New Britain herald., 1929-06-24

- Aucy-ucatlcQ 0X1mst ner uncle it is over. Mrs. Moffit has just s,been breeding over me with hot
 lemonade and a dish of warm olive : oil. But now she has gone, and in Y my old carpet slippers. Polyandria : 1t my feet. am drowsing over my
 book and absorbing the pleasant F heat from the cracking eucalyptus Y log in tho gra.e.
 I am fearfully alone tonight. An ' drew gone and Lucy going-not
 really going, and am gaining some.
 thing unusual in nephews, she tries
 to assure me. as if I didn't know : leaves me desolate of spirit. !" My drowsing eyes fell on calen-
 'dar hung on the wall. It Is an old calendar and there are many pen cilings on the curled and yellow top z date sheet which records the days 's Of the month of July, 1Ss6. Tn. P calendar advertises Brewers Whis. Ky and its mount pictures a voluptu- : ,ous lady. Lucy says it is inartistic. ], Nrs Moffit says it is sinful, and
 iesVtu VI tuCAn coy l SAoulu pul II u.
 We'll. I'll take 1t down after I've | had my little joke on Lucy. i, Sitting up with start. I saw that Lucy and Jerry had come in. They 1. had been making love most Of the
 day and have had hardly a word : with them.
 . ''oh. you were asleep. Uncle !. John" Lucy cried distressfully. Nothing of the sort" snapped. s. T was reading" ..r -; Lncy, laughed and kissed me and sJsrry sriansd and dropped his arm < !ovsr my shoulder: both of them then perched upon the arms of my 2 chair. I love to have them near me. !. Their bounding youthfulness warns my cooling blood. Jerry picked up ' my book. which had somehow slid : behind my back.
 Poe" Lucy sniffed. as she caught : sight of the volume. Lucy reads ,, Wells and Shaw and Mencken.
 You'll have q nightmare. Uncle . John"
 'No." I said. with a little secret
 smile. T was only reading The :Purloined Letter. had been think
 tne of your wedding present"
 What has The Purloined Letter ] rot to do with our wedding pres ent?" Lucy demanded, greatly , astonished.
 - Not your real wedding present s my dear" said banteringly. Just , a-a temporary gift. A real we'd ding present requires prayerful oscillation"
 "For an elderly bachelor you are '- wonderfully wise.'' Lucy informed
 me. ''But-I insist What has The Purloined Letter got to do with our i. temporary wedding present." .. Dear mel" I exclaimed. Don't you remember the story of The
 Purloined Deter? Listen. then: "A minister of France has stolen
 an important letter and hidden it in his house. Its recovery is impera-
 tive and tho highly trained services : of the French police are enlisted. y At various times during the minis
 ter's absence the police examine
 his house with characteristic thor
 oughness. They examine every
 square inch of his rooms and furni- ture. And-they fail. They fail be-
 cause they are mathematic!ans V without imagination-and because the minister is a poet as we'll as mathematician. Poe's detective is
 called in. He reasons that the min- D ister. knowing the conventional thoroughness of the French police.
 is too clever to conceal the letter . in the conventional way: he req
 sons that the minister will leave it
 where it is so apparent to the eye
 that it will be ignored. Poe's de-
 tective is right-and the letter is
 found in an old envelope stuck carelessly in pasteboard card-rack
 hung on the wall"
 But I still don't See what you : mean." Lucy cried impatiently. Do you. Jerry"
 I'm listening" he grinned GO
 ahead, Uncle John"
 Jerry is smart lad and I
 chuckled.
 OdSt yOuT HllIluS bdth to tld Q poker game. Lundy Is left alone in his room with his i1l-gotten win
 nings. The check and the mining
 transfer represent. in his estima .
 tion. around half a million dollars
 These papers are not negotia pIe by
 anybody else. but their value is
 known and if they get into unscru-
 pulous hands they could be sold
 back to either Lundy or Peterson
 for a considerable sum. Torridity is
 full of desperate characters -
 doesn't 1t boast of being the tough.
 est town in the West ?-and Lund,
 decides against carrying then
 around on his person until h. r.
 cords the one and cashcs r." other
 His desk is too flimsv to nrotec
 them and his safe is bror.'n What
 then. does he do with them?"