The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1917-06-29
BY
ARTHUR B.
REEVE

soI' you wish. It was invented bv ya1da-
mar Poulsen. the Danish Edison tn
! . one on MS new wire machines. TIL.
80 Is MADE by new process. Local
/ yea charges Of magnetism on this wiz
40 Is as permanent as the wire ltssr,
mere Is only one thing that can destro
them-rubbing over the wire with o.
magnet Listen"
She had started the machine sgaf,.
W nose voice was II calling Bella . g.,
stance was looking lxedly at Drummer,
He shifted uneasily.
How much is he in for now?" pu,
sued the voice F~'
Halsey gasped, It was Drummond.
own voice.
Two hundred and fifty shares re
rlied BeIla's voice
&C, Good Keep at him Don't lose him
tonight III drop In"
And your client will make good " sh.
asked anxiousIy.
Absolutely We will nav five thu,
convict him" ''
Constance's little audience was stunned
hut she did not LEI the telegraphone
Iause. skipping some unImportant calls
she began again.
This was call from Bella to Watson
Ross that fellow Drummond called
'yes?r
He is going to pull It of tonight Hi.
) thousand {
lneE catch Halsey with the goods How
Pretty soft-eh, Bella?" came back
= My God! it's a plant exclaimed Hal
seE. staggering and dropping heavily into
chair. I'm ruined. There Is no wav
QUITE " ''' way
Watt Interrupted Constance. Here's
another call. It may serve to explain
why luck was with me tonight. came
Yes, Mrs. T.eMar." came another
strange voice from the machine "wc'd
90 anything for Mr.. Watson. What is is
"a pack Of strippers?"
Yes. The aces stripped from the ends
the kings from the sides"
The group looked eagerly at Con
stance
From the maker Of fake gambling ap.
paratus, 7 find" she explained shuttin.
or the machine They were orderin-
from him cards cut or trimmed so tina
certain ones could be readily drawn from
the deck, or stripped Small wedss
shaped strips are trimmed off the edge
OF all the other cards, leaving the ace,
say. projecting just the most minute
fraction of an inch beyond the others
Everything is done carefully The round
ed edges at the corners are recut to LOOT
right. When the cards are shuffled the
aces protrude a tTife over the edge
Of the other cards at is a simple mat
ter for the dealer to draw or strip on.
as many aces as he wants stack then
on the bottom OF the pack as he shuttle
the cards, and draw them from the BOT
tom whenever he wants them. Stripper
are one Of the newest things i'm swindlina
Marked cards are out of date. But some
decks have the aces stripped from the
ends, the kings from the sides. With
this pack, as you can see. a sucker car
/ be dealt out the kings, while the housr
player gets the aces"
| Drummond brazened it out. With
Pmuttered oath he turned to Watson agaiu
What rot is this The stock. Watson.
he repeated. Where is that stock
heard them talking about?'
Mrs. Noble forgetting all now but Hal
sey. paIed Bella LeMar was fumblina
at her gold mesh bag. She gave a sud
den. suppressed little scream.
Look" she cried. They are blank-
those stock certificates he gave me- -r7
Drummond seized them roughly from
her hands.
Where the signatures should have beer
there was nothing at all!
Across the face Of the stock We're TIL
words In deep black, SAMPLE CERTTFI-
CATE" written in angular. femininr
hand.
What did it mean? Halsey was a
e amazed as any Of ti1eyn. MechanicaIy
u he turned to Constance.
II didn't say anything last nishB'
, she remarked incisively. But had my
suspicious from the first. always Loo
out for the purry kind Of my dear WON
an. They have claws. Last night 7
Il watched. Today I iearned-learned tina
you. Mr.. Drummond, were nothing bG-
a blackmaiIer. using these gamblers e.
do your dirty work. Haddon. they would
have thrown you out like a squeezed
tleinon as soon as the money you ha(
- vac gone. They would haze taken thu
IS bribe that DFummond offered for TIN
le stock-and they would have left you moth
Is ing bat Jail. 7 learned all that over tEr
Y. teiegraphone I learned their methods
s. and knoring them. even ] could not = :,
% prevented :ron, winning tonight.
N Halsey moved as If 10 speak.
- he asked eagerly, the stock certN
what Of them?"
N The stock" she answered with DELHI
GRAFTON. Did YOU ever hear that writing
pr in quinoline will appear blue, but Wi
W soon fade away. while other writing in
er silver nitrate and ammonia, invisible ~
first after n few hours appears black
as You wrote on those certificates IN sym
pathetic ink that fades, ] in ink tina Z
comes up soon
Mrs. Noble was crying softly TO herself
- They still had her notes for thousands.
ID Halsey saw her. Instantly he forge
his own case What was to be done about
TO hvro He teIegraphed a mute appeal 70
r.. Constance, forgetful Of himself now. Con
stance was lingering the switch OF the
ne tClegraphone.
7s '.Drummond," remarked Constance sig
nifcantIy. as though other secrets might
r still be contained in the marvellous little
mechanical detective. "Drummond, don Q
3 you think for the sake Of your own repu
P tation as a detective. it might be a well
to keep this thing quiet?"
a. For moment the detective gripped his
wrath and seemed to consider the dam
" aging record of his conversation With
g Bella LeATar.
g. Perhaps" he agreed sullenly.
- Constance reached into her chatelaine
!. - From Il she drew an ordinary magnet.
N and slowly pulled of the armature.
If I run this over the wires she
n limited. holding it near the spools, ''the
10 record will be wiped out" She paused
Increasingly Let ne have those q
m rs Of Mrs. Mobiles. BY the way. YOU
is might as well give me that blank stock
too. There is no use in that, now"
er As she laid the papers in a pile on the