Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1914-12-03
The Mystery of
the Bou1e Cabinet
BURTON E. STEVENSON
Copyright, 1918. by Burton E. Stevenson.

ishment.
Are Q acting for Armand & son?'
I queried.
Not at all. I am acting for a lady
whom. for the present. we will call
Madame x"
The thought flashed through my mind
that Madame X and the mysterious
Frenchwoman might be one and the
same person.. Then 1 put aside the idea
as absurd. Serene Hornblower would
never accept such a client.
Mr.. Vantine did buy such a cabi-
net" | said.
And it is in Your possession?"
There is at his residence a Boule
but. only a few hours before his death,
Mr.. Vantine assured me hat it was
not the one he had purchased
You mean that a mistake had been
made in the shipment?"
That is what we supposed, and a
cablegram from Armand & Son has
since confirmed it,"
Mr.. Hornblower pondered this for q
moment.
Where is the cabinet which Mr.. Van
tine did buy?" he asked at last.
Il have no idea. Perhaps it Is still
in Paris But l am expecting a repre-
sentative of the Armands to call very
soon to straighten things out"
Again my companion fell silent, and
sat rubbing his chin absently.
1t is very strange" he said, finally.
III the cabinet was still at Paris, one
would think it would have been dis
covered before my client made inquiry
about it."
There are a good many things which
are strange about his whole matter
l supplemented.
tsyJo,1JI ", Io,a 49,. \
my client seeing this cabinet, Mr..
Lester2"
IT was my turn to hesitate.
Mr.. Hornblower,' l said finally. II
Will be frank with you. Their is a GER
tain mystery surrounding this cabinet
which we have not been able to solve.
L suppose you have read of the mysteri-
Gus deaths of Mr.. Vantine and of an
unknown Frenchman, both in the same
room at the Vantine house. and both
apparently from the same cause?"
He nodded.
do you mean that this cabinet is
connected with them in any way?" he
asked quickly.
We believe so; though as vet we
nave been able to prove absolutely
nothing. But we are guarding the cab-
met very closely. I should not object
to your client seeing it, but 1 could not
permit her to touch it-not, at least,
without knowing why she wished to do
So: You WlllTemember that you have
told me nothing of why she is interest
ed in it,"
story, Mr.. Lester" he said. 1T is only
fair that I should do so. After YOU
have heard it, il you agree. we will take
Madame X to see the cabinet"
Very Well l assented.
He settled back in his chair, and his
face became more grave,
M client he began, is a member
most prominent family. Three wears
ago, married a French noblemaa.
You can, perhaps. guess her name. but
l should prefer that neither of us ut
ter it,"
nodded my agreement.
This nobleman has been both prod
isal n unfaithful. He has scattered
my cllents fortune with both hands.
lie has Haunted his mistresses in her
face. He has even tried to conopel her
to receive one of them. I am free to
confess that l consider her a fool not
to have left him long ago. At last her
trustees interfered. for her father had
been wise enough to place a portion of
her fortune in trust. He paid her
usDand, DEBTS, placed him on an al
iowance. and notified his creditors that
MS debts would not be paid again"
I had by this time, of course. euessed
the name Of his client, since these
details had long been a matter of p1Iblic
notoriety, and, l need hardly say, list
ened to the story with a heightened
interest.
THE allowance is a princelv one "
Hornblower continued, but it does
not suffice Monsieur X. No allowance
would suffice him-the more money he
the more ways he would find Of
spending 1t. So he has become a thief
He has taken to selling the objects of
art with which his residences are filled
N Whlch are really the property of
my client. since they were
with her money. About two weeks ago
my client returned to Paris from a stay
at her chateau in Normandy to find
that he had almost denuded the town
mouse. Tapestries. pictures, sculp-
tures-everything had been sold.
Among other things which he had talk
was a Boule cabinet, which had been
by my cEent as her private writ
ing desk. The cabinet was a most yal1-
able one; but it is not it's monetary
value Which makes my client so anxious
to recover it,
He paused an instant and clearsd his
throat, and 1 realized that he was COM
ing to the really delicate part of he
story.
Monsieur x had had the d]ecency."
went on. more slowly, ito. as he
thought, retain his wife's private pa-
He had caused the contents OF
the various drawers to be DUMPED orr
upon a chair. But there was one draw
er of which he knew nothing-a secret
drawer, known only to my client. That
drawer contained a packet of letters
my client is most anxious to re-
gain. OF their nature. l will say moth
l~ng-indeed, l know very little about
them. for. after all, hat is none of nv
But she has given me to I'M
that their recovery is essen
to her peace of mind"
nodded again; there was really no
need that he should say more. Only, |
reflected. a faithless husband has no
reason to complain if his wife repays
him in the same coin!
My client went to work at once to
regain the cabinet" continued Mr.
plainly relieved that the
thinnest Ice had been crossed. she
that it had been sold to Armand
& Son. fastening to their offices h
learned that it has been resold bv them
to Mr.. Vantine n Sent forward to him
here. So she came over on the first
boat, ostensibly to visit her family. but
really to ask Mr.. Vantine's permission
open the drawer and take out the
His death interfered with this.
n vi -