Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1915-08-04

LeEs
It was my turn to hesitate.
Mr.. Hornblower." said finally, "I
will be frank with you. There is a
certain mystery surrounding this cabi-
net which we have not been able to
solve. suppose you have read Of the
mysterious deaths Of Mr.. Vantine and
of an unknown Frenchman, both in
the same room at the Vantine house
and both apparently from the same
cause?"
"Do you mean that this cabinet is
connected with them in any way?" he
asked quickly.
"We believe so, though as yet we
have been able to prove absolutely
nothing. But we are guarding the
cabinet very closely. l should not OBJ
ject to your client seeing it, but could
not permit her to touch it-not, at
least, without knowing why she wish
ed to do so. You will remember that
you have told me nothing of why she
is interested in it."
Il am quite ready to tell you the
story, Mr.. Lester" he said. SIT Is only
fair that i should do so. After you
have heard it, if you agree, we will
take Nine. x. 80 see the cabinet. My
client is a member of a prominent
American family-a most prominent
family. Three years ago she married
French nObleman. You can perhaps
guess her name, but / should prefer
| that neither of us utter 1t.
''This nobleman has been both prodi-
| gal and unfaithful. He has scat
tered my clients fortune with both
hands. / am free to confess that l
consider her a fool not to have left
| him long ago. At last her trustees in
terfered, for her father had been wise
enough to place portion of his for
tune in trust. They paid her husbands
debts, placed him ON an allowance and
notified his creditors that his debts
would not be paid again"
had by this time. of course, guessed
the name of his client.
"The allowance is a princely One,"
Mr.. Hornblewer continued, "but it does
not suffice Monsieur x. No allowance
4
a thief. He has taken to selling the
: objects Of art with which his resi-
dences are filed and which are really
the property of my client, since they
were purchased with her money.
About two weeks ago my client re-
turned to Paris from a stay at her
chateau in Normandy to find that he
hn6 oil
Among other things which he had ia
ken was Boule cabinet, which had
been used by my client as her private
writing desk. The cabinet was a most
valuable one. But It is not its none
tary value which makes my client so
| anxious to recover it,"
He paused an instant and cleared his
throat
Monsieur x. had had the decency,"
! he went on. more slowly. ito, as he
thought, retain his wife's private pa
pers. He had caused the contents Of
the various drawers to be dumped out
upon a chair. But there was one
drawer of which he knew nothing-a
secret drawer. known only to my eli
ent. That drawer contained a packet
of letters which my client is most anx-
ious to regain. She has given me to
understand that their recovery is es-
sential to her peace of mind"
reflected a faithless husband has
no reason to complain If his wife re-
pays him in the same coin.
MY client went to work at once to
regain the cabinet" continued Mr..
Hornblower, plainly relieved that the
| thinnest ice had been crossed. 'She
found that it had been sold to Armand
& Son. fastening to their offices, she
learned that it had been resold by
them to Mr.. Vantine and sent forward
to him here. So she came over on the
first boat, ostensibly to visit her fami-
ly, but really to ask Mr.. Vantine's per-
mission to open the drawer and take
out the letters. His death interfered
with this. and in despair she came to
me. / need hardly add that no mem
Der of her family knows anything
about this matter, and it is especially
| important that her husband should
never even suspect it. On her behalf
/ apply to you as Mr.. Vantine's execu-
tor to restore these letters to their
owner"
sat for a moment turning this ex-
traordinary story over in my mind.
Surely Nine. X. would scarcely guard
the secret of that drawer with poison.
docs any one besides your client
know of the existence of these let
ters?" / asked at last.
81 think not" answered Mr.. Horn
blower, smiling dryly "They are not
of a nature which my client would
care to communicate to any one. We
must get them back at any cost"
"As matter of fact" pointed out,
''there are always at least two people
who know Of the existence Of every
letter-the person who writes it and
Il -