The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1925-08-14

call. Was the call to thnt region or
was the call something that followed
his search for this quaint old volume
and Its possession?
To Peter II appeared now that one
more piece of material was needed to
ill the pattern. He had been reluctant
to seek this piece but now there was
too much confirmation to allow any
thing to stand in the way.
He could not wait; he took his bat.
The evening was now filed with moon
light, SO clear, upon white cloud banks
on purple velvet sky, that 1t invited
all to walk leisurely under a spell of
silvery calm that even transformed
the deep streets between. Peter knew
nothing of the moon; he pursued one
endS blind to all else.
After hurrying on foot for two
blocks he succeeded i'm stopping an
empty taxicab that was gathering
southwark on the avenue.
Take me there" he said to the
driver, putting card in his hand
The car turned about as If II had
forgotten something uptown and after
ten blocks on the asphalt. swung
through q cross street to the car
tracks upon which 1t purred like a
brush on velvet until 1t turned around
a hospital on corner and found a
block of old-fashioned brownstone
houses.
Up the long steps of one of them,
Peter climbed, looking for a doctors
sign, and finding 1t there he rang the
bell.
The man he had come to see met
him in a typical doctors Office with it's
mingled and vague Impressions of
milky glass slabs. nickel instrument
trays. the vicious appearance OF
harmless nose and throat apparatus.
books bound in dark red, scattered
medical journals folded twice length
wise, the sound of water dripping into
a washbowl behind white door and
the faint smells of ether and aristol
powder.
Peter gave no inspection to the man
who received him; he began abruptly
by stating his name.
The professional man. acting from
habit, nodded, put on his glasses, took
out card case and said in carefully
nurtured tone of sympathy:
whats the matter?"
Nothing is the matter" replied De-
Wolfe, I'm not ill. / took chance
on finding you on Sunday evening.
know nothing of your Office hours. APP
parently I'm lucky"
Possibly"
81 came to consult you in your other
capacity"
The other man got up: Peter could
now see that he was tall man who
had neglected to shave that morning.
He guessed that the practice of this
physician did not flourish, but he
sensed at once the vanity of the man
the moment his second field of skill
had been mentioned.
Eyes. do little of that, too" the
doctor said with fraudulent modesty.
81 should say So" replied Peter.
"Who do you suppose sent me here?"
Zone of my lawyers. perhaps"
"The district attorney"
The doctor was plainly pleased. He
said, "Well, handwriting has been my
hobby, Mr.. DeWolfe. for nearly twen-
ty-two years. 1t began curiously
enough by triviality-an attempt to
read character through penmanship;
it has ended in scientific inquiry,
the development Of method, system
of rhythm measurements. Scarcely a
day goes by that am not consulted
by the prosecuting authorities in many
cities. l testified In London In the ia
nous Speere murder case"
II was told" said Peter. st was told
that you were in advance Of any other
man in America with perhaps one ex-
ception. came to you for that reason.
came for an opinion. For that opin-
ion will gladly pay the fee you ask,
but want TO say to you that the re-
suit of your opinion will have the
gravest bearing upon the lives of at
least two persons"
81 do not give opinions" the other
said severely, II give facts / guess
at nothing. My reports are not specu-
lations: they are statements"
Peter CALCULATED one word: Exact
ly!" He was nervous and he could not
conceal 1t.
"Well? said the doctor.
From his memoranda book DeWolfe
took out two pieces of paper. One of
them was that with the symbol of the
feathered serpent AMI the two words
1.-THE Sign" which once had been In
the possession of Jim Hennepin; the
other was the check drawn by Comp
ton Parmalee to the order Of his wife.
Brena Selcoss Parmalee. which she
had Endorsed. He placed this indorse-
ment up and not down as he put the
two pieces of paper side by side upon
the table.
"Huh!" said the doctor. bending
over them.
Peter looked up at him sharply.
''That," said the doctor. putting a
square-ended forefnger upon the
words 'The Sign"
"WhatY asked Peter.
at is an excellent example of an
attempt to disguise penmanship."
DeWolfe felt it necessary to con-
tract his muscles to hold in an excla-
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