, 1914-07-28

~ W.
quest. 'fhe case had been placed in
sinimopds hands. and It was he who
testified on hAiialf or the police. admit
ding candidIy Tint they were all at sea.
But he lad not Abandoned hope and
was still working on the case.
The end OF the hearing was that the
Jury brought in n verdict that Philip
VantiDe and Georges Drouet bod died
from fhel2Tects OF a poison admins
tered by Il person or persons unknown.
Godfrey Joined me at the door as !
WINS leaving.
II was glad to hear Simmonds con-
TESS TINT the police are up a tree" he
said. '.Of course Grady is trying to
sneak u Of 1t. I'll see that Sim
monds gets n square deal"
4we're all up a tree. aren't weY' l
said. .Since my theory about the
Boule cabinet exploded ! have given
up hope. BY the way I'm going to
turn the cabinet over to its owner to-
morrow"
seTo Its owner?" he repeated. his
eyes narrowing. Eyes. ] thought he'd
be around for It. though ] hardly
thought he'd come so soon. Who does
It happen to be. Lesterf"
"why." | said. a little impatiently.
..you know IS well as I do that 1t be-
longs to Armand & Son."
you've seer their representative.
them" he queried. with a little flush
of excitement.
"He came to see me yesterday. I'd
like you to meet him, Godfrey. He Is
Felix Armand. the SON OF the firm,
and one of the most finished gentle
men ! ever met"
'I'd like to meet him." said Godfrey,
smiling queerly. .Perhaps 1 shall,
some day. I hope SO. anyway. But
how did he explain the blunder. Les
ter?'
'Tn some way they shipped the
wrong cabinet to vantine. The right
one will get here on La Provence to-
morrow"
at is all most interesting" Godfrey
commented.
"Godfrey.' | added II felt yester-
day when | was talking with him that
perhaps he knew more about this AFFAIR
than he would admit. l could see that
he guessed in an instant who b own
er of the letters was. and what they
contained. Do you think I ought to
hold OH to the cabinet a while longerf
/ could invent some pretext for delay.
easily enough"
.Why. no; let him have his cabinet"
said Godfrey. with an alacrity that sur
prised me. ''If your theory about 1t
has been exploded. what's the use of
hanging on to it,"
al don't see any use in doing SO" l
admitted, "but | thought perhaps you
might want more time to examine It"
"I've examined 1t all I'm going to-"
Godfrey answered. and | told myself
that this was the first time ! had
ever known him TO admit himself de-
feated. perhaps I'll see you tomor-
row." he added. and we parted at the
corner
But j did not see him on the morrow.
/ was rather exnecting n call from him
during the mornlag, and when none
came / was certain 3 should find him
awaiting me when / arrived Mt the
Vantine house. in company with NJ.
Armand. But he was not there, and
when | asked for him Parks told me
that he had not seen hin since the day
before.
| confess That Godfrey's Indifference
to the fate of the cabinet surprised me
greatly. besides. / was hoping that he
would wish to meet the fascinating
Frenchman-more fascinating, II pos
sible. than he had been on Monday.
There had been less delay than he Ind
anticipated in getting the cabinet on
the boat and through the customs, and
1t was not yet 8 o'clock when we reach
ed the vantine house.
II haven't seen Mr.. Godfrey" Parks
repeated. but there's others here as 1t
fair breaks my heart to see"
He motioned toward the door of the
music room. and. stepping to 1t, | saw
that the inventory was already in prog
ress.
1.-THE cabinet is in the room across
the hail." / said to NJ. Armand, and led
the way through the anteroom into the
room beyond.
Parks switched on the lights for us.
n my companion gianceu WIN sur
prise at the heavy shutters covering
the windows.
"We put those up for a protection
l explained. I'VE had an idea that
some one would try to enter. In fact.
n evening we did find a wire con
Meeting with the burglar alarm cut.
and. later on, saw some n peering in
through the hole In hat shutter yon-
der"
You did, NJ. Armand queried quick
ly. Would you recognize the man. II
you We're to meet him agaiu?"
"oh, no; you see the hole Is quite
small. There was nothing visible ex-
cept a pair of eyes. Yet ! might know
them again. for | never before saw
such eyes so bright. so burning
~, t,t ..rar -, Ia. "a H. .-L