The Lexington intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1901-1949, 1914-12-18
THE MILLION DOLLAR MYSTERY-PART II

Spider Beggs gasped & was 50
unexpected but az the same time al
most i%nstinctivey he plunged head
long through the window, and the bull
let which followed shipped a lock Of
his hair. He threw himself on the
veranda and scurried across the lawn,
zigzag fashion. But no more bullets
followed.
Jones turned on the lights and in
vestigated the room, but he could not
fnd anything disturbed, and naturally
came to the conclusion that the in
truder had been interrupted before he
had begun his work. He turned off
the lights and sat up the major part
Of the night. Nothing more happened
Florence came down, but he sent her
back to bed, explaining that some one
had attempted to enter the house and
he had taken a shot at him.
Spider" Beggs had a letter to write.
He was In high feather. He had
tackled a difficult job and had come
away without a scratch. But he had
the misfortune to write his letter to
the secret service officials In a hotel
often freQuented by Norton. And so
jim, on finishing his own letter, blotted
it and casually glanced at the blotter.
A single word caught his eye. Being
an alert newspaper man, always on the
hunt for stories, he examined the blot
ter with care. II was an easy matter
for him to read writing backward,
having fooled away many IN hour In
the composing rooms. The word which
had awakened the reportorial sense
in him was counterfeit" He held
the blotter toward the mirror and
read enough to satisfy himself that
the Black Hundred had become active
once more. And this was one Of the
best ideas they had yet conceived.
Hargreave had always been some
thing Of a mystery to his %neighbors.
Where he had lived in other days was
unknown; neither had any n the re-
hottest idea from what source his
riches had been obtained. And moth
ing was known of Jones or the daugh-
ter. II was a very shrewd method
of clearing every one out Of the house
and leaving it to be examined at leis.
ure. And he had fallen upon this
! thing: he, Norton, all because his
, tailor had written him a sharp note
, about his bin and he had been pro
yokpd to reply i'm kind Counterfeit
money. There was quite a furry these
days over certain issues Of spurious
. pauer. II was so good that only eN
I pcrts could detect it. There were two
! plates. one for a ten and another for
twenty. For a while he was pulled be
tween duty and love. Wen, it woulC
only add another interesting chapte
e to the general story when he publishe,
3 it. He started ont to Riverdale to &C
+ quaint Jones with the discovery.
i "Humph," said Jones; not a ba,
idea this So that's what the snea'
was doing here last night. I've beel
s wondering and wondering Let's hay
r a look.
5 He went through the books and a
e length cant across the three volume,
These held a thousand in exeellen
e counterfeit,
Mighty good work that. Wha
n are you going TO do?" asked the r,
e porter.
e Jones rubbed his chin reRectiyely
e How long may a ]couuterfeiter b
n Int up?"
I Anywhere from ten to twent
years"
That will serve. My boy, this tim.
wen 20 and take Mr. Black Hun
drcd right in his cubby hole.
You know where II is?"
Every nook and corner OF it. Nov
you 90 at ono to the chief OF the loca
branch Of the secret service and pu
the matter to him frankly. |, Flor
ence, Susan, and the rest Of us mus
be arrested. The wretches must be
lieye that the house is empty. TheyI
rove about fruitlessly and will return
10 their den to report the success o
the coup. All the while YOU an
some detectives will be in hiding NJ
stairs, dictagraph and all that. Whel
the time comes you will follow. Thi
win not reach the heads, perhaps. bu
it will demoralize the organization il
such a way as to make il helpless 70
several months to come. There is
tunnel from the stables to this house.
What, a tunnel?"
Yes, Mr.. Hargreave had it bull
several years ago. don't know wha
his idea was; possibly he anticipate,
an event like this. You and your mel
will find entrance by this method
It can be done without exciting tn
suspicious of the watchers"
Looks as II my yarn wasn't goinl
to be delayed so long after all. Jones
d you ought to have been in the score
service yourself" admiringly,
Jones smiled and shrugged. II an
( perfectly satisfied with my lot-o
would be il the Black Hundred coul,