The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1914-12-29

The GOLD COUPLER
BY AUGUST WHITFIELD.
(Copx right.l

R~oLHdrhdDl5 eJaCulateo. ~
beats the timetable how you deduce
these things that none but myself am
aware of"
Dead easy" he replied. "You have
on a bright red necktie. That fact
proclaims to the world that your wife
has gone to the country. You general
ly yourself; but. as you have Q
clean shave and your face Is free from
gashes. | know that you have been to
fhe BARRIERS. That. and the fact that
you have been playing pool, Is evi-
oence that you have time to offer up
on the altar Of ennui."
But how do you know / have been
playing pool?" I asked In an awestruck
voice.
WELL" he replied, you have chalk
on the lapel and tail Of your coat. and
also between the thumb and ~forefinger
of your left hand. That can indicate
nothing but that you have been play
ing pool"
4 might have been playing bill
liards." l suggested.
Yes" he replied; but you don't
know how"
"Carlock." l commented. you're a
wonder. What is the case you are
working on?"
This" he replied, SIS the most per
picking case that has come to my no
tice since / recovered my sanity. The
time Pushem lost forty minutes on his
run, and I was assigned to the task Of
discovering and returning them, was o
kindergarten proposition to the psob-
lem that confronts me now"
He paused, and, filing his pipe with
a piece of oily waste, he lit It. Then,
barring his arm, he vaccinated himself
with an ivory point.
Il am doing this" he said, ito make
it difficult for me to catch anything.
I hate to work on an easy Job"
But what is this Ease that Is baS-
fling your" I asked.
"Watchem," he replied irritatedly,
"how often have / told you that you
should be more perspicuous Ia your
remarks? l am not baffied. I am
never bafied. l may be p~erplexed, but
not baf1ed. Perplexity is what gives
zest to my art.
"The only time l was bafied was
when l was run over and out to pieces
by the night express. Then my skill
in putting Jig-saw puzzles together
stood me in good stead. and ! was
quickly on my feet. What baffied me
was the fact that people thought me
a dead one when I was merely ran
down.
Il received this colpling-pin b o
letter this morning. Even with my
wonderful power Of perception, which
l have cultivated with the latest ap-
proved patterns of ~cultivators, ! might
have overlooked 1t had it not dropped
from the envelope and struck me on
the pedal extremity. Had 1t struck
me on the head. l would not have
thought much, but I instantly rea-
soned that there was something On
foot"
He opened a sub-cellarette, and
pouring out a glas Of benzine, be
tossed it of neatly. Then. striking a
l~ucifer, he ignited his breath, and his
face was illumined.
What is it7" / gasped
Just a light luncheon" he replied.
When he had finished his naphtha
lunch, he picked up the coupling-pin
and gazed at 1t ~fntently.
"Watchem." he asked. do you no
tice anything unusual about this
! coupling-pin%
1 gazed at it quizzicaily.
Nothing" I replied. except that Il
Is a coupling-pin." (
"Watchem," he said. Il canno4 see
that the constant grind Of domesticity
has sharpened your wits a~ppreciably.
| Cannot you see that it is made Of
gold?"
Wonderful" l calculated.
But why should any one send you
a gold coupling-pin? / asked.
Let us reason this thing out by
deduction" he replied.
Had the sender wished me harm.
he would have sent my q dynamite
bomb or a safety razor. The fact that
he sent me a coupling-pin can indicate
but one thing, and that is that he
wishes to couple up with me. You
don't have to be link's-eyed to detect
that. But the motive? We must
search that out. What do you make
| of it, Watchem?"
I'm afraid Ill have to give Il up"
| ventured.
Eyes, but / don't propose to-" he
replied. TITS not every day that ONE
one sends me a gold coupling-pin, and
propose to keep it"
did the letter give nj clue to the
| sender?" l asked.
"Ah, Watchem," he commented.
you are improving; l had forgotten
to read it"
He rescued the letter from the
waste basket, where he had thrown II.
and, shutting his eyes, he read 1t to
me.
1t ran as follows:
Mr.. Carlock Bjones. New York City,
N. Y:
Dear Mr.. Bjones-I am inciosing you a
sample of Oar new coupling-pin. which =
am DESTROYS of having adopted by the
Pole-to-Pole railway. Knowing of our
Connection with the railway in question.
and having read of your extraordinary
ability Of fastening things upon those who
are unwilling to have things fastened
upon them, I am sending you the tnclosed
| as a retainer 9Or rn1fr 1orvt0nG In having
your road adopt this pattern Of pin. The
draft pins are made OF the finest quality
OF Graft steel, while those which are IN
tended for exerting a pull on the pur-
chasing end are as you will notice. manu-
featured from 1s-karat Graft gold.
will be pleased to see you at my hunt
ing-lodge In the Arrowdondacks THIS
evening. when we can discuss details.
3. Z. GRAFT.
There is more In this" said Car
lock, than appears on the surface.
No man has ever had to offer me .
bride twice. Watchem, we must make
haste ere the promoter Of this useful
device changes his mind. No mai
can make me such an alluring propo-
sition and escape.
Watchem," he Kissed, before the
clocks strike the hour Of midnight !
shall have the signature OF 2, 2. Graft
to n Of my n~on-breakable contracts.
Come, we lose timei But waltz !
have an idea. Why should We con-
sumo time in going to the Arrowdonr
dacks when 1t is in my power to sum
mon our quarry to me by my mar
velous ~telepathic powersT
He raped sharply upon the table
two or three times. and then mufied
himself up In the raps. which made
him look like a mahatma doing the