NE da V while the rush tn I ha Tuknn waa
Ol at Its full helrnt the pspera of Ban Fran
I Cisco biased with stories tike thla:
I "On tha heels of the announcement of
7t
tli treat rim In the shares of the Bed
Rock mine In the Mooes creek country of
A leak a cornea the startling discovery that
the ahlpment of cold whlrh atarted the
He In the nha.ro hue been atoten somewhere between
Nome and Ran Franclaro. The gttld waa In the form
of bar a packed In email wooden bo tea and valued at
over t40,ono. It waa whipped from Noma on the steam
er Star of the North on Aug. It. consigned to the Ian
Franolsco offlree of the Bed Rock Mining and Develop
In; company.
"Frederick L.. Harmon and hie brother, Augustus
N. Harmon, prealdent and vice president, respectively,
of the company, accompanied the ahlpment from the
date It waa taken away from the mine to the time when
tha boxes were opened In the offices In this city. The
last time the gold was eeen waa at Noma There the
boxes were opened, their contents Inspected, and the
loxes sealed agwtn. The seals were not broken until
the boxes were opened before the sssembled directors,
and there they were found to contain bars of lead In-
lead of ths supposed void.
"Apparently there Is no explanation to ths mystery.
The seals on the boxes were Intact, and Mr. Harmon
and his brother are sure that they contained cold at
Nome. No suaplclon Is directed at the two brothers,
but the loss of the cold has sent the ahares of the mine
down eeveral points."
This Is the story that I. In company with the rest
f the reading public on the weatern coast, pored over
one night while going to my roomi In the Palace hotel.
My buatnesa, that of an unattached detective, had taken
ire out of the dty for a month, and here on my return
wm a myxtery right at my hand and to my beat liking.
Hut, of course, a mystery so publicly exploited would be
turned over to the police, or at least to one of the
largo detective agendo, so there was little chance that
I would be given an opportunity to work on the case,
much as I would like to do so.
Imagine then my surprise when next morning the
bellboy brought me a card bearing the name, "Frederick
U Harmon, president Bed Rock Mining and Developing
company
"Show him up," I said, Instantly.
Mr. Harmon was an elderly man with gray hair, ths
conventional business man, with muoh of his usual self,
ponneonlon and aanurance disturbed by ths catastrophe
that had overtaken his wealth.
"Mr. CleaverT" he said, sharply, the moment we
were lace to face. I acknowledged the name. " I have
heard of you, heard of you often through associate of
i. Ine who are In the banking business and for whom
you have worked. They testify to your shrewdness and
reliability, as well as to your ability to fathom mys
teHos which baffle all others. Consequently' I know
you are Juat the man I wish to soe. Tou have read tii
story Oi the gold theft T" Of course I had. " Then you
know." said he, " about all that I am able to tell you of
ths theft But I can give you a history of the gold
and the mine, and this may help you some In coming to
conclusions." , ,
We lighted cigar and he continued: "My brother
and myself located the Bed Rock mine Ave years ago
In the Moose creek district. We were proapectors then
with nothing but two blankets and a good big grub
stake between us and nothing. Wa had no money or
backing of any kind, but wa had plenty of friends back
here In Ban Franoleco.
"When wa located the claim upon which the mine
Is situated we saw at once that It was rich In possibili
ties! but the possibilities were not of the kind that two
pan miners with no machinery could develop. There
waa plenty of gold there, but It was deep In the rock
andi to get It out would take much machinery and money.
We came back to Frisco with aamplea of ore and dia
grams of the claim. Using our friendship as a lever wa
formed a stock company here and secured the money
for the mine's development. That waa five years ago.
The developments were slower than we had expected.
The rock was hard to handle and little gold was ob
tained for, a long time. The people who had invested
began to clamor for evidence of the gold we had told
them to expect. Envious miners began to circulate
stories to the effect that the mine- was a fake. To
offset these stories and their effect my brother and I
went to Alaslca this spring. We drove machinery and
men at top speed for two months and In tha end there
was $40,000 worth of gold In the smelter tn the shape
of bars, like this one."
iRDlNARY ramblers men who regard the
Ol winning or losing of $2$. 000 as something
I sensational go to Monte Carlo.
I But the real princes of roulette, ths
men who have seen six figure stakes
ventured on on turn of the wheel, are
not to be found thsra. Few know them,
for their playrooms arc placed on a wind
swept alope of the Bavarian hills. Tou will find no
crystal chandeliers there, no carefully sponged palms
or flaming carpet bedding. , The players do not even
appear In evening dreaa, for the place masquerades as
a simple sanitarium, and. though It may be reached In
a few hours from half a doxen famous " Bads," casual
visitors rarely find It.
I dlsoovered It by accident an accident that cost
me more than I oould afford at the time and only ones
did I mention Its name to another person. It Is a name
to conjure wtth If used with discretion.
. .
I was seated In the Marseilles night express. Ths
green shades had been drawn over the lights, but I
tried vainly to sleep. From the darkened interior I
aimlessly watched the moonlit country sliding by, but
the flat scenery of France soon grows monotonous even
tn the daytime. At night It Is as featureleas as those
endless plains of Hungary. My fellow travelers snored
gently, and at last, giving up all hops of rest, I walked
out Into the swaying corridor to smoke.
There I found a traveler as restless at myself. I
helped him to sprinkle a few leisurely curses on night
expresaea, and then wo talked. Night journeys art
helpful to conversation If you And ths right person.
In reply to my first remarks, he bad tald: "Tha faot la.
I never sleep at night at Isaat, not till after 4 or I
o'clock, and that la hardly an exception to tha rule. It
ItT I am afraid It Is an old habit."
, I had noticed that hit eyes wert tunk deeply In bit
head, and that he 'had the nervous, tense look that
most night workers wear.
He volunteered no further Information at to bit
profesalon, and wa apoke of other subjects.
A few weeka before newspaper readert bad been
told of one more night expreas myatery to be added
to an already long series. A traveler, bad been found
dead In one of the compartments. There were no
marks of-violence on the body, but the examination
bad shown that the man had died of poison. The lock
of a small handbag at his side had been forced, but the
mystery was made deeper by the fact that, though the
bag contained notea to the value of nearly $50,000,
these bad not been tampered with. They remained
neatly tied up in little bund lea v Yet. obviously, ths
other papers had been turned over hurriedly. Tbt
tuggeatlon of suicide would have been accepted the
man might bavs forced the lock himself, if he bad lost
the key but this stmpls theory would hardly aocount
for the faot that four other msn bad been found dead
. under almost exactly the tarns circumstances during
tbt last tbrss years.
It was but natural that tbt east should be fretb In
my mind, at It bad been discussed over and over again
by travelera But when I spoke of It my fellow passen
ger teemed disinclined to venture any opinion,
"Ho was a gasabler. more successful than moat,
and bt paid the prion. Others have gone the same
road." bo said wtth aa air of dismissing ths subject.
But this was news to me, and to the world gen
erally. " I did not hear that be bad been to Monte Carlo,"
I tald.
He smiled. "No, It waa not Monte Carlo. But
Ml
Bi8aJBWr By
I
mm
Here - he paused and unwrapped a small packag
which he carried and flung a bar of rough lead upon
the Boor. I picked It up. It was six Inches long and two
ends and deep. I lifted It and scratched Its surf no
with my finger. It was rough lesd of exceptional
hardnesa I dropped It to the floor again, while Mr.
Harmon continued with his story.
" The gold waa packed In boxes and sealed in the
smarter before our eyes and then taken to Nome, where
It was transferred to the steamer. But before trans
ferring It my brother and I opened the boxes and care
fully Inspected their contents. They contained the
same gold that had left the mine. After that they
were taken to the steamer, placed In the gold room, and
the room securely sealed, while we remained to watch.
The seals of the room never were disturbed on the pas
sage boms. We arrived at Ban Francisco In ths even
ing. I bad the gold transferred at once to a tug and
taken to a ' slip on the water front. Here we had a
wagon waiting and llK ahlpment was at once taken to
our office. Here It waa placed In the rafe, and along
with my brother and the secretary of the company, Mr.
Johnson. I sat guard over It all night. In the morning
the directors assembled, the safe waa opened, and the
contents of the boxes exposed to view. They contained
bars of lead, auoti aa you soe on the floor. That la all,
except that my brother and I offer 110,000 to you. Mr.
Cleaver, if you can unravel the mystery of the theft."
Ten thousand dollars waa a large sum to me.' I
wanted It, and I wanted the case for the work it offered.
But If all that Mr. Harmon said was true, the case was
Incomprehensible, for I knew the care that steamship
companlea take In handling oonslgnmenta of gold, and
knew that the theft could not have taken place there.
But where could It have taken place. thonT Apparently
no place, for the gold had not been out- of Mr. Harmon's
sight except on the boat, and It was Impossible to be
lieve that he had anything to do with the theft after
having talked with film for awhile. . While I cogitated
thus he suddenly broke out:
' " It must have taken place on the steamer."
" It couldn't take place there," I said shortly.
"It elthsr happened befora It was put on board or
after It arrived here."
"It did not occur In Alaska," he said positively.
" Then It must have occurred here," I rejoined In
stantly. "Let us go to your office."
On the way I questioned hlra closely concerning
there are other places where they play higher. I won
der if the buffet Is still open. Will you Join me?"
Seated at a jolting table, he talked of other thinga
To me it seemed so obvious that he wished to avoid
this mystery that I could not help wiahlng to reopen
the conversation. Could he know something about It
that he wished to keep secret?
I thought over his words: "There are other places
where they play higher," and an idea occurred to me.
I casually mentioned the name or the sanitarium
on ths Bavsrlan hills.
Instantly his expression changed. "You have been
there?" he asked.
I told him of my experience at the place, and he
smiled grimly. "You were more lucky than that poor
devil they found la the train," waa the only remark
ht made. .
At It aeemed Impossible to get further Information
from him. I took up a paper. There, among cplumnt
of gossip about gymkhanas, battles of flowers, and ths
latest arrivals at the various continental resorts, I read
the following paragraph:
" Baden-Baden. j Tueaday. Home sensation has
been caused here try reports of glgtntio aums won by
an American gambler.' Gossip placet the amount at
something over $1,000,000, but the only foundation for
the story seems to be the fact that a certain American
who la well known here recently tent boms through
one of the bankt a turn of 1850.000. All Inaiat thtt thla
waa won by gambling, though nobody can any where .
tuch tensational winnings could have been made. In
quiry adda nothing to the known facta, but meanwhile
the atory la the one tople of conversation."
I banded the paper over to my companion and
pointed to the paragraph. He read It carefully and
nodded.
"One more." he said. "When will It end?"
-You think he will meet with the same fate at tbt
others" I asked.
He ahrugged his shoulders.
"Watch the papers." be said. " You know ths
place. I can tell you nothing more."
The aun was just rising from tbt clean drawn
horlton, and I opened the window to let In tbt eold
morning air. My fellow traveler root from the little
table. .
"There are still two hours before wt reach Mar
aeillea." bt tald. "I think I might get a nap now.
Oood night or. I ahould aay, good morning!"
Wa thook banda. When I saw bin again at wt
stepped from the train, bt nodded. . .
"I shall watch the papera," I said.
So ahall I." he replied quietly.
During the following three months I wandered far
afield la southern Italy. In those tun scorched vlllagea
where plga eleep peacefully at midday In tbt main
street, and where all the world siestas through tbt hot
hours, tbt memory of that myatery of the night ex
press faded away. Tapers would have been an Im
pertinence In that land of drowsy sunshine.
But In autumn, when the primitive wine presses
wert abrlm. and the glrle who trampled over the
grapes looked at If they wars paddltng In blood. I
turned northward onee mora Jk few daya In Milan, a
lingering good-by to Verona ths borne of Juliet and
I was at Bala, sn routs home.
Boms say there are two great gateways In the
world, where you may meet most of the men and
'' women you know tf you will only wait and watch. One
la Charing Cross station, ths other the Sues canaL
But there Is a third the big buffet with the
tessellated Boor and too red check tablecloths at Bale
hia brother. Naturally he resented such questioning
but I told him It was useless to try to work sn ths cast
without having all ths fscts at my fingers' tips. I alsc
saked about Johnaon. the secretary. Apparently Mr.
Harmon trusted him - Implicitly. Besides there was
the apparent utter Impossibility or his having com
mitted the theft.
At the office there waa nothing for me to learn.
Augustus Harmon waa almost a duplicate of his broth
er, although apparently a few years younger. Their
atoriea were Identical. Both were positive that It waa
gold that the boxes contained when they were sealed
at Nome: both that It was lead that filled them when
they opened them at Ban Francisco. Johnson knew
Grant Forster.
station, tor kijt.lv is lue focus where most of the great
railway tines that are ruled through Europe meet.
Into that station come the squat tunneled engines
panting after their Journeys from Rome, from I'aria,
from Berlin and Vienna. There English climbers, with
the snowburn of the Alpa fresh on their facea, sit by
sallow Russians, Oermant in thiny peaked caps, wasp
walated Hungarian officers glittering wtth gold lace,
Americans who curat the foreign cookery, and bronsed
men from the Tyrol, with peacocks' feathere In their
soft felt bats.
The waiters could have straigbtsned the tangle of
Babel, for they speak all tongues. I bad ordered sup
per hero at a preparation for the night journey to
Paris, and was aimlessly watching the many tongued
crowd, when, In a corner of the big room. I caugut
sight of the man who had aroused my curiosity that
night in the Marseilles express. Our eyes met, and he
nodded. A few moments later he cams to my table, and
we were soon exchanging our experiences of the last
few months. He also was going to Paris, ao we agreed
to travel together.
"You have not yet learned to aleep at night?" I
asked. .
"Not yet," he laughed. "I shall expect you to help
me past the time."
We had left the arc ligbtt of Bale far behind us
before I mentioned the subject of our last conversation,
"You have not heard?" he asked in surprise.
"You know southern Italy." I said. "Binoe I saw
you last I have read three week old papers, the greater
part of a Bradshaw, and a revolutionary pamphlet My '
literary researches ended at the pamphlet."
He opened a pocketbook, withdrew a cutting from
a newspaper, and banded It to me. It wtt the report
for which he had told ma to watch an aocount of one
more mystery of a dead man and a rifled handbag. In
almost every detail It was ths sams as the caaet which
tt varying intervals had startled Europe. The report
ended with the sentence: "This is tbs fifth man who
has been found dead, and the cases show a remarkable
similarity, yet the police are unable to throw any light
on ths mystery."
" Yes," said my companion when I had finished
reading. " It Is the firth and the last."
" But the police have no clew," I said.
Ht smiled slightly.
"Sometimes Justice la done without the aid of the
courts. There are occasions when it la better so."
" You know more than you oars to tell," I said
bluntly.
"Mors than the world knows, certainly," he re
plied, without offense. "Yet there la no longer any
reaaon for secrecy; If I did not publish the facta It Is
only because I knew thst no good purpose could bo
served by doing so, and I bad no wish to bavs my name
connected with the affair. As you do not know my
name. I can be quite sure that I shall not bt dragged
Into It, but I have no objection to giving you the story.
It Is long, but It will serve to pass the time till tbs
aun rises."
I lit a fresh cigar and waited patiently. He leaned
back la hit teat, and was silent for a few momenta
" You know that every old gambler hat a system,
which he considers Infallible until be has lost the last
coin be Is able to borrow?"
I nodded. " Monte Carlo lives on systems," I said.
"But do you know that every man who is seen
playing there with a card full of calculations Is closely
spied upon by the authorities? No. you have never
beard that! They keep their secrets welL Now, It
might occur to any one knowing this that sucb spying
would be unnecessary if they could really afford to
luugh at systems, as they affect to do. Do you see,
then, why they watch those players so carefully?"
He paused. "It is because there is a system an
infallible system and the bank knows It!"
I smiled Incredulously.
"Yes. most people laugh at 'ths Idea." be said.
" But (the man who discovered it won $1,000,000 at ths
tables and then sold hia secret to the authorities for
$1,000,000, on an agreement that he should never play
at Monte Carlo again. That ts why they spy."
" But " I began.
" There are no ' buts ' in the case," he Interrupted.
"I know! I have had the papers explaining that system
in my hands. O. I am not going to describe It to you."
he laughed, "it has done enough harm already!
" It was discovered by a Oerman mathematician,
and I do not mind giving you a bare outline of It. You
know, of course, that most systems are founded on the
principle that If you Increase your stake after each
loss in some definite proportion you arecertaln, sooner
or later, to make a coup that wjll more than repay you
for all the stakes you have lost. That principle Is
sound. If you have unlimited capital, and If the bank
playa without a limit But at Monte Carlo they guard
themselves against this by placing a limit otherwise
a syndicate or players might ruin the society, for It Is
obvious that if the syndicate were to back one number
continuously, each time Increasing the staks, that num
ber must turn up at some time. Possibly it might not
appear for daya, and tha ttaket might run up to a
million, but it must come In tht end. Tblt it, of course,
recognised wherever gambling takes place, and the
limit Is the bank's protection,
"But this Oermsn discovered a method of making
the limit rule valueless. It waa done with the aid of
five confederates, who appeared to play independently,
and backed different numbers, but who were all work
ing on a definite plan, the complete detaila of which
were only known to the Inventor of the system. Each
man but that Is enough!"
He smiled at my obvious anxiety to know more.
"The German was content with bis qu tly won
fortune, and faithfully held to the terms of his agree
ment; he was never again aeen at Monte Carlo, and no
one haa alnce tried the system. Tha authoritiea were
satisfied that they held the secret and that It never
could leak out
" But five years ago the papers were stolen from
the safe in which they bad been kept More spies were
employed, but It aeemed evident that the thief knew
the danger of making use of hia aecret at Monte Carlo;
at any rate, he never tried it there.
"About that time I waa a croupier at that sani
tarium on the Bavarian hills. O, It was before your
visit ao I did not have the pleasure of rsktng over
.your stakes!"
He laughed. "Well, one night we saw a man play
ing with a paper full of figures I - front of blm. He
lost heavily, but another player won something like
$$00,000. and our spies reported that thoaa two men. In
the company of four others, were afterwards found
talking together. For a week the six played, and then
left suddenly, leaving the bank poorer by about I1.J50.
000. O. yes. we played high there!
"Nothing more was heard of them until the report
of the strange death of a man In the night express.
From the detailed description given, and the notes
found In his bag. we recognised him aa the player who
had tried hia system at our tables. That waa the Ural
'mystery.'
"Six months later one of the men wbo bad been
nothing aave thst when lie opened the boxes under Mr.
Harmon's directions he found them full of leaden bara
The boxes were still in the safe and upon examination
I found them filled with bars similar to the one Mr.
Harmon carried with him. Here was a mystery worthy
of the surne. No ami no trace of the gold. I
begged to be excused and went bark to my rooms to
ponder, admitting to myself that here was a ease
which I waa at a ! to know how to begin work
upon.
On the day following I shadowed Augustus Har
mon carefully. Nothing developed The next day I
went after Johnson with the same results. Apparently
these two were not connected with the robbery la any
way. But who waa connected With ItT I decided that
It muat be one of these two who would explain the
mystery. Rit as the days went by and my work
yielded nothing but disappointments 1 began to doubt
the reliability of my ronvlcUon. U seemed that I waa
doomed to fail hopelessly Yti this case. I again con
sulted Mr. Harmon and went over the ground with
him. but nothing new developed except the fact that
his brother at ttmea had a mnnla for gambling for
high stakes Thla might account for a temptation to
steal the gold, but it did not account for any opportu
nity for him to do ao. I was baffled, lost completely.
I sgaJn took up the task of shadowing the two men
whom I suspected. Now I discovered that Johnson
was also addicted to gambling and speculation, but
nothing more.
A week went by and the mystery waa no nearer
solution than It had been when I went to work upon
It. I was working now without any definite aim.
knowing that if I did stumble upon Ita solution it
would be the merest piece of good fortune.
1 went to my favorite reataurant one night re
aolved to foraet my worry over the case la a sound
men served with good music. A friend, seeing me
seated, came over and ehook handa "Did you ever
see anything like this?" he asked, and he held forth
a coin. It was an old fashioned 20 cent allver piece
gilded over and passed for a five dollar gold piece.
After passing it back to my friend he excused himself.
at.d left. Then suddenly I was struck with an Idea.
It was more than an Idea, It was an inspiration. It
was Improbable, but 1 resolved to test it.
Next morning I called at the office. "Mr. Har
mon." I said when we were alone. "I wlah you would
unlock your eafe and leave me alone with the lead In
It for five mlnutee."
Without a word he opened the masalve steel doors
and stepped out. The moment the outer door had
olosed upon him I drew a rough file from my pocket
and attacked the nearest bar. At first nothing showed
under the raspa of ths steel aave the dull lead. Then
suddenly the filings were tinged with yellow and the
next moment I saw what I had hoped to see the bars
were gold. Quickly I placed the filed bars back snd
called Mr. Harmon. "I have made a discovery of Im
portance." I said, "but I am unable to reveal I now.
However. I know now that I wllf aolve the robbery.
If you will wait with ma here tonight I think we wUl
find ths crtmlnala."
That night we secreted ourselves In a closet and
waited. At twelve a key turned In the door and two
men stepped in,to the dark. Without striking a match
they groped their way serosa to the aafe and opened It.
At that moment I touohed a button and turned on the
lights. The two men In the room were Johnson and
Augustus Harmon.
Afterwards It was all explained easily. Johnson
and Mr. Harmon's brother, driven Into a hole by their
speculations, had determined to steal the gold with the
aid of the superintendent of the mine. That worthy
WM , skilled chemist, and It was he who had invented
and applied the coating to ths bars which turned to
lead and covered the gold from sight while the ahlp
ment waa on Ita way home. Being a preparation which
required weeka to take effect, there was no change In
the appearance of the bars at Noma But when Ban
Francisco was reached and the boxes opened the bars
apparently were nothing but rough lead. And here
the gold had been Intact in Harmon's safe while he was
growing white haired over hts supposed robbery.
For some reason he never exposed bis brother or
his two accomplices. He discharged Johnaon and the
engineer and allowed his brother to "retire." He re
stored confidence In the stock of his mine and now Is
extremely wealthy. And he did not forget to add a sub
stantial sum to the $10,000 originally offered me when
I showed htm that the "lead" In his safe waa pure
gold.
seen In the company or the muraerea gammer reap
peared. He 'bad five new confederates, and again the
bank was tht poorer when they left Then the new.
possessor of tht papert wat found dead. Just as the
first had been. His bag containing the notes had been
opened, but tbs notes were left Evidently the papera
had been stolen, but only wo knew thla.
"Tbt tame events followed six months later. It
wat obvlout to ut that at only tht confederate of the
man who beld tht papera could know Itt real value, the
criminal mutt in each case be sought for among them.
Yet tbt bank bad no Intention of Uklng action, aa
they feared tbt disclosures that must of necessity
bring them into undesirable publicity.
I gave up my position of croupier after the sec
ond affair, and have never entered any gambling rooms
sines, but I carry a souvenir of those nights In the
form of sleeplessness.
" When you showed me that paragraph on the
night ws were traveling to Marseilles It occurred to
me that I might take action on my own responsibility.
I went to Baden-Baden and found the man wbo had
won the money. I watched him and discovered, as I
Had expected, that be had five confederates. 0
"Three days after my arrival I taw the man who
bad won the money leave bis hotel, carrying only a
small handbag. Ht went to ths elation and booked for
I'aria. I traveled In the same train. For hourt I paced
the corridor, passing hit compartment again and again.
Just as the dawn was brsaklng I grew tired of watch
ing, and feeling convinced that at any rate bt was now
safe, I returned to my own place and fell asleep.
" I was aroused at wt neared Parlt by loud tbouts
In the corridor. I knew at ones what bad happened
long before 1 wat told by half a dosen excited people.
The man was dead, and his handbag bad been ran
sacked: He bad bad tha wisdom to transmit most of
'his winnings, but there were a number of notes la the
bag. and these, aa in the former cases, had not been
touched.
"At Paris all who had traveled In the train were
detained for inquiries. But I walled to see all the
others. I found the man I expected one of the con
federates I had aeen at Baden-Baden!
"I followed that man to a hotel, where he booked
rooms. 1 also took a room, ami unpacked a revolver
I thought it might be handy.
" While he waa dressing for dinner. I went Into his
room. He tried to bluster. I locked the door, cover
ing hlra meanwhile with the revolver.
"I think he misunderstood my object, for after we
had been looking at one another he said:
"You can put that thing away. I will give you
the papera'
"I took them from him. and recognised at once
the i-loeely figured sheets I had seen before at our
tables. I read them through, and saw the Idea that
had pussled many for years, and then"
He paused for a moment
" Welt then I burned them. U'e watched the paper
flare and turn black In the fi iul.r. and well, that was
the end of the system that Monte Carlo had paid a
million to keep aecret!"
" But aurely you ought to have handed the man
over to justice." 1 aaid.
"There waa another way," be replied:
"You allowed him to escape?"
" Exactly! I allowed him an easy escape. I left
him my revolver! He understood."
"And then?" I queried.
"Well." he said slowly, "you know auicides never
create much talk In Paris, they art used to them!"