Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1915-01-14

Boule cabinet which makes this I'M
Known wiling to DO murder for 1t?
in it,"
lie knows they are not in it now
you told him. Before that, he knew
nothing about the letters. If he had
known of them, he would nave had
them out before the cabinet was
shipped
What is it, then?" 1 demanded.
TINS fellow hide himself in Vantine's
house and kill two men? Did they
surprise him while he was working
over the cahinet?"
i see no reason to believe that he
was ever inside the Nantine house"
sand Godfrey quietly: that is, until you
took nm there yourself this afternoon"
But. look here, Godfrey.'I protested.
'hatS nonsense. He must have been
IN the house. or he couldn't have killed
Nantine and Drouet."
WHO said he killed them?"
~ he didn't kill them. who did,"
GODFREY took two or three contem-
piatlVe puffs, while l sat there staring
at him.
Well Godfrey answered.. at last.
now I'm going to romance a little. We
Will return to your fascinating friend.
Armand, as we may as Well cali him
Tor the present. lie is an e%xtraordi-
nary man"
No doubt of it," / agreed.
y can only repeat what / have said
peIofe-ln my opinion, he is the great
est criminal of modern times"
III he Is a criminal at all, he is UNI
doubtedly n great one" / conceded.
But 1t is hard for me to believe that
he is a criminal. He's the most cul-
tured man l ever met"
OF course he is. That's why he's so
dangerous. An ignorant criminal is
never dangerous-its the ignorant
criminals who fill the prisons. But
look out for the educated, ACCOMPLISHED
ones. 1t takes brains to be a great
CRIMINAL, Lester, II brains of a high
ORDER
But why should a man with brains
be a criminal?" l queried. If he can
earn an honest living, why should he
be diShoneSt?"
In the first place. most criminals are
CRIMINALS from choice, O from neces-
sity; and with a cultured man the in
centlve is usually the excitement of it.
Have o ever thought what an en-
cltlng game it is, Lester, to defy So
ciety, to break the law. to know that
the odds against are a thousand to
one, ana yet to come out triumphant?
fNiiu theL, 1 every great Grim
lnal is Il little insane"
No doubt of it," | agreed.
Just as every absolutely honest man
is a little insane" went on Godfrey
quickly. Just as every great reformer
and enthusiast is a little insane. The
sane men are the average ones, who
are fairly honest and yet tell white lies
on OCCASION. who Succumb to tempta-
ton now and then; who temporiZe and
cOmurnmiSe and trN tn lao1 ,o,,
Portable and quiet life. ] repeat, Lester.
that this fellow is a great criminal,
and that he finds life infinitely more
engrossing than either you or l. / hope
l shall meet him some time-not in 4
little skirrnish like this, but in an out
and-out battle. OF course I'd be routed,
horse. foot and dragoons-but it Ger
tainly would be Interestingly" and he
looked at me, his eyes glowing.
1T certainly would!" l agreed. Go
ahead with our romance
Here it is. This M. Armand is a
e criminal. and has, of course, va
r1ouS followers, upon whom he must
rely for the performance of certain de-
tails, since he can be in but one place
at a time. AFFECT and absolute ODE
dience is necessary to his success, and
ne colnpelS obedience in the only way
IN which it can be compelled among
criminals-by fear. For disobedience.
there is Blu one Observation-Disclosures.
And the manner of the death is so GER
tain and so mysterious as to be al
most supernatural. For deserters and
traitors are found to have died, newt
ably and invariably, from the effects of
an insignificant wound on the right
hand, just above the knuckles."
! was listening i~ntently now, as you
may well believe, for / began to see
whittier the romance was tending.
1t is by this secret" Godfrey CON
t1nued, that Armand preserves his
absolute supremacy. But occasionally
the temptation is too great, and one
of his men deserts. Armand sends this
cabinet to America. He knows that in
this case the temptation is very great
indeed; he fears treachery, and he ar
ranges in the cabinet a mechanism
which will infict death upon the trail
tor in precisely the same way il which
he himself inf1icts it--by means of a
poisoned stab in the right hand. I'M
agine the effect upon his gang. He is
nowhere near when the act of treach-
cry is performed, and. yet the traitor
dies instantly and surely! Why, it
was a tremendous idea! And it was
carried out with absolute genius"
But" | questioned, what act of
treachery was it that Armand feared?"
The opening Of the secret drawer"
Then you still believe in the pcis-
oned mechanism? %
Il certainly do. The tragedy of this
proves the truth Of the
theory"
Il don't see it." I said, heplessly.