The Washington times., 1915-11-28

"Ahl" Detective s. Holmes turned
from the window. crumpling tho little
white note in his hands. II we know
the guilty man. the rest is easy. Now
let us see what Henry Closby Is doing
at this moment" and he gave the
crank Of the sleuthosrsph a vigorous
turning. In which cog wheels ciank cd
| and ratchets ratified.
Casing into that marvellous machine
in pushing. crowdinG turns. the mayor
and the councilmen saw a kaleido-
scopic maze OF twirling coiors, an 4 as
they stepped back. rtupihsd, the great
looked in. ana whirled in vast excite
ment.
Henry Closby." he declared. lis at
this moment digging a hole in his
back yard! Gentlemen. will someone
/ pleas esee n he is?"
The room was vacated In an instant.
except for s. Holmes and Scotland
Yard. and the three Warden ladies;
and they laughed until the tears
streamed down their cheeks.
I In the meantime, the mayor and the
official innkeeper and the three coun-
cilmen were tearing across the street
, and down the alley, and through the
brick yard to Henry Closby's back
fence. Five whiskersd faces peersi
! over the fence. and hve pair OF eyes
widened with astonishment. Henry
I Closby was digging a hole!
In the evening. as soon as II was
| properly dark. Blackie mace him a
mask out OF the blue cambric. went
back through the brickyard. climbed
up on Closby's high board fence. and
sat there smoking through hole in
his mask. absolutely motionIess other
! wise. for solid hour. while the popu-
1 lace Quiveringly watched.
4 BlaCkie's actions were so openly
| mysterious that Mayor Sawberry him
| self came to Wallihgford In protest
| on Wednesday morning.
Your man Holmes is mighty care
| less about his disguises," he complain
ed. after having duly introduced him
self Henry Closby's bound to know
who he is and what he's handing
| around for"
Exactly" declared wailingford. "My
assistants actions may seem strange
to you and to Spanglerville, no doubt" :"
We'll. to tell you the truth" admitted
the mayor. they do. Why. not above
twrnty minutes ago. he stopped out In
me middle Of the square. and give some
| thing wrapped In red tissue paper to all
the children in town and whispered to
them to run home and hide It. I sup
pose you know what II was"
| Concea!ing his concern and chaGrin MS
much as possible. Wallingtord said POM
pous'y; y do not. Mr.. Mayor. I leave
| those details entirely to my assistant"
| 1t was square OF limourxer cheese,
| about the size Of a narhle!' exploded
the mayor. whose chest had been un-
comfortably expanded by the weight Of
,his Information. Now Just maybe
there ts some sense behind that, but 10
| us IL looks crazy"
| 1T Is" assented Wallingford. There
IS no one on our force who can play
crazy so well as my assistant. That's
why they sent him with me to SPAN
! glarvile.''
but what good does It do" per.
sisted the mayor.
| Look at this letter" insisted Walling-
! ford. calmly
He. handed Mayor sawberry a letter
bearing the business card OF y. +.
! Tn'u-. and addressed to Henry Closby.
,noro me mayor no opened that letter, with no
an advertisement addressed TO himself.
! lie read as follows
NV dear MIR Closby: take pleasure
IN calling your attention. TO the fact
, that your royalties are steadily Increas-
inS, being $?.225. 10 for this month, an IN
crease OF nearly $50 over last month.
ana or over $50 above the month pre-
Viohs. by the way, ! think YOU had bet
ter "end me sample Of the SpanXler-
NIic city water for analysis
The mayor laid down that letter on
INC table before him. and viewed Il
W., %,.h huising eyes, He's been using the
CITY water he Duffed.
Exactly.' agreed Wa,lingford, in
sprcting the absorbed mayor with scant
liking. Your water Possesses some
delicate property which makes II highly
az " <his NloSDy. IN u secret DrOC-
ess OF art manufacture. This letter
shows Just how valuable"
Inc new letter was fror, a New York
DahK. and the mayor opened II with
nhsers which trembled from indigna-
My dear Mr.. Closby." he read. AS
per your request. we inclose herewi it'll an
lteinized statement OF the amounts de-
agent. Mr.. Tuttle. We trust that by
compar ing this with your duplicate de-
posit 81 IDS. you will be able to locate
the slight discrepancy between your es-
tImated balance and ours"
With.n. on long folded slip. and COM
pIeu py an audlnS machine. was a
statement OF steadily growIng monthly
uep"sits, extending back over three
years. and totalnG to over forty thou
SAND do!lars. mostly invested in bonus,
neg is putting II mildly.
ana we trusted that man he de-
G,arru IN sorrowful anser. What does
| he manufacturer
| lmpressNely, Wallingford produced
from behind the bureau, the Illuminated
| checker-Ioard, and placed Il before the
mayor. BY it's side he set an ebony
Don. Its lid and sides apparently inlaid
| with glass. In elaborate Louis Quinze
decorations.
The mayors sorrowful indignation in
| creased. And he never showed these
things to spanglerville! he complained
| bitterly.
Never once" agreed Wallingford
| "Whv. these things could have been
made the city industry. and a great at
| traction at your Saturday festivals. All
your unemployed people could have be-
come artists. and the city council grown
rich from their well-paid labor ON this
beautiful Glazed Inlay"
/ "Glnzed Inlay" repeated the mayor.
( "ls that what he called it?' and he
once more inspected curiously the box
| and the checkerboard. "That man has
held back the progress o. his town. he
cc included with woeful grief that such
things could be. "I reckon the city
council will TX him! They're in session
now. I'll take these things right over
to thom' BY the way. you're not going
To charge ANYTHING for the loan OF
them. are you?'
certainly not" wallingford assured
him.
'vou SOC. Mr.. Mavor." he reairnedly
explained. "It you attempt to tax Mr..
CiNslv he rHn move awav from Span
plerville The only thing tho city can
do is to force Mr.. Closbv to sell his
notent secret processes and good viii
at n fair figure" and he looked at his
watch.
and one Of them looks at his watch. six
others immediately do likewise. Mr.
cawberrv extra actcd his own t'meniecs
from somewhere beneath his whiskArs
glanced at 1t hastily and was startled
'I must hurry ri"ht over to the coun'
ci, meeting" he observed