Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1916-09-13

instead of working against us, as he
might otherwise have done"
Cotton nodded his understanding Of
the cleverness that had involved the
official so that he must work for in
stead of against. Bracken had been
the brains of the whole thing, work.
ing and plotting to see that there was
no possibility of the plan going wrong
in detail. Only one thing could have
made him take such risks. and Cotton
knew what that one thing was.
Father intended that the truth
should be known the day after his
death. He did everything he could
to protect us. He sent the notes, with
the bottle of wine. He knew that it
could be easily proved that he had
written them. The notes to the police
and the coroner were Philips idea.
Father sent the death notices. He
posed or the, photograph in the robes
he always wore at home. They SEEM
ed. to us. the things that would con-
vince any one that there had been no
foul play.
But the sudden following of your
secretary frightened us. l think my
aunt began to realize then just what
the thing she had done meant: the
coming of the police. of which she
had always had a horror. They had
prosecuted her continuously because
she refused to pay money to the pow
ers for protection. She thought that
| by making your secretary think that
, the man he had seen dead in the res
taurant was talking to him, and tell
| ing him the object of the strange
scene he had witnessed, that he would
convince you of the truth. But he
refused to believe. 1t was one time
Silver Sandals trickery failed to de-
ceive. The man who impersonated
my uncle was the waiter who had been
living at the home of my aunt. He
wore the disguise that the controls
she had had worn. And he also wore
the first silver frame my father made.
There was only one thing she could
do when your secretary came. She
had to force him to become an ally
until the thing was cleared. l hated
it," the girl said tensely. THE poor
waiter had been forced to help us,
and here was another" A shudder
shook her body. she tried to put
the morphia needle into his arm, but
he fought so that it went into his side
Then the fight she mad to make him
do as she willed! OF course, it SEEM
ed to be ethe crow that was talking to
him. and he tried to get it, soaring
1T half to death. Philip. grown i'm
patient with waiting, because he did
not dare come to the house. telephon-
ed that the district attorneys car must
be taken back.
I'VE had to hurry. We tried to get
the crow. 1t was then I heard my
aunt speak for the first time in my
life = that is, directly. She was half
! crazy when the bird that had been
| trained to perch on her arm and do
its other little tricks refused to come
to her. She commanded me to catch
it. 1 attempted it. but failed, only
once getting near enough to pull a
feather from its tail. We couldn't
wait; we didn't dare. Philip had told
us that your car had gone. and he
thought you might come with your
chauffeur and the police.
MY aunt ordered the waiter, who
was under her control, to take your
| secretary TO the cafe where he was
found, and then to return and bring
the clippings from the papers, and
catch the crow. But he failed. We
left the other things that were to be
found, hoping against hope that you
would understand Everything else
of my aunt's she had destroyed days
| before, because she never intended to
! come back. But the papers next day
frightened us more. The police had
called it murder! Everybody called
it murder! You were trying to pin
the crime on us! Thousands were
watching and searching! We could
only hide"
Exhaustion weakened her voice. She
stopped. Without speaking. Cotton
fetched her another glass of water
waiting patiently for her to finish Nor
did he speak as his hand took the
empty glass from her fingers.
You don't believe me-" she cried
You think -"
II believe you implicitly" he said
his tone quietly convincing. The story
she had told him was the true story
-as she believed it. But there was
the crux of the, whole thing. As she
believed it. The plans of years, work.
ed out with infinite care for detail
inquired to each last possibility, tested
so that they could not go awry, had
gone wrong in one detail-death had
not come as the old man had expect
ed. Some one had taken advantage
of the carefully laid plans Some one
had murdered him, killed him in cold
! blood; because every move that had
peen made was move to protect the
guilty and convict the innocent.
Of what value is the crow?" asked
! Cotton, for he knew that there Law
| the secret of the one loose screw.
He could feel her eyes still search
| ing his face. trying to peer under the
/ mask and behind the words of assur-
ance he had spoken. He knew that
she was thinking of the statement he
had made that her father had been
murdered.
"One million dollars" She answer
ed hesitantly almost TREMENDOUSLY, as
/ II new fear was coming into her
mind.
Explain that" Cotton spoke al
! most sharply. Here was the missing
link, and it was bigger than even the
blind man had expected. One mil
lion dollars! Incentive enough for
murder!
"Rameses holds the secret of nv
fathers fortune" she continued hast
! lily, for the tone of the blind man had
made her want to explain away the
rear that had been so evident in her
former statement. 81 have told YOU
that rather was strange man; that
ne lived in the dead centuries. He was
rich, for his father had been rich"
Cotton nodded understandinpIy
His fortune enabled him to At out
the expeditions that made him fam
our for his archaeological discoveries
at the age OF thirty-three.
Yes. He would have nothing to
do with the modern things of life. like
banks. Every cent of his money was
In rubies: the blood stones of the age
cycles. They were hidden only he
knew where. 1t was known that he
mad an immense quantity of Jewels
ana l have known of many attempts
at robbery. but none ever succeeded
My father said that his sister should
get them when he died, and she was
to leave them to me- You know 7