The Chesterfield advertiser. [volume] (Chesterfield C.H., S.C.) 1884-1978, 1921-03-17
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Continued from last weekly

"Sure; 'taln't o. no consequence ter
me; reckon the woman sorter packed
In a hurry, and this got lost. The
Chink found 1t under the bed"
She took 1t in her hand, and
crossed the room. finding seat be-
meath one of the bracket-lamps, but
with her face turned toward the hall.
1t was Just single sheet Of folded
paper, not inclosed In an envelope,
and had been torn across, so that the
two parts barely held together. She
felt that here was the key which was
TO unlock the secret Of this strange
crime. Whoever the man upstairs
might prove to be-the real Caven-
dish or some impostor-this paper she
held in her hands was destined to be
link In the chain. She unfolded 1t
slowly and her eyes traced the written
words within. 1t was q hasty scrawl.
written on the cheap paper of some
obscure hotel in Jersey City, extreme
ly difficult to decipher, the hand of
the man who wrote exhibiting plainly
the excitement under which he la
bored.
was leaving New York, and would sail
that evening for some place In South
America; where he did not say. Love
only caused him to tell her what had
occurred. A strange word puzzled
her, and before she could deciDher it,
voices broke the silence, followed by
steps on the stairs. She glanced up
quickly; It was Westcott returning,
accompanied by tall, rather slender
man with closely trimmed beard.
The two crossed the rOom and she
met them standing, the opened letter
still In her hand.
Miss Donovan, this is Frederick
Cavendish-the real Frederick Cav
endish. I have told him something Of
the trouble he has been to us ALL"
The real Frederick Cavendish
smiled down into her eyes, while he
held her fingers tightly clasped IL, his
own. She believed In him, liked him
instantly.
"A trouble which regret very
much" he said humbly. "Westcott
has told me little, very little, of
what has occurred since l left New
York so hurriedly two months ago.
This Is the first knew about it, and
the mystery Of the whole affair is as
puzzling as ever"
Her eyes widened wonderingly.
You cannot explain? Not even
who the dead man was found mur.
dered In your apartments?"
II haven't the least idea"
FIRED has told me all he knows
broke In Westcott, "but it only ex-
tends to midnight when he left the
city. He was In his apartments less
than ten minutes after his valet re.
tired. He supposed he left everything
In good order, with a note on the
writing-table instructing Valois what
to do during his absence, and inclos.
Ing sum of money. Afterward, on
the train, he discovered that he had
mlsiaid the key to his safe, but this
occasioned no worry, as he had taken
with him all the cash It held. and
the papers were of slight Importance"
But" she broke in impatently.
where did he go7 How did he es-
cape encountering Beaton and why
Old he fail to answer your messag ge ?"
The eyes Of the two men met. ano
they both smiled.
The very questions I asked" re.
piled Westcott instantly. "In the in.
structions left Valois was a check for
hve thousand dollars made to nv or.
der, to be forwarded at once. Fred's
destination was Sonora, Mexico.
where he had some large copper in
terestS He intended to look after
these and return here to Haskell with
In week, or ten days. But the war
In Mexico made this impossible-once
across the border he couldn't get
back. He wrote me, but evidently the
letter miscarried."
"And Beaton missed him entire,vn
by pure luck. Fred phoned the
rev York Central for lower to Chi
cage, and they were all gone. En-
right must have learned, In some wav
or his calling that office, and so In
formed BeatOn, who took that train
Later, from his own rooms. CavendIsb
secured accommodations on the Penn.
sylvania."
He paused, endeavoring to see out
through the window, hearing the hoof
beats Of an approaching team.
"What's that, Peter" he asked, OF
Timmons. who was lowering as close,
ly as he dared. "Pretty late isn't it?"
Guests, reckon; the Overland was
three hours late; sure, they're stop
PIN yere."