The Carlisle independent., 1917-10-04

United Bankers Protective as- soGa:ion, had gone to Rio Janeiro, Bra zH. on secret and important mission. I smiled to myself. It was true that ffr several days the secretary of the association had attended to the duties of the office. It was also true that Nrvel's bachelor quarters uptown were closed and the shades drawn. He WAS no longer present at his accus- toned haunts. I, his favored friend. had not seen him since the Tuesday pnevious. For all that, I doubted if this secret agent and protector of the cfty's banks was one and identical 7sh the Resilius Marvel whose minor office force supposed him to be thou ssmd miles distant
 The more I revived the last occasion upon which l had seen him, the more txTtain was I that my informant was mistaken, and some one else double crossed" I applied this phrase at the time with casual glibness. I little til events progressed. Upon the eve ming referred to had strolled over to Marvel's room for a quiet smoke and et,at. to find him packing a grip.
 Rush call" he announced briskly. "ks a brief journey, consultation and small fortune. this time"
 expressed my regret at losing his company. repressed my intense cu- riosity. He never wasted words to no rvrrpose, never made untimely dis closures. When he got ready, or the minute was right, or time developed the circumstances, I would be duly appraised, knew.
 ~Sit down." he directed, leading me into a little den of the main apart ment. T have something to tell you" and he pointed to sheet of tissue pa- per spread across a stand.
 noted nondescript assembiage of some matches. what suggested shoe scrapings, little heap of hard black cinders, jagged piece of paraffine paper and pile of crisp brittle ashes.
 ''In the first place" narrated Marvel, a letter was slipped through the door slot into my metal mail box yesterday evening. and am unable to determine it's contents. In plain words, missive intended for me was destroyed. Some one knew it was coming to me, or had arrived, and slid lighted matches through the slot until the letter was burned up."
 Just after noon today" resumed Marvel, T had a visitor. He presented a card which announced him to be Senor Marco Valdez, a business man of Rio Janeiro, Brazil. He did not pre- possess me favorably from the start. In fact he had not been with me more than two minutes before I traced an ulterior design in his mission and straightway lent myself to his leading He had baited his trap with five thou sand dollars. and to his way of think ing fell into it body and heels. There was family trouble at Rio. serious &ouble with the various branches of the Valdez family, rich as 1t was, pow erful as 1t always had been. Bankers, cattlemen, exporters, their family in- tBrests were in peril from circum- stance of which I would be apprised when I reached Rio-with sealed in- stzWctions. mind you; for. although he had travelled far to engage me at the suggestion of the president of New York bank, he must leave an explana- tion as to how and why my services were required to his brother, Colonel Valdez. of Rio Janeiro. My visitor pro duced five one-thousand-doilar bank notes, and requested me to designate 8 bank where he should deposit them, subject to my order upon my return from my mission. He further rendered memoranda of contract to be Q. K.'d by his brother. Two million dollars was involved in the case. Should I succeed in accomplishing what his brother would direct, was to receive ten per cent of this enormous sum-"
 Quite speculation" suggested.
 50 rich and promising" observed Marvel in his dry. wise way, "that ac- eepted at once. The details were gone over. am expected to leave on the evening fast mall. The office can run itself on routine work until I return. II you feel lonesome, drop over here once in a whiie." and he handed me a duplicate key to the apartments.
 And you may return more speedily than you now plan." suggested.
 Possibly. After all was said and done.. continued my friend. "my vis- itor proceeded on his trip-to Denver. I think he said. Then I sat down to cogitate over some flaws in his story. One-he said he had been at his hotel all the morning. See exhibits 1 and 2, meaning that little heap of cinders. and next to 1t that pile of shoe scrap ings. I took pains to place brim up on 8 newspaper the hat ny visitor wore, shaking these cinders oil the rim They came from a locomotive, reckon, thereby indicating that my client lied to me, and that he had been