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Show "Have You Any Idea of How Ho Became Poaaeased of the Key to the Houae Which I 8aw Him Have Yesterday T" mCAe LASH of II JJCIRCDMSIANCE t7I y Hapry Irving Greene Author cTosondc of 1bc Wilderness" f l!hisTrtvtlOT.a t;v Mtrj O. ICtvttrietr ay the thief bad a key to the fron door. How do you account for at outsider poasesslng that?" I wondered If she bad forgottei the Incident of my keys baring beei for iome days In the possession ol the maid and the possibility of du pllratea easily made from the original I hesitated for a moment aa I Idl) turned the pagea of a book that ah might have time to recall tbla clrcum stance, but she morely sat placidly surveying me and I thought It would be better taate not to mention It llei confidence In Janet seemed to b complete, and of course In matters cl this kind U the maid was guilty hei 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. "Hut aa must be apparent to you, my cousin Hruce 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 blm out despite his own obstinacy and Beemlng determination to keep himself him-self In. I was merely trying to discover dis-cover all possible leaks through which the Information might have escaped. I have told Mr. LeDuc everything and you need not be aurprlaed If be calls upon you. Hut be 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 ber brow was clouded, aha drew a long breath. "Poor Uruce," she said sympathetically. sympathetical-ly. "It would be a shame If be should somehow get dragRed Into this. In the few times I met him I learned to admire ad-mire him very much. It Is Impossible that be la guilty I almply know be Is not. I sincerely hope that be may clear himself without publicity." "Amen," I responded heartily, CHAPTER XII, A few dnys later there happened a little Incident so Inexplicable and Irritating Irri-tating In Its character that It caused me considerable annoyance and thought. It was one of those pecullnr occurrences that one does not care anything about In Itaelf, yet which exasperates him because of his Inability In-ability to explain It. It so happened that I desired to wear a certain suit of clothes which I had purchased a short while before, and with that purpose pur-pose before me went Into the clooet where I kept my spare apparel hanging hang-ing In order to get It cut. I could not t Ingly a VltOa Impatient at my atupldl-i atupldl-i lty. "The iMe on your card wblcb you i sent mo only yesterday saying that I was to give tt to the tailor," aha re-t re-t torted. I could only repeat somewhat - more emphatically that I bad done no . such thing. ' She threw down her towel with a sniff and began rumaglng about - among the odda and ends of a shelf. ' Presently aha picked up a email piece I of cardboard, which ahe handed me with an expreaalon of triumph. "Very 1 well. Just read it for yourself then. ' If that Is not your card and writing ' I cannot trust my eyes, and if I can-i can-i not trust my eyes the Lord knows 1 wbat I can trust. And that Is all I ' have got to say about that." I seised the piece of paper and glanced at It. It waa certainly either one of my cards or a perfect Imitation, and having hav-ing satisfied myself on that point I turned It over and saw written on the back a few lines, which while certainly certain-ly bearing a strong resemblance to my rhlrography when I scribble In a hurry, were aa certainly not mine. They read: "Mrs. Tebbets: Please to deliver to the bearer, who la In the employ of my tailor, the suit of clothes I wore on Derby day that bo may press the same. Thomas Halll-day." Halll-day." For a moment 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" "He 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 blm. 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, unadulterated unadul-terated forgery. bid he say anything more to you?" Her chin dropped. "Well, of all things! To think of the Impudence of people nowadays. No, air, he aald scarcely a word and I never did like the looks of blm. He Just took the clothes and went away aa fast as he could, and I never thought or It again. Hut that Is certainly cer-tainly your card. Inn't It, Mr. Tom? It looks Just like those I used to see on your dresser." It was plain that she was beginning to be distressed and I hastened to reassure ber. "The card Is either mine or a very clever imitation. I am not quite certain cer-tain of which aa yet. Hut lu all probability la it one of mine. The Due, who would keep his secret equally equal-ly sacred, and we would da none the wiser. I sincerely regret bis obstinacy, obstin-acy, for even though It doea not get him Into any particular trouble It may compel him to go through an ordeal or-deal that may be unpleasant for us all. I know LeDuc well enough to believe be-lieve that he will get at the bottom of thla affair if he posnlbly can, no matter whom he uncovera aa he digs." She breathed a little algh. "Of course I appreciate all that and I have tried to reason with him, but he would not listen to me any more than 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 my life upon his Innocence Inno-cence of all complicity In this matter, I can explain It to myaolf In only one way, and I cannot force myself believe be-lieve even that" Our eyea met squarely. "I am certain there la no other woman In the case; liruce la not that kind," I stated positively. She reddened and her bunds became be-came tight little fists. "No, I will not believe such a thing of htm," ahe cried with a slight quivering of the Hps. Quickly she arose and passed Into my uncle'a apartments with head on high. It seemed too bad that I had been obliged to mention such a distasteful thing, but I knew well enough that desplto herself It was hovering In her mind, and I wanted to add my convictions of his moral honesty to her own. It distressed me to see her unhappy, but deeming it best to let hor have a little time In which to compose herself I did not follow ber, leaving the bouse almost Immediately thereafter, and In fact avoiding any further contact with my uncle that day. A little later I had gotten Mrs. Dace on the telephone and told ber that I would like to see her as I waa the possessor of rather startling news. She asked me to come to her at once. She did not seem to be aa surprised or interested at my recital aa I thought the tale warranted. To be sure ber eyes quickly arose to mine when I told her of the crime, and she gave me her undivided attention until I had finished; then seemed to be turning turn-ing the affair over In her own mind, for she allowed several minutes to elapse without comment "Whom do you suspect I mean you personally?" Rhe then asked me. I requested that she pledge herself to secrecy, which she did with a little laugh that told me that she considered consid-ered such a formula superfluous. "I suspect absolutely no one. Yet I am puzzled and worried by Bruce's conduct I do not attach much Importance Im-portance to bis denial of having the key and our failure to find It, although I cannot account for the denial part of it. Neither do I 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 he waa going to raise it somehow or other oth-er it was with the mental reservation that It waa to be done honestly, of course. Also when It comes to his absolute refusal to tell ua where he waa last night I can Imagine a solution solu-tion of that for when a man Is under the Influence of liquor he will some-tlmea some-tlmea do thlnga that he would not think of were he In bis right mind. It la alao on record that sleep walk-era walk-era sometimes commit burglaries when they are In a trance and are utterly Irresponsible for their actions. Take that recent caso that everybody was talking about. The peraon involved in-volved attended a dance and became very tired, fell asleep on the way home, skilfully broke Into his own bruise and robbed himself of money that be had hidden away, and the next day remembered nothing about the matter. It was long afterwards that be happened to stumble across the money where he had secreted It in his semiconscious stata." She did not appear to be particularly particular-ly Impressed by my statement. "I urn Inclined to believe that whoever robbed your uncle at least thought he knew what he was about," she an-iwered an-iwered with what I Irunglned waa a Faint suggestion of sarcasm. "How-sver, "How-sver, Hruce, being somewhat Indis-Kwed Indis-Kwed and In an excited state, might liave unconsciously let fall a remark n some public plnre, which. In con-lection con-lection with his perhaps exhibiting he key, led to its being stolen from iltn and the perpetration of the crime y some one else," I acqulecced. "I have thought of that as a poa-ilble poa-ilble solution of the reason as to why le will not reveal his whereabouts, md I am certain It will not escape Lo- fi ic. Perhaps liruce Is conscious of p laving been Indiscreet In hla speech tl ir actions and is ashamed to talk c! ibout It, Hut this much Is fairly rer- a aln. It Is too great a stretch of the tl maglnatlon to conceive that the at- rr ack upon the safe at this particular Ime waa made at haphazard. The h ne who did It knew to a certainty hat the money was in the house. And a far aa we now know but four per- " ons in the world had that knowl- V (tge, namely. Vnclo Abner. Hrure, ., nyself and" 1 paused, clearing my hroat and giving her an opportunity ' o Interrupt me if she chose. She did o promptly. J "You told me." she aaid sweetly. h' Therefore It seems to lie between truce and myself." The opening P' hat I bad been feinting for waa now V iefore me and I thrust at it "la it not barely possible that Janet he maid, might have overheard me ' nentlon the fact of uncle having a urge sum In the aafe and thought- t iBsly repeated it to some acquaint-meat acquaint-meat of hers?" Although not a mule tl f her face moved, In some mysterl-us mysterl-us way I knew that my companion ki raa emillng Inwardly. "No. Janet tears nothing that is m ot spoken to her. and I do not per- d alt ber to have lovers. Hesldea. vou di had been to the Derby or had worts any especial suit upon that day? The more I cudgeled my bratna over It the mora benumbed they became, until at laat I picked up my bat and rushed out of the house. Having but little Idea that I would learn anything by so doing, I nevertheless immediately boarded a car and going to the shop of my tailor threw the note on the counter before him. "What do you know about that note, Johnson?" I demanded. de-manded. He picked it up, adjusted his eyeglasses eye-glasses and read It with a slowly forming and negative pursing of his mouth. Then he held It forth. "Nothing" at all. What la 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 bad any Information about It, I went to the pains of coming her to ask you. Neither do I suppose you know anything concerning the whereabout where-about of the clothes mentioned." Hla answer furnished me the second surprise sur-prise of the dav. "Oh, yes, I do. The suit la here all right. It was brought in yesterday yester-day by a strange men who aald you wished me to press it for you. I have done so and it is now In perfect condition." condi-tion." I looked at him with the Incredulity In-credulity with which one facea a peraon per-aon who makea an Incredible statement state-ment with a straight face and under the guise of seriousness. 1 "Let me see the suit," I ordered. He did so, and I Inspected It rritle-ally. rritle-ally. I could discover nothing am las with It externally, and searching the pockets found they were empty. However,-that was to be expected, aa I could remember having nothing la them when I had hung It away, cer talnly nothing of any value to anybody any-body but myself. I bad only succeeded succeed-ed In thickening the mystery which enveloped this extraordinary transaction, transac-tion, and puzzled beyond expression, I arranged with the tailor that In the future be should allow none of my clothes which he happened to have In hla possession to leave hla hand upon an order ostenalbly written by me unless the order contained a aecret mark which we then and there agreed upon. Then Instructing hlra that If any one called for the suit la question and presented an order for the same not bearing the minute token of ita genuineness which we had Just invented, that he was to detain de-tain him until he could summon nn officer and have him arrested, I do-parted. do-parted. What possible object any person could have had In wishing to Becure possession of a suit of my clothes which contained nothing ol the slightest worth, and who having secured possession of It should go to the trouble of conveying it from my house to the tailor shop was utterly beyond my comprehension. The for ger bad not Injured the clothes, aa some petty-minded enemy might have done out of a spirit of spite, and altogether al-together I could conceive of no possible pos-sible benefit or satisfaction any one could have derived from such m elaborate and criminal subterfuge. I't tTly ba filed, I determined to aay nothing more about It for the time, quietly awaiting any new develop- menta that might arise. The next morning another Strang thing had happened. I was dressing for the day at my customary hour for arising when suddenly the house, keeper's knucklea fell upon the doot In a series of nervous taps. She almost al-most never came to the upper floor before the breakfast hour, and I there-Fore there-Fore searched her face with some curiosity cu-riosity as I told her that she might snter. She Immediately burst forth la in excited volley. "Oh, Mr. Tom! The house has bees lurglarized again In the night. What m earth are we coming to with such eople prowling all around In the larkness? I never was so frightened n my life. I declare I nearly fell In i faint when I discovered it. Please ome with me and I will show you." 5umfoundedly, and with my necktie till dangling from my band, I fol-owed fol-owed her squat figure as she climbed lown the front stairs, waddled li rough the dining room and kitchen nd then one foot at a time descend-d descend-d the steep stairs that led to the asement. There waa only one door nterlng from the outside Into these ower regions and that waa never 6cd In fact, had been bolted ever Ince my occupancy of the premises, 'he aperture In the side of the house tirougb which the coal supply was umped from the drive Into the bin aa protected by an Iron grating hlch was always carefully looked fter such an operation, and the low Indowa which admitted light to the j mare room had fixed Iron burs on le outside. The police, LeDuc anJ lyself had gone over this region loroughly In our search and had xind that the locks bad not been impered with nor the gratings dla-irbed; dla-irbed; the dust and the rust had roven that beyond contention. Now my amazement I saw that the Kr had been forced by some power-il power-il Instrument that tad torn the reviving re-viving socket for the bolt bodily om Ita fastenings. My hair arcs 1th a cold tingling of my sralp, uch aa It might have done bad I en suddenly confronted by som lcaony object In ;he dead of night (TO nK CONTINCED) Postgraduate Course. Pretty Daughter Now that I have aduoied. mamma, don't you think I ight to take a postgraduate coure? Practical Mother Certainly, my ar. I have arranged a compiet mrw for you la roattology, buke-rgy. buke-rgy. darnology. aewology. patch-cgy. patch-cgy. washology. Ironology and gen-al gen-al dnroeatlcology Bud along now r1 t nn vour working harneaa T "It la a Plain, Unmitigated, Unadulterated Forgery." ,, I SYNOPSIS. Ahnt-r Halllday, a mlaerly millionaire. Is found k.ikk-.I. bound and ln.-iilble In hla room. Ma itfe rifled and K.'h ml. In. Tha Inroad of tha lory I taken up by hla nephew Turn, Living in the me lionae are other relatives; rerkleaa Hrure lliilllduy and tiretty ("lure Wlnton. Hrure. who la n (Mind broker, hn been trying to ralfte tm.mm to put thrmiich dil and ave lilmaelf from flnunrlul ruin lie baa pplled to hla mlaerly uni-le and to other for I he loan but hn been refuaed Torn end for William ltl u. an old -time friend ronnerled with a detective aiceiiry. In relailiia- the story Tern revarta to Id enualntanra with a Mr. Iwra, a wealthy widow, whoaa bualnea ajent la Itlrhard Maekar. a boodler and political boa, loin la jeulous of Mn.-kay and la deeply In love with Mr. Iar. Itrura lUllldny warna him to ahun hr a an advenlureaa. Tom we Mr !. and Markay together togeth-er Ha afterward meet tha woman at a hor rare. and. happening to mention Ihnl Hrure had tip on the winner, aha rlvea him i In place on tha rare. Tha tip oea wrong and she loa hr money I .a rer Tm Inveaia In stock. He make orr.o money and return the loal to Mra Iiare. It la at thla Juncture that the theft nf tha Kn.om from old Ahner Hnlll-diy Hnlll-diy occur. I. Into meet Clara and Hrure. He learna that the key wh'.h riare had to the hnuae Is mlaalng VaV-kav'a VaV-kav'a dealing with Mr. !. make Turn rr-ore )ebiti. MV $i,tdV. VToVdWI O.u Jd cmfw mm j CHAPTER XI. I I went back to the house, flare had left my uncle's room and I heard her voice mingled with llruce'a on the lawn below. 1'ncle Abner had arisen and waa carefully examining hla papera aa he rearranged them In their customary order. He hud been hurt but little, and now that his blixid was circulating freely again and the tlffness was disappearing from hla limbs be waa not suffering bodily to amount to anything Hut hla humor waa beaatly. The look with which he greeted me aa I entered waa almost carnivorous. "This Is what comes of housing fly-by-nlghts who spend their money staying stay-ing lu botela when they should be at home In the beda which they have already al-ready paid for," he snarled "If you had been here It would not have happened hap-pened I don't believe there was more than one thief, and he could not have held you If you bad any fight In you." "He probably would not have tried It At any rate, had I resisted I wuuld have atood an excellent chance of being killed. Men who enter the bouse of othera to commit a crime at night know that they hold their own Uvea in the hollow of their banda and are prepared to meet reslatanre with bloodshed." I returned somewhat Icily. Hut the coolnesa of my tones only made bla wrath flame the hotter. "It don't make any difference. It waa your business to be here when you knew there waa ao much money in the house Inatead of running away like a coward and leaving me to pro tect It all alone. And I auppoa you expect you will Inherit aome of It after I am gone, but I'll ahow you." t be yelled. The direct intimation that be would Ignore me upon hla death bed, and that he conaldered my life of I teas cooaequence than a fraction of I bla wealth, turned me from blm with- I out a word. I went to my own room, where I i tood at the window looking upon ' Uj grounds below. Hruce and Clare I were wandering aimlessly about, and I vea at that dlatance I could see the 1 worry that lay upon her face. Aa for I Brace, he aeemed to have recovered I good deal of hla old-time aaaurancv. i But presently to turned away with a I curt nod while she. stood for a moment mo-ment watching him with a pathetic little clasping of hor hands; then turned and came hurriedly Into the house. J Intercepted her at the head of the stairs and signalled for her to come Into my apartments. She did so, seating herself In a chnlr that I drew for her. "Well." I said Inquiringly. Inquir-ingly. She shook her head. Sympathetically I continued: "It Is really too bad and I don't understand under-stand It either. Nobody In the world has more confidence In Hruce's honesty hon-esty than I have, and If he would only speak I would believe him against a host of circumstances. Hut there are certain things which hn aa a man should come forward and explain. He did not produce the key and denied ever having had It while I know it whs In hla possession yesterday. The only thing we could get out of him waa hla permission for ua to go to an uncomfortable place. Have you any Idea of bow he became possessed of the key to the house which I aaw blm have yesterday?" "I have not assuming that you are right. We have boen talking that same matter over and he says he bad no key In hla side coat pocket and never ' carrlea one there. I know that I never I gave him mine, and Its disappearance i at thla time can be nothing more than i a strange coincidence. Ho alao denies thut he ever at any time had posses- 1 slon of my key, and I am satisfied that i he did not for the reason that If he i had I should have mlswed It I don't 1 care a snap what anybody thlnka or i BRya; I know liruce is as puzzled over I your charge that he had It aa you aeem to be over hla denial." Her mouth sei defiantly and I knew she I would defend blm to the last ditch I Bhould I attack him, which, of courses t I had not the remoteat idea of doing, t Instead, I became even more mollify- I Ing. hoping to reason him out of hla 1 stubbornness through argument advanced ad-vanced to ber. "I know that hla denial provea 1 nothing any more than doea the fact i of his going broke on 'change, or hla 1 making that silly remark that he waa 1 going to get $10,000 aome way. Nelih- c er would hla refuaal to tell us where t he apent the night prejudice me, al- t though It might aeem aomewhat aln- I gular. and under the circumstances t be sufficient to arouse suspicion in t those who do not know him. Hut the r combination of all theae things placea t him In a position before LeDuc which a I regret to see hlra occupy. You and I a have often discussed hla outspoken- nesa, and you have aald that be did u not know that there waa a back door t to anything. It la hla present com- t plete reversal of form and hla evident a desire to cover up aomething that ought to be revealed that puzzlea me. " Why don't he come out aa be haa al- I waya done before and tell ua where t he waa at the time thla happened? If b tor any reason he doea not care to tell you, he at leaat might confide In ' m. knowing aa he doea that any n ecret would be aafe In my keeping. I Then I could investigate hla atate- ment merely aa a matter of form, and a hav'.g found It true I could satisfy o LeDuc or anybody U without going o Into particulars. If on the other v. I) and there la any reaaon why h. oon't rare to take you or me Into hla eon- n Bdence, he couM at leaat talk to Le- o nd It Growing more and more Im-atlent Im-atlent as I aearched among my linga I at last removed all that the loset contained, article by article, nd laid them on the bed. The ault tat I waa looking for was certainly ilsalng. I sat down and thought. I remem-ered remem-ered distinctly the laat time I bad orn It. aiid had an equally clear collection of replacing It In Ita ac-jatomrd ac-jatomrd place at the end of the day. was positive that I had not touched since that time and Ita absence now, i far aa I waa able to reason, could tily be explained on the theory of left I went downatalra to Mra. Teb-"ta Teb-"ta to question her about It, and ippenlng to recall that she had ex-resaed ex-resaed her admiration of It upon elng II upon me for the first time, now described It to ber aa the ault hlch I had worn on I rby day. She iswered me very promptly. "Why, yea. That Is the one you nt me word about yesterday. I let ie man have It aa you told me to in i note." looked at her In mystification, nowltg that I had sent ber no note nd being at a lose to gra.p ber eanlng. "What note what man?" I manded. She etoud rubbing ber in d banda with a towel and aeem- wrltlng Is also a fair counterfeit. Any- d way, It la good enough to fool almost any one, and I do not blame you In the least for having been deceived. a IVtn't feel worried about It. for It Is not your fault at all. Nevertheless. tx there la aomething wrong about It and " I don't undestand It." I thrust the n card into my pocket and returned to ' my rooms a great deal more perplexed 'c than I had been when I left them. u Hastily I attempted to run oer In tl my mind the people who could by any 1,1 possibility have had aeeese to my ,f private stationery, but was obliged d to dlsmlsa that thought when I real- fl Ized that my cards were acattered Cl throughout the entire list of my ac- ,r qualntancea and that my card case containing a number of them waa still ra missing. The field of possibllitlea In b' thla direction was too large for me ul to form even a remote conjecture, and I waa drawn to the conclusion that It In all probability waa the work of some clever sneak thief who had found my card case and then written gr the note upon It Hut even that waa ot an explanation which explained nothing. Granting that a petty rascal d had picked up the cards containing cc my tat me and address, bow waa he ol able to ao closely counterfeit my ol handwriting; and more mysterloua r than all elae, bow did he know that 1 1 ar |