The Press., 1917-04-26
A WELL LAID PLAN
But One Element hl H Had Not Been
 ProUided For
By F. A. MTTCHEL

F COmpleAlOQ. My NOlCe was or Iue-
 dium pitch for man; but, having once
 taken a girls part on the stage, had
 learned to speak in falsetto, very like a
 woman.
 One day was handed a newspaper
 in which there was a personal that
 read as follows:
 If Annette Thurber will communicate
 with IT. l.. B. she will hear something to ! her advantage.
 It was explained to me that Annette Thurber was a niece of one Nicholas
 Bradford, who had recently died, leav-
 ing large estate. Miss Thurber had
 kept house for him and nursed him | during his last illness. He had told her that he had made will leaving all
 his property to her and she would find | it in certain tin box in which he kept | his papers, the box being on a shelf in | the closet of his home office. After his death she had looked in the box and had not found the document No will forthcoming, the property ] would be divided between the testa- tors nephew, Henry Lathrop Bradford, the son of an older brother, and An nette Thurber, the daughter of his sis ter. This Henry Bradford was a scamp. His uncle had befriended him l and tried to make a man of him, had failed and had disowned him. Miss Thurber believed that he had stolen the will from the tin box in order that he might under the law obtain half the estate. The personal had undoubtedly been inserted by him with a view to some arrangement with her. What that intended arrangement was she did not know.
 A reply was made by Miss Thu Der stating that she would receive Henry Bradford at her home any day he chose to call between 2 and 8 o'clock in the afternoon. No attention was paid to this, and, the case having been placed by Miss Thurber in the hands of detec- tiyes, new note was dispatched in her name saying that she would meet Bradford at any time or place he might appoint. Miss Thurber then received a bit of paper on which was written, Lincoln park, 6, 25, 9 p. m.''
 It was evident that Bradford did not propose to give Miss Thurber any evi- dence against him. He might deny that the personal had been inserted by him or that he had sent this bit of pa per, his object being to meet her with out witnesses for some rascally pur- pose. The opinion of the chief was that Bradford had stolen the will; that he feared to be accused of the theft and wished to make a compromise by which he might receive his share of his uncle's estate.
 Miss Thurber and were brought to- gether, and it was observed that we were about the same height and build. Having secured all the information that was to be had on the matter, was arFayed in one of her costumes, and at 9 o'clock in the evening on the 25th of June (the sixth month) I tripped daintily into Lincoln park. had been shown a photograph of Brad ford and Miss Thurber was known to him, so, since Lincoln park was simply a block set apart for breathing space, there was no difficulty in meeting and recognizing each other.
 It was not long after my entry into the park that a well dressed man step ped up to me and remarked that it was a me evening.
 Are you Mir. Bradford?" asked.
 'EYes."
 What is the meaning of all this secrecy?"
 Come this way" was his reply, "and will tell you"
 He led the way to a bench. I sat down, an1 he sat beside me.
 CT x1yfCh ko, caa VyO,Y % haUoY1 Hoho1t Uncle Nick's will. It has been intimat- ed to me that certain person knows that a will exists bequeathing all the estate to you. This person will pro duce the will for a consideration"
 How much does he want?' asked, coming at once to the point.
 ''The estate is worth $3OO,0OO. The will will be surrendered for a third of the value of the property. You give a note for the amount to be taken up three months after receiving the prop erty."
 NO" said, after feigning to think the matter over. If a will exists would rather take my chance of it's coming out. And if it dOes," I here assumed a threatening tone, "I shall send the person who stole it to the penitentiary for long term of years"
 There was silence for a few minutes, at the end of which he asked me how much would consent to pay. told him that I would not bind myself to pay anything until I had seen the will and was convinced that the property was left to me and the document was T a note for $40,O0O. He keyed me up to $50,O0O, which closed the bargain. had no object in dickering with him, except to induce him to believe that I was making n real deal
 I asked him when and where the ex- change of the note for the will should take place, and he replied that he had | made arrangements for that. The transaction could be executed at once. He had a cab in waiting, and we would drive to house where I could sign q note and receive the will. 1 was rather ! taken aback by this, for had expected | to report to the chief what I had done and receive his instructions as te my next step. l protested against such | haste, but my objection tended to. con vince the man that l was making a | bona flde transaction.
 "I need time to think this over." l. said. = l
 And to make arrangements to trap me. Suppose We meet a few days | hence what is to prevent your having a force on hand to take the will without | giving me the note? No; this matter mrISf srO tbrOurh if if ,1oas o,o tbro,,o,l between you and me alone and imme- diately. When it is finished there will be no proof that you signed the note under duress."
 "A note." said, must be in pay ment for something
 ''I have drawn it to read, For and in of his relinquishing all claims on the Bradford estate.'"
 "But the will being produced you have no claim on the Bradford estate"