inclined to
tnlnk," concluded, that Vantine
Numbered upon the drawer while ex.
aiming the cabinet; but there is no
doubt hat the other man knew of the
drawer. and also, presumably, of its
contents.
Well" exclaimed my companion. q
nave listened to many astonishing sto-
RES IN my lie, but never one to equal
this. n you know nothing OF this
F~renchman?"
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-
raine-but that, no doubt, was a mere
coincidence"
That may be" I agreed, "but 1t is
scarcely a coincidence that 10th he and
your client We're after the contents of
that drawer"
- .v1,, -,
II mean that the mysterious rench
man may very possibly have been an
emissary of Monsieur X. Madame may
nave betrayed the secret to him in an
unguarded moment"
Mr.. H~ornblower rose abruptly. He
was evidently much disturbed.
You may be right" he agreed. at
will communicate with my client at
once. | take 1t she has your permission
10 see the cabinet; and, If it proves to
be the right one, hat she may open
the drawer and remove the letters.'
If she cares to take the risk" I as
sented.
Very well; I will call you as soon as
| have seen her" he said. I'm any event,
| hank you for your courtesy and he
left the office.
He must ave driven straight to her
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
ervou condition; especially since she
learned that some one else has tried to
open the drawer. When will it be con-
venient for you to go with us?"
Il can go at once" I said.
Then we will drive around for you.
We should be there in 10 or 20 min
utes."
Very we'll" I said, "Tll be ready. I
shall, of course. want to take a witness
with me-"
"That is quite proper" assented Mr..
Hornblower. I'VE can have no objec-
ton to tina 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 l called up the Vantine house..
Parks" I said, Il am bringing up
some people to look at that cabinet. 1t
might be just as we'll to get that cot
out Of the way and have all the lights
going"
THE lights are already going, sir" he
said.
Already going? What do you mean"
Mr.. Godfrey has been here for quite
a while, sir, fooling with that cabinet
thing"
He has" And then reflected that
l ought to have guessed his where
abouts. Tell him, Parks, that I am
bringing some people up to see the
cabinet, and that I should like him to
stay there and be a witness of the
proceedings"