The Sunday Oregonian., July 12, 1908, Magazine Section, Page 3, Image 49

THE SUNDAY OREGONIAN, PORTLAND, JULY 12, 1908.
THE
MAST
Bcin& ih Chronicles of Garlion Clark, TcIcbaiho-DGdueiiVc Solver of
The Mystery of the
Trust Builder.
(This li the second of the adventures o
Carlton Clarke, the solver of criminal mys
teries by wonderful telepatho-deductive
methods. This story deals with trusts, the
methods of high' finance, a confidential
clerk's treachery, and his natlently waiting
for -5 years to avenge a wrong. It Is a
story strong with vital Interest.)
WHEN I took up my residence with
Carlton Clarke, telepathic detec
tive, I admit it was with certain
miivtngs. Imagine living with a man
who, in case you were out the night be
fore, could tell you, without question,
where you had been and what you had
been doing. Surely I should have to sac
rifice both privacy and individuality. A
few weeks, however, taught me that my
fears were groundless. If Clarke em
ployed his wonderful powers In .my case,
It was only In anticipating my wants.
We had been house mates but a short
time when I discovered that his clientele
already was a large one and drawn from
widely different circles. What their
troubles were or in what manner Clarke
was able to aid them I was unable to
guess. Once, when I suspect my mind
was dwelling on the mystery with rather
a morbid interest, Clarke turned to me
and said:
"These cases are too commonplace to
Interest you. Wait until we have some
thing big and I will take you Into my
confidence. By the way, I expect a client
this evening who ought to be worth while.
He Is the head of one of the best-known
stock brokerage houses in the city, and
in his note he says he hopes I may be
able to solve a mystery affecting some of
the greatest corporate interests of the
country."
During the evening a severe electrical
storm broke over the city. As Clarke did
not expect his caller until 8:30, I retired
to my room to snatch an extra hour for
some work I had in hand. So-n my type
writer was clattering away to the ac
companiment of the artillery of the heav
ens. I could hear Clarke nervously pac
ing the library. "Without, the lightning
kept up one continuous flash. A bolt
finally struck so near that the flash and
the report seemed to come almost at the
same instant. This was too much. for my
nerves, and I decided that work was out
of the question.
"It's a fierce night out. I'm afraid your
man will not come," I suggested to
Clarke, going to the door.
Clarke stopped his restless march. "I
had begun to think so myself," he said,
"but If I am not mistaken, he is Just
now turning into Chestnut street at
Clark."
As well as I knew Clarke and with
all my faith in his wonderful powers,
this was a trifle beyond my compre
hension. In less than five minutes,
however, we heard a carriage drive up
to the entrance. I rushed to the win
dow and saw the coachman covering
a steaming pair of handsome blacks
with their rubber blankets.
"I suppose you scarcely expected me
such a night as this, Mr. Clarke," said
our caller, as he laid off his rain coat
and top hat. "I assure .you my coming
serves- to show that the -matter is of
great importance. I am Henry A. Bol
ton, of the firm of Bolton & Co. You
doubtless had my note this afternoon.
I was referred to you by a friend, who
tells me that you have had consider
able ruccess In confidential cases."
I took Mr. Bolton's hat and coat, and
when I returned from stowing them
away in the reception hall I had my
first opportunity to make a careful
survey of his person.
Our visitor was evidently a man of
affairs. He was rotund to the verge of
corpulence. A keen gray eye a money
eye. if there is such a distinctive orb
looked straight at me. His cheeks
glowed under a healthy tan and his
white hair, mustache and neatly
trimmed imperial gave him something
of a military bearing. For the rest he
was a member of the Mystic Shrine
witness the handsome seal on his
heavy gold watch chain; he was a golf
enthusiast witness the tan and the
callouses on his otherwise white palms;
and his tailor was the best in the
city.
When my confrere had set out the
generally prescribed antidotes for a
wet night and our cigars were going
well Clarke asked Mr. Bolton for an
explanation of his note and visit.
"Let us have the story, Mr. Bol
ton," he said, "and I will question you
as is necessary."
"Well,' began Bolton, "as you per
haps know, I am the senior member of
the stock brokerage firm of Bolton' &
Co. Possibly you do not know the po
sition my firm holds In the financial
world, for our work Is confidential In
the extreme. To the world at large we
are members of the principal ex
changes, both here and in the East,
doing a general stock brokerage busi
ness with a branch house In New
York and private telegraph service. As
a matter of fact, though, and I tell it
to you In confidence, which I am
assured by my friend you will not be
tray, our actual business is organizing
trusts."
I will say by way of parenthesis that
the business deals of Bolton & Co. have
since become so well known to the world
through the Investigations of the De
partment of Commerce and Labor that
I am not violating this confidence in
the course of this narrative.
"We are closely affiliated with1 the well
known Ann of P. J. Forgan & Co.. of.
New York." continued Mr. Bolton. "Most
of the combinations of capital which the
house of Forgan has backed openly have
in reality had their inception in our of
fice. I may say. without egotism, that
I am the father of the modern trust Idea,
for I had It worked out in detail 25 years
ago.
"Recently our most fortunate ventures
have been in cornering the manufacture
of minor articles which are. however,
important necessaries in household econ
omy. There was the lamp chimney
trust, the potato masher trust, the can
opener and corkscrew trust, and many
others which I might mention,' all of
which were ideas of mine, and were or
ganized in our office. We have also had
a hand in. piactloally ail. of the, bxD-efv
known combinations of capital within the
last half-dozen years.
"I am telling you this, not In a boast
ful way, but because it is necessary that
you should have a thorough under
standing of the details of our business
and because it has an important bearing,
I believe, on what is to follow.
"Naturally we receive a large daily
mall from our house in New York,
which, as you doubtless know, is in
charge of James H. Hazen, my son-in-law.
The mail Invariably includes a
dally report of the business done by the
New York house. I give this mall my
personal attention.
"It was about six months ago that I
first noticed something peculiar in this
department of our business. One day.
In going through the New) York mall,
I observed an error in thfe spelling of
some common word in the daily report.
It rather grated on me and I took my pen
and corrected it. As I turned the sheet
over upon the blotter my eye was at
tracted by a sentence lightly written in
pencil on the back. The hand was the
merest childish scrawl and the substance
so utterly foolish that I paid no atten
tion to it. I thought it likely that one
of the children of the clerk, whose duty
it was to write up the report, had been
in the office scribbling on the blanks.
Here is the report."
Mr. Bolton took a document from an
Imposing pocketbook and laid It upon
the table. We read upon it the follow
ing sentence:
"I see two black cats on the back
yard fence."
"Well, what do you think of it?"
asked Bolton after Clarke had studied
the scrawl for a few minutes.
"Evidently a disguised hand," an
swered Clark. "This new system of ver
tical writing is the easiest penmanship
imaginable under which to hide a char
acteristic hand. But go on. This cer
tainly Is not sufficient excuse for calling
in an expert."
"Certainly not," answered Bolton. "I
should have thought nothing of this had
it not been for the events which fol
lowed. I do net say that I immediately
connected thesu events with this scrawl,
but you will see how I was led to this
Inference es I proceed.
"At the time this report reached me
we had Just concluded with the house
of Forgan & Co. an arrangement to buy
up all of the broom factories in the
country and organize them into a trust.
The broom, as you know, is an insignifi
cant article, but It is found in every
home In America. Our plans were going
nicely. We had every factory in the
country save one. This one, however,
had an output equal to the combined
output of all the others, and its pur
chase was absolutely necessary to our
plans.
"When this dally report came we were
Just opening negotiations for its pur
chase with every prospect of success.
The day after the receipt of the report
I met the owners, and their terms nearly
knocked me Into a heap. Nothing less
than the presidency of the trust, a ma
jority of the board or directors and 61
per cent of the stock! If you know any
thing about business you know that
these terms were impossible. No amount
of persuasion would shake them or dis
close their reasons, and the upshot was
that we gave up the project, the house
of Bolton & Co. lost more money than
I care to think about, and my credit
with Forgan & Co. was seriously dam
aged. "A few weeks afterward we essayed
the launching of the souvenir postal
card trust. It may surprise you when
X tell you that the business done in
souvenir postal cards in this country
runs far up into the millions annually.
I had watched the progress of the fad,
and thought I saw a chance for a
pretty speculation. We had bought up
a few small houses as a basis, but the
business was practically controlled by
the big printing firm of Hollawell &
Eubank, whdse stock passes on the
curb. The stock had been hovering
around par, and I had given my
brokers orders to buy the minute it
dropped below 99.. We had picked up
but a small block of shares at that
figure, when one morning, In looking
over the mail, I saw another notation
on the back of the daily report. Here
It is." '
We looked at the paper which he
held out, and read in the same child
ish hand:
"Two boys on the grass playing
mumbledypeg."
"What happened?" queried Clarke.
"Enough," answered Bolton. "The
next day H. & E. Jumped to 110 under
feverish buying. The next to 115, the
next to 135V4, the next to 150. In a
week a hitherto neglected stock could
not be had at 200. The souvenir postal
card trusts-was etill-born. Our money
loss was not great, but our loss in
prestige was considerable.
"But it la useless to multiply cases.
To epitomize, when New York wrote
'Two geese are in the pond,' the safety
pin trust went under. When 'A . fox
ate two chickens" appeared, the brick
trust failed, with great loss to Bolton
& Co. This brings it down to yester
day, when this Inscription appeared,
and Bolton laid a third report before
us.
The line was:
"Catallne et forte dux."
"Now, Mr. Clarkeand Mr. Sexton,
I may add as you seem to be equally
Interested, I have given you a pretty
full account of the case. I can never
tell you the worry It has caused me.
The blows delivered my house recently
have been heavy, and many times I
have seen financial ruin' staring me in
the face. If you can explain this mys
tery, and put a stop to these occur
rences, you may save me from the
bankruptcy court, which, with me,
means a suicide's grave."
"Let me ask you first, Mr. Bolton,"
said Clarke, "if any similar notations
have appeared on any paper which you
send daily to your New York office?"
"I thought you would ask that, and
I am prepared for you. Some months
ago my son-in-law, Mr. Hazen, com
plained that our daily confirmation of
wired messages wras being defaced, and
suggested, rather sarcastically, that we
keep children out of our office. As
soon as my suspicions began to take
form, I asked him to send me all of
ilie dAllj confirmations which contained
anything in any maner out of the ordi
nary. I have made a list of these sen
tences, and here they are.
"Three cats eating catnip."
"If a farmer sold three chickens
for." , ,
"If the feathers of 60 ducks will
stuff."
"That is the list, and if you can
make anything out of such ridiculous
nonsense, you are smarter than I am,
and that's considerable of an admis
sion for Henry Bolton, to make to any
man."
- "Were these sentences in a hand
similar to the one which penned the
lines on your daily report?" .Inquired
Clarke.
"Here is one of the originals, and
you may see for yourself," said Bolton,
again drawing his ponderoifs wallet.
The writing was very similar, being
vertical. "Clearly the same effoVt to
disguise a well-formed hand," com
mented Clarke. "Now, Mr. Bolton, tell
me exactly through whose hands these
papers' are accustomed to pass. . First,
take the report which you receive
dally."
"It Is opened by my personal file clerk.
My confidential man then brings the re
port to me in a basket, together with
'other mail. In fact, I usually find this
basket on my desk when I arrive In the
morning. After I have glanced over the
report I put it In another basket, to
gether with other papers to be filed. This
is removed by my confidential man, who
gives it to the chief clerk, who. In turn,
gives the papers to the filing clerk, who
puts them in their proper files. The
dally confirmation list is made up by the
chief clerk, comes to me through the
hands of the confidential man, and Is
returned by me to him. He then gives
It to the file clerk, who, with his other
duties, attends to the sealing and stamp
ing of all the mail which leaves my
private office. I am not familiar with the
smaller- details of the New York office,
but I Imagine much the same method is
employed there."
"Now, tell me something of these em
ployes, beginning with the confidential
man."
'Tobias Hippie, our confidential man,
has held his present position for S3 years.
We have been life-long friends. When
I was taken into the firm at the age of
30. we were both clerks together. One of
my first orders was to place him In the
position he now holds, and to give him a
substantial increase In salary. He is
a very religious man, a deacon in the
church, besides being greatly interested
In city mission work. His salary is $10,000
a year, which Is much more than such
positions usually command, but he Is
more than a mere clerk. He lives In his
own home, a very handsome one In
Riverside. His son, by the way, is at
tentive to my youngest daughter, so you
see we are bound together by family as
well as business ties." .
& iSrinimal stcrics. by
7
"Have you ever known him to aatble
in stocks?" asked Clarke.
"Never. It Is a capital crime in my
office for any of the working force to
have any dealings on the exchanges. Be
sides, Hippie is opposed to the stock
market on principle. Several times his
conscience has troubled him so regarding
the nature of the business with which
he is connected that only by reminding
him of the stronger duty to his family
have I prevented him from resigning.
But it is needless to question me regard
ing Tobias Hippie. If ever a man was
the soul of honor, he is, and I would as
soon suspect myself as suspect him.
"Now for the chief clerk, then," said
Clarke.
"The chief clerk, Gordon Wiley, is a
young man who has only been with us
about six months. He came from the
New York house and is a protege of my
son-in-law. I know very little about
him other than that he does his work
well and seems Invariably civil and will
ing. I have felt slightly prejudiced
against him at times, because he wears
more expensive clothes than he should
on 125 a month, but I have found no
reason to let that weigh against him.
The file clerk I think you 'can count out
altogether. He is an overgrown boy, end
I am satisfied that if he lives to be as
old as Methuselah, he will still be filing
papers at the rate of eight dollars a
week."
"It is--clear," commented Clarke, medi
tatively puffing his cigar, "that you have
stumbled upon somebody's secret code.
Your reverses in business are doubtless
the result of Information given and re
ceived through this method. What I fall
to understand is, why the parties to the
conspiracy, for such it appears to be, did
not adopt the quicker medium of the
telegraph, or the safer method of the
private letter. This point doubtless will
be clear if we can get at the roots of
the mystery. Did it ever occur to you
that you might break the thread of in
formation by pocketing the report imme
diately on its receipt and never letting it
out of your hands?"
"But it only dawned on me gradually
that there was any connection between
these writings and my business losses. I
have taken that course with yesterday's
report and it has never been out of my
possession."
"Then it will "be interesting to see if
the developments are the same, although
I am Inclined to believe that we will
have the whole matter cleared up before
we will have time to test that plan. Now
let me ask you If anyone In your office,
or any of your competitors, has appar
ently benefited by your losses."
"Absolutely none, and that is one of
the things that mystify me. The stocks
of companies which we have been after
have been bought by small brokers prac
tically unknown on the street, and evi
dently acting for some person or persons
who are strictly in the background. Now.
B?oior T
wzzLfffLMe wrr
Mr. Clarke, I am a man of business and
I recognize that you have your own
methods. So take your time and I will
give you every advantage in getting to
the bottom of this. If you succeed you
may write your own check for your serv
ices. Is there anything else you would
like to ask me?"
"No; I will look into the case tomor
row. I shall doubtless call at your office
in the capacity of one seeking advice
regarding the placing of some securities.
It will be strange if we do not turn up
something."
When the sound of Bolton's carriage
wheels had died away, and Clarke and I
were again seated in our cozy little li
brary, my companion sat for many min
utes gazing fixedly at a list of the mys
terious sentences which he had hastily
scribbled.
An apparently simple case. Sexton."
he finally said. "But there are depths to
It which we have not sounded. Bolton
was as honest with me as it is possible
for a man to be who is daily in the mad
vortex of money-getting. There was
something in his mind, however, which I
could not grasp. Several times I had a
stray thread and then it was gone. I
feel that, before we are done, we will
witness a drama of human hearts; yes,
perhaps a tragedy."
"Can you make anything out of the
cipher?"
"No, and I have little hopes of doing
so. It is obviously an arbitrary code, and
the fact that the sentences always stop
short of ten words would suggest It was
devised for. telegraphic purposes, despite
the use to which it was put."
"Which of the clerks do you suspect?"
I asked, as Clarke tossed away his ciga
rette and seemed Inclined to end the con
versation. "Oh, that deals with the mind of man.
something upon which it is impossible to
speculate. According to Bolton's judg
ment. Hippie and the file clerk are out of
the question. This leaves only Wiley, the
expensive dresser. But we shall see.
Now you had better go to bed and get
some sleep. I will sit up a while and
think it over. By the way. Sexton, if you
want to pick up some money and test
the cash value of telepathy at the same
time, buy Boxboard early tomorrow. Bol
ton Is going to bull it."
"Why don't you buy It?" I asked.
"Oh. it Is not in my line, and I have a
horror of these money changers. Still, I
shall not balk at Bolton's check if I suc
ceed. It will only be spoiling the spoiler."
When I went to bed I left Clarke study
ing his favorite piece of brio-a-brao, the
skull of a woman, polished to the white
ness of ivory, and richly inlaid with
sliver. This odd reminder of human
mortality, deftly fashioned into a re
ceptacle, served normally as a container
for Clarke's favorite brand of tobacco,
but now he" seemed to look to the silver
presentment of a woman's head and bust,
frank lgvell nelson.
which ornamented the cover, for a solu
tion of the mystery.
I awoke late, and when I reluctantly
piloted my sleepy way to my morning
bath, I found Clarke was already away.
About 3 o'clock he returned. His dark,
handsome face was Inscrutable, and he
vouchsafed no Information further than
that he had spent the major portion of
the day In Bolton's office, and had seen
Hippie, Wiley and the file clerk, whose
named turned out to be Bobus. I judged
that he had not been able to engage
either of them in a, conversation suffi
ciently intimate to make his peculiar
"third degree" effective.
We ordered a 6:30 dinner: after it I in
tended to go to the theater.
As soon as we were seated at the table,
Clarke buried his face In his evening pa
per, looking up but once to say: "Box
board is up ten points. Did you buy?"
I confessed that I had not.
Suddenly the telephone bell rang vio
lently. "Ah, I expected that; no theater for
you tonight," exclaimed Clarke; Jump
ing up so suddenly that he sent a river
of soup across our spotless cloth. The
ends of the conversation I caught were
as follows: "Yes. this is Carlton Clarke
We'll be down right away Behind the
door of the private office Don't fear.
We shall come armed."
"Come on. Sexton, we're wanted." he
then said to me, while he took his favor
ite revolver from the rack of arms and
handed me a weapon.
"By the cars: It will be quicker than
a cab; takes us to the door. Sexton,
I'm afraid I've made a terrible mistake.
I've turned a fiend loose on Bolton. His
life is In danger. God send we get there
in time. It will be all right if he follows
my advice."
By this time we were on the car, and
my companion relapsed into taciturnity.
The great office building was almost
deserted when we reached It. Here and
there a light on the dizzy facade showed
where some belated worker was closing
up the day's business. As safe a place
for a crime. I thought, in the heart of
that cavernous structure, as in the depths
of an unbroken forest.
The one elevator which was still run
ning took us quickly to the floor, the
whole of which was devoted to the of
fices of Bolton & Co. The outer door
was closed. Clarke silently opened it
with a key. evidently having prepared
himself for such an emergency. Quickly,
noiselessly and with knowledge born of
his previous visit, Clarke guided me
through the dark labyrinth of small
rooms until we reached the door leading
to Bolton's private office.
Within we heard the sound of angry
voices in dispute. The door was slightly
ajar, and, lifting a warning finger to me,
Clarke applied his eye to the crevice,
while I noted that he had his weapon in
hand with the barrel in line with the
opening.
Placing his mouth close to my ear he
whispered: "He has my promise not to
Interfere unless absolutely necessary."
From the heat of the discussion within
there was no danger of his being over
heard. "Do you mean to tell me that I cannot
read, sir? Do you dare tell me you did
not write those words?"
This was the first connected sentence
I was able to distinguish. The voice was
Bolton's.
"You have browbeaten me long
enough," answered his companion.
"Come with me to the vault and I will
prove to you that every one of the daily
reports for years contains the same line
as that paper, "Daily Report from New
York.' "
"It is a farce, you scoundrel, but I will
give you every chance to prove your in
nocence." We heard' them step into the vault,
where the conversation was continued in
now muffled tones.
Suddenly we heard a curse, a loud cry,
and the sound of a falling body. Clarke
was in the office, at a bound, with my
self at his heels. He had scarcely reached
the center of the room when a tall, an
gular, gray-bearded man sprang from the
vault. With a demoniacal laugh he
swung the heavy door shut, and rapidly
spun the dial which threw the combina
tion. Then he straightened up to find
himself looking Into the muzzle of
Clarke's revolver.'
"Now, Mr. Tobias Hippie, we'll have
that vault open at once, and let Mr. Bol
ton out." said Clarke tn about the same
tone he would have used in asking any
one to pass the butter.
"Who are you?" demanded the confi
dential clerk, for little as I was able to
credit it, such he seemed to be.
"Never mind who .1 am. Just quietly
run that combination. Mr. Bolton will
be needing air."
This doubtless was true, as we heard
the imprisoned man, who evidently had
revived from the blow Hippie struck
him, gasping and beating wildly on
the steel door with his fists.
"I'll not open it," snarled Hippie.
"You can shoot me, but that won't get
him out. I've been waiting 25 years
for this moment, and he can rot in
there. I'll listen to his dying gasps
and it will be music in my ears. Ha!
ha! You can shoot me, but you can't
get him out."
Suddenly Clarke's eyes blazed in fury.
"Can't I? Grab him, Sexton."
With a rush I caught the old man
from the rear, and pinioned his arms.
Despite my advantage in years and
weight, I had no easy task. He strug
gled and twisted and turned, and it
took all my strength to hold those
wiry arms. Gradually he ceased to
struggle and looking up I saw Clarke's
eyes shining like those of an' animal
in the dark. He had thrown his revol
ver on. the table and his rigid arms
were stretched forward almost to the
face of my captive.
"Now then, you are coming down to
the office in the morning," he said in a
low, tense voice. "You are opening the
vault. You are thinking of the combi
nation. Let's see; It is first to the right
to 62."
Clarke's hand dropped and he rapidly
spun the dial.
"Now three to the left to 37. Now
two to the right to 28. Now
back to to "
Hippie began to struggle again.
"Never, never!" he muttered.
Suddenly, with a superhuman effort
which took me by surprise and sent
me headlong against the wall, he was
out of my arms. At a bound he had
reached the table, seized. Clarke's re
volver, and glaring and panting like an
animal at bay, he brought the muzzle
in line with Clarke's head.
My hand was on my pistol, but a
glance from Clarke's eye held me.
Then began a battle between the
overwrought brain of the strange old
man and Clarke's eyes in which the
stake was two lives. My heart stood
still awaiting the report that would tell
It was all over. The knocking of the
imprisoned man which beat a tattoo
to this weird drama was becmins; faint
er and fainter. His last audible gasp
ended in a pitiful moan.
At last the stronger mind conquered.
Hippie's right arm fell gradually and
the pistol crashed to the floor and I
ran to cave him from falling. A look
of exultation came Into Clarke's face
which I knew meant victory.
"To to 67," he cried, carefully spin
ning the dial.
There was a click. Clarke swung;
the door open and rushed into the
vault, while Hippie slipped through my
arms into a limp heap on the floor.
"That was a close shave, Mr. Bol
ton." said Clarke, after he had slipped
a pair of handcuffs on the still uncon
scious Hippie, telephoned for the police,
and we were seated at the broker's
desk. "Why didn't you send for me
earlier? It is a wonder he did no at
tack you and find some way to kill
you."
"I don't understand it at all, Mr.
Clarke," answered Bolton, panting with
excitement. "I followed your instruc
tions to the letter. We talked it over
for an hour or more after the office
closed and then I asked him to Indorse
the dummy dally report with the line,
Daily Report from New York.' Here is
what he wrote in a hand, as you see,
similar to what I showed you: Tito
guinea hens in the tall grass.' Then
he brazenly denied that he had written
it and Insisted he had written what I
told him to. We were having It hot
and heavy when I sent him out of the
room by a ruse and 'phoned you. I
really believe he thought he was right."
"Yes, he did believe he was right,"
said Clarke.
"But what in the name of common
sense is the explanation of it all?"
asked Bolton.
"Hippie, himself, will be the best one
to tell us that." said Clarke. "He now
is completely under my influence, and I
believe I can make htm divulge the
whole story."
Stepping over to the prostrate form
of the clerk, he said: "Get up Mr. Hip
pie, and take a chair at the desk."
The gaunt old man obeyed mechan
ically. "Now. Mr. Hippie, I want you to tell
us as briefly as possible the cause of
your attempt to ruin Mr. Bolton and
the method you took to do It."
The story came in a quiet voice little
in keeping with the set and staring ex
pression of the narrator.
"Thirty-five years ago," he began,
"Bolton and I were both clerks for this
firm. We were friends and Inseparable
companions. I had $10,000 which had
Deen left me by my father. I was in
love with a beautiful girl and believed
that she was equally in love with me,
and that shortly we would be married.
I was ambitious and intended with my
patrimony to buy myself into the firm.
"My ruin came in a day through this
man. Through his advice and on al
leged inside information furnished by
him. I invested my little fortune in the
stock of a railroad, buying a large
block of shares on margin. The up
ward turn of the market was to make
me Independent for life. The next day
the company was in the hands of a re
ceiver, the stock fell 20 points, and I
was penniless.
"This delayed my marriage. In the
meantime, I had introduced Bolton to
my Intended wife. He seemed to take
the loss of my fortune as much to heart
as I did. and I believed iim. My sus
picions were not- aroused until I learned
that he had accumulated $10,000 and
was to be taken into the firm. For
lack of evidence I smothered my wrath
and accepted the position of confiden
tial clerk wth apparent gratitude.
"Then the love of my Intended brids
began to cool, because, I thought, of
my fall in fortune. I was undeceived
when her engagement to Bolton was
announced. Again I stifled my hatred
and took his hand in congratulation.
"A few months after they were mar
ried I found among his papers dam
ning evidence that he had deliberately
led me Into a trap with the intention
of ruining me and profiting by my
ruin, and that the money which bought
his place in the firm was my money.
The idea of revenge took root in my
heart. I meditated murder, but what
is death compared to a crushing blow
to a vain man's pride? Besides, hs
was safe from me through the love I
bore the woman who could never be
mine. While she lived I made no move
against him. I went steadily about my
duties, learning his business intimately,
that I might Btrlke the harder when I
did strike, raising a family as. I was
raised in the fear and admonition of
the Lord, and withal awaiting my turn
of the wheel of fate.
"When a year ago the dear heart that
was my first and only love was laid in
the grave I set my machinery in motion.
I made a connection with a house in New
York City which Bolton would never sus
pect. We arranged a telegraph code in
which the names of various domestic ani
mals stood for various stocks. We thus
were enabled to block every deal which
the house of Bolton & Co. started, and
besides, by unloading in time, to make a
nice profit of our own. In a few months
we would have driven Bolton & Co. to
the wall, but I suppose I got too anxious
and pave the plot away somehow."
Through this strange interview Bolton
sat with bowed head and closed eyes.
"I trust that you can defend yourself
from his charge, Mr. Bolton," said
Clarke.
"No, God forgive me, I can't. I did take
advantage of him in the early days. I
made myself believe at the time that it
was all in the way of business, but I
have suffered in' conscience for It ever
since, and have regarded the $10,000 which
I have paid him every year as partial
atonement. I can't blame myself on my
dead wife's account. She did not love
Hippie, and she did love me. She never
would have married him, anyway."
"Now," said Clarke, "there is only one
more point to be cleared up, and that is
why Hippie scribbled on the backs of the
reports the messages which he declares he
wired. I think we 6hall And, Mr. Bolton,
that you owe your discovery of this plot
more to a very rare form of Insanity,
which brooding on his trouble has pro
duced in Hippie's naturally fanatical
brain, than to my efforts. He is afflicted
with agraphia, a peculiar disease of the
mind which causes him to write, not
always what he intends to write, but
what Is uppermost in . his mind. I met
a similar case once in Bellevue Hospital,
and I rather suspected as much when I
advised you to ask him to Indorse one ot
the reports. He tried to indorse the re
port as he has done in his methodical
way for years, and as you probably would
have noticed, had you not been too en
grossed with business to look at the
backs. Then the last message he had
wired to New York came into his mind
and he wrote that Instead. It was a
chance shot on my part, I admit. Ah, In
spector Shipp, here Is your man. Wait
until I unhancjeuff him, and see that he
does not do violence to himself until we
can notfy his family. I think you will
find it a case needing medical attention,
and not properly one for th epenlten
tiary." Dazed and bewildered at the strange
company in which he awoke to conscious
ness. Hippie was led away and the chap
ter closed on the wreck of a brilliant
mind and the blasting of a once fair
name. I did not see the check which
Carlton Clarke received from Bolton, but
I never heard him complain that it was
not satisfactory -
(The third of the series of the adven
tures of Carlton Clarke, entitled-- "The
Case of the Zlno Case," will appear next
week.)