The Washington herald., 1915-02-21
TELlO, Garrick-you couldn't
have dropped in at a more
iCogrzht, loB.)

the cordial greeting of John Burke.
house detective at the Vanderveer Ho-
tel Why. what's the natter"
You've heard of the beautiful Sc
nora Castillo l suppose"
Well, / understood that she was
among the wealthy Mexican refugees
staying here. What about the Sc
nora"
You know" slowly replied Burke
she is a very beautiful woman"
(which is no crime" smiled Gar
rick.
Quite the contrary" smiled back
Burke. You see. it's this way: Late
Iy I've been noticing her and she
seems 20 have a lot of agnoyers-ad-
mrers. suppose they would call
themselves Now, yesterday one of
them who looks like a Mexican called
and sent his card up with something
written on il in Spanish. She saw
the man in the parlor-a Senior Mo-
relos, according to the pages recol-
lection of the name on the card. OF
course, l don't know what it was all
about. but they seemed TO be not on
unfriendly terms, although when my
attention was called to it, l could
imagine that the sonora was nervous
and just a bit frightened"
Has the fellow been around
again." asked Garrick.
Yes. Not half an hour ago he saun-
tered into the cafe. | happened to
catch sight OF him and watched him
for "A few moments he sat in
booth slipping a drink and porting over
piece of paper. He seemed TO be
i'll some perplexity. but finally he ap-
peared to make up his mind about
something He tore up the paper into
little pieces threw part of them into
the cuspidor and scattered the rest as
he walked out into the corridor"
Did you get the bits of paper"
asked Garrick quizzically.
Yes. and 1 have pasted them to-
gether as well as | can. They seem
to he a Geographic message in
cipher But l can't make anything
out of it"
Burke spread a sheet of paper out
on which he had as carefully fitted to-
gether the yellow pieces of the tele-
gram as if he had been playing with
jgsaw puzzle. GarriCk scanned the
reconstructed message keenly From
the date il had evidently been delay
cd in transmission, was dated at Ell
Paso. Tex, and read:
'Yeaome & Iesu AMI nrsem esdy
nucet seyu epnr seucnd wuevic volIit
snr''
II was unsigned. and there was no
clue to the sender, although it bore
the address of ''Morelos, the Mexican
American tea room. New York"
Garrick had quickly written the
message out again. reversed, and was
reading il slowly.
Rms tillov civeuw dncues rnpe uyes
teCun ydse mesrn Ina Usei & Emoaey."
There are ten e's.' he eliminated.
tapping them off quickly with a pencil.
Al first sight it looks as II e must
really stand for e 1t is always the
letter most commonly used and here
il is the most frequent"
Burke was waiting impatiently. 1T
will take time to puzzle the thing
out" he broke in at length.
Where is Senior Castillo?" asked Gar
rick.
Just the point" put in Burke. Il
believe that he remained in Mexico
and sent his wife up here for safety.
There have been rumors in the papers
that he has been captured by the ban
dts of his state. Naturally, you will
say. that was enough to have caused
a change in the sonora. But there is
something else going on here. l wish
to heaven l knew what il was.
They are wealthy. | suppose
Yes. l understand that Jose Cas-
tiIlo is one of the greatest haciendados
in the country
Perhaps it may be blackmail-or
she may be the victim OF get-rich-
quick gang"
Burke shook his head. 81 can't say"
he replied obviously. 81 wanted your
opinion. so ! have taken the time to
explain things to you. Now il you'll
come around with me to the Red Room
and look in. I'll show you the man"
Burk" led tn" way down the hall in
much tho manner of a hound eager for
Ih" right scent. From the shadow of
a curtain"d door he pointed out to Gar
rick a "oupi" seated at n table discuss
ing something earnestly in low tone.
Sonora Castillo was really very
beautiful woman and would have been
30 without the added attraction of the
latest Partisan creation which ac-
ccntuatcd rather than concealed her
exquisite form. From her hat. which
hroathcd of the Rue Dc la PaiX. to the
hCclS Of her dainty slippers she was a
charming creature. artificial. il was
true. as Were many of her country
women Of her class, hut with an at
irarIiveneSs because of the very arti-
ficiality. The man was dark Ced
oliVe-skinned fellow. tall. military in
bearing. straight as arrow. with a
little black imperial and a distinguish
ID shock of hushy. dark hair They
were striking couple.
Its evident" whispered Garrick
that he is an ardent admircr whatever
She may think of him.
Burke mOtioned to waiter who
was passing with a tray. \ moment
later h" rejoincd Garrick.
I'm going to give you an example of
the secret service I've built up here at
til" Vanderveer" he WHISPERED. with
just a trace of pride This is the first
time I've had a chance to try this on
our friend MorclOs. Always before he
was either alone or they sat where |
couldn't get at them. You see, | want
to find out what they are talking
about. So have given Charley his in
structionS. Now. watch.
Charley. tho waiter. lowered about
the table of the couple. putting settler
in the glasses. Strengthening things on
tho next table. quick with match or
a spoon when il was needed. doing cv-
erything most obsequious waiter
could do to earn tip-and overhear
snatches OF conversation.
70 a