Show 11 04 the strange adventures 4 IN of chrisom christopher ther poe j 4 stories of ot strange cases solved in secret by a banker tit a N wj by ROBERT CARLTON BROWN A j copyright 1915 by SV G cl apman ei e i 4 sv THE E GOLD RS 4 i I 1 1 I christopher poe dog tiled turned off the licht and fell asleep ua sprawled st at full length on a roomy davenport I 1 it T ft as lis after midnight when he stirred tor for the uret first time stretched languidly and opened his ea e es in a moment he readied realised reali sed that he was mas in his own rooms end the discomfort of laving slept in lia lis clothes became apparent A toft loft chiming clock in the next room founded sounded in uni c en n m hah ith the door bell the doorbell aar a ain aln poe it 3 bened for his man to answer but there ft as not a step to b bt bf beard ard in reply couldn coulden t be he ana an body but a night watchman at this hour or burns burnal eY exclaimed claimed the banker straightening hie his rumpled clothes and bt stepping epping into the hall with anticipator tie gernese ong erneso he flung bide tide the apartment door hello burns I 1 I 1 leered e cr ed guessed it was you lut ou ought to be home in bed no no I 1 had enough sleep I 1 cant drug in myself self v I 1 h li it as you do I 1 ft was as at the office by ehrke this after noon burns hurried in slammed the door behind him 1001 ed about ans jausly to make euie that poe ft mas as alone glanced at his friend s clothe clothes and smiled I 1 you have been ale slewing ping since I 1 left be he queried every minute exclaimed poe and I 1 feel like a boy though I 1 would like to pull these things off and get into something decent keep em on keep em on aid maid burns dropping into a leath em chair and exhaling a long peat pent up breath poe stood tall and straight by cora COM karlbon to his friend bunched in the chair though he ft as a little below BT ay height stepping to a sm switch itch la in the wall he turned on a light ft bleb illumined burns face something new in the bad money line he asked as burns pulled forth bis his right hand which had been thrust deep in his pocket and carew open bis his clenched angers dl playing three gold coins on his moist palm they re badly wor worn observed observe 4 poe ito it uncle barn sams e own money this time answered anew ered burns you re right they re worn and look at the date poe picked up the double eagle which lay between two single ones and whistled his surprise as be he read the date 1913 worst of it la is continued burn burns they stuck our own bank on them every branch uptown bad had been tak ing them tor for a week or amo A dorried look came into his face he h leaned forward anxiously looking at the coins I 1 can t make head nor toll tail out of this thing head and tall seem to be about the same replied poe elgh ing the coin on bis his finger tips men enel de tive through years of actual money handling bandling in bank tellers cages and still till kept in practice by bla his avocation of solving crimes against banks feels like the vintage of 72 and yet dated this ear he continued they must have used an entirely new process in n sm sweating eating it cant be acid the edges are never aiom thie this thin and the letters would be sharper you see that it Is quite smoothed emoo thed boiu down particularly at the centers yes I 1 know I 1 had an idea or awo on the thing myself but I 1 in all balled up on it agreed burns they re al all I 1 this ears ear s coins that have been tarn tam with and they re ft orn as con smooth as that ten dollar gold piece you read about ft mith ath which the fellow paid back what he had borrowed from his friend and the friend paid his tailor the tailor paid the coin to the doctor the doctor gave it to the grocer and the grocer by the way cut in poe hefting mother another of the reduced coins on his sensitive finger tips didn t a lot ot of this light stuff come in through the grocery grocers 7 9 why ies cried burns howd you know that confound it ii worked all evening getting information on qu that I 1 knew I 1 d never be able to U handle this alone j good the minute you said up town I 1 thought of the grocers in that particular part of Alan manhattan hattan island there a if a reason you 11 know why uter later christopher poe smiled dreamily his violet eyes usually vivid became vague and be he absently picked up a granite paper weight placed one ot of the gold coins flat on its face again the atone stone and rubbed it back and forth fortio or three minutes musingly at unith he turned to burns who sa at jurith angers knit contemplatively hie gaze fixed on the paper weight i POW in christopher poe a 9 finger angers there s been nobody at all ow eat las ing coins since that denver gang wag wa caught three years ago has his poe asked no I 1 cant can t remember even any email sweating gw eating being reported christopher poe smiled broadly the comer comers ot of hia bile ups joining hia his nostril nostrils to in deep wrinkles wrin hlee as they invariably did when he be WM was lost in thought new york to I 1 uch such a illy silly place for or any one to try passing lightened told gold colne coins now as a criminal one might janez ean francisco Frencl tco Deu vait aa any city near the other coast they are more apt to test paper cur rency with their teeth than metal money burthen but then poe laughed they are the grea st children in the world his lips drew doyn doy n soberly but the laetit t rascals on earth to deal with ath i T thea bo criminals Crimi rals you menna 1 cried burns leaning forward having failed to catch the connection no sicilians aielli sicilians ins I 1 NN what hat about thema you were talking arout criminals criminal 1 I 1 know but I 1 a as thinking all the tle time about tho thice broad hould ered swaggering swarthy felloes fellows from the mond wondrous roLs italian isle then you think there Is a gang of sicilians behind thia this flax flux of defalcated defalc 8 ted moneys oh it 0 only the merest nott notion on poe hurriedly assured burns who ms as by this time bitting lifting on the ab blute edge of his chair endeavoring to read poe s theory in his manner the only thing we me know inow Is that grocers deal ers is butter and eggs vegetables and the like have been depositing these puny coins QU te g ner lly in uptown urton new aock I 1 ork that a all but how in the world do ou oa gather from that that the peo pie behind this thing are sicilians 9 I 1 in not sure yet but it if you can cant t sleep and want m ant to make a night ot of it I 1 in game answered poe glancing at the clock what do you mean what can we do at one 0 clock in the morning 9 asked burns curiously well in the first place we can get ready poe switched on ar arother other drop light and stretched across a low cabinet to a telephone on a swinging iron arm he ile hooked the phone into a comfortable po and called a number securing the man he want ed he asked that an ordinary grocery wagon and an old horse be ready for him at three thirty that morning mon A grocery wagons hat is that that for aed burns as poe hung up the receiver well if I 1 you ou cant figure it out I 1 in not going to tell you answered poe drawing a highly polished chess set from a case beneath the davenport but at three thirty in the morning A grocery wagon m agon I 1 I 1 don t get you chris the other looked at him quizzically oh I 1 forgot before I 1 beat you at ja a game of chess ill rig you out in lowly clothes like mine poe disappeared into his dressing dressin groom room return ing la in ten minutes with mith a threadbare golf sweater a dented and dusty I 1 derby a celluloid collar a rep ready dy tied tore fore in hand and a neat germanic square cut suit which be he dumped into burns lap and lei arely arranged the thel men on the chess board playing against himself until burns returned looking like a thrifty germin grocer they sat down before the board and played in silence until the clock cloak chimed three thirty at the stable a broken spirited nag and a rickety grocery wagon awaited them mounting ting the driers seat together tho the brother bankers d drove rove out and cross town to first avenue it was quite dark and there were very few wagons astir at that hour other than eluk and bakery carts roe whipped hipped vl the hore her e into a chop py trot and they bounced over the pavement up first avenue talking tit tut little when they re reached ac the bed nineties burns asked abruptly abru aly are you going to the harlem mar alar ket that 8 it answered poe we were re almost there I 1 ve decided it 11 be bes to try the small italian dealers first so that a how you jumped to the conclusion that the sweaters were bl bi callans cil lans you knew if the small mer chants up town possessed shrunk gold they probably got it down here at their wholesale ri arket I 1 ithac s it the market Is full of italian dealers and is a pretty good distributing point tor for coins that have been tampered with mith but here we an f take this i poe extracted eight fifty do lar isbills bills and ten tm twenties antles from a supply lot of large bills he bad had removed from ahw ate sate safe before starting mingle with the crowd crom d as though you were a grocer buy anything small from ital lans tans only and look sharp tor for gold change I 1 finding a narrow space between jgwo trucks poe backed his wagon in quite skillfully fully and leaped down over ia a pile of lemon crates burns followed and they separated on reaching the ic Uttered walk poe canvassed his side of the street I 1 tor for two blocks either buying some thins thing or asking for change at each 11 italian tallan wholesale store much digap pointed at receiving no gald except two five dollar dolla r pieces le cea which showed no signs ot of hating be been zen tampered with poe cretu returned ed to hie his wagon where he be met burns m who ho bad had secured three ten dollar gold piece pieces in change hut but on inspection these too proved to be as fresh and unsullied as when they came from the mint well we ve seem to be on the wrong cent scent admitted poe with a shrug ol 01 uj lis shoulders ghoul dere there are only a dav fe scattering shops left we caught cai the market at its flood and if thera there m aera ere any of these sweated coins in the neighborhood it seems to me v m e would have bad had some I 1 in hungry replied burns let lot a get a bite to eat ere the bight sight of all this foodstuff has made me raven ravenous and you mut mu it heinem ber her ve me hai faient en t had much brea bred tast fast they crossed to the restaurant B irris had indicated it stretched the length of five cheap curtained win min dows and along it ran an old m beaten eign sign printed in purple and red Rist Ris orante del etna N ho its lurid representation of a volcano the 0 J sign itself g ive a romantic devil may care aspect to the place I 1 rither like the look 1001 of 0 this cried foe glancing around the big dining room as soon as they were inside seated at an oil cloth covered table loo 9 frore like nibles than amer lea said burna burns tf or sicily replied poe pointing point ng to a crucifix on the wall opposite that Is Si sicilian gilian workmanship there were only three other mers in the place italians all juggling with macaroni and meat for break eak halk fast an acquired american habit the ceck a tall cadaverous creat ure a perfect giraffe of a fellow A with the proud mien of 0 an amiable eaglet came Et striding riding out of his kitchen I 1 ice a grenadier and smiled hesitantly hat you want nant maybe oh borne ham and eggs adyth na n american yeu yau can get in a hurry evenglish Een glish Bif Zif steak Hamn eggs grinned the coatless cook hands bands on his apron hanging banging i alia alla right maybe t he turned and stalked to his ills kitchen door stooping his I 1 agh shoulders and ducking his head b neath the six foot portal topped miti the sign 1 seems to be particular aboud about hi ill kitchen remarked poe reading the eign keep out bounds sounds sullen for or our old friend A minute later poe looked from ft a stuffed bear left over from k some iome street carnival and now adorning the middle of the room to the kitchen corner nothing could be b seen 0 of f the interior tor for it was enclosed but the cook could be heard tinkering with his ills stove and using an ash sifter tit at intervals doesn t seem seera to pay much attea alon to our breakfast remarked bums burns seems more absorbed la in his stove it if one can judge from tho the sounds oh hell get through with ith the breakfast all right he a one of these re methodic old cooks who thinks more of the behavior ot of bis his coal range than the comfort ot of his guests A swarthy italian enter entered ed and cried glovanni giovanni in answer the cook poked hia his head through a small serving door in the partition dividing the kitchen from flip dining room and perking his head with a wise nise roll of hia his eyes liae a a parrot in a cage asked shrilly what the customer wanted A dish of macaroni was all the face darted back and halt half a minute later came the same sounds of fussing with the stove hes a most met methodic hadle old rascal smiled poe I 1 d like to have a look into that kitchen of his but hie his for bidding sign scares me out at that moment the tall ominous e eyed Y ed italian stepped forth from his cook shop and placed two plates plate 2 ol 01 ham and eggs before the banker bankers cooked italian style which means mean 3 the ham was sliced very thin anil and the eggs were very old they ate from hunger and really relished it having finished poe took out he his purse purge and called absi bos the italian american word tor for man ager or proprietor but the cook did not hear bear the swarthy italian customer who had juit just entered laughed and th rugged hia his shoulders then he called through the hole in the kitchen partition alia alla right alia alla right tight came a good natured growl from the kitchen kitche n abe cook left off stirring bis his stove and came out directly he ile always bisy basy backa dere you hava to pound da table to maka him hear giovanni smiled indulgently his det detractor factor and in answer anwer to poes question of quanton replied sixty cent j t roo root pulled out his change counted it overs over found it insufficient and he bei hei i bantly tant ly drew out a twenty dollar bill proffering ng ito it apologetically with the remark it a the smallest sinal lest I 1 have can you change it A greedy light napped in the d ep set eyes of the tall cook two little spots of color appeared near his high cl eek bones as he vent went through his hill pockets pod apts and found only three or tour four dollars stepping to a cupboard in the corner he unlocked a drawer and drew out ragged bills to the amount of fateen dollars and finally pieced out the change poe handed bacic a ten one dollar bills by the way may he asked have you a gold piece for thise I 1 d rather have it giovanni shot a surprised glance from beneath his twisty brows and shook his head no ondra stan the italian customer translated but IGlo glovanni Glov annl Nanni only hunched his shoulders band and threw p aims of his handa hands in i giving givin to under stand that ten dollar gold p pieces feces leces were adulte beyond bis his ken what did ou on make male ont out ot of that fells fellow asked burns when they were 0 I 1 fhe street again ile lies s an odd one happy go lucky seems to be master of his own res sort of a go as you please place m aan t it ita I 1 he ile had such a romantic look like r sl reformed pirate why a reformed onea smiled poe but ent litre here the market trading Is al ot N L k ri 1 aj 1 09 I 1 V it L lu 0 an aa 1 aj A IV ud ili 99 01 V yelled burns moat most oi er you work the email small ital tsa tan wholesalers on both sides of tha the eross streets above ill cover those below we 11 meet at the wagon again ila ts balfan hour at the |