'•Have You Any Idea cf How He Bicame Possessed of the Key to th» House Which I Saw Him Have Yesterday ?" WijOfe lash of f IJCIRCIMSTANCE fflmvt HARRY IRVING GREENE _ Aulhor of thx» Wilderness" IllusTrrvtiona l>> O. Kv/tluef tuo W.Q.OHAI'MAH *"fc SYNOPSIS. Aimer i£«H!day. a miserly millionaire, j 1s (oun(*. gagged, bound and insensible in liii rr.om. Ids safe rifled and $40,000 miss- , itiy Tlie thread of the story is taken up j by )ifs nephew Tom. Living in the same j house an other relatives: reckless Bruce | IJalJlriay and pretty f'lare Winton. Bruce, j who Is a bond broker, hus been trying to ; raise SlO.oao to put through a deal and i Fav himsAlf from financial ruin. He has j applied to Ids miserly uncle and to others j for the loan hut has been refused. Tom ! fiends for William L*eDuc, an old-time i friend connected with a detective agency, j In relating the story Tom reverts to his ; acquaintance with a Mrs. Dace, a wealthy I widow, whose business agent is Richard I Maokay. a boodler and political boss, i Tom is jealous of Mackay and is deeply j in love with Mrs Dace. Bruce Halllday | warns him to shun her as an adventuress. Tom Mrs. Dace and Mackay togeth- j er. lie afterwards meets the woman at i a hor?e race, and. happening to mention ! that Bruce bad a tip on the winner, she , gives him SSOO to place on the race. The : tip goe* wrong and she lose* her money. I l<a*er Tom Invests <n stocks, lie inik»>* ! some money, and returns the lost SSOO to | Mr*. Dace. It is at this juncture that the I ♦fceft of the $-10,000 from old Abner lialli- | tf'iy occurs. T-e Due meets Clare and 1 Bruce. Vl'- learns that the key which ' riafe had to the house Is missing. Mac- ; Scay'« dealings with Mrs. Dace make Tom mm 112 iealotiS. so<dV. VToVdWH.O.u Jd cmfw mm; CHAPTER XI. X -went back to the house. Clare hwj left my uncle's room and I heard her voice mingled with Bruce's on 'he lawn below. Uncle Abner had arisen and was carefully examining his papers as ho rearranged them in (heir customary order. He had been hurt but little, and now that his blood *as circulating freely again and 1 lie stiffness was disappearing from his limbs he was not suffering bodily to amount to anything. But his humor was beastly. The look with which he greeted me as I entered was almost carnivorous. "This is what comes of housing fly hv-nights who spend their money stay ing in hotels when they should be at home in the beds which they have al ready paid for,"he snarled. "If you had been here it would not have hap pened. I don't believe there was more than one thief, and he could not have held you if you had any fight in you." "He probably would not have tried It. At any rate, had I resisted I would have stood an excellent chance of being killed. Men who enter the houses of others to commit a crime at night know that they hold their own Jives in the hollow of their hands and lire prepared to meet resistance with bloodshed," I returned somewhat icily. But. the coolness of my tones only made his wratli flame the hotter. "It don't make any difference. It was your business to be here when you knew there was so much money In the house instead of running away like a coward and leaving nje to pro tect it all alone. And I suppose you expect you will inherit some of it after I am gone, but I'll show you." he yelled. The direct intimation that he would ignore me upon his death bed, find that he considered my life of less consequence than a fraction of his wealth, turned me from him with out a word, I went to my own rooin, where I stood at the window looking upon the grounds below. Bruce and Clare were wandering aimlessly about, and ■»ven at that distance I could see the norry that lay upon her face- As for Bruce, he seemed to have recovered a good deal of his old-time assurance. B*t Li turued tiway with a curt nod while she stood for a mo ment watching him with a pathetic little clasping of her hands; then turned and came hurriedly into the house. I intercepted her at the head of the stairs and signalled for her to come into my apartments. She did so, seating herself In a chair that I drew for her. "Well," I said inquir- j ingly. She shook her head. Sympathetically 1 continued: "It is really too bad and I don't under stand it either. Nobody in the world has more confidence in Bruce's hon esty than I have, and If he would only speak 1 would believe hiin against a host of circumstances. But there are certain things which he as a man should come forward and explain. Ho did not produce the key and denied ever having had it, while 1 know it was in his possession yesterday. The only thing we could get out of him was Ms permission for us togo to an uncomfortable place. Have you any idea of how he became possessed of the key to the house which 1 saw him have yesterday?" "I have not —assuming that you are right. We have been talking that same matter over and he says he had no key In his side coat pocket and never carries one there. I know that I never gave him mine, and its disappearance at this time can be nothing more than a strange coincidence. He also denies that he ever at any time had posses sion of my key, and I am satisfied that [ he did not for the reason that if he ! had I should have missed it.l don't Care a snap what anybody thinks or says; I know Bruce is as puzzled over your charge that he had it as you seem to be over his denial." Her mouth set defiantly and I knew she would defend him to the last ditch should I attack him, which, of course, I had not the remotest Idea of doing. Instead, I became even more mollify ing, hoping to reason hini out of his stubbornness through argument ad vanced to her. "I know that his denial proves nothing any more than does the fact of his going broke on 'change, or his making that silly remark that he was going to get J 10,000 some way. Neith j er would his refusal to tell us where ho spent the night prejudice me, al though it might seem somewhat sin j gular, and under the circumstances j be sufficient to arouse suspicion in | those who do not know him. But the combination of all these tilings places him in a position before Lelluc which I regret to see him occupy. You and I have often discussed his outspoken ness, and you have said (hat he did not know that there was a back door to anything. It is his present com i plete re venial of form and his evident desire to cover up something that 1 ought to be revealed that puzzles me. j Why don't he come out as he has al | ways done before and tell us where \ lie was at the time this happened? If for any reason he does not care to ! tell you, lie at least might confide in ! me, knowing as he does that any ! secret would be safe in my keeping. ! Then I cnuld investigate his state ment merely as a matter of form, and I having found it true 1 could satisfy i HeDuc or anybody else without going ! inio particulars. If on the other I hand there is any reason why he aon't ' care to take you or nie luto his con fidence, he could at least talk to Le- Due, who would Keep kis secret equal- ! ly sacred, and we would be none the wiser. I sincerely regret his obstln- j acy, for even though it dues not get him into any particular trouble it j may compel him togo through an or- j deal that may be unpleasant for us all. 1 know 1-eDuc well enough to be lieve that he will get at the bottom of this affair If he possibly can, no matter whom he uncovers as he digs." She breathed a little sigh. "Of course I appreciate all that and I have tried to reason with him, but he would not listen to me uny more t>m he did to you. He almost swore when I begged him to ignore me and tell you men all about himself. While I would stake iny life upon his inno cence of all complicity In this matter. 1 can explain it to myself in only one way, and 1 cannot force myself to be- j lieve even that." Our eyes met squarely. "I am certain there Is no other woman in the case; Bruce is not that kind," I stated positively. She reddened and her hands be came tight little fists. "No, 1 will not believe such a thing of him," she cried with a slight quivering of the lips. Quickly she arose and passed into niy uncle's apartments with head on high. It seemed too bail that T had beeu obliged to mention such a distasteful thing, but I knew well enough that despite herself it was hovering in her mind, and I wanted io add my convictions of his moral honesty to her own. It distressed me to see her unhappy, but deeming it best to let her have a little time in which to compose herself I did not follow her, leaving the house almost, immediately thereafter, and In fact avoiding any further contact with my uncle (hat day. A little later I had gotten Mrs. Dace on the telephone and tolil her that 1 would like to see her as I was the possessor of rather startling news She asked me to come to her at once. She did not to be as surprised or interested at my recital as I thought the tale warranted. To be sure her eyes quickly arose to mine when 1 told her of flfce crime, and she gave me her undivided attention until 1 had finished; then seemed to be turn ing the affair over in her own mind, for she allowed several minutes to elapse without comment. "Whom do you suspect—l mean you personally?" she then asked me. i requested that she pledge herself to secrecy, which she did with a little laugh that told me that, she consid ered such a formula superfluous. "I suspect absolutely no one. Yet I am puzzled and worried by liruee's conduct. I do not attach much im portance to his denial of having the key and our failure t.o find it, although 1 cannot account for the denial part of it. Neither do 1 give great weight to his words about his going to get hold of a large sum of money. I take it for granted that when he said lie was going to raise it somehow or oth er it was with the mental reservation that it was to be done honestly, of course. Also when it comes to his absolute refusal to tell us where he was last night I can imagine a solu tion of that, for when a man !•» under the influence of liquor lie will some times do things that he would not i think of were he in his right mind. It is also on record that sleep walk ers sometimes commit burglaries I when they are in a trance and are I utterly irresponsible for their actions. lake that recent case that everybody : was talking about. The person in j volved attended a dance and became j very tired, fell asleep on the way j home, skilfully broke into his own | house and robbed himself of money j that lie had hidden away, and the next I day remembered nothing about the matter. It was long afterwards that J he happened to stumble across the money where he had secreted it in his semiconscious state." She did not appear to be particular ly impressed by my statement. "I atn inclined to believe that whoever I robbed your uncle at least thought he ! knew what he was about." she an swered with what I imagined was a faint suggestion of sarcasm. "How ever, Bruce, being somewhat indis posed and in an excited state, might have unconsciously let fall a remark in some public place, which, in con nection with his perhaps exhibiting the key, led to its being stolen from him and the perpetration of the crime by some one else." I acquiesced. "112 have thought of that as a pos sible solution of the reason as to why he will not reveal his whereabouts, and I am certain It will not escape Le- Duc. Perhaps Bruce is conscious of having been indiscreet in his speech or actions and is ashamed to talk about it.. But this much is fairly cer tain. It is too great a stretch of the imagination to conceive that the at tack upon the safe at this particular time was made at liap-hazard. The one who did it knew to a certainty that the money was in the house. And | so far as we now know but four per sons in the world had that knowl edge, namely, Uncle Abncr, Bruce, J myself and-—" 1 paused, clearing my i throat and giving her an opportunity Ito interrupt me if she chose. She did so promptly. "You told me," she said sweetly. "Therefore it seems to lie between Bruce and myself." The opening that 1 bad been feinting for was now before me and I thrust at It. "Is it not barely possible that Janet, 'he maid, might have overheard me mention the fact of uncle having a large sum in the safe and thought lessly repeated it to some acquaint ance of hers?" Although not a muscle of her face moved, in some mysteri ous way I knew that my companion was smiling inwardly. "No. Janet hears nothing that is not spokeu to her, and 1 do not per mit her to have lovers. Besides, you say the thief had a key to the front door. How do you account for an outsider possessing that?," I wondered if she had forgotten the incident of my keys having been for some days in the possession of the maid and the possibility of du plicates easily made from the original. I hesitated for a moment as 1 idly turned the pages of a book that she might have time to recall this circum stance. but she merely sat placidly surveying me and I thought it would be better taste not to mention it. Iler confidence in Janet seemed to be complete, and of course in matters of this kind if the maid was guilty her mistress would be the last one in whom she would confide. I therefore decided to abandon the subject for the time. "I do not attempt to account for it," I returned slowly. "But as must be apparent to you. my cousin Bruce Is under suspicion In some quarters, and believing from the bottom of my heart that he Is innocent. I am trying to evolve a theory which will let him out despite his own obstinacy and seeming determination to keep him self in. I was merely trying to dis cover all possible leaks through which the information might have escaped. I have told Mr. LeDuc everything and you need not be surprised If he calls upon you. But he is a gentleman and you need have no hesitancy about talking to him freely." She appeared a trifle annoyed at this prospect, but after a moment's reflection, wherein her brow was clouded, she drew a long breath. "Poor Bruce," she said sympathetical ly. "It would be a shame if he should somehow get dragged Into this. In ihe few times I met him I learned to ad mire him very much. It Is impossible I i hat he is guilty—l simply know be is not. I sincerely hope that he may , clear himself without publicity." "Amen," 1 responded heartily. CHAPTER XII. A few days later there happened a ! little incident so inexplicable and irri i tating in its character that it caused |me considerable annoyance aud i thought. It was one of those peculiar : occurrences that one does not care anything about in itself, yet which j exasperates him because of his in ability to explain It. It so happened that 1 desired to wear a certain suit of clothes which I had purchased a | short while before, and with that pur pose before me went Into the closet where 1 kept my spare apparel hang ing in order to get it out. I could not ' i ! v^sS^'v "It Is a Plain, Unmitigated, Unadulterated Forgery." find it. Growing more and more im patient as 1 searched among my things I at last removed all that the closet contained, article by article, and laid them on the bed. The suit that 1 was looking for was certainly missing. I sat down and thought. 1 remem bered distinctly the last time 1 had worn it, and had an equally cleat recollect ion of replacing it in its ac customed place at the end of the day. 1 was positive that 1 had not touched it since that time and its absence now, as far as I was able to reason, could only be explained on the theory of theft. I went downstairs Jo Mis. Teh bets to question her about it, and happening to recall that she had ex pressed her admiration of it upon seeing it upon me for the first time, I now described it to her as the suit which 1 had worn on Derby day. She answered me very promptly. "Why, yes. That is the one you sent me word about, yesterday.l let the man have it as you told me to in the note." I looked at her in mystification, knowing that I had sent her no note and being at a loss to grasp her meaning. "What note—whit man?" 1 demanded. She sv.ood rubbing her daiuy Uaudj *ith * towel and ntjcui ingly a little impatient at my stupidl ity. "The note on your card which you sent me only yesterday saying that I was to give it to the tailor," she re torted. I could only repeat somewhat more emphatically that I had done no such thing. She threw down her towel with a sniff and began rumaging about among the odds and ends of a shelf. Presently she picked up a small piece of cardboard, which she handed me with an expression of triumph. "Very well. Just read It for yourself then, if that is not your card and writing I cannot trust my eyes, and If I can not trust my eyes the Ix>rd knows what I can trust. And that is all I have got to say about that." I seized the piece of paper and glanced at it. It was certainly either one of my cards or a perfect imitation, and hav ing satisfied myself on that point I turned It over and saw written on the back a few lines, which while certain ly bearing a strong resemblance to my chirograpliy when I scribble in a hurry, were »s certainly not mine. They read: "Mrs. Tebbets: I'lease to deliver to the bearer, who is in the employ of my tailor, the suit of clothes I wore on Derby day that he may press the same. Thomas Halli day." For a mom»nt I was too surprised to do more than turn it over in mute incredulity. Then I turned upon her sharply. "What kind of a looking man brought this?" "Ho was short and fat. I guess he was about as old as you are. I thought at the time that he looked funny in the eyes, but I did not let him in the house and did not pay much attention to him. I am always careful about admitting strangers, you know. It is all right, isn't it?" "No, there isn't anything right about it. It is a plain, unmitigated, unadul terated forgery. Hid he say anything more to you?" Her chin dropped. "Well, of all things! To think of I the impudence of people nowadays, i No. sir, he said scarcely a word and | I never did like the looks of him. He | just took the, clothes and went away as fast as he could, and I never j thought of it again. But that is cer i tainl.v your card, isn't, it, Mr. Tom? j It looks just like those 1 used to seo jon your dresser." It was plain that I she was beginning to be distressed I and 1 hastened to reassure her. "The card is either mine or a very clever imitation. 1 mil not quite cer tain of which as yet. But in all ! probability is it of mine. The writing is also a fair counterfeit. Any way, it is good enough to fool almost any one. and I do not blame you in the least for having been deceived. Don't feel worried about it.for it is not your fault at all. Nevertheless, there is something wrong about it and I don't undestand it."l thrust the card into my pocket and returned to my rooms a great deal more perplexed than I had been when I left them. Hastily 1 attempted to run over, in my mind (lie people who could by any possibility have had access to my private stationery, but was obliged to dismiss that thought when I real ized that my cards were scattered throughout the entire list of my ac quaintances and that my card case containing a number of them was still missing. The field of possibilities In this direction was too large for me to form even a remote conjecture, and 1 was drawn to the conclusion that it in all probability was the work of some clever sneak thief who had found my card case and then written the note upon it. But even that was an explanation which explained nothing. Clranting that a petty rascal had picked up the cards containing my name and address, how was he able to so closely counterfeit ray handwriting; and n ore mysterious tl;un ull eis«, how did tig X had been to the Derby t/r had wore any especial suit upon that day? The more 1 cudgeled my brains over it th» more benumbed they became, until at last I picked up my hat and rushed out of the house. Having but littl® idea that I would learn anything by so doing, I nevertheless immediately boarded a car and going lo the shop of my tailor threw the note on the counter before him. "What do you know about that note, Johnson?" I de manded. He picked it up, adjusted his eye glasses and read it with a slowly forming and negative pursing ol' his mouth. Then he held it forth. "Nothing at all. What is there about it?" I took the card from him and replaced it, carefully in my pocket aa I made my reply. "Only this —that it Is a forgery. And while I did not for a moment think that you had any information about it,l went to the pains of coming hero to ask you. Neither do I suppose you know anything concerning the where about. of the clothes mentioned." His answer furnished me the second sur prise of the day. "Oh. yes, I do. The suit is here all right. It was brought in yester day by a strange men who said yon wished me to press it for you. 1 havo done so and it is now in perfect condi tion." I looked at him with the in credulity with which one faces a per son who makes an incredible staro inent with a straight face and under the guise of seriousness. "Let me see the suit." I ordered. lie did so, tod I inspected it critic ally. I could discover nothing amis* with it externally, and searching the pockets found they were empty. How ever, that was to be expected, as I could remember having nothing in them when 1 had hung it away, cer tainly nothing of any value to any body but myself. 1 had only succeed ed in thickening the mystery which enveloped this extraordinary transac tion, and puzzled beyond expression. I arranged with the tailor that in the future he should allow none of my clothes which he happened to havo in his possession to leave his hands upon an order ostensibly written by me unless the order contained a secret mark which we then and there agreed upon. Then instructing him that if any one called for the suit in question and presented an order for the same not bearing the minute token of Its genuineness which we | had just invented, that he was to de j tain him until lie could summon an ; officer and have him arrested, 1 de parted. What possible object any person could have had in wishing to secure possession of a suit of my clothes which contained nothing of | the slightest worth, and who bavin* i secured possession of it should goto | the trouble of conveying it from my I house to the tui'or shop was utterly j beyond my comprehension. The for j ger had not injured the clothes, as ! some petty-minded enemy might have j done out of a spirit of spite, and al ! together 1 could conceive of no pos sible benelit or satisfaction any one I could have derived from such an elaborate and criminal subterfuge, ut terly baffled, I determined to say nothing more about it for the time, I quietly awaiting any new develop- I incuts that might arise. ! The next morning anther <rrang»» j tiling had happened. I was dressing for the day at my customary hour for | arising when suddenly the houso i keeper's knuckles fell upon the door |in a series of nervous taps. She al l most never came to the upper floor ] before the breakfast hour, and I there j fore searched her face with some cu j riosity as I told her that she might j enter. She immediately burst forth in I an excited volley. "Oh. Mr. Tom! The house has been i burglarized again in the night. What j on earth are we coining to with such ; people prowling all around in the j darkness? 1 never was so frightened iin my life. 1 declare I nearly fell in | a faint when 1 discovered it. Please come with me and I will show you." j Oumfoundedly, and with my necktie ! still dangling from njy hand, I fol j lowed her squat figure as she climbed I down the front stairs, waddled I through the dining room and kitchen j and then one foot at a time descend j «d the steep stairs that led to th<» I basement. There was only one door J entering from the outside into these I lower regions and that wa3 never used —in fact, had been bolted ever since my occupancy of the premises. The aperture in the side of the house through which the coal supply was dumped from the drive into the bin was protected by an iron grating which was always carefully locked after such an operation, and the low windows which admitted light to the i furnace room had fixed iron bars on | tiie outside. The police, LeDuc »nd j myself had gone over this region thoroughly in our search and had found that the locks had not be p n tampered with nor the gratings dis turbed; the dust and the rust had proven that beyond contention. Now to my amazement I saw that the door toad been forced by some power ful instrument that had torn the re ceiving socket for the bolt bodily from fasten inps. My hair arose with a sold tingling of my scalp, much as it might have done had I been suddenly confronted by some uncanny object in the dead of night. (TO BE CONTINUED.) Postgraduate Course. Tretty Daughter—Now that I have graduated, mamma, don't you think I ought to take a postgraduate course? Practical Mother—Certainly, my I dear, 1 have arranged a complete 1 course for you lu roastology, bnhe j oloey, darnology. f-ewolopy, patch | ology, was-hology, Iranology and (tet> erai domestlcolory Hun a'ong Ccw i tutd *st <?a fojj tr«rkte* Ummw.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers