Evening star., 1927-10-30

and get back as soon as possible. |
went to the bank and after ] received
! the money | got into the cab to return.
| hut my guy met me on the way
| and took the money from me, saying
! he had to so into the city. / went to
! the office on Saturday morning and !
| found q letter from the guy nor in.
closing 10 pounds and directing me to
| go for months holiday and wire him
where ] was. When | came back from
my holiday I found another letter
! telling me he would not want mo any
! longer and inclosing a 10-pound note"
The detective nodded with Il grim
! satisfaction at this veiication of his
| theory of the crime. "Have a drink
! SON" he said amiably. And as they
! leaned over the bar. "IIaVe you got
| one of those letters on YOU"
| The clerk had. FroeSt looked at the
writing and put the note in his pocket.
| one never knew when it might prove
useful.
Then he took his new acquaintance
with him to Scotland Yard. There,
one after another, the clerk was
shown all the portraits of expert
| forgers stored in the RoGUcs Gallery.
| Over each and every one he shool;
his head. He could not recognize his
!
so simple II matter as may he imag-
| ined 10 make an Identification from a
| photograph. Froest bit his lip. All
! his hard labor and ingenuity seemed
to have led him into cul-de-saC.
True. cunning and adrot question
ing did elicit from the clerk a de-
scription of the forGer. 1t resembled
no one that FrOest or his colleagues
recognized. The young man laid
stress on the dark restless eyes of
the wanted man.
FroeSt wrote down the description
and il went into the archives OF the
Yard after a period of fruitless work.
The deteCtive-inspector was assigned
to other matters.
THE element OF chance is one that
no experienced detective will deny.
1t was n chance that took Froest to
Paris some six months later in con-
nection with an eXtradition case. 1t
was chance that he became delayed
over the week end and so had the
luxury Of a Sunday to himself. A
lovely Spring day tempted him to an
excursion in the Forest of Fontaine
hlcau. There. after an hour or so, he
lost his bearings and cast about for
quire his way to the nearest railway
station.
A man and a girl on horseback
drew near. and, raising his hat, the
detective approached them. The man
met his inquiries civilly and gave the
required direction. Froest thanked him
and Withdrew. The pair cantered on.
on.
An active man with an idle spell
will sometimes find his mind queerly
alert. The girl a piquant, golden
haired beauty with laughing eyes.
had scarcely received glance from
the detective. 1t was the man who
intrigued him. The horSaman had
spoken in gooC French, but Froest,
who was something of a linguist, had
noticed that ii touch-the pronuncia
ton of the word "Bois," for instance
which convinced him that the other
was either British or American.
Another odd impression was made by
certain little mannerisms In the
mans appearance and demeanor--
Dartic ularly his restless dark eyes.
Froest had an uneasy feeling that
somewhere. somehow, this mans
tricks of manner had been described
to him.
The stranger of Fontainebleau had
not the least resemblance in broad
effect TO the description Of the forger,
and for the while Froest did not link
them together. Nevertheless, so
strong was the impression on his mind
that he stood for a while beneath the
shelter of group of trees on piece
OF rising ground and watched the