Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1916-08-29
CHAPTER VII
The PanllandIer

The PanhandIer
TO the blind man there were thou
sand voice inflexions which told him
thousand little things that the eyes
OF the seeing missed. In his brain
were catalogued hundreds of men by
their voices alone. His memory, train
ed wonderfully by the constant use
necessitated because of the lack of
eyes, never forgot voice nor the man
who used it. So Thornley, Colton's
blindness was an asset rather than a
handicap Faces may be disguised so
that the sharpest- will not recog-
nize them, but the vocal cords have
been attuned by nature to pitch that
cannot usually be radically changed
The problemist, with one hand on
the rusty iron rail of the brownstone
steps that led to the door of the old
house, waited for the district attor-
ney, who had greeted him from the
underslung machine. Another new
twist to the case that had already in
volved the coroner and a precinct
: captain.
The district attorney hurried across
the sidewalk. nodded cheerily to the
silent Shrimp, and took Colton's ex-
tended hand. IF you're exploring"
he smiled, I'VE might just as we'll eX-
plore together. Our PATHS lie in the
same direction, l think"
Silver Sandals?' queried the prob
lemist
The district attorney nodded, losing
sight of the fact. as most people did
that Cotton was blind. "A queer char
acter," he said. For more than a
quarter of a century she has escaped
the periodical crusades against for
tune-tellers and their ilk. Men have
| been sent to get false pretenses' evil
dence, and they've come back to re-
port the wonderful things she did
I'm going to see for myself, this
morning"
II think you've waited about six
hours too long" declared the blind
man, with quiet certainty
What do you mean?" In the
voice of the district attorney was the
infleXion Cotton had been awaiting.
The previous statement regarding the
exploring had been no more true
than Colton's own.
The problemist answered the ques-
ton simply: II mean that Silver San
dals has gone, taking with her the ex-
! planation of the dead man in the res
taurant of the Beaumonde."
How did you connect the 'two?'
The official was plainly chagrined.
Silver Sandals are not common
pedal coverings in New York; nor is
1t common nom de guerre."
That's equivocation!" The law
yer's training made the statement a
/ trifle snappish. When did you know
| that a clairvoyant in a section like
this was connected with a murder in
| one of the biggest Broadway hotels ?''
MY secretary visited this house a
short time after the bearded man was
discovered to be dead"
why, the police haven't connected
the two yeti"
Il am not a policeman. Cotton
was gently ironic.
No \
positively Then, frankly: Look
here. Cotton, why can't we work to-
gether? l know the police have
nettled you, and you're human enough
to resent it. But this case has all the
earmarks of the unusual That's why
I'm on the job myself. Things were
dull yesterday, and I happened to
come across some of the reports re-
garding Silver Sandals. When 1 heard
of this case l Immediately took a
chance of connecting the two. / un-
derstand and appreciate your abilities
and I've got sense enough to know
that my official position doesn't imply
that 1 know it all. What say?"
The frankness of the appeal touched
Cotton as nothing else in the world
would have done. Perhaps the district
attorney had been clever enough to
understand that but there was sim
cerity in his tone and words The
official had been keen enough to
know that the problemist was human:
that he did resent the supercilious
attitude of the professional investi.
gators of crime whose record was
based on the number of convictions
and not the number of correct solu.
tions they found. With the police
the arrest and conviction of the mar
they had picked up ended the case
and added to their prestige. With tn,
n q hAe e-lIU q -
was the great thing in the Grim,
puzzles he loved. He realized tn,
fairness of the district attorney
! proposition, and he met franknes
with frankness.
l I'll give you all the help I can,
i he promised, and there on the brown
4 stone steps their hands met in an oatl
of allegiance.
Now we'll go inside. Frankly
] the district attorney smiled apologet
cally-"I can't quite credit the dis
/ appearance of Silver Sandals. Fo
years she has been a sort of institu
ton. No one seemed to know wher
3 she came from. nor what her rea
| name was. The files at my office cove
her for years back"
Anything criminal ?"
t Nothing. She is merely a high
/ class clairvoyant. Deaf and dumb
/ with a wonderful crow that does al
= the talking for her. That seemed L
be merely a trick, but dozens of test
? have been made to see if the woman
5 really could hear or speak. A build
? ing was to be torn down across tn
street, and men were watching her L
see if the noise would bother her. /
5 collapsed one day. and she didn't eve
: hear the crash. She is deaf and dumt
3 all right, and a list of the persons VIII
] visit her would surprise you: member
of the four hundred. politicians, hard
3 headed bankers, Wall Street opera
tors, gamblers, and men-a -about-town
The superstitious streak is in al
of u.s." nodded Cotton. Even Ma
! poleon had his dream book"
! The district attorney took a ste
' toward the door. "Ready?" he asked
zone minute" Cotton turned t
3 The Fee. How clean is that suit O
l yours to-day, Shrimp" he wanted t
{ know.
3 The boys face went as red as hi
3 hair Honest. it's clean, Mister Col
\ ton," he protested. ''I only got a lit
r tie dirt off the car when helped Mix
e clean it yesterday" He turned to tn
S district attorney pleadingly. 1T
: clean, amt it?"