Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1916-09-07
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!: $ live
!: Sandals
A Detective Story of Mys-
terry, Love and Adventure.
By Clinton H. Stagg
Copyright. w. ]. Watt & Co..
international News Service.

A hunted look came lO' the eyes Vi
the manager as he opened the door OF
his office. The half dozen of the news
paper men hurried toward them; the
loungers stared; the buzz of converse
ton came to their ears. Carl turned
the reporters away with snapped
oath, and led his companions to a
side entrance of the hotel. nod to
| a doorman protected their rear, and
| they walked down the court beside
| the hotel where Carl fitted a key in
the lock of a door and entered. When
he had closed it behind them he
| breathed a great sigh of relief.
Worse than leeches," commented
Cotton.
Damn sight" choked the nerve
racked manager. This way!"
They were in a small diningroom,
and Cotton stumbled over a chair.
'I beg your pardon" the district
attorney said contritely, and with one
hand on the blind mans arm he led
him to the small elevator in the corner
cleverly shielded by a screen. The
elevator door slid closed behind them,
and the car assembled noiselessly.
Even before it stopped they could
hear the sounds of the two men in
side the private suite, and when Carl
sprang open the door, he shouted a
wrathful exclamation. The rooms had
ture had been pulled out, drawers
overturned, and the carpet had been
ripped from the floor. Captain Nc
Mann, red-faced, in his shirt-sleeves,
with perspiration beading his red face,
stood in the center of the room. The
square jawed detective crawled from
under a bed, swearing softly.
Thornley, Cotton stepped from the
elevator. His thin cane located an
Sf0nnnH
inch or so from the overturned table.
Thorough, at least" he observed,
and his delicate nostrils quivered as he
shifted the close air of the tight-shut
rooms. His finely chiseled lips wore
the faintest of smiles as he realized
the lengths the captain had gone when
the blind man had telephoned his
boast that he would find something"
Nothing here!" The captain spoke
as though he would stake his life,
reputation. and honor on it. Never
has been anything here!" he growled.
"No9" The short negative was al
most drawl The problemist offered
his cigaret case all around, and took
one of the rolls. Lucky you've got
duty, captain" he said. LAS soon as
l light this cigaret the clinging smell
of Egyptian incense in the rooms will
be destroyed"
Whats that?" The captain shifted
the air with loud nasal gulps.
Your sense of smell is not so keen
as mine. captain" The match touch
ed the cigarette end. You are handi-
capped with keen eyes"
"Whered the incense come from ?"
demanded Carl, with the snappishness
the presence of the police always
seemed to arouse.
The man who was killed. There
was just a faint trace of it that I
detected when 1 touched him at the
table. 1t was much stronger in the
house of the clairvoyant. You SMELL
ed 1t there, attorney"
The official nodded THAT estab-
fishes the fact that he was here"
Incense amt as rare as all that"
declared the captain. Lots of people
burn it in their houses"
True" nodded the blind man. "I
said the clinging smell of incense. Any
one who has burned it knows that the
odor does not hold. 1t is only in the
aromatic smoke, and will not stay on
clothes nor room more than a few
minutes. This is an incense odor:
something that no common perfume
has"
You are trying to prove that the
man lived here before he was murder
edy' The captain was sarcastic.
No. He merely came here to be
murdered" The blind man turned to
the square -jawed detective. "WiIl Won
set that table upright" he asked. His
voice was sharp. the hectic flush was
again on his cheeks The detective
jumped to obey without even think
ing to look for orders from his cap
tain
Thank you" Cotton rested the
slim stick against chair. Slowly his
hnger tips moved over the polished
top of the table. A forearm's length
from the edge they lightly brushed
the wood. An inch they moved slow
ly, two inches. He had examined a
toot slowly, painstakingly. The
watching men became nervous as the
minutes passed with no sound, no
movement but the slowly sliding fing-
ers. Suddenly the expression on the
blind mans face changed. The fingers
rested, then moved so slowly that
the eyes could hardly see them move.
He looked up. "One thing you
missed, captain" he said.
McMann's movement was a signal
for the others. They crowded around
the table, staring down where his fng-
ers had stopped. But there was moth
ing. absolutely nothing, but the un-
marred polish of the top.
Keen eyes are not of much use
there, are they?"
Nothing there, that's why!" snap
ped the captain.
"A whole story, written out in Eng
lish words" Colton's fingers moved
again. IF you have a very powerful
glass you'll see the slight, almost in
visible, indentations made by a heavy
stylus that wrote a sentence. Here
are the words, they may be of use:
mo human hand can unlock it. From
out the dead dynasties.' There the
writing stopped.
Bunk" growled the captain again.
Bunk" he repeated.
ITO any one who doesn't know the
capabilities of the blind, yes. But
can read Braille letters through a
dozen thick handkerchiefs. Get a
microscope, and you'll see the rough
indentations."
But what's it mean? There amt
nothin' to unlock"
Seems to me there's quite bit to
unlock" declared the blind man.
81 should saw no ~