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Show 1901 NCa Jervlco.Inc BIHiX HTCHM TOnY. Tho Htranffo and unexplained eccentricity ec-centricity of three woallhy, sedato and middle -aged brothers h is rnu-ml rnu-ml OWEN M!I,E3. dtctlv sergeant, and hla colleague., FERGUS McCREADY, known as "Bcottie to investigate on the. request re-quest of PATRCIA DRAKE, daughter of the youngest brother, HOB art i-kaku, a Will Street broker, who Startled hl.s neighbors by appearing In the town square clothed In n sheet, anil delivering, n mock oration. Miles, in the guise of a houseman, la employod at lh.- b'fmo, .irwl on his first night hears 1 wo brothers, ROr.lCR, the aclenllW. and AJCPREAV, who hn recently come from Ai-ii r.-xiia, talking In loud tones Roger, by making a burT lesque of r aqlsnticlf paper and Andrew, by playing with tops on tJM parlor flqor, had equaled llo-i llo-i ut in sccen(rclt j "I HI not going to endure It." .Miles heard Roger ' n . ' There is a way out fulok and .:ure " c.o o WITH 1 11 1 ; STOR1 "You're talking like an ass nnd worse a Qgward!" Andrew interrupted interrupt-ed with sudden, aqbdued furj J r-I r-I ry's all right but you've forgotten I Hobnrt'K girl! Could .she live down , the fact lh.it her Unclf was a sul- elde T" "You know what chance we have of averting what is coming'" Roger I laughed In a strained falsetto which I made thn listening detective shudder I in apltc of himself and there was a quick movement within the room I ' Pat. had hotter llvo with the knowl edg- that one or both of ) r iirir..., and her father as well had aln by their own hnn.lM ilum thai ad three of thi-m woro '" "Hero: None of that!" Andrew ' Tied He had evidently ihmwn . ,m-tion ,m-tion to the winds for tile tones hud risen to a bellow and a door opened down the hall. Miir.s retreated hastily has-tily toward his screening corner .f the vrnii near the ba.-k stairs bul nal before the sound of a sharp struggle -mo from the room where the brothers were, followed by an oath and the tinkle and crash of shattered glasK j At the though' Miles sprang down-! stairs and darting out the window !o-concealed !o-concealed himself m the shadow A one of tho great pillars. No one was In sight Leading from the porch ho' ran around the rear of the house foj the other side The pantrv was' dark now hut the two faint patched 'of light from Rogers room still fell upon the sparse gras of last year's lawn in the glow of th- farther one, something glbtened like a ha ful of diamonds. Broken glass' He had anticipated a pistol or perhaps even a knife of nrm sort but not a bottle' Throwing himself flat upon hla face th detective writhed inch by Inch along the cround until h.- was close to the sratlered fragments of' the bottle and then he saw 'imong them n number of tlnv white tab-i Seizing a handful of th grave! ind tablets together Miles stuff. . I It Into u pork"t ..f his trousers and ran swiftly around the house again to the library w ndOSV CHAPTER V Carter was 111 the following morning morn-ing a touch of sciatica and thr new housemaa was forced to assume tho more complex duties Under the kindly guidance of Pierre, he finished arranging the table for breakfast and then remembered remem-bered the mall. When he had cleaned the lower hall a shoi 1 time before It had not arraved, but now i small heap of letters and rolled :lr- culars and periodicals lav upon tho table umi he ported them rapidly' There was nothing for Andr-W Drake, hof l"W Patricia, but a fur- mldablS P of ( "ric'spon.lence await pd Roger an. 1 several letters were afl ,lr.--.ed 10 Mis-, .1-iusha. There was onli one nviQD( to palfls b Id3 I Ibbarl I r.-iK. 'a .I. ite. Mllea noted Ml that It was plain. with a typed address and a now VorU City postmark. Then ho hurried hur-ried out and returned with Ihw truit Just n the elder Miss Drake en-t.-re.l "Good inornlng, V'illlam " She Inclined In-clined her gray head formally. "I ee you have made a food bHffinnlOfff Mehltabel, my muld tells mo that 1 urter Is ill an. I you have assumed his duties.-' The three brothers entnrtid almost together and took their pi ices with a perfunctory greeting l" 'blr i-lster. Roger seemed drooping and shaken and bis drawn, young-old faro paled as his glance fell on the heap of cor- responden.ee beside hjs plate He pushed push-ed It aside with a gesture of horror and Andrew remarked: ' More scentlfla criticism. suppose? sup-pose? Throw it all In tho fire, old I man. anil don't bother your hoad j about IC" 1 Patrlola'S entrance created a break In the tenseness of the atmosphere, and she eyed the detectlv In startled. Confused recognition but his expres- slon was bland until he reached the Shelter of the pantry to which her gaze had followed him. when he rlsli-'.I rlsli-'.I a quick nod 01 uwrning and re as-i.snranco. as-i.snranco. A slight flush suffused her face and she turned to her fathei-, only to exclaim ln amazement and alarm: I "Daddy' Whut Is It ?" i ( nly .MIsk Drake was silent but j hor eyes were fixed with burning In- tensity upon tho empurpled coun'.o-nance coun'.o-nance of her youngest brother as he ! brought his fist, clenching his solitary soli-tary letter, down violently upon the table. "Trouble."' he repeated hoarsely, j "Trouble enough! It's each man for liiros.lf when you stand with your back against the wall, and I'm gulng I to fight'" He strode from the room with the open letter still in his hand nnd thy ; lu ard the library door . lose behind him and the key turn in the lock. The meal ended shortly and Miles w'hh clearing away the dishes and ail-ver ail-ver when he observed that the envcl- ope of the letter which had caused Hobart Drake such agitation was still lying where he had dropped III I on he floor bealde his chair. He stooped hastily and pocketed it and 'then finished his work In the dlnlr. 1 room. i He had started for tho back stairs ! when Tlss Drake asked: "William, do you know how to ; drive a car? ' Had the opportunity presented Itself It-self to send the promised wire to! Seottle? The detective gave an Ui-! rward start. I Yes, ma'am.' I "That Is fortunate. William Mr Hobart must be taken to the station at once." .Miles brought the ear to the do -, to find Hobart waiting on the porch! : pa, watch in hand. "Get mr to the station as qulc'J is you can " The train was just pulling In as he drew up at the station platform I Miles noted the significant glances' and nudges of the loungers as they, recognized Hobart Drake and realized real-ized anew the humiliation which Vs young client. Miss Patricia, must have endured. Hla thought returned again to her the innocent victim of the myb- tarioua calamity which had dvj taken her people, when after he h ...1 ! -fqiy dispatohi J hla wire to Bo n tlfl he wt'H bowling slowly back lo !the house. It did not come whill.v as B surprise when be Rftl hailed by I Hji filhktlc-looking young man Who itpod by a low. red runabout at tiv side of 1 he road The young man advanced and, (leaned confidentially over the Wheel. "My name's KlebaM Kl in,. I'll i glv you five dollais if you'll take a 'n.de to the young lady up tht ' .TKs Patricia, and sec that she gets it quietly Po yi u understandJ" In a quick flash of rneniory Mil. 1. r .lled the deep blurb which had I mounted In the young girl's face When during their first interview at 1 John Wells' pffiuti ho mentioned the KemP Place.' and a light broke over him. "I think I do, xlr " He smiled slightly 'You're all rigl.t " Kemp Clapped him on the shoulder "Th re won't be any immodlatu answer hut I'll be I at at the place she knows eveiy I evening at six, jharp. Here you art.!" lie produced an envelope and a I five-dollar bin. bcth of which Miles 'accepted gravely. Thank you, sir. I'll deliver tho note myself. Gobdby, sir." Ho drovo speedily back to tho Drake estate and around to the ga -1 age to put up the car As Miles descended de-scended from the car he behold 0 b.n f t le-searred tom-cat clawing to i .-a.-h a plate of stale meat on a high shelf, and an inspiration camo to him. Taking th envelope from bin pocket containing the five tablets, selected one of them and. rolling a In a small piece of meat ho dropped It on the floor. With a growl the cat pounced upon It. For a moment the animal crouched and then Its syca Widened with a look of almost hu-i mnn suprlsc It rose, turned in a wavering half-circle and then all at, once relaxed rathM than fell upon' Its "lde with all four feet outstretched and the lurid eyes filmed. So Roger had not been bluffing, after aft-er all! As Miles replaced the envelope en-velope In his pocket, his fingers came In contact with another, the on which' Hobart brake had dropped on the din-1 Ing room floor- What could it have contained to drive him into such al tempest of fury" The detective was turning it over speculatively in hii hands when suddenly sud-denly he uttered a sharp exclamation exclama-tion He needed no magnifying gias to verify the truth; the cancel;! stamp had been transferred from an- othe; snvelops and the postmark was S forgery Thai letter had nevef passed through the mails' CHAPTER VI It was close to midnight when a 'stock figure enveloped uJ ulster wormed Us way throo,v 111 the hedge and suiried a hI oourae about th.. Drako h&u-i h&u-i A faint glimmer showed third floor and silhouette -the din, patch uf l5h, profile of a man. The .SJ ! low picked up a handful y gravel which he fing 7-window. 7-window. c" Almost Instantly th larht v iingiilNiied. there came Vh. grating sound of a iarefmir sash, and the -Iny spark o i .aret gleamed jum above lh J l-.w, peculiar whistle ememu? , the Hps of the nr.f lurnal vtaju , the clgan I d scriblnj a w ipon t 1 , ',noi ' j as th. window we-, softly eioJ more In a few moments the Wtt.iJ opi ned and wen Miles in uj, I or and sneakers of his n'rhCr slipped around the corner d I house. - an.: old ' f.u1.' I 1,5,, ir to Ket In touch with ibh could and I've been maklni tlon picture "stlir of mysil 1 ,that window shade i1ew o'clock, " hf whispered Hm 11 m.-.l .. n I hlnjr? 1 ( ontlnund In Our Xejl on |