The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1924-08-15
BEGIN HERE TODAY

! BEGIN HEkE TO-DAY,
John Ainsley, a man Of education
and breeding, becomes maste
crook--preyins upon other thieve.
One afternoon on Fifth Avenue h
knocks down a man whom he see
abusing a hunchback, and then runs
At an auction sale he sees Marcus
Anderson, a man who became ricl
during the war, buy, "a golden, jewel
studded box for $4,000. Later hi
is surprised to see Anderson jQir
the hunchback and notorious crool
known as the White Eagle, and ther
depart in a town car for a modest
private residence in the upper East
Side. Posing as manufacturer .o1
automobile accessories, Ainsley quer.
les aNgrocer as to the character Of the
people in the neighborhood.
NOW GO ON WITH THE STORY
The grocer grinned. ut amt hard
to remember them," he said.
That's exactly my point" told
him. "You give me list of your
customers who pay their bills
promptly, and III give you five per
cent on every sale l make. And for
your trouble, SO you'll know your
time isn't wasted, III give you twenty
dollars right now
"Fair enough" said the grocer en-
Enthusiastically. And he took me into
his Office.
An hour later left him, armed
with a list that would have been
worth money to yellow newspaper.
For the great public would have been
interested to know that some of its
fashionable idols never paid a bill,
even food-bill, until court sum
mons was served upon them. For
the grocer, simple minded soul, had
given me the names of those to avoid
as we'll as those to visit. He would
have been surprised had he seen me,
in my own apartment little later,
carefully destroying his list. For
wanted none of it's details. What
wished to find out from my friend
the grocer was the personnel Of the
household before which Anderson's
town-car had stopped. And who
should know that personnel better
than the tradesman who supplied the
house with food? And this | had
learned in casual conversation with
out seeming to ask for information.
The Due de Montarlier, then, was
the gentleman who had rented fur
nished for term Of twelve months
the private house on the side-street
near the Avenue. He was distin-
guished-looking Frenchman. All,
how we'll knew that! His secretary,
Raoul Letter, a hunchback, paid all
his bills, and paid them every week.
The Due had no other French SER
wants. He had acquired a staff Of
japanese help from an employment
agency, and so far as my friend the
grocer knew, the Japs not only did
the ordering but ran all the domestic
machinery. There were no women
employed in the house. Visitors
My grocer did not know.
/ spent that evening in the public
library, going over the files, for the
past winter, of that New York paper
which devotes most space to the
chrOnicling of social events. Yet,
carefully as l studied the so-calle1
society columns, / never ran across
the name of the Due de Montarlier.
The White Eagle, then, had ac-
quired no social prominence. That
meant one Of two things-that he
dared not risk recognition, or that
he was working with definite objec-
tive and not merely making the ac-
quaintances of numbers of rich per-
sons whom be hoped to rob. 1t was
then safe to assume that Marcus An
derson was his definite objective.
Certainly Anderson was rich enough
to, be legitimate game for the French
man; and despite his wealth, stupid
enough enough to ., make the White Eagle feel
But he had not robbed Anderson
yet. That was obvious. The White
Eagle was not the sort to linger on
after the carcass was eaten. In bed
that night | asked myself again the
question: what, when and how?
The morning papers answered me-.
For they chronicled yesterdays auc-
ton, and in mentioning the purchase
of the gold box by Marcus Anderson,
added the Illuminating line, ''who
sails for South America on Thursday
to settle the final details in the
amalgamation of various cattle-in-
terests of the Argentine"
Today was Wednesday. The White
Eagle cultivated no acquaintance
without reason. He was friendly
with Anderson because he intended
to rob him. That robbery had not
occurred up to yesterday. If it had
not occurred last night, it would oc-
cur today or tonight. And how
would I turn his k4owledge-for it
was knowledge; I knew criminals, and
more than others l knew the White
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