mn‘a RB = | Ame «0 ) ®) I SE Torfoise Yrederic CHAPTER V. THE MOST IMPORTANT CHAPTER IN THE BOOK. CLARA ACTS THE DETECTIVE. “IT’s time to get up, sir. Missus said as ‘ow I must get you up by half-past nine.” I looked up in astonishment. In the doorway stood our red-faced country servant girl nodding good-humoredly at me. “Where is your mistress gone? “Missus went out at half-past eight, and said as ow I must wake you up and have the breakfast ready hy ten o'clock.” There was no mistaking this order, so I hurtied up, a little ashamed at having slept so long. No sooner was I dressed, than there was a ring at the front doorbell, and ia stepped Monk with a vésy serious face, He was not one of $hose who are much affeeted by one or even two nights of sleeplessness, but to-day he looked unusually tited and weaty. . “I'm afraid you havent had a good night. left you; we shouldn’t have kept you up so long!” “It was rather I who kept both of you | up so late. But where is your wife gone?” 4 “Clara went out at half-past eight, ‘the girl says; but she is sure to be home | erick’s breakfast. n.* Why do you ask?” “She telephoned to me a quarter of an hour ago. She told me to eome here at once, as she had something of import- ance to tell me.” “She must uave telephoned from some place in town,” I answered, somewhat surprised, “Your wife made some very sensible remarks about the photograph, yester- day,” said Monk, hesitatingly. “Has she said anything more on the subject?” “Hullo, Monk,” I answered, laughing; i You've come to consult Clara Vier, he private detective!" Monk hadn't time to answer, for in came the wery person we spoke of. Her cheeks were rosy with the sharp morn ing air. In her hand she carried an un- tidy, badly packed, brown paper parcel “Flease excuse me, Mr. Monk, for Liceping you waiting; but I was obliged { to c~ll in at the charcuterie establish- ment to get something tasty for Fred- Such a gourmand as he is! For you, I have got something eise. But take a seat at the table and have a eup of coffee; I will just run and slip off my things—1 shan’t be gone a minute,” She vanished from the room just as suddenly as she had appeared. Monk and I sat down at the brealk- fast table, and Clara soon joined us. Both she and I did. good justice to the viands, but Monk only played with his knife and fork. : When we. were finished, Clara asked me for the key to the safe in my office. She returned with the photograph and the magnifying ;lass, and laid them beside Monk on the table. Monk avd. I looked at her in astonish- ment. She also placed the brown paper parcel near. “Yesterday I promised to show you that the photograph had been tampered _ with. I could have done it at the time, but I was anxious to refute all the ob- jections which I knew you and Fred- erick would bring forward, and that is why 1 waited until to-day. The matter is soon settled; the lady who stands in the photograph has on 3 little hat with a feather im it. On which side is the feather?” Monk glanced “On the right side 1 Ves, quite So; now do you think that | any lady wears fed! ‘oh ‘the right side Of her hE?” : “No ~now I come to think of it,’ ladies ‘usually wear: feathers on the left: side of their hats,” Monk said, ooking uncertainly a " b both, “Usually, do oy No lady (Ever eats eath RE ere ‘thay ‘be ‘Sofiething in what you say, Mrs. Viller,” Monk's voice a8 ° still somewhat uncertain; “but this {8 of course only the little wing of a wood- cock; and Evelina—Miss Fricle—I mesg the lady in the Photograph—might, & foe once have placed it on the DT “Not to mention” I added, ‘that the 128y in ‘a ‘htitry ‘might ‘Hive put on the hit the ‘wrong way.” “That is exactly We argarient 1 en pected |” showed Clara, triamphantiy. “Phat’s just the way then ‘argue; see lrerc! Here ds the selfsame hat which Evelina .and Sigrid wore that day the diamond was stolen. Now you can see for yourselves!” She tore the ‘paper off the parcel and drew ‘out a little green fekk with a ‘brown ‘wing a it, sad ‘showed it 'to Monk. Mork jumped up end clutched the hat greedily. His hands trembled with excitement. “T have haught i¢ from Mrs. Reierzon oa ers on mappa at the photograph Not at 1] ve to-day,” continued Clara. "I pretena- ed that a rich English lady was col- lecting curiosities from celebrated trials. As it was fortunately rather far on in the quarter, I could s: see that Mrs. Reler- son was apparently in great need of money. She was even sober.” Monk sat with the hat in his hand, staring at it; I went up to him. “The feather is sewn fast,” he mut- tered, has ever been fixed on the other side.” “But what if she had put on the hat the wrong way?” Clara laughed heartily. “Here, you shall see for yourselves!” She snatched the hat out of Monk's hand «and set it on her own head. I collapsed. The feather slanted backward as it | I bh . Isn't that so? “and there are no signs that it ar Fi did in the photograph when the hat was put on properly. But if it was turned back to front, as Clara now had it, it slanted forward in a ridiculous manner. There could be no mistake—the pho- tograph had been tampered with! “Are you both convinced ?” exclaimed Clara, “Yes,” 1 answered, “it is all fraud and trickery.” : “This is a very strange affair,” said Monk, and began again to examine the hat which Clara had put in front of him. In the meantime I took the photo- graph and the hr "8 £ glass gan again $0 exami: Perhaps there's something else £ discover, I thought to myself. - Suddenly I laid down the magnifying glass and leant back in my chair, roar- ing with laughter. The other two thought, no doubt, that I had gone mad. ““That’s a bit too much!” I exclaimed. “The person who has got up this pho- tograph must have been audacity or ig- norance personified; just imagine that such a t out before! Look at Venus de Milo! ha, ha, ha, ... ha! Do you know the “Venus de Milo, Monk?” “Do you mean the little copy in ivory which stands in Ffick's museum, and which has ot you have there?” Monk's voice was i gentle enough; but I saw by his face It was dreadfully late when we ; that he was full of éxcitement ahd éx- pectation. “Let me see!” ‘Clara rushed ‘forward and snatched the photograph and the magnifying glass out of my hand. i “What is the matter, then, with this Venus? As far as I can see by the , photograph the little ivory copy must be quite a work of art, but I can’t see anything remarkable about it.” “Ne, betause she has got ne hat or clothes on her, turned round to Monk-—“how many arms has Venus de Milo?” “Only half an arm on the right side, and none on the left.” “But this one has half an arm on the left side and nothing on the right. can’t: understand it,” remarked Clara. She had kept hold of the picture, but now passed it on to Monk, and looked at me sceptically. < “There, you can see!” 1 said tein . umphantly. “When a woman has fixed and be- hat, although it should appear on the left, and the Venus de Milo has an arm on the side where there should be none—but no arm where there ought to be one. If, then, the person in the pho- tograph in the same way has also. her eft arm where her right should be, and vice versa, then the great point raised yy the prosecution f 5 to the ground. It is her right-hand finger which bears the ring.” “Yes, you are right; but the time? The clock in the elephant’s forehead?” Instead of answering, Monk went over to a little alarm clock which stood on the writing table, He first set to work to move the hands, carefully shielding the dial from us; then he signed to us to follow him, and he led the way over to a long mir- ror at the other end of the room. He placed Clara and m= in front of the mirror, he himself standing behind us, holding up the clock. “Look in the mirror now, and tell me what the time is’ “Twenty-one. minutes to six,” an- swered Clay and I at the same moment. “Now turn round and look at the clock—well, what do you say now? It is twenty-one minutes past six, isn’t it?” It was now Clara’s and my turn to make our deductions. “You mean, then; that the picture is altogether a fraud? It is just as if everything had been turned about, so that left becomes right ‘ and right becomes wrong.” as this hasn’t been. found e out in the photograph “I mean,” answered Monk, briskly, “that the photograph itself is all right, and the person who is in the photograph is Evelina Reierson. At the moment when she was photographed, she wore a feather on the left side of her hat, in her left hand she held the diamond, and on the right hand she wore a ring. The time was twenty-one miftutes past six.” “But how—?" “I'll soon tell you. The whole secret lies in the fact that the photograph was taken from a reflection in a mirror!” “In a mirfor?” “Yes, ifi, a mipfor.” “You are tight ! That explains all!” “Yes, all; and even a little more Np perhaps, yot1 have not thought en from my eyes, and I can see once more!” “This is mo time for Biblical lan- guage, my dear Mohk; let us hear what you mean by ‘even a little more.” “You are right! Well, we have got so far that we know the picture has - been tzken in a mirror; but in what But look héere—" I . : mirror? “Well, that is for you to find out; both Clara ahd ‘I have done our duty.” +“You ¢erthidly have; and I shall manage the rést—at least I hope so. On the wall just opposite the cupboard in the museum—the one which appears here in the photograph—there is, right enough, a mirror, a tolerably large one, * and it is in that mirror that the pho- i a feather on the wrong side of her hat, you can detect it at once; but when a woman has her only arm placed on the left side, instead of the right, then you ‘don’t notice it. But what is the mat- ter with Monk?” He had been looking at the picture for a moment through the magnifying glass, when he suddenly let both fall and jumped up from his seat. He placed one hand over his eyes, and kept it there for some time. Then he let it fall and stared into space, muttering: “What a fool and an idiot I have been! I pretend to be a detective! I am blind —completely blind! 1 tried to judge others, and yet have not been able to see before my own nose! I am not worth the dust I eat!” “you don’t seem to eat much dust; you live plainly, we may say, but well. I Suppose you mean the dust beneath your eet.” . To my astonishment, Monk still re- mained standing and staring into space, while he repeated: — “The dust beneath my feet.” tograph was taken.” - “But then, the persom who took it must have stood - right beside Evelina, aad, he cof ot very well have avoid- pi ig a in the photograph.” It was Clara who made this oh “You are quite right, Mrs. Viller; ' but he stood so much to one side that _ theory, you say? he did not come within the frame of the mirror. To prevent the frame from ‘showing in the photograph, he has clipped it on both sides. That is why the picture is so narrow.” ! “This is all very well,” I felt com- pelled to remark, “but there is one thing which upsets the whole of your fine theory. Is it at all likely that Evelina would .allow any one to stand beside her and photograph her in the mirror, while she was about to steal a diamond, or, more correctly, would she k heaven the scales have fall- ' must get old Frick’s permission to visit the room, as you call it. I fancy that is where we shall find the key to the mystery. But how shall we be able to see him? He won't receive me, and I am afraid he will have heard of our friendship, and so refuse to see you, Frederick.” “IT shall manage to see old Frick,” said Clara, “and get you admitted, as well. But I am ashamed of you, Monk! Have you quite forgotten Sigrid?” “Forgotten Sigrid!” answered Monk, blushing like a peony. “Yes, forgotten her, I say. What was the exact time by the clock when the photograph was taken in the mirror?” “It must have been twenty minutes past six.” “And the whole of the time between six and seven Sigrid sat with her uncle, drinking tea with him. Wasn't that so?” “Yes. ” “Then her innocence is proved, wheth- er the Englishman had been inside old Frick’s fire-proof room, or not. Why don’t you telegraph to Sigrid at once? Why haven’t you done so half an hour ago? Rather than marry a detective, I would see myself—" Monk tried to answer this terrible volley, but was scornfully sent about _ his business. So it was arranged that Clara should go to old Frick, and as soon as Monk cand I had telegraphed to New York, we were to go to Villa Ballarat and wait outside till Clara gave a signal that the siege was raised. CHAPTER VI. OLD FRICK AGAIN, As Monk had told us, old Frick had been for many years lame, and a pris- oner to his invalid chair. Imagine, then, Monks and my sur- prise when we, on entering Villa Bal- larat, after having been sent for from our post outside, found the master of . the house standing in the middle of the | tfoom, and Clara sitting smiling in a chair, It is not mecessary to describe the meeting between him and Clara, al- | though my wife, at the time, gave a full account ‘of it. Suffice it to say that she boldly em- tered the lion’s den and, without much : ceremony, began upbraiding old Frick choose the moment to steal the dia- mond while she was being photo- | ; . graphed?” “Hold hard!” I shouted, laughing, “Yes, it was just that point which I found to be the most difficult a little while ago, when I was building up my theory, so to speak; but I have hap- pily solved that question, and the solu- ‘tion opens up a still larger vista to us.” “When you were building up your Do you mean those ' seconds a little while ago, when you I often thins of that scene, and how strangely we may act when the brain is really at work. Monk afterward told | me that he hadn't the faintest idea what | words he had uttered at the time, but that during the few seconds which | elapsed, the whole story of the affair ' . which had taken up so many years of . his life again passed through his brain —not in its old guise, but in quite a new form; in a new light, which helped kim to see clearly through the veil of mystery which had hitherto enveloped the thing. But suffice it to say that Monk soon himself again, or, better still, an roved edition of the depressed and resigned man we had Seen for the last few ‘days. His reyes spanded awd His lips trembled with joyous ‘enibtivh, ‘as be stood before ‘Clara: 3nd nis, and alter nagsly shook our-hands, | * is clear now, Sigrid is innocent. rove thet ear as fhe? 2 stood with staring eyes, and mutter- ing something about eating dust?” “It is possible that I behaved rather strangely,” laughed Monk; “and I | haven't an idea how long I was away from this world. But even if it was for only a few seconds, they were, at any rate, more than sufficient to reveal to me what had really taken place behind the scenes, and which 1, until now, have been quite deceived abotit. Just listen! , If you remeihber thy description of the little house in Frick's garden, of which the mi was a part, you will re- member that from the museum there is a door leading to the fire-proof room. This door is just at the side of the cufbBard whith ‘we Have réferrel to so with his hard treatment of his brother’s children. “If your nephew has erred,” she said, “he was young at the time, and in bad company—that I can vouch for.” She was, thinking, no doubt, of Mr. Howell. “As far as your niece is concerned, you have judged her, as the whole world has judged her, on suspicion, without t taking into consideration her character.” Old Frick had got red in the face at these words, and his arms and legs had begun twitching violently. Clara was a little afraid the old man would have a fit, but remembering the old saying, “Joy does not kill,” she con- tinued, quite undisturbed: “Something has, however, happened, which you have not deserved, Mr. Frick. Monk ‘and two friends, my husband and my- , “discovered, as we shall prove, that she has had nothing whatever to do. with the disappearance of the dia- mond; it is the scoundrel Mr. Howell “who is at the bottom of it all.’ In fact, in a short time you may have your niece back again, and for the remainder of your life you'll have an opportunity of making amends for your mistake.” ; There is no doubt Clara was most successful in her appeal; for instead of old Frick having a fit, he suddenly rose from his chair, stumbled across to Clara, and in a trembling voice asked her for a fuller explanation. The excitement had cured his lameness; and though he never entirely regained the full use of his legs, yet from that moment he was, at any rate, able to move about by him- i self, I shall not dwell on the meeting be- tween old Frick and Monk and myself. . Many minutes had not elapsed before oftéfi. Mie ‘only ‘Way %h Which one ’ icould, by aid of the mirror, ‘phete- geaph a periion without being noticed in front of the cupboard, would be by tanding inside the dre-proof heav ins he the floor oto Se Lam ajar. day; shd 1 ¢an also prove who Englishman scoundrel is”—here a dik Shadow over a Se a hs Hg ik ] spread His ‘ude who fs the 'dathor ‘of “Tae “Boor all this wretched treachery.” on be open?” : iat bows’ i “No, sit is m strong irom door of “It soon explained,” answered | which old Brick had the key; but for a Monk. Sere me, why was it that Eve- | clever man, whose e was his own, lina was uitt use it was iQ it would mot Be a dificult matter to proved that the joe not be the person | prééiire a" fale ey. Nou remember who ‘appeared ‘ih ‘the ‘photograph—do J FOU ‘femembep?” “Yes of course! First ofall, ‘Decatise the person in the photograph has ‘a ‘ting * on the third finger of the deft hand, while Evelina, on account of an injury to her finger when a child, could not | get a ring on ‘this finger.” “Yes, quite Tight; ‘and’ then?” : “Then “the '‘pPhétograph “showed the tite ‘to be ‘twenty-Sne ‘minutes ‘to ¥ix; i E and 4t the time, it was proved that Bie- fina was at ‘her ‘mother’s.” “Quite 80; but in the photograph, as that Howell had had the entrée to ‘the 1 museum whenever he liked, for many the.” “gr what business had the English- man in there? Me must have been a ghoviidvel; and there is ho rea- ison ‘Why "Ne ould not ‘Help Himself ‘to ‘what ‘he could find. - Butperhaps there was not much cash there, and besides, you have not sald anything about eid Frick being robbed of any.” open are Wight I cannot yet quite + proof room. But one thing you canbe you and your wife have shown me, a certain of, and that is, that he was there feather appears on the right side of the for no coed -_— EY “USER 00 ESE some wav er other we rt a db pp a sr see what die ‘watited in ‘old ‘Prick’s fire- ° we seemed to have known each other for many years, He had gained a re- spect for Clara which, I think, will last to the end of his life. . Only the most necessary explanations were given,—happily Monk was a man who expressed himself briefly and clear- ly,—and so it was decided to adjourn to the museum in the garden. Old Frick took with him a large bunch of keys which lay on the table beside his in- valid chair, at which he now cast a scornful glance, as well as at the ser- vant who came forward to wheel his master. There was no necessity for more witnesses, so the servant, greatly to his surprise, was dismissed, and with Frick leaning upon Monk’s and my amm, we set out for the museum, t ‘was with Very mixed feelings that Cléra and saw the scene of ‘the events which had for @hitee days entirely en- grossed our théaghts. 1 do ‘hot doubt that Monk and old Frick weve jist as much affected, even if their feelings were of guite another kind. We entered the pavilion in the garden atid proceeded ‘through the museum. | Everything was in exactly the Jae state, did Fo4 Ha hd Méik said, us it was six years befoie. O1d. Friek pulled out 2 key and opened the door.into the fire-proof moom,, As if by a tacit understanding Clara went across ahd stood in front of the cupboard di ‘whisk ‘the blaék tortoise glistened—which was «dpesied by old Frick—while we others wemt into the room and pulled the door almost to, after us. There, sure enough, thr on the large mirror just opposite, and in eupboard and the shelf above it, with the little elg and the Venus de Milo, and ‘Clara's figure with her back to us. “Confound it all!” shouted old Frick, “jt is just as Monk says. The rascal has been standing ‘in ‘here ‘and photo- ing “her!” graphing “he Clara said she must @lso see it; she went into the room, while I took hee ! But Monk did not allow us to lose Fe] any more time. ough the opening, our ‘gaze ‘involanterily fell - the glass ‘we saw the reflection .of the ' ¥ { i f § Rove AVegetable PreparationforAs- similating the Food andRegula ting the Stomachs and Bowels of 3 re -| ness and Rest Contains neitfer | Opium Morphine nor Mieral | NOT NARCOTIC. “hy Diarrhoea ‘Worrs Convulsions. Fverishe | ness and LOSS OF SLEEP. | PacSuile Signature of Ton. titi 8 # Sige Tae CENTAUR COMPANY, EW YOR Ath months old CAST Bears the Signature For Infants and Children. Mothers Know That Genuine Castoria Always of Use For Over Thirty Years —GASTORIA THE CENTAUR COMPANY, I.TW YORK CITY. A SP TEE . “Have you missed anything from the fire-proof room, Mr. Frick?” he asked. “The Englishman must have had some reason Yor providing himself with a key to fit it” “No,” answered old Frick, after hav- ing considered a moment. “1 keep noth ing in here but documents and papers, which only concern me. oney I al- ways kept in the iron safe in the office.” “There hire two iron safes here,” said Monk. “Yes,” answered old Frick, “in the larger safe I keep family papers, etc, which are of no value to any one. In the small one over there—which is of course nothing but an iron box, but is provided with an unusually ingenious lock—I keep my will, and 2 list of what I possess.” The large safe was opened, and a lamp was brought in from the museum. The safe, with its contents, was care- fully examined, but nothing unusual could be discovered. “Now comes the turn of the box,” said Monk. “Will you help me to bring it out into the museum, Frederick?” Although the whole thing was not more than sixteen or twenty inches square, it was so massive that we had to” use all our strength to move it out into the daylight. It was a handsome steel box, the four sides and the lid being ornamented with chased arabesques. Old Frick brought out a key of un- usual shape. “Wait a bit, Mr. Frick,” said Monk, holding up his arm; “when was the last time this box was opened 7” “Six years ago,” said Frick, slowly, “when 1 altered my will—God be praised that I can alter it yet once again!” “Did Mr. Howell know anything about the will?” “Yes, of course. I made him my heir to all which does not go to chari- ties, and legacies, ‘and suchlike. It is about £30,000. At first I had divided it equally between Sigrid, Einar, and him, but then—then—well I don’t think it necessary to explain the rest; but then came this business, and I struck Sigrid’s and Einar’s mames ont.” “And he knew where you kept it?” “Yes; a day or two before he left, I read it to him, here in the museum, and put it in the box, while he was looking.” Monk was all the time examining the box most carefully, and some time passed ‘before ‘he spoke. (To be Continued.) Health Notes. The greatest care should be teken of the teeth. Equal parts of eastile soap, powdered orris root nd precipf- tated chalk mike a ‘good ard inexper- die ‘tooth powder Mail biting can be cured by will power alone in older people, as it | somes ‘from nervousness. With chil wen dip the ends of ‘the fingers im. guinine or a little extract. of quassin. Sate Our Job Work HAVE YOU TRIED THE JOB WORK OF THE COMMERGCIALY OUR WORK IS OF THE BEST AND OUR PRICES ARE RIGHT. 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