The Monticellonian., 1916-11-02


 that he asked the woman detective to install a dictagraph beneath the table in the sunny little dining room just of the apartment of the locked door. This was easy of accomplishment dur ing the hour Of the afternoon stroll of the mistress of the house The wires of the dictagraph were run across the street and into the watch tower rooms of the special agent
 When the dinner hour approached that evening Billy Gard sat patiently with the headpiece of the dictagraph securely in place. The first sound that he caught from across the street was that of feet, supposedly those of the woman of the Titan hair, passing back and forth about the room, then an occasional snatch of song while she worked He gathered that she was arranging for the evening meal the servant having gone home hours before
 Ten minutes passed and then there came over the wire a sound that might have been a bit surprising to the observer of this ultra quiet house hold, the watcher at the entrance through which none had passed un seen since the day it was rented. had not the listener already developed d theory.
 Well. Margaret" said fullthroat- ed mans voiee, as transmitted by the dictagraph this is not so bad never dreamed that you had the house wifely instincts that would make 1t possible for you to arrange with your own hands the dainty dinners we are having. l am beginning to think that the man is lucky who cannot afford servants.
 And don't you know" said a wom- ans voice. "I never enjoyed anything more in my life. For almost the only time can remember I have a definite occupation have to provide our creature comforts haven't been so happy in years. really don't care how long they keep us cooped up"
 "I will confess said the man. that the novelty has worn off of the view into the courtyard But it might be worse. For a while they had me thinking quite regularly of striped suits and the lockstep which are part of a life even more confining than this. And here l have you. l am quite content to wait for the atmosphere to clear"
 But am very sure We are still be- ing watched, said the woman. "I al ways feel that am being followed when l go out.
 Very likely said the man. But no detective will pursue frutless quests indefinitely Even though they know you are here. they will ulti mately lose interest in surveillance that yields nothing We can afford to wait The time will come when We can steal away in safety"
 When it is all over,' she respond ed, T do wish that We could find a way to let those detectives know that you were here under their very noses all the time"
 Billy Gard, 1t may here be set down. was most anxious to learn how this had been possible. He had followed Margaret Berliner to the house when she had first come to see it. He had been notified immediately when she had rented 1t. From that moment he had watched every detail of her taking possession; had, with the aid of his men, seen everything that had gone into the house Yet Berliner had in stalled himself without his knowledge and had been living there all the time.
 Tt would have been impossible without Archie.s Berliner was saying. "A man in a position like mine needs. upon occasion, someone he can trust to do little things for him. We may quarrel with blood relatives all our lives, but they have the advantage of being safe to trust in time of trouble. It is a very small thing to send a man to rent agent for a key to inspect lodgings and to send him back with the key after they are inspected. But had not been able to trust Archie ab- solutely 1 would not have been able to get in here day ahead of you and | lulS snug lllle arrangement "OuIu not have been possible.
 It was because of what he here over heard that Special Agent Gard, assist ed by Coleman of the Paris office and the police of that city, considerably waited until Mrs. Berliner went shop ping the following day and were ad- mitted by the woman detective, who was at the time washing the accumu- lated dishes of the household. They so surrounded the locked door as to make escape impossible and then an nounced their presence. Gard told Berliner, through the locked door, of the situation that existed on the out side. He suggested that the easiest way was to unbolt the entrance, there by saving the necessity of breaking it down. Whereupon the customs broker walked out and surrendered. and very tedious fugitive case was brought to a successful conclusion.
 This One Limps.
 Children often puzzle over matter