Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1914-05-21

The Mystery
of the +.
b0ute Cabinet
BY BURTON E. STEVENSON
Copyright, 1913, by Burton E.
Stevenson.
[CHAPTER XV-CoNTINuEpl

~AAP
ping his words IA little now and then.
has to do with the theft of the ia
nous Michaelovitch diamonds. You
may perhaps remember the case"
l remembered it. certainly. for the
robbery had been conceived and car
ried out with such hriliancy and dar-
ing that it's details had ut once arrest
ed my attention-to say nothing Of the
fact that the diamonds. which formed
the celebrated collection belonging to
the Grand Duke Michael of Russia,
sojourning in Paris because unappre-
ciated in his native land and also be-
cause of the supreme attraction Of the
French capital to one Of his tempera-
ment-were valued at something like
100000 francs.
"That theft" continued NJ. Pigot,
was accomplished in a manner at
one so bold and so unique that we
were certain it could be the work of
but a single mana rascal named Gro
chard, who calls himself also The In
v%incible'-a rascal who has given us
very great trouble, but whom we have
never been able to convict. In this
case we had against him no direct evil
dence: we subjected him to an inter-
rogation and found that he had taken
care to provide a perfect alibi: so we
were compelled to release him. We
kept Crochard under constant surveil-
lance. We searched his rooms not
once, but many times.
Gle knew thoroughly what we were
doing, for what we were searching.
dHe knew also that nowhere in Europe
would he dare to attempt to sell a sin
gle one Of those jewels. We suspected
that he void attempt to bring them to
this country, and we warned your de-
partment of customs. For we knew
that here he could sell all but the very
largest not only almost without dan
ger. but at a price far greater than he
could obtain for them in Europe. We
closed every avenue to him. as we
th%ought-and then. all at once. he dis
appeared.
"For two weeks we heard nothing.
then anne the story of this man Drou-
ct. killed by a stab on the hand. At
once we recognized the work of Gro
chard. for he alone of living men pos
sesses the secret Of the poison Of the
Medici. 1t is a fearful secret. which.
in his whole life he had used but once.
and that upon a mar who had betray-
ed him."
M. Pigot paused and passed his hand
across his forehead.
eve were at a loss to understand
Orchards connection with Drouet,"
M. Pigot continued. "Drouet. while
I boulevards. vas not a criminal. Then
came the death of that creature. Mo-
rel. in an effort to gain possession of
this cabinet. and we began to under
stand. We made inquiries concerning
the cabinet. We learned its history.
and the secret of it's construction. and
we arrived at a certain conclusion. 1t
was to ascertain if that conclusion is
correct that I came to America"
"What is the conclusionT" queried
Grady. who had listened to all this
with a manifest impotence in strong
contrast to my own absorbed interest.
"Our theory" replied M. Pigot. with
out the slightest acceleration of speech.
lis that the Mirhaelovitch diamonds
are concealed in this cabinet. Every
thing points 10 it. and we shall soon
see."
20 h0 cn11., 1o Il ,nr f,,np, his pNoly-
ct a steel gauntlet. ~marvelously like
the n Godfrey had used. and slip
ped it over his right hand.
when one attempts to fathom the
secrets of the invincible one" he said
with a smile. lone must go armored.
their lives the penalty Of their rash
ness"
'"Three men," repeated Grady. won
deringly.
Three" and Pigot checked them
off upon his fingers. First the man
( who gave his name as D'Aurelle, but
who was really a blackmailer named
Drouet: second. NJ. Vantine. the con
noisseur, and third. the creature Morel.
OF these the only nj that really mat.
tiers is M. Vantine. His death was
: most unfortunate. and l am sure that
TCrochard regrets it exceedingly"
zone moment, monsieur" 1 said
bursting in. unable to remain longer
silent. This is all so wonderful-sc
thrilling-will you not tell us more!
For what were these three men search.
ing-for the jewels?"
Monsieur is as familiar with the
Facts as l." he answered in a sarcastic
tone. He knows that Drouet was
killed while searching for a packet of
letters which would have compromis-
ed most seriously a great lady. He
knows that M. Vantine was killed
while e%ndeavoring to open the drawer
after its secret had been revealed to
him by the maid Of that same great
lady. who was hoping to get a reward
for them. Morel met death directly
lat the hands of Crochard because he