The Seattle star. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1899-1947, 1916-04-24

ed. The contents OF his safe are
untouched, with tho exception OF a
sealed envelope. the records say.
which YOU placed In his care"
'is II possible7" the American ex-
claim ID. THAT and nothing eise7''
1T will be made good by the
line, Mr.. Morris" said Captain
Bonnet. mistaking the cause OF his
surprise.
Il am afraid that will be impos.
rihlc.
why what were the contents
Of tho PACKAGE"
1t contained. gentlemen. a let
ter which, being addressed TO an.
other person, |. OF course. have not
read, and n onefranc piece"
Then" said the captain. after
an astonished silence. Vernon
committed suicide while temporar-
lily insane"
NJ. Lcfevrc turned 10 Mr.. Nor.
ris. You have more TO tell us.
my dear sir. than that"
Yes. | will confess that there
IL a little story connected with this
one.fr enc piece. sad little ro-
nance. In fact"
Let us hear IT,"
Mr.. Morris settled himself com.
fortably In hts chair and III a
cigar. AS you may perhaps
know. he began. Il am engaged
In tho banking business In New
York.
MY affairs take mo abroad fire.
quently. especially TO Paris, whore
l have large interests. Tho firm
OF Lerour. Morris ri Gle, OF that
city. ~ my Paria house.
There was employed In their
office for many years an old man
by thh name Of Mercier. clerk.
with whom became we'll aequaint
ed, because. like myself. he was u
collector OF old coins.
When arrived In Paris a short
time ago. learned tho old man
was STICK. He had left word. how.
ever. that he would like 10 see me
! accordingly went TO his little
home. In Auteuii. and found him In
bed. desperately Ill. II seems he
had no family. except daughter,
named Esteile. who had conc TO
New York. whore she II now en-.
Gloyed as a maid.
He had been In the habit Of
sending her all bis surplus money:
his Illness. Doctors bills. ct cetera.
had srhaVat.a hta st...s.x .x.uux.
and he was In great fear that he
would not have enough TO bury
him decently. lie had sent for me
to suggest that I should buy his
small collection OF coins 10 provide
money for this purpose.
Il readily agreed. altho the coins
were of no great valre.
He asked. as an especial favor.
that Ne be permitted 20 withdraw
from hts collection one coin, a
franc piece Of tho period OF the
first Napoleon. The coin had no
particular value. naturally | assent.
ed and paid him for tho remainder
of his collection.
when tho transaction had been
completed he enclosed the one
franc piece In an envelope. to-
gether with . letter. and directed
the same to his daughter, Miss
Estelle Mercier. Hotel Rocham.
bean. New York City.
4 took the package and agreed
TO see that II was safely delivered.
When came on board I deposited
II with tho pnrser. together with
large package containing a diamond
brooch and some smaller articles
OF Jew lry which was taking home
as pre- scn,s for my wife and daugh-
ters."
The two packages were sepa.
rate!'
"yes."
What was the value OF the con.
tents OF the second PACKAGE
Mr. Morris smiled. 1t was
rather high" he said. Il valued
the brooch ard smaller presents at
thirty-fivc thousand. They are.
you tell me. quito safe7"
The captain went TO the safe.
NfSa@N fNs sao toos out u Ae1feu
package.
This IL yours. IA 4. mot Mr.
Morris 7" he asked.
Yes. that IL tho box containing
the 10 wells. IL looks TO me as tho
the tn ef had by mistake taken the
wrong package"
III Isn't likely" he said. This
quite evidently contains jeweiry.
Tho other package. from what you
tell m ?. was merely an envelope.
Yes "A plain brown paper en-.
velopeA IN which I had enclosed old
letter"
Who knew OF your Transaction
with Mercier,"
No one--exc.pt possibly the
physicl an who was attending him.
lie was young man with a point.
On red beard. ] did not learn his
name
"He was IN the room a, the
timer asked the project.
Yes. Old Mercier was elose IN
death.