The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1922-10-10

1ecting paper, but he came out tr1 l umphant, after he had scribheled g | fictitious address. and sealed it in ar envelope addressed to Henry Paxton the paper he had found was of the same texture as of the original, self II addressed envelope he carried in his | wallet Other drug-stores undoubetd- Y 1y carried it; but here was what some might call a coincidence, and
 had pieced together a bit of the puzzle.
 l He left the note, which Quandc 1 put away in the cabinet with the other 1 letters, now restored to the pigeon l holes; save the pink envelope; and
 as he slouched off with the rest of the 1 paper he had purchased in little | parcel beneath his coat, he knew that l the griny curtain of Quando's window
 was pulled aside. and that she was watching him go down the street. More than that, he had noticed a l telephone in her room, and when a
 the saloon and ambled down the
 street in his wake, he felt convinced l that he was being trailed. He took 1 a malicious pleasure in dodging | swiftly down alley to the next | street and jumping into his taAcab, | which started off just as the colored
 man put in appearance, stared at the | l the street.
 l At his hotel he once more compar- 1 ed the paper and envelopes with the l one he held. They were identical
 Found one cog of that toy-watch l Rainey spoke about" he told him. 1 self whimsica1ly.
 1 For the fiftieth time i.e studied the writing on the self-addressed en- | velope. It was an educated man, | oic|, ho tha chirography of either a man or wo- l man. It did not seem disguised. One thing made him lean to tke woman theory-there V0ea a faint scent still l cinging to the envelope, a. barely familiar o6or not an out-of-the- ordi- nary one, so far as he could de- | tect by what was left of it's original strength. The perfume had been too long disseminated. It was not unlike many others, not unlike the odor he had noticed from the bri1liantine in Forsythes hair. But then, Paxton, if that was his real name, might hae got his wife or another woman to write the request.
 One thing he had found out by coming to St. Louis. That Paxton was not what he seemed to be, and that he was we'll hidden behind the skirts of a charlatan negress. Why? And where did Paxton come in con- cerning the murder, if there had been a murder?
 The pieces of the jig-saw puzzle were all to insignificant and few for an answer Where to pick up the next fragment?
 On that Cairns was already de- l icded. He was going to interview the man who had written the special ar tfcle in the Sunday Planet. He must have talked with Forsythe. Possi- ply he had not used all the infor- nation he obtained in his article. And there was another thing that might hinge on this. The Butterfly Orchid that had died, and whose death had affected Forsythe and the FiHpinosi Gradually Cairns had re- V1ved the exact words that, Forsythe had used when they were looking at the wiNed flower, so like an in- sect crump1ed in a flame.
 '"The Butterfly Orchfd." the doomed man had said. ''It only bloom ed six days ago. It should have been brilliant and strong for several days yet. To fade on this day of all days, It was vivid and erect last night. To- day of all days! Cairns, do you be- 1ieve in omens?''
 Had Forsythe believed in omens That omens were born of past cir cumstances, Cairns was positive. Per-
 
 nm something more about Forsythe's connection with the, scarlet flower.
 But Cairns was not yet through With St. Louis or with Quando. With two hours of time on his hands be- lore his night train for New York started, he gave over his baggage to the care of the hotel porter for a meeting at the depot, and started orr on walk. Str1ding along at a good Inf fares Cairns had long ago found con ducive to thinking frame of mind Ana ne wanted to convince himself 1 against voice, small but persist ent, that every once in a while sug- gested that he was on a fools er- rand, bucking <he experience of men l wiser than hin1velf, even doubling the evidence of his own eyes that had seen no apparent cause of death in | F'orsythe, save what might be. con- talned within the mans own anatomy.
 mere was a mizzling rain, but Cairns did not mind that. He had on his travelling cap and his rain | coat, and he struck out into the sub- urbs, swinging his malacca-cane and hitting up fouH-mtle clip Over ana over the whole thing he went, l striving to deduce something tangt- | ble, without result
 He looked at his watch. and de- | cided it. was time to go back toward | the city proper and the depot He l was on broad avenue, well lit i enough, though the fine rain rninimized | the effects of the e1ctrics. Houses l or substantial citizens stood well pack from the sidewalk, most of | them with lawns that sloped upward | rom a cement coping some three | rect high that prevented the natural ! terrace from sliding over the side 1 walk. The wide street was practically deserted.
 To Be Continued Tor,orrou oCopright 1922, Thompson's Feature
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