Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-03-29


ment of all concerned. Am I not right?'
They agreed; and Rutherford began by
narrating the facts connected with the
nocturnal attack upon him. and ending
with the visit of Miss Arany, and hei
pretensions Of being the rightfu Miss
Ballantyne. Then he told of her ad
mission that she must go South at once
and he showed the two conflicting news
paper items about Helderman.
Ballantyne listened intently. and looked
grave but made no comment and asked
no questions, beyond requesting Billie 10
tell of her visit to the lawyers office
and It's later results. She told, also, of
Helderman's call upon her and his ef-
forts to secure her buckle. Rutherford
fancled that she still looked at him
somewhat defantly, as she told this
necessary information
"These two visits" began Craig,
thoughtfully, that Of Helderman to you
and Miss Arany to me, prove how
| desperately eager they are to get the
first buckle, and get 1t quickly. The fact
! also proves to me, what | am even now
| engaged in running down in another
way. that Helderman and Miss Arany
are in league. Whether they will remain
so is yet to be seen. Another thing It
proves, Is that they are taking immedl-
| ate steps to seize this property We
| must find out what steps, and prevent
| them"
They sat there silent for awhile. Billie
| looked pale and troubled, but seemed more
appealing to the ranking general than he
had ever seen her The confused sense
of loss for which she seemed to blame
herself, and the lively concern for her
father which she always showed, gave
her an indescrlbable but very evident air
of dependence usually lacking In her self
reliance.
Anyway. Miss Ballantyne," said
Craig, as IL in answer to her hopeless
mental questions: "thcy cannot claim
the property, as I still have the first
buckle Now II we only knew the rest
OF that inscription"
"Oh!" she exclaimed. and her face
frightened, "T have the inscription from
the second buckle"
She drew out the precious bit of paper
Leclere had handed her and brought Il
over to Craig. He spread II out upon the
table, with excited fingers, and the three
bent their heads together over it and
scanned 1t intently. Craig rapidly wrote
down the strange words of the first
buckle, that he knew by heart. and laid
that portion down by the second and
still more battling inscription:
OXB WI ESAF IPSE-DOT ULAP-
SHINE KHAN IMMIA.
THERE'S the whole of it, at last" he
exclaimed,
But what can it mean" Billie pom
dered aloud
THAT ipse was the sticier on the first
buckle. It's not a Latin word at all; it's
plain English. It's part of a word, and
dot is the rest. dot-ipse- ipse-dot-
dipse-DEPOSIT! That's our wordn'
"Oh, 1t is, 1t is! How perfectly splen-
did" exclaimed the girl, her eyes shin
ing
Rutherford felt under such encourage
ment that he could read the riddle OF the
Sphinx.
Now we have-BoX SAFE DE-
POSIT."
Craig wrote down the words in triumph,
The girl gazed at them, as If this half
solution were the greatest of wonders
How clever of you" she exclaimed.
Billie Ballantyne was in that wonderful
league with Mother Nature, of which all
daughters of Eve are a part. She was
Cause to the Effect the man was
achieving; and even though this particu-
lar man knew he was not displaying alb
normal brilliancy, he was not sorry to
have her think so. 1t inspired him to
,ne% heights.
Its not really such remarkable
cipher. It's Just the clever way in which
your uncle managed to keep the two
buckles apart"
While they talked. Mr.. Ballantyne had
been quietly studying the remainder of
the inscription.
Here's one word that won't give you
any difficulty" he said, pointing out the
Oriental looking khan.
"Oh, I see-bank- exclaimed the girl |
$50 it is" agreed Craig. Now we
have Box Z, In some bank somewhere
But where could 1t be? Ulapsinne-Ulap-
SHINE"
1T have been puzzlinG over that" said
Ballantyne; land believe it is 'penln-
sula.' "
1t was. They added it to the other
words, and had
BON SAFE DEPOSIT PENINSULA
BANK
That's the actual name of the bank.
I'm sure" said Craig; NOW the next
question is, Where is the bank?"
There can't be so many Peninsula |
Banks, because there aren't so many |
pennsulas." observed Billie, shrewdly.
"Right-oh!" agreed Rutherford. "'Im-
mia may be the name of the exact |
place. 1t ought to be easy enough to go |
over all our peninsulas, If we haven't |
forgotten all our geographically Jove!" |
His sudden exclamation was caused by
the sight of the two newspaper clippings
at his elbow.
''Helderman's going 10 Florida. Flor
ida is a peninsula" he cried.
Billie did not make a sound; she look
ed from one man to the other waiting
excited herself, even to try.
Mr., Ballantyne quietly drew over the
paper to him, and added the final word
MIAMI.
There 1t is, my child" he said with
pathetic dignity, "Your gold and dia-
your old daddy's good
name-are locked up I'm Safe Deposit Box
Number Z, in the Peninsula Bank, Miami,
Florida!"
The girl drew his head to her shoulder,
while the quick tears filled her eyes.
And Helderman is on his way TO Flor
ida now-and it's all my fault" she
Rutherford struggled up from his chair,
and pulled the telephone to him
What are you going to do?" asked
Billie.
'Im going to call up crowder and send
him, or have him send a police ofh-
cial-"
"PoliceT' she cried, springing between
him and the receiver. what can you be
of? Do you think, after my
father has lived all these years away
from his own country because he was
suspected OF crime he never committed
that / am going to let you spoil II all.
by giving him into the hands OF the
polies?"
The slender figure was drawn up to
It's full height. She spoke with positive
herceness. She faced Rutherford like a
lioness trying TO protect its young. She
had shared years OF her fathers exile |
and she realized the utter hopelessness
Of establishing his innocence. unless time
and consideration were secured for the