The St. Charles herald., 1922-05-27

+, little Of any one. He spent most OF
his time in his own house; occasion
ally he lunched at his club, at rare
intervals, and always Unexpectedly, ne
appeared at his Office. I remember
that summer he was terribly dis
turbed because one Of his ships was
lost. The Corvet record was broken;
a Corvet ship had appealed for help;
q Corvet vessel had not reached port
And later in the fall, when two
deckhands were washed from another
| of his vessels and drowned, he was
again greatly wrought up, though his
ships still had most favorable record.
In 1902 I proposed to him that / buy
full ownership in the vessels l partly
controlled and ally them with those
he and Spearman operated. Since
then, the firm name has been Corvet
Sheriff., and Spearman.
"Our friendship had strengthened
and ripened during those years. The
intense activity Of Corvet's mind,
| which as q younger man he had di-
rected wholly to the shipping. was
directed, after he had isolated himself
| in this way, to other things. He took
I'D almost feverishly an immense num-
| Der of studies-strange studies most
of them for a man whose youth had
been almost violently active and who
had once been a lake captain. can
| not tell you what they all were
geology, ethnology, nearly score OF
subjects; he corresponded with vari-
ous scientific societies; he has given
almost the whole Of his attention to
such things for about twenty years.
But he has made very few acquaint-
ances In that time, and has kept
| almost none Of his old friendships.
He has lived alone In the house on
Astor street with only one servant
the same one all these years
'The only house he has visited with
any frequency has been mine. He has
always liked my wife; he had-he has
a great affection for my daughter, who,
when she was a child, ran In and out
Of his home as she pleased My
daughter believes now that his present
disappearance-what has hap
pened to him-is connected In some
way with herself. do not think that
| is 80"
Sheriff. broke of and stood in
thought for q moment; ne seemed to
consider. and to decide that 1t was
not necessary to say anything more
on that subject
'Is there anything in what have
told you which makes it possible fof
you to recollect or to explainr
Alan shook his head flushed, and
then grew Q little pale. What Sheriff.
told him had excited him BY the coin.
cidences It offered between events in
BENJAMIN Corvet's life and his own
It had not made him fecollect'
Corvet, but It had given defniteness
and direction to his speculations as
to Corvet's relation to himself.
Sheriff. drew one Of the large chairs
nearer to Alan and sat down facing
him. He felt In an inner pocket ane
brought out an envelope; from the en-
yelope he took three pictures, ant
handed the smallest Of them to Alan
Az Alan took 1t, he saw that 1t wal
!, a tfntype OF himself as q round-facet
boy Of seven.
s.That Is you3" Sheriff. asked.
'Yes; 1t was taken by the photog
rapher in Blue Rapids"
"And thiefn
The second picture, Alan saw, wal
one that had been taken in front o.
the barn at the farm. It showed Alar
at twelve, In overalls apd barefooted
holding a stick over his head at which
shepherd dog was jumping.
'Yes, that IL Ehep and I, Mr.. Sher
rill. It was taken by a man VIII
stopped at the house for dinner on'
day; he liked Shep and wanted
picture Of him; so he got me to maxi
Shep jump. and he took it"
Doesn't It occur to you that 1t wa
your picture he wanted, and that h
had been sent to get It? wantet
your verification that these earle
pictures were of you, but this last on
is easily recognizable"
Sheriff. unfolded the third picture
/ It was larger than the. others and hat
been folded across the middle to ge
+. it into the envelope. Alan leaned for
/ ward to look at it.
'aThat is the University Of Kansa
football team" he said. II am tn
second one in the front row; I playe
end my Junior year and tackle whel
I was a senior. Mr. Corvet-Y'
Eyes; Mr.. Corvet had these pictures
They came into my possession day be
fore yesterday, the day after Corve
! disappeared; do not want to tell jus
yet how they did that"
Alan's face, which had been fiushe
at first with excitement, had gon
quite pale. and his hnnds, as h
3 clenched and unclenched them ner,
s ously, were cold. and his lips wer
e very dry. He could think Of no pos
4 sible relationship between Benjami
Corvet and himself, except one, whic
= | co,,ld arcounf for Corvof's Ohtainfn