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- - - I i-i rr c. . i .i : ; t ' ' - t I rt of th? ? .-,.. :i of Tulton - ront crier j'js!ckly t . rrict tl 3 title "Below ;," ct les.i la police cir .vt'T part cf the city con i Eroad Streets end , here tbe grat dla ; ere located, various ef : is by the "under world" crier. For several years a rooks, headed by an un extremely clever criminal, i operating In the- district police, and it Is to chron ..Mngs and their ultimate t Mr. Scott Campbell has '.$-' Interesting series of CHAPTER L m!a, the burglar of to-day burglar of a generation , said Felix Boyd, through pipe smoke. "He is not the !ght ruffian at mere fancy shad4einrtnrail warded fellow in rough at Jster mask, with a kit of r his coat and a brace of .'esson's In his hip pockets, ef attribute was brute who cracked with equal y 'a merchant's safe or the sktilL 'jletnan laughed, knocking . am his cigar, and nodded tral office man was Boyd's to friend and most ardent robably the latter because ;uch more of Boyd's re alents than any other man. i auie 9 appreciate nil 6Z' f abilities. Iropped Into Boyd's office la . half-an-hour before, mere - a morning smoko in genial -e right, Felix,' said he. ive changed mightily In t since we wore a f rook rbockera." , JtaimleV added Boyd, In mood, we have to-day ihe Intelligent and dangerous 0 forms and executes his h exquisite cunning and sa- 1 who employs every mod nleal device with which to th constantly improving ; he encounters. The transt cn gradual, but Is very pro- .ind , ihe detective art has a corresponding change." true, too, Ffellx." cessful sleuth of to-day, ! sides possessing the dogged courage of old, must be a ad Intelligence, a keen ob ! subtle analyst, and One ca ,iscerting reniote relations. Ion of obscure bits of evl l the an of making correct therefrom, chiefly serve to reat criminal mysteries of t day." nd again, Felix you have pd that," nodded Coleman, hat bond robbery of Curry, ;ke last November. By the that jthat man Wykoflf, i suspected of having had a ift affair, Is again operating !.. .lied oddly, and laid away , as I remarked at that time, is master knave In that af- I he "Take my word for It, ;cre was another Richmond Jn the field. That ingenious is not Resigned by Paul jt by some much more capa-r-reachlng knave." i, still think so?" ndeed," said Boyd, wtlh no- ravity. "It is my impression, that something seriously ;ts down here below the ;. " you think so?" &!k me why; the grounds livings era still vague and Yet I seriously believe that, j In this wealthy locality, "Sons change hands with ng business hour, some tbe very heart of our great maelstrom, there exists a stilus for crime." v,v,.,, for crime?" echoed Cole- whose obscure personality !y vaguely discerned behind rations executed by others, d by him with all -the evil and consummate foresight tor of knatery. I see only s of this at present, Jlmmlo, hen. cropping out In crimes T peculiar originality, all of :t to a masterful and ma ,'js hid In the background, ave been enable to get the its line upon him, but some II do so. Some day, Jimmie, n? peculiar crimes will give " to this master knave, who, larks about here like"" a Y. web, and conplres with s a well-organized gang of put In Coleman, lifting his "There are tps In the cor a one Is coming this way." -r unceremoniously entered, out 0 years of age, stoutly Us pale face and dilated indicated exceeding. ner 1 excitement r for Mr. Boyd Mr. rr.ld quickly, with ; at each of his hearers. : ' l-.'-re? . .;. 1 fir his pipe, at the ' " j the stranger to , a 'Ax CoyJ," said he. 'Take -1, Ju::t a moment, ner I the-stranger, hasten?. - a card. "I am Nathan ' i Lane, dealer In j American agent for ' t diamond merch f '1 A mgterdam. My :rcd Boyd, -with l : :, i-.- ' . cf : : f th ( : . ' c -e, rs I tt f.r. t i i J.-.c::r.ei." 'I'f.-e ref:rt-:--i to ' tl:$ takers trrved at once to ensure EoyJ's inter est, for rear.s hinted at In tn eariipr narrative. Ka laid down hi ripe with out havlnj lighted it, and agaia waved his visitor to a chair. "You do not know mo by name, I take it," taid Dickson, as he sat down. "Only since seeing your card." Eald Boyd. "I observe, however, that you are a married man, and very near sighted." "Dear me! How la that? Do I wear my heart on my sleeve?" - "Hardly that," smiled Boyd. "But a spot has been sponged from your veBt this morning, presumably bv your wire, since you scarce could have visit ed your tailor thus early: knd I notice tne handle of a- readln-jrtass nro trudlng slightly from your Inside pocKev . ; That one of these deductions did not affect Dickson very pleasantly was apparent in his Increased nervousness, and the sudden trembling of his hands on nw. Knees; yet he laughed a little, and cried: "Oh, yea, quite right: you are Quite right, Mr, JJoyd.-1 - am very near sighted, very, when viewing objects close at hand. Yet I do not even require glasses for observing things at a distance." , "That is occasionally the case, I un derstand." - ' "I am told so, Yet I believe that very few are as sorely afflicted as L I can read only with a very powerful glass, as you may see." v And he now displayed his reading- " ; revcr.t I t. : ! ' 1 ' I : j. - la'arparent," ci'.:l Z t t. :t . "But what cf Co 1 ': r it f -l It has given raa ft t:-. . ---! fv ' ... My nerves are compIe'e-7 ttrur.g. It is so lndcfinito, yet in & way fa threatening. I don't know whether r.iy life is In darker, or my property, or what. I am all of a tremble from had to foot." "Which really Is very foolish of you," said Boyd Indifferently. "I do not think your life Is in any danger, Mr. Dickson. Are you a man of much property?" "Bradstrect rates me at a hundred thousand, which is rather more than I possess," replied Dickson more com posedly. "I own a modest summer place near Jamaica Bay, where I dwell for about six months of the year, rent ing a house in town during the winter.".. "At present you are where?" "I am still living in town." "You do a large business In dia monds?" - , "Quite so. As agent for foreign , houses; moreover, I carry a valuable stock?' ' .v I o "In part consigned to you, I pre sume," .observed Boyd, raising his brows. , ' ' -" -. . ' "Yes, certainly." 7 . "Do you consider your quarters In Maiden lAne, and the safe or vault in which you store your goods, perfectly secure against ' burglars ? inquired Boyd,- - r,y---r: -- 'r "Indeed, yesl" exclaimed Dickson. I never felt otherwise." Boyd smiled, and again glanced at the patchwork letter." ' u:.- : in c. . t sej'jf-co Lavs t . . discover cry. I wi:i La....i't - ' , ond a.!vl! yen." "Certainly." cried Dickson. "I e:-.s!1 bo glad to leave it" "I have your business card," sal 3 Boyd. "In case I should wish to reach you at home, which Is not very proba ble, you had better leave me your up town address. Write It on this blank, if you like. Here Is a pencil." Dickson ajalft drew out his lens, holding It in his left hand while h wrote with the other, and bowing his neaa nearly to the paper pn which he Inscribed the desired address. "There it ,1s," Mr. Boyd." said he, arising, "l am always at home even ings. My wife Wid children are my chief comfort and delisrht. Call soma evening. If you will, when not nnnn Dusiness. a thousand thanks for your. opinion and advice. Mv bankers trt me that you Invariably- aret right In sucn matters. You cannot imaelne how much you have relieved me." Boyd smiled, and shook his proffer ed hand, bowing him to the., office door, where he bade him good morn ing. ..'-.' -v . . When Jimmie Coleman entered a little later, he found Boyd at the win dow still studying the letter; and the latter at once confided to him the oc casion of Dickson's visit. "And what do you really make of this. Felix?." inquired Coleman, curi ously examining the letter. . - Boyd laughed softly, with 'an odd gleam In one corner of his eye. ' f. .t V 3 , ' t vo r-inh r-ro i . : , , , - '-r? loolanj c. ,; I i in between 1 " " .: . - r .-I rs ty 6orae freak or r: . . - . t" -. I road winiow was pro tecvo i 1.! wooden shutters, and the store door guarded with a stout iron crating, then rlosod and secured with a padlock. On the shutter of the door was rudely .OPEN THURSDAY MORNING. tne closed store clniniv iiQfa rnot Dickson had planned to be absent for a aay, ana naa left a notice when he saould return. On the street frontine- f1iA fitrtfA wao a crowd of spectators, kept back by ecvcroi yunceiinen, ana Boyd found Coleman, and an officer engaged In forcing the Iron srratin miardino- w q c - - "o v. v closed door. v .,, "What's the trouble Tirrttni?t uueu, ns o joined him, The Central oflW man nn1ib1v lnnlr' ed up on hearing Boyd's voice. An. you re nere! Ooftii nnnrs" he exclaimed. "Recalling that letter 1 nasienea ia sena ror you. rm told there has been an explosion in here, a devil of a noise, and that Dickson has gone to his summer hpme for -' the day. I happened along Just after tha explosion was heard,; and found Gib son, who occupies the upper floors, trying to get In hers. v ' glass, a thick lens nearly six Inches In ummeier, naving a tMver rim and an ebony handle. Boyd merely glanced at it, then tUmed tn fnlnman wk Y.A risen. "DrOD In a littln tntnr Tlmtl said he. "i imagine that Mr. Dickson will not long engage me." , ."No,-Mr. Boyd, not very long," said Dickson, when they were alone. "I re ceived In my mall this morning a let- r wmcn gives me great uneasiness, if not serious alarm, i ii, i bankers for advice, scare knowing what else to do, and thev aAvta m to consult you. I wish amine the letter; here it is. and tell me what you think of it, and how se riously I Bhould regard it. 1 am tempt ed to place it In the hands ef h ni lice for investigation." Boyd examined the letter with In terest, and was immediately struck wlth.its peculiarities. it neither was, written nor printed In the ordinary way. Instead, each word had been cnt slnarlv from some book or newspaper, evidently with a p;nime, ana tnen pastea on a blank sheet of naocr. : Plainly the work had been verv careiuuy oone, yet It had been found so delicate that the completed lines presented considerable Irregularity, wunme separate words differently spaced and slanted at various angles. The communication thus conveyed was quite Drief. and read Sfl follows; "Kathan Dickson, Maiden. Lane; YOU lOOk OUt for youRlAlf Permni f dare not name are about to execute a aesign egajnst ypu, the character of which I cannot safeiv dinfinsn t am a friend to you, and this Is a warning you will not wisely. Ignore. . Heed it. Guard vourself and that . most dear to you." , Boyd twice read thia ritrf,i ' nl. Five, ttin looked nip at the rrave face "Who ' amonx vour f rtonflu nr Dickson, la a practical loker?" h ov' ed, a bit dryly. - "Really I recall none." "Yet this letter is. in mv onininn the work of such a person." A jokea practical Joket Sent onlv to annoy or alarm itia'" Tflatm0 Dickson, with much eagerness "Do you reauy tninK so, Mr. Boyd? Indeed, I shall foel greatly relieved If that Is your opinion. Do you really think so, wr. uoya i" - - -. r - - Plainly, his relief already was irrent. and Boyd at once proceeded to furth er assure mm. "I think. Mr Dickson." iwM . clsively, "that any true friend, so anx- ? warn you of serious danger, could easily have found a way to In telligently do bo -without imperiling himself. The greater your danger, sir. the greater probability of such a step on the part of a friend, who surely would have left you in no such uncer lng'ty a" thU c,nce.rnln h, mean- "I had not thought of It in that light," cried Dickson. "Really, Mr. Boyd, I begin to think you are right." - "To go a step farther,' added Boyd; "if knaves contemplate any se cret design upon you, certainly no such warning as this would have pre responslble. First, Its was his coat. of faced the execution of their project Such a step on-their tjart wnnM ha aosurd.": j -surely." - ,, That. Mr. Dickson. U of this piece of indefinite patchwork." ,; peiieve it to be ; a practical Joke?" -,.-.- ,." :. "Nothing more serious, sir." 'What would you advise me" to do about it?" ', ... , , ,. . "Nothing at all," declared Boyd promptly. "I should zUM no further ettentton.. I tn convinced that no 5VL"nt H Vf ',: en3 ch a com- "Make of it. Jimmie?" nll hn "Vnf very much more than I told Dickson Still, It presents a few curious fea tures. Notice that each word was cut from some book .or paper.", . "That's very evident" t "Now nlace the face of th notrA against the window-pane, so that the light strikes through it. You find that yon tnen can decipher the printing on the reverse side of the page from which the word in the letter was care fully cut." "So I can, for a fact." . 'Under the word "design." In the letter, you find Fr 'descant In Bmall italics." ,, ',. , a.. .. , . ,. ""Yes, It Is quite plain." VTT'Vr '"Under the-word execute.'" inn letter, you find the two words -to ex ert Plainly, Jimmie. those two words, as well as the Italics noted, formed parts of the definitions of the two words 'descant and 'exertion, on the reverse page from which the words design' and 'execute' were cut by the sender of this; letter." t ; . . ' "Eureka!" cried CoieWiTr. open and shut, Felix, that the words Vl ""s 'er were cut from an ordi nary dictionary. -v - "Certainly it Is,. Jlmrnle. , laughed Boyd; then ho added, rather ; dryly: very possibly, Jimmie. I some day shairdlscover; the dictolnary from "- me were Cut. ' Yet Mr. Felix Rov, flQA (ttt htnttdv very little immediate attention. That ojtfirnoon ne returned the letter to Dickson, at his Btore In 'Maiden Lane, stating that he found nothing in it to warrant serious apprehensions, and he left the dealer In diamonds quite as sured that his earlier fears were en tirely groundless. ; ( ' oyd next called upon" Dkkson's bankers, who stated that' tho latter was a man or sterling integrity, whose wod was -ar rod as"hl3-bon3rand that his family comprised a wife and Boyd glanced at a tall, elderly man, who nodded in corroboration of Cole man's explanation. Boyd quickly ask ed: "Did Dickson tell you he should be absent to-day, Mr. Gibson?" He did, sir, as he was closing, up within, and Boyd next forced open the last night. He said he was going to his summer place to-day, to plan for oc- cupying it a Utile lUir,y&?':W'1 ne - employ no cierKs nere, who could have kept the store open?" "None, sir. He runs ' his business alone. I greatly fear that robbery has been committed here. The explosion occurred about 10 minutes ago, . and was very severe, fairly shaking the un- per floors." , Boyd glanced quickly at the window. An Inner curtain, drawn below ; the tops of the window shutters outside, prevented a view of the Interior of the store. Vj v::vv- 'V'"' '"."" " -3 "Have you; looked Out back, Jim mle?" he' demanded quickly. ' s "Tes, first thing," cried Coleman. "The way. is through that alley, and the hack window with an iron shutter on hinges. secured Inside the There is a round , hole In it through which I looked, but the smoke In the store ob scured everything. There has. been an explosion in there all right but I saw no slgris of thieves in the rear area, which lies a bit lower than tho street I tried to force a small teller door back there, but it wouldn't give a hair, so I turned to tackle this one. Ah, now we're In!" - i The iron grating .finally had given way, and fell clanging upon the side walk. With an Iron bar,, Coleman then proceeded to force the lock of the door, an operation quickly accomplish ed, when he threw open the door,and entered the shop.- ' "'Boyd' quickly.'" followed ' him, " first glancing at one of tho policemen, and - ' -;oro, ir.i:ct:;:j t.3 vio 1. '-'"J cf C.3 f ; !o; 1 -i, tha counter v.-a 3 t:.rovsn swry, end the gUsi cf the rear Minder v a teattcrcd in fragments over the lljcr, le n'r.j only the secur ed lrcn Ehutter, throurh tho round aperture ia which entered a beam of sunlight from the rear arear or yard.- On tho broad E::i Cf this window lay a largo readin-gUta, similar to that which Dickson carried on his person; but of Dickson himself, or of the knaves guilty of perpetrating this miuuay uurgiary, mere wa3 not a sien. "Whew!" whistled Coleman, the In stant his gaze fell upon the scene "Here's a mess! A burglary in broad daylight!" . 'Burglary, Indeed!" exclaimed Boyd. "Tho crooks have made a clean sweep. This will settle me in Dick son's opinion. That patchwork letter of hi? had a wicked meaning, after all." . - . "I should say wicked!" cried Cole man, hurriedly opening the, reanhut ter, and Bpringtng out of the window. Til see what I can find out here. Felix.'- ,; , ,v v .-, "Go ahead!" cried Boyd. "I'll ; ex amine things In here." - Coleman returned in about fiva minutes, bearing In his hand a pair of soiled rubbers, with which he scram bled back through the window, re marking, rapidlys'. :r':;r''r.-"iX, "There are footprints In the soil of the lley, tout not at all definite. Yet the crooks must have escaped by that way, and one of them probably wore these' rubbers,' for I found then under some refuse near the alley exit" "very likely." said Boyd, srlancln at them. - "Burglars frequently wear them to muffle . their steps indoors. Site eight aren't they?" A night of stairs from one corner led a dimly lighted cellar, to which Boyd quickly conducted his comnan- ion. At the foot of the stairs he halted, ana pointed to a narrow door, the one Coleman vainly had tried to force from outside.. Against it was a heavy piece of Joist, one end of which was securely blocked several yards from the door. "Humph!" ejaculated Coleman. "They went that way, and the timber shows how they secured the doow after them. It was so adjusted as to fall into place when the door closed, and thus prevent the Immediate entrance of any one anxious to learn the cause of the explosion. The delay, gavo the 'crooks a chance to get well away. They have done the Job all right, covering their tracks well, and already have a long lead on the police. There's no question about that." Boyd nodded Indifferently, and led the way "hp stairs. , "You had better rush a messasre to Dickson's wife, Jimmie," . said , he. "Here Is his city address. Have her or some of the . family, telegraph to Dickson, and bring him here as quick ly as possible. He should show up by the middle of the afternoon." "I'll do .so at once," nodded Cole man, hastening to the , front doort where he not only started a messenger for Dickson's residence, but also des patched another to headquarters to report the extraordinary burglary. When he returned he found Felix Boyd on his knees a few feet from the ruined safe, and between it and the rear window. He was Intently engaged in studying, with the help of Dickson's large reading glass,, the . hard pine boards of the bare floor, "What have you discovered there?" Coleman demanded, with immediate Interest' ' "Nothing much," muttered Boyd, glancing up. "Only this smutty mark across the floor, Jimmie. It begins here, and ends at the corner of the safe." "What do you make of It? What caused It?" "It was caused by a fine fuse; Jim mie, with which the charge in the safe was exploded. In burning, it scorched the floor a little, making this almost imperceptible dark line. At first sight, I thought it was a narrow crack only, but this lens belonging to Dickson re veals its true 'character. Very kind of Dickson to have left a glass so bandy.". There was in Boyd's voice an into nation so vaguely odd that It brought a look of perplexity to Coleman's at tentive face. He could discern no more than had been pointed out - to him, however, and he growled, a little im patiently. . , . '. - "Well, what of it? What do you mean by that? We know the charge was exploded by some means, , and what matters whether a fuse or an electric current was used?" "It doesn't matter much. Jimmie," returned Boyd, still on hiar knees. VYet Aces anj'. VlIzs I n f.: Bones, t'.vc:fcn J . k 1 Botanic Blood Baku tho V the Ag-f Thousands cf 1 atlcs Cured by Its U. -. Sample Free to All! 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The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
April 28, 1907, edition 1
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