Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1914-02-14

killed? Did the woman, warned by
the fate OF the man. deliberately set
/ Yantine to open the drawer in order
that she might run no risk? Or was
she also ignorant of the mechanism
Above all. did she succeed in getting
away vita the contents OF the
| drawer?"
what was in the drawerT'
| "Ah, If we only knewi"
| PERHAPS the woman had nothing to
! do with IL. yantine himself told me
that he was going to make n careful
examination of the cabinet. No doubt
that il exactly what he was doing
when the woman's arrival interrupted
him. He might have let her out of the
house himself. and then, returning to
the cabinet. stumbled upon the secret
drawer after she had gone
Yes; that is quite possible too. But
there are objections, and rather
weighty ones. In the first place. If
the Frenchman got the drawer open.
who closed it?"
perhaps it closed itself when he let
20 of it."
"And closed again after vantine
opened
Yes"
ITS possible. We must remember
that the prisoners of those days were
very ingenious. But there is one thing
that isn't possible and that is that n
poison which, If it is administered as
we think il is, must be n liquid. could
remain in that cabinet fresh and ready
for use for more than 300 years. 1t
would have dried up centuries ago.
Nor would the mechanism stay in or
der so long. 1t must be both compli-
Gated and delicate. Therefore it would
have to be oiled and overhauled from
time to time. If it is worked by
sprlng-and I don't see how else it can
be worked-the spring would have to
be renewed and wound up"
'WelI?" I asked as he paused.
well, it is evident that the drawer
contains something more recent than
the love letters of Louis XIV. 1t must
have been put in working order quite
recently. But by whom and for what
purpose? That is the mystery we
have to solve, and it is a mighty pref
ty one. And here's another objection"
he added. THAT Frenchman knew
about the secret drawer, because, &C
cording to our theory, he opened it and
got killed. Why didn't he also know
about the poison?"
That was an objection, truly, and
the more 1 thought of it the more seri-
Gus it seemed.
1T may be- said Godfrey at last,
that D'Aurelle was going it alone
that he had broken with the gang
THE gang?"
'Of course there is gang. This
thing has taken careful planning and
concerted effort. And the leader of
the gang is genius, 1 wonder If you
understand how great genius? Think
He knows the secret of the drawer of
Nine. de Montespan's cabinet. But
above all, lie knows the secret of the
poison = the poison of the Medici!
Do you know what that means, Les
ter?"
What does it mean?'' I asked, for
Godfrey was getting ahead of me.
1T means he is q great criminal-a
really great criminal-one of the elect
from whom crime has no secrets. OBJ
serve. He alone knows the secret of
the poison. One of his men breaks
away from him and pays for his mu-
tiny with his life. He is the brain;
the others are merely the Instruments
Then you don't believe it was by
accident that cabinet was sent to Van
tine:"
BY accident? Not for an instant.
1t was part of plot-and n splendid
plotr'
Can you explain that to me too?"
1 queried 4 little ironically.
He smiled good naturedly at my
tone.
'Of course this is all mere romano
ing" he admitted. II am the first to
acknowledge that. l was merely fol-
lowing out our theory TO what seemed
its logical conclusion. But perhaps |
we are on the wrong track altogether. |
Perhaps D'Aurelle, or whatever his |
name is, just Numbered in like a moth |
into n candle flame. AS for the plot |
well, can only guess at it. But sup |
pose you and | had pulled off some big |
robbery
He stopped suddenly and his face |
went white and then red. Lester"
he cried. his voice shrill with fear. |
THE cabinet-it isn't guarded |
'Yes. it is 1 said AT least I
thought OF that"
And l told him of the ecautions 1
had taken to keep it safe. He heard
,s.rN, IS, Gs.~F