The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1915-08-02

garments. But tnefe was no ta8 or
trademark on any of them to show
where they came from.
Failing to find the necessary clue
to the castaway's identity in this pre-
ly. dragging theetwo suitcases over to
the lighted corner and unlocking them
with the keys taken from the pocket
of the waistcoat
The first yielded nothing but cloth
ing. all new and evidently unwon.
The second held more clothing. a
mans toilet appliances, also new and
unused, but apparently no scrap of
writing or hint of a name. With q
little sigh of bafflement she took the
last tightly rolled bundle of clothing
from the suitcase. While she was lift
ing it a pistol fell out.
In times past, Jasper Grierson's
daughter had known weapons and
their faults and excellences. THAT
places him-a little" she unused. put.
ting the pistol aside after she had
glanced at it: Hes from the East;
he doesn't know gun from a piece
Of common hardware"
Further search in the tightly rolled
bundle was rewarded by the discovery
Of a typewriter book manuscript, I'M
signed. and with it an oblong packet
wrapped in brown paper and tied with
Irvine. She slipped the string and re-
moved the wrapping. The brick
shaped packet proved to be a thick
block of bank notes held together by
heavy rubber bands snapped over the
ends.
While the little ormulu clock on the
dressing case was whirring softly and
Ginning the hour she stared at the
money-block as II the sight of 1t had
fascinated hcr. Then she sprang up
and flew to the door. not to escape. but
to turn the key noiselessly in the lock.
Secure against interruption, she
pulled the rubber bands from the
packet. The block was built up in
layers. each layer banded with a paper
slip on which was printed in red the
name Of the certifying bank and the
amount. Bayou State Security. S..
O00." There we're twenty Of these lay.
ers in all. nineteen Of them unbroken.
But through the printed figures on the
twentieth pen-stroke had been drawn.
and underneath was written $4,000"
Quite coolly and methodically
Margery Grierson verified the banks
count as indicated by the paper
bands. There were one hundred thou
sand dollars. lacking the one thousand
taken from the broken packet. The
counting completed, she replaced the
rubber bands and the brown paper
wrapping. Then she repacked the suit
cases. arranging the contents as nearly
as might be just as she had found
them. locking the cases and returning
the keys to the waistcoat pocket from
which she had taken them.
When all was done. she tiptoed
across to the bed, with the brown pa
per packet under her arm. The sick
man stirred uneasily and began to
mutter again. She bent to catch the
words. and when she heard, the light
Of understanding leaped swiftly into
the dark eyes. For the mumbled
words were the echo Of fierce threat:
Sign 1t: sign it now. or. by God, I'll
shoot to kill"
The robbery of the Bayou State Sc.
curity bank was already an old story
when Mr.. Matthew Broffin, chief of
the New Orleans branch of a notable
detective agency. took over the case
Of the bank robbery a few days after
his return from Central America.
Since two members of his own staff
had fired and missed their mark In st.
Louis, there was a blunder to be re-
trieved.
After a week Of patient cropping,
Broftin was obliged to confess that the
problem of identification was too diff
cult to be solved on conventional lines.
1t presented no point of attack. With
neither name nor pictured face for
reference. inquiry was crippled at the
very outset. None Of the many board
ing and rcoming houses he visited had
lost ledger answering the verbal de-
scrlption OF the missing man. Very ~.
iuctantly. for bulldog tcnacity was tie
detectives ruii:S Characteristic, ~
was forced to the conclusion that the
only untried solu.icn lay in Teller
Johnson's unfortiilSd impression that
the chance meeting at his wicket was
not the first meeting between the rob
Der and the young woman with the
draft to be cashed
1t was the slenderest Of threads. and
Broftn realized sweatipgly how diff
cult it might be to follow. Assuming
that there had been previous meeting
or meetings, or rather the passing &C
quaintance which was all the young
woman's later betrayal of the man
made conceivable, would the writer of
the accusing letter be willing to add 20
her burden of responsibility by giving
the true name and standing of the man
whose real identity-if she knew it
she had been careful to conceal in the
unsigned note to Mr.. Galbraith? Brof.
fin read the note again-"a deck-hand,
whose name on the mates book is
John Wesley Gavitt." was the descrip-
ton she had given 1t might, or it
might not. be an equivocation; but the
longer Broffin dwelt upon 1t the more
he leaned toward the conclusion to