The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1917-09-13
AWAITED the opening of a door in


place where small things counted-a
strange room, a strange man its mas
ter; only the unusual happened here.
Besides that, beyond the door Of this,
the headquarters office of the United
Bankers Protective association, there
were strange sounds. They were i'm
polling and then deterrent; a shrill
cackle, more eerie than human, as of
some hunted animal in mortal terror
a voice calling distressfully into the
bleak stormy night, like that of vic
tim from the outer world being resist
ingly dragged over the threshold of
new and uncertain one.
To the inner circle of financial men
given to good comradeship in eXclu-
sive club circles, the mention of the
name of Resilius Marvel would bring
a tender glow to heart and brain. 1t
would suggest a quaint tale told so
evenly and entrancingly that the mem
DRY of the tranquil, musical tones
would be like the echo of golden beads
dropped into a crystal dish. In one
mood STEPPED in the ichors of Thalia,
of Calliope, of Euterpe, of Erato, in
the next following some sloping fancy
down a fairy trail of thought sweet
and refreshing as field of daisies
one of the Marvel reminiscent hours
would mean a transformation of lazy
rising rings of rich Havana smoke into
tilmy lace pictures formed of cobwebs
and starshine. His sayings were chaste
as a Tiffany gem, his mind a palace,
making men forget for the nonce that
he held the destinies of the great
banks as an egg shell in the palm of a
giant, lulling them with this NEGRO
NANCY of tone and professional expert
ness into the security OF a Vision
house.
l had not spoken since I entered the
rooms, for I saw that Resilius Marvel
was in one of his dark moods. So
well did l know him that l at once dis
cerned that he was struggling with
some great case where the dead blank
wall of NO Clue faced him grImly
He stood at the window looking out at
the rain-blurred lights OF d glowing
thoroughfare, just now remindful Of
some woeful Bagdad Out of that
world of shadows a lone bird beat its
wings against the window Into its
secret recesses Marvel seemed boring
his way through obscure labyrinthe,
seeking that which he must find. Fifty
framing the picture was a wall COW
cred with duplicates Of famous forged
checks, portraits Of the great counter
feiters, cabinet sections containing
odd trophies of his career. Here was
a stamped brick from Assyria four
thousand years old-"the Book of the
Dead"-one line of the hieroglyphics
of which had solved an international
mystery Next was a rude seal from
the Beloki Congo, wrested from the
possession of native chief who had
flooded the country with 'phoney"
government scrip until Resilius Mar
vel had found him. Next was an ivory
fan from Turkestan with a sangulnary
streak that was the blood of a prime
ess, a fragment from a dynamited
American steel pillar of Hindia that
could have told a raCy tale of a smooth
contractor And bulging scrap book,
clasped and locked like a bank code
ledger, containing his private person
al notes on the new generation of bank
criminals, modern in education as in
an appreciation of the value at the
graver's tool, the drag" the raised
check manipulation, the automobile as
assets to crime against obsolete police
methods.
Always there was an air of complete
stiffness in this inner room. At the
disturbing sound without Resilius Mar
vel turned-distracted, and therefore
annoyed His eye fell upon Lott, his
servitor, who, velyet-shod, nOiselessly
opened the door and closed it after him.
The man had face like one of those
you see on old Roman medals. an &C
quaintance with the moods and ways
of his master that enabled him to ques-
ton intelligently and to respond
through a look a hand movement,
mere expression of the lips. Lott was
of three generations who had given
their entire lives to the production OF
four famous statues-One at the GENE
terry of Genoa, three at the beautiful
Pere lie Chase at Paris. He was a
theorist as to the sense of smell, bold
ing that he could analyze a man by
seeming his favorite dish. At him now
in sharp silent challenge Marvel
looked
| know not what telepathic system
bridged the chasm of inquiry and re
Spouse. but at once Marvel straight
ened UP magically as if touched by a
al hA