Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-08-23

IL means that those who make
len, tn get held of Information which is
linconvenient" ~
,,..iii linen he went away and Bryce, after
waitlng awhile until nwht had settled
DSn and set ts',pPed nfp g. quietly out of the house
In accordance with his ,,ndeniabie ca.
Rr,y Rpaoy Tor contrivng and schemng.
bryce mad made due and careful prepa-
aatIohs ara I Tor Tor his visit to the tomb Of Rich
sneo,, yehNlms. WINS, Even In the momentary con-
rn,,ia 1Ts,oh following upon his discovery OF
Soinsnaws dead body he had been suffi-
clently alive to his own Immediate p,ir-
poses 10 notice that the tomb-a very
~ tha and dilapidated structure-stood
IN tne midst OF small expanse of stone
pavement between the yew trees and the
| waii OF the nave he had noticed also
.nat tne pavement consisted Of small
isda,aes OF stone. some of which bore
initials and dates. A sharp glance at
the presumed whereabouts of the par
tlcular spot which he wanted, as indi-
gate9 pN9 IN the scrap OF paper taken from
%Bra1ens % purse, showed him that he
would nave to raise one of those small
| squares, possibly two or three OF them
Ana so he had furnished himself with
snort crowbar Of tempered STEEL special
y purchased at the ironmonger's, and
with small bull's-eye lantern, Had
he been arrested and searched as he
made his way toward the cathedral pre-
cincts he might reasonably have been
suspected of a design to break into the
treasury and appropriate the various or
famous. But Bryce feared neither arrest
| nor observation. During his residence
in WINCHESTER he had done a good deal
OF proving about the old city at night,
and he knew that Paradise, at any time
after dark was a deserted place. Folk
! might cross from the close archway to
| the wicket gate by the outer path. but
no one would penetrate within the thick
n n x,hA, trlxt
had fallen. And now, In early summer,
| the screen of trees and bushes was 30
thick In leaf that once within It., foliage
on one side, the great walls of the nave
on the other, there was little likelihood
| OF any person overlooking his doings
! while he made his investigation. He
anticipated a swift and quiet job, to be
| done in a few minutes.
But there was another Individual in
| Wrychester who knew Just as much OF
the geography of Paradise as Pemberton
Bryce knew. Dick Bewery and Betty
Campany had of late progressed out Of
well-met stage to the first dawnings Of
love. and in spite of their frequent meet
| ings had begun n romantic correspond
| ence between each other, the JOY ana
dredfold by a secret method of exchange
| of these missives Just within the
wicket gate entrance Of Paradise there
was an old monument wherein was q
convenient cavity-Dick Bewery's ready
wits transformed this into loves post
office. In it he regularly placed letters
for Betty; Betty stuffed into It letters for
| him. And on this particular evening
| Dick had gone to Paradise to collect a
| possible mail; and as Bryce walked lei.
surely up the narrow path enclosed by
| trees and old masonry which led from
| Friary lane to the ancient enclosure.
| Dick turned corner and ran fun Into
him. In the light of the single lamp
| IoI, ,inn IN rp-
covered themselves and looked at each
other.
"Hullo!" !" said Bryce whats your
hurry. young Beverly?
| Dick, who was painting for breath,
more from excitement than haste, drew
hack and looked at Bryce. Up to then
he knew nothing much against Bryce.
whom he had rather liked in the fashion
in which boys sometimes like their
seniors and he was not indisposed to
"Hullo - he replied. IT say! Where
are YOU off to?''
Nowhere !-strolling round" answer
ed Bryce. mo particular purpose,
"You weren't going in-there?" asked
Dick. jerking a thumb toward Paradise
| "In-there!" exclaimed Bryce. GOOD
Lord no o!-dreary enough In the day
time! What should be going in there
Dick seized Bryce's coat-sleeve and
dragged him aside.
II say" he whispered. There's some
thing up in there-a search OF some
Sort
| Bryce started in spite of an effort TO
| keep unconcerned.
| "a search? In there?' he said ""hat
| do you mean?'
| Dick pointed amongst the trees, and
Bryce saw the faint glimmer of light.
| II was in there--just now" said Dick
| "And some men-three or four-came
along. They're in there. close up by the
nave, just where you found that CHAP
Collishaw Observation-Disclosures some
thing of that sort y
Digging" muttered Bryce dig
Something like it, anyhow replied
| Dick. "Listen."
Bryce heard the ring Of metal on
stone And an unpleasant conviction
stole over him that he was being fore-,
stalled, that somebody was beforehand
with him, and he cursed himself for not
having done the previous night what he
mad left undone till this night.
| who are they?" he asked Did you
see them-their faces?'
Not their faces, answered DICK
"Only their. figures. in the gloom. But l
heard Mitchington's voice"
Police. them" said Bryce. What on
earth are they afterT
Look hore !" whispered Dick, pulling
at Bryce's arm again. Come on! l
know how to get in there without their
seeing us. You follow me-"
Bryce followed readily. and Dick
stepping through the wicket-gate seized
| his companions wrist and led him
amongst the bushes in the direction of
the spot from whence came the metallic
sounds. He walked with the step OF a
cat. and Bryce took pains to follow his
| example. And presently from behind O
screen Of Expresses they looked out on
the expanse of tagging In the midst Of
which stood the tomb of Richard Jenkins
Round about that tomb were five men
| whose faces were visible enough In the
| light thrown by couple of strong lamps,
one Of which stood on the tomb itself
while the other was set on the ground
Four out OF the five the two watchers
! recognized at once. one, kneeling on
the flags, and busy with small crow
bar similar to that which Bryce carried
| inside his overcoat. was the master
mason of the cathedral Another
standing near him, was Mitchington. A
| third was Clergyman-one or the lesser
| dignitaries of the chapter. A fourth
whose presence made Bryce start for the
second time that evening--was the Duke
| of Saxonsteade. But the NTH was a
| stranger-a tall man who stood between
Mitchington and the duke, evidently pay
ing anxious attention to the master
mason's proceedings. He was no Wry-
chester man-Bryce was convinced or
| that.
And a moment later he was convinced
Of another equally certain fact. What
| ever these Ave men were searching for,
| they had no clear or accurate idea Of Its
| exact whereabouts. The master-mason
was taking up the small squares OF flag
stone with his crowbar one by one, from
the outer edge OF the foot of the old box
tomb as he removed each, he probed the
earth beneath 1t. And Bryce, who had
instinctively realized what was happen
| ing, and knew that somebody else than