Charlevoix county herald., 1915-09-18

81 have just made the discovery
that several articles are missing.
Some OF the presents have disap-
peared."
Moreaux shrugged his shoulders
and smiled.
: Probably Lorna has taken them
away herself" he suggested.
The older man looked relieved. Il
had not thought of that" he said.
"Your detective from the central
office is in there, isn't he?" the artist
inquired.
Eyes. oh, yes, he is there"
"And you have got two or three
around the house, haven't your"
Eyes. To be sure. Two"
\ EITHER of them in there now?"
"One of them. / gave instructions
with the central Office man all the
time. BY the way, he seems to be a
mighty nice sort of chap-that head
quarters man, l mean. Muchmore is
his name. You'll never in the world
take him for policeman"
There are a lot of mighty nice
chaps among the New York police
mon, Mr.. Delorme," the artist said
dryly. did you tell either of those
men of your discovery"
mo. Certainly not. I wished to
be quite sure before l did that"
Naturally. And neither of them
mentioned such a subject, suppose?"
"They are apparently entirely I'M
conscious of it,
$50, more than likely there is
perfectly natural explanation of it
somewhere about. If l were you
would say nothing about the discov-
cry for the present; not even to Lor-
ma. Go back to the guests and look
happy.
"Ah, here comes the bridegroom
with two of his friends. You hustle
back to the reception, Mr.. Delorme,
and I'll go inside with them. But,
mind, my advice is, not word to
anybody.
"Well, Mr.. Fitzgerald Beverly,
commonly called Jerry, l believe, you
look the happy bridegroom all right"
he exclaimed jovially, as the mGgnate
moved away and the other three ap-
preached.
II am happy, Mr.. Moreaux-hap-
pier than l had believed it possible to
he" replied Beverly, who then pre-
scented his two friends, Mr.. Thorn
as Gaffney and Ross MacGreggor;
both chums of his college days.
Come along inside with us, Mr..
MoreauX," he replied.
And Birge Moreaux followed them
into the room.
There were several persons there
viewing the magnificent display of
presents that the bride had received
from her relatives and friends from
all over the world. Also there were
the two detectives mentioned by Mr..
Delorme.
MoreauX, whose acquaintance was
wide and varied-his profession prob
ably accounted, in a large measure,
lOl lllelI -GlCDDCO Stolut lIOlll Ills lIlitS
companions and approached the de.
tective who had been detailed to the
function from police headquarters.
How do you do, Lieutenant
Muchmore?" he said, cordially extend.
ing his hand, but speaking never
theless in low tone.
Good evening, Mr.. MoreauX,"
was the hearty response. 81 am glad
that you came in. l particularly
wished to talk with some near friend
of the family. There is a mystery
floating in the air of this room, and
although have been here every min
ute of the time since the door was
opened to permit the guests to see
the brides presents, have not the
least idea what it is"
"a mystery?"
eyes"
"Tell me about it."
"a little while ago the bride came
into the room with two of her friends.
They passed around looking at things
and commenting upon them as women
will. l watched them, of course. /
saw the bride give a start, turn pale,
and for a second l thought she was
going to faint. But she didn't. In.
stead, she made the round of the
Show rapidly peering here and there
at things. Then she excused herself
to her companions and went out of
the room.
"They followed soon after that.
Five minutes later the old man en-
tered. He was alone. OF course you
must understand that there were 9th
err people here all the time"
81 understand" Moreaux replied.
go on, lieutenant"
"Well, he made a hasty circuit of
the room-and it was the third time
he has done it since the reception be-
gan. At precisely the same spot where
his daughter had so nearly tainted I
saw him bend suddenly forward, with
compressed lips, as if something had
startled him, too. Then he glanced