The Carlisle independent., 1917-09-13

lawyer, but my client, when tooay he saw the announcement in the newspapers that certain counterfeh s100 treasury notes of certain series were in circulation, at once was forced tc an irresistible conclusion Those notes came from this house they could come from nowhere else Your nephew, only recently arrived from Paris, where your son is liylng' . is missing from your home since yes terday. 4 man answering his descrlp- tion passed the notes Putting this and that together, my client reasons that you have also the plates. He must have them"
 Again a groan from the lips of the tortured man.
 We heard tottering step cross the floor. Marvel was at my side as the draperies were agitated. He reached me in a swift glide and drew me be- side him to a curtained alcove in the library as Arnold Buckingham entered and turned on a light.
 The old mans lips were trembling and he was whispering hoarsely to himself. His eyes were those of man on the verge of losing his senses He produced key, opened strong box safe, and from some inner recess drew out two oblong pieces of metal. In flash Marvel was at his side.
 "On your life. not word!" he ab- jured the shrinking. wellnigh stricken millionaire. T will deal with the wretches who seek to blackmail you"
 pressed to the side of Buckingham and supported him, or he would have fallen. I saw Marvel hold the plates toward the light. He drew a magni- flying glass from his pocket and looked them over.
 What was the. significance of the quick, momentary smile that crossed his lips, I knew not then. Before : could even conjecture cause. he had parted the draperies, and heard the lawyers metallic voice exclaim:
 "Resilius Marvel!"
 You know me-" was the stern re- ply. And I you, Israel Craft, dis barred attorney. fence, go-between and agent of the hunted and lost. You do we'll to strain the limit of justice to the danger point"
 q am within the law" cracked from the mean, servile lips.
 Admitted. What I wish to know is-have you the affidavits you boast ed of to Mir Arnold Buckingham minute since?"
 q have"
 "Will you add a statement of your knowledge of this unfortunate busi- ness?"
 For the plates-yes."
 Marvel led the man into tl nAra- ry He pointed to an open ~ said simply
 Write
 It was at the end of ten nites that I saw Resilius Marve Ifeceive into his hands four documents. He scrutinized them closely. Then he said
 There are the plates. Now your men and my men are-quits."
 was .amazed-more than that, petrified. l saw Marvel accompany ing the lawyer to the door. Then, returning, he drew Buckingham aside. He conversed with him in low tones. At the end of ten minutes I saw hope and courage come into the face of the old man. It was the relief and grati- tude of a person drawn from the edge of a fearsome precipice.
 "The nephew who passed those notes, and who recently came from the son in Paris" explained Marvel as we left the mansion, was told by Percy Buckingham that he might have what he found in his old home room. He stumbled across those counterfeit notes. The son is ia hap py ignorance of that blighted year in his life. The father need bear no further anxiety. He will reimburse the banks gladly, the affair must be hushed up, and the man who gets the plates"
 He paused in an impressive w45 Then Resilius Marvel laughed-a low. strange laugh of intense satisfaction.
 "But they have them! do not understand" I foundered
 They have them, yes," assented Marvel, and so much worthless trumpery they are"
 T do not yet comprehend you"
 They bear sure record, that in his lucid awakening the night of his escape, Percy Buckingham placed upon them," said Marvel. They are as useless as old metal"
 You mean-?"
 When these knaves come to print their issue, they will find that finely but plainly engraven across front and back plate. is one warning word."
 You mean?"
 Counterfeit.
 An Educational Garden