Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1914-11-18

as long as you can. III come in during
the day. if possible: in any event. MIR.
Godfrey and | will be there this e
ing. Cal me at the office, if you need
me FOR anything.
VERY good. sir said Parks again,
and l hung up.
Glanced through Godfrey's
account of the affair while /
ate my breakfast. and noted with
amusement the sly digs taken at Com
missioner Grady. Under the photo
graph of the unknown was the
legend:
MIR. NANTINE's MYSTERIOUS
CALLER.
(Grady Please Notice.)
And it was intimated h a when
Grady wanted any real information
about an especially puzzling case, he
had to go to the Record to get it.
This. however, was merely by the
way. for the story of the double
tragedy. fully Illustrated, was flung
2croSs many columns. and was plainly
considered the great news feature of
the day.
I glanced at two or three other papers
on my way downtown. All of them
featured the tragedy with a riot of
of pictures-pictures of d'Aurelle and
Wartime, of Grady Wery }arge). of
Simmonds. of Goldberger. of Freyling-
huisen. of the Nantine house. diagrams
rt the ante-room showing the position
in which the bodies We're found. am
atomical charts showing the exact ma
ture OF the wounds. pictures of the
noted prisoners of history with a high
ly colored list of their achievements
but. when it came to the story of the
tragedy itself. their accounts We're far
less detailed ana intimate than that in
the Record.
They were, indeed. for the most part,
n, ny.n e. Ns,s, ynr ~E 1zA~,
blood curdlinG suggestions, and myster-
ious hints of important information
confided to the reporters but withheld
from the public until the criminal had
been run To earth. That This would
soon be accomplished not & single paper
doubted, for had not Grady. the mighty
Grady, taken personal charge OF the
case? Qdere followed a glowing his
tory % Grady's career.)
1T was evident enough that all these
reporters q been compelled to go to
Grady for their Information. and I
could fancy them damning him between
their teeth as they penned these
p~anegyrics. / could also fancy their
city editors damning as they compared
these incol1erent imaginlngs with the
admirable and closely written story in
the Record. n L suspected that it was
the realization of the Records triumph
which had caused the descent of the
phalanX of reporters upon the Vantine
place.
l went Owe the whole affair with Mr..
Royce. as soon as he reached the office,
and spent the rest of the day arrang-
ing the papers relating to Vantine's
affairs n getting them ready to pro-
bate. Parks called me up once or twice
for instructions as to various details,
and Vantinc's nearest relative, n third
or fourth cousin. wired from some
whnra in fha N-nct fhof ho ,,.,c 81 4, ~ -, -
for New York at cnce. And then. to-
ward the middle of the afternoon, came
the cablegram from Paris hic | had
almost forgotten to expect:
Royce & Lester. New York.
Regret mistake in shipment exceed
ingly. Our representative will call to
explain.
Armand ct Fills"
So there was an end of the romance
Godfrey had woven and which I had
been almost ready to believe-the ro-
nance Of design. of a carefully laid
plot. and all that. 1t had been merely
accident, after all. And l smiled a lit
credulity. No doubt my own romance
OF a secret drawer and a poisoned
mechanism would prove equally fabu-
lous. In my over wrought state Of the
night before, it had seemed reasonable
enough: but here, in the cold light of
lay,, It seemed preposterous. How
Grady and Goldberger would have
Aughed ct It!
I put the whole thing impatiently
away from me. mi turned to other
work; but l found I could not conque
"a certain deep seated nervousness: SO
at last / locked my desk, told the boy
/ would not be back. and took a cab for
q long drive through the park. The
fresh air. the Smell of the trees, the
sight OF the children playing along the
paths, did me good, and l was able to
greet Godfrey with a smile when he
called for me at Z o'clock.
"Ive engaged a table at a little place
Ground the corner" he said. 1T II
managed by a friend OF mine. and ]
think you'll like It,"
I did. Indeed. the dinner was so good
that 1t demanded undivided attention
and nOt until the coffee was on the
table and the cigars lighted did WI
speak OF h business which ha(
brought us together.
Anything new?" / asked. as w.
pushed back our chairs.
mo. nothing OF any Importance. TIL,
man at the mOrgue has not been iden
titled. In the first place, the PariI
police have never taken his BertillOr
measurements"
h he's not a criminal?"
has been arrested
is the fact that he hasn't been rec
0gnixed here. Two million people prob
ably. saw his photograph in the paper,
this morning. Some OF them though
they knew him and went around Il
n morgue to g his body. but n0thini
came Of Il. The police have no repor
OF g such mar mtssinE."
ms = peculiar. isn't ~" 4 com
IFS vesy. peculiar. Il lean . Q