South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1919-07-13

W.
Yes. can you come over 10 my
Office within an hour?"
Il have a directors meeting at
o'clock. but I am free until then"
Better put off that directors
meeting. Chris. This is something
very important"
All right. I'll be there in half an
hour."
Christopher Poe hung up the re-
ceiver and catching up a light coat
ara a straw hat ne ran lightly down
the stairs ard walked across 70
/ Broadway where he hailed taxi
anC ordered the driver 10 take him
10 the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
As he whizzed up town he apidly
ran over in his mind the various
services he had rendered 20 Sir Ar
thur Hornsby. Ten years ago he
had assisted in running TO ground
clever Partisan syndicate OF curio
dealers who had systematically
stolen many of the valuable coins
in the museum collection. After
that he had worked on a substitute
bronze which had been procured by
the art gallery and il was through
his efforts that a great fraud had
been exposed.
Alighting in front of the spacious
CELERY he went through the side
door and knocked at a suite of
rooms given over 10 the active man
aSer OF the museum.
A large honey Englishman with
dropping mustache rose from his
I desk quickly as Poe entered and ex-
{ tended his hand in greeting.
What is it," asked Poe anxious
| ~.
IT'S about the The Morning
Mist you remember that we bought
it five years ago from an obscure
dealer right here in New York;"
Yes, the price was $4,000. I re-
member there was quite a little
newspaper comment at the time
concerning the price and the man
FER in which it was procured"
Yes" answered Sir Arthur Horn
by. there was some doubt as TO
whether or not 1t was a genuine
canvas"
You got that picture through
Spoods. the Fifth av dealer. didn't
your asked the New York banker.
WHO also had time TO follow all the
art acquisitions at the Metropolitan.
Yes. he guaranteed It as a gen
uine Turner and the only thing that
made us suspicious was the low
price"
We'll, what happened to it
Stolen"
When 30
we just discovered it this morn
ing"
And you have no clew?"
no. nothing at all, and the only
evidence there is that the picture
was stolen last night is that the
door between the Turner room and
the Egyptian room was found tam
pered with today"
Was the picture cut out of the
frame ?" asked Poe, "or was il re-
moved without injury"
"A clever substitute was put into
the frame. If IL weren't for the
brilliancy Of the paint the substi-
tute might be easily taken for the
original"
Have you closed the Turner
room to visitors this morning ?"
asked Poe.
NO. not yet" the manager az the
museum pressed a button on his
desk and both sat silent several mo-
mcnts until an attendant appeared
ana Sir Hornsby said. will you see
that the Turner room is locked up
and that no one is allowed 10 enter q"
You had better close the Egyp-
| tan room too until we have
chance 10 look the ground over
thoroughly" Dut in the banker-de-
tective.
"All right, sir" answered the at
ten6ant Withdrawing
Christopher Poe picked up a dia-
gram Of the Metropolitan from the
directors desk and turned quickly to
a diagram showing the arrangements
of the room. He marked the cham
! Der containing the Egyptian dis
play, mostly mummies and quaint
clay vessels and put a check mark
agsinst the small art gallery where
| half a dozen of Turner's master
pieces were displayed. Then he
pointed with his pencil to the door
between the two rooms and asked.
That is fitted with the regular
locks, the same as is on this door
| here?'
es," answered Sir Arthur. The
doors are not so hard TO open. The
question is how any man or any
person could conceal himself in the
Egyptian room. There is rigid
examination every night before
lookup time and it does not seem
possible than any person could con-
trive 10 haze himself locked in all
night I'm any Of the rooms"
Well. let Us go 20 work irnme-
! diately, suggested Poe Il infer
that there has been no publicity Civ
en- out on this 30
"Of course not. II would be fool
ism 70 scare away the thief. he
| would doubtless take flight 20 some
| foreign country if the newspapers
published the story about it,"
J Sir Arthur Hornsby arose and
held the door open for his friend
They passed through a series Of
corridors until they came 10 small
/ door which an attendant ,pIocLod