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THE FILIGREE BALL Being a. Full and True Account of the Solution of the Mystery Concerning the Jeffrey-Moore Affair. By ANNA KATHERINE GREEN Author of "The Leavenworth Case," etc. gS8^C* BOO K III. The House of Doom . CHAPTER XXContinued. "The Colonel's Own." So much for the passages culled from the book Itself. The newspaper excerpts, to which I next turned, bore a much later Sate, and read as follows: "A strange coincidence marks the death of Albert Moore in his brother's house yes terday. He was discovered lying with his head on the identical spot where General Lloyd fell forty years before. It is said that this sudden demise of a man hitherto regarded as a model of physical strength nd endurance was preceded by a violent altercation with his elder brother. If this Is so. the excitement incident upon such a br#ak in their usually pleasant relations may account for his sudden death. Ed ward Moore, who, unfortunately, was out of the room when his brother succumbed some say that he was in his grandfather's room abovewas greatly unnerved by this unexpected end to what was probably merely a temporary quarrel, and now lies In a critical condition. "The relations between him and the de ceased Albert have always been of the most amicable character until they un fortunately fell in love with the same wo- man." Attached to this was another slip, ap parently from a later paper. '"The quarrel between the two brothers Moore, Just prior to the younger one's death, turns out to have been of a more serious nature than was first supposed. It has since leaked out that an actual duel was fought at that time between these two on the floor of the old library and that in this duel the elder one was wounded. Borne even go so far as to affirm that the lady's hand was to be the reward of him who drew the first blood It is no longer denied that the room was in great disorder when the servants first rushed in at the sound he made in falling. Everything movable had been pushed back against the wall and an open space cleared, in the center of which could be seen one drop of blood. "What is certain is that Mr. Moore Is held to the house by something even more serious than his deep grief, and that the young lady who was the object of this fatal dispute has left the city." Pasted under this was the following short announcement: "Married on the twenty-first of January, at the American consulate in Rome, Italy, Edward Moore of "Washington, D. C, United States of America, to Antoinette Sloan, daughter of Joseph Dewitt Sloan, also of that city." With this notice my interest in the book ceased and I prepared to step down from the chair on which I had remained stand ing during the reading of the above pas sages. As I did so I spied a slip of paper lying on the floor at my feet. As it had not been there ten minutes before there could be little doubt that it had slipped from the book whose leaves I had been turning over so rapidly. Hastening to recover it, I found it to be a sheet of ordinary note paper partly Inscribed with words in a neat and distinctive handwriting. This was a great find, for the paper was fresh and the handwriting one which could be readily identified. What I saw written there was still more remarkable. It had the look of some of the memoranda I had myself drawn up during the most perplex ing moments of this strange case. I transcribe It Just as it read: "We have here two separate1 of how death comes to those who breaths their last on the ancestral hearthstone of the Moore house library. "Certain facts are emphasized in both: "Each victim was alone when he fell. "Each death was preceded by a scene of altercation or violent controversy be tween the victim and the alleged master of these premises. "In each case the master of the house reaped some benefit, real or fancied, from the other's death." A curious set of paragraphs. Some one besides myself was searching for the very explanation I was at that moment Intent upon. I should have considered It the work of our detectives if the additional lines I now came upon could have been written by any one but a Moore. But no of any other blood or associations indited the amazing words The only excuse I could was the difficulty which in formulating their than with pen and one could have which followed, find for them some men feel thoughts otherwise paper, they were so evidently intended for the writer's eye and understanding onlv as witness: "Let me recalal the myyfather wa utterinh g my brother rushed in upon U l,^ lt wwhen tha sible(I havo never been in such a ca.se the gold filigree ball has never been opened by. me)you will take this trinket from its chain, press upon this portion of it so, and use what you will find inside^ In connection with' Alas, it was at this point John Judson came rushing in and those disclosures were made which lost me my father's regard and gave to the informer my rightful inheritance, together with the full secret of which I only got a part. But that part must help me now to the whole. I have seen the filigree ball many times Veronica has it now. But its contents have never been shown me. If I knew what they were and why the mas ter of this secret always left the library" Here the memorandum ceased with a long line straggling from the letter as if the writer had been surprised at his task. The effect upon me of these remarkable words was to heighten my interest arid raise me into a state of renewed hope, if not of active expectation. Another mind than my own had been at work along the only groove which held out any promise of success, and this mind, having at Its command certain family tra ditions, had let me into a most valuable secret. Another mind. Whose mind? That was a question easily answered. But one man could have written these words the man who was thrust aside in early life in favor of his younger brother, and who now, by the sudden death of that brother's daughter, had come again into his inher itance. Uncle David, and he only, was the puzzled Inquirer whose self-commun ings I had Just read. This fact raised a new problem for me to work upon, and I could but ask when these lines were writ tenbefore or after Mr. Pfeiffer's death and whether he had ever succeeded in solving the riddle he had suggested, or whether It was still a baffling mystery to him. I was so moved by the suggestion conveyed in his final and half-finished sen tence, that I soon lost sight of these les ser inquiries in the more important one connected with the nllgree ball. Fot I had seen this filigree ball. I had even handled It. From the description given I was very certain that It had been one of the many trinkets I had observed lying on the dressing table when I made my first hasty examination of the room on the evening of Mrs. Jeffrey's death. Why had no premonition of its importance as a connecting link between these tragedies and this mysterious cause come to me at the time when It was within reach of my hand? It was too late now. It had been swept away with the other loose objects littering the place, and my oppor tunity for pursuing this very promising investigation was gone for the night. Yet it was with a decided feeling of tri umph that I finally locked the door of this old mansion behind me. Certainly I had taken a step forward since my entrance there, to which I had but to add another of equal importance to merit the attention of the superintendent himself. t ccou nwords t of m misdeeds s which changed all my prospects In life It was my twenty-first birthday and the old man had Just informed me that as the eldest son I might expect the house in which we stood to be mine some dav and with it a secret which had been hand ed down from father to son ever since the Mpores rose to eminence in the person of Colonel Alpheus. Then he noted that I was now of age, and Immediately went on to say: 'This means that you must be told certain facts, without the knowledge of which you would be no true Moore These facts you must hereafter relate to your son or whoever may be fortunate enough to inherit from you. It is the legacyofte which goes with this house and one which no inheritor as yet refused to receive or to trans mih J^lsten'eitheoru Y hav e gold filigree which I wear on mv watch guard. This ball is the talisman of our house, of this house. If. in the course o' your life you find yourself In an extrem ity from which no issue seems possible mind the strictness of the injunctionan extremity from which no issue seems pos- :/ : s sion of time on the $7,500.00 cooks* contest l for 735 money prizes. CHAPTER XXI. The Heart of the Puzzle. The next morning I swallowed my pride and sought out Durbin. He had super intended the removal of Mrs. Jeffrey's ef fects from the southwest chamber, and should know, If any one, where this fili gree ball was now to be found. Doubtless It had been returned with the other things to Mr. Jeffrey, and yet, who knows? Dur bin is sly and some inkling of its value as a clue may have entered his mind. If so, it would be. anywhere but in Mr. .Jeffrey's or Miss Tuttie's possession. To test my rival's knowledge of and in terest in this seemingly trivial object, I stooped to what I can but consider a pardonable subterfuge. Greeting him In the offhand way least likely to develop his suspicion, I told him that I had a great Idea in connection with the Jeffrey case and that the clue to it lay In a little gold ball , which Mrs. Jeffrey sometimes wore and upon which she set great store. So far I spoke the truth. It had been given her by some onenot Mr. Jeffrey and I believed, tho I did not know, that it contained a miniature portrait which it might be to our advantage to see. I expected his lip to curl but for a wonder it maintained its noncommittal aspect, tho I was sure that I caught a slight, very slight, gleam of curiosity lighting up for a moment his calm, gray eye. "You are on a fantastic trail," he sneered, and that was all. But I had not expected more. I had merely wished to learn what place, if any, this filigree ball held in his own sus picions, and in case he had overlooked it, to Jog his curiosity so that he would in some way betray its whereabouts. That, for all its seeming inconsequence, it did hold some place In his mind was evident enough to those who knew him but that it was within reach or obtain able by any ordinary means was not so plain. Indeed, I very soon became con vinced that he, for one, had no idea where it was, or after the suggestive hint I had given him he would never have wasted a half hour on me. What was I to do then? Tell my story to the major and depend on him to push the matter to its proper conclusion? "Not yet," whispered pride. "Durbin thinks you a fool. Wait till you can show your whole hand be fore calling attention to your cards." But It was hard not to betray my excitement and to act the fool they considered me when the boys twitted me about this fa mous golden charm and asked what great result had followed my night in the Moore house. But remembering that he who laughs last laughs best, and that the cause of mirth was not yet over between Durbin and myself, I was able to preserve an Impassive exterior even when I came under the major's eye. I found myself amply repaid when one of the boys who had studiously avoided chaffing me dropped the following words in my ear: accounts noted the "DABSTERS" People Who Do Things by Piecemeal. Many people are convinced coffee is the cause of their sufferings and stop its use from time to time to get relief. Dur ing these periods when they are not drinking coffee they feel better. They are - getting well in small instalments. "How much better it is to stop short on the coffee and shift to well-made Postum .and get well once and for all. As soon as this is done the destroying effects of coffee are stopped arid a powerful re building agent is set to work. Health comes back by bounds and so long as the right food and drink are used and im proper food is left alone the cure is permanent. A lady of Readfield, Me., says: "I was always a great lover of coffee and drank it so steadily that I would have to stop it at times on account of dizziness in my head, gas in the stomach and other troubles. I would leave off the coffee for a few weeks until I felt better, then would go to drinking it again. "I continued this for years and paid dearly for it, until about a year ago I read a Postum Cereal article and bought J and carefully prepared some. It filled the place of coffee from the start so far as flavor and taste go and It has righted my stomach troubles. I have improved so that my friends notice the change. I have exchanged sickness and misery for health and happiness. Through Postum I have got well all at once." Name fur nished by "Postum Cov, Sattle Creek, , Mich. Ice cold Postum with a dash of lemon i is a delightful "cooler" for warm days. 1 Send for particulars by mail of exten t "I don't know what your interest is in the small gold charm you were talking about, but you have done somer good work in this case and I don't mind telling you what I know about it. That little gold ball has caused the police much trouble. It is on the list of effects found in the room where the candle was seen burning but when all these petty belongings of Mrs. Jeffrey's were gathered up and car ried back to her husband, this special one was not to be found amongst them. It was lost in transit, nor has it ever been seen since. And who do you think it was who called attention to this loss and de manded that the article be found? Not Mr. Jeffrey, who seems to lay little or no stress upon it, but the old man they call Uncle David. He who, to all ap pearance, possessed no interest in his niece's personal property, was on hand the moment these things were carried Into her husband's house, with the express in tention, it seems, of inquiring for this gold ball, which he declared to be a fam ily heirloom. As such it belonged to him as the present holder of. the property, and to him only. Attention being thus called to it. it was found to be missing, and as no one but the police seemed to be to blame for its loss, the matter was hushed up and would have been regarded as too insignificant for comment, the trinket be ing intrinsically worthless, if Mr. Moore had not continued to make such a fuss about it. This ball, he declared, was worth as much to a Moore as all the rest of his property, which was bosh, you know and the folly of these assertions and the depth of the passions he dis played whenever the subject was men tioned have made some of us question if he is the innocent Inheritor he has tried to make himself out. At all events, I know for a certainty that the district at torney holds his name^in, r,se^ve,, if^ the wnjfewi , -"? THE MINNEAPOLIS^ JOURNAL.'^i^^ffc'~' W S,^* ^^WWI3BWBaWW 6 The remarkable success of our July Clearance Sale, preparatory to the opening of our new addition Monday, August31, goes to prove That the public of Minneapolis knows that our Clearance Sale is a legitimate one, and that every article offered is just as represented. Cost or value is given no considerationour object being to close out all odds and ends and summer goods we do not wish to carry over. $3, $3.50 and $4.50. Clearance sale One lot of very fine white lawn, Eiqut e and printed Madras cloth hir Waist Suits, those that sold for $5.00 and $6.50. Clearance sale price .... One lot of extra choice Shirt Waist Suits, our own exclusive and correct styles plain white and assorted colors, those that were $7.50 and $8.50. Clearance sale price One lot of our finest Shirt Waist Suits, plain white and fancy, im- Eorted materials, also some Silk hirt Waist Suits, one of a kind, regularly sold at, $18.50 to $25. Clearance sale. une u a Jtuiiu, $15.00 Ladies' Wrappers. 50 dozen of the finest Percale and Lawn Wrappers, cut full and well made those that sold at #1.25 and $1.50. Clearance sale price... Children's Dresses* One lot of new Percale, Gingham and Lawn Dresses, daintily trim med and well made, uamtil y trim - sold at $1.50 to $2.50. Clearance.. $1.25 Clearance Sale of Imported and Domestic Wash Fabrics Thousands of yards, too many of them are now on hand bolts and bolts of the finest products of the loom, all must be closed out at once, irrespective of cost or value. This sale is the Wash Goods opportunity of the year. Now is the very time women want new Summer Waists, Dresses and Shirt Waist Suits, and we are offering you Thursday these choice fabrics at One-Half and in many cases much less than Half Price. * 12&c Percales, 6&o. 500 pieces of best quality domes tic Percales, 36 inches wide, light f rounds, with neat stripes and gures always sold at 12Jc. To close this lot, Thursday, yard, only. All our magnificent Summer, Porch, and Rattan Furniture offered Thursday and continued until sold for ONE-THIRD OFF OUR REGULAR LOW PRICES* This is a chance of a life-time. No reserveeverything 33o from the dollar grand jury fails to bring In an indict ment against Miss Tuttle." "The district attorney is wise," I re marked, and fell a-thinking. Had this latent suspicion against Mr. Moore any solid foundation? Was he the guilty man? The memovandum I had come across in the book which had been lately pulled down from the library shelves showed that, notwithstanding his testi mony ^o the contrary, he had been in that house close upon that fatal night, if not on the very night itself. It also showed his extreme interest in the traditions of the family. But did it show anything more? Had he interrupted his writing to Defective '^Bk. For Thursday We Offer The Greatest of All Clearance Sales In Our Cloak and Suit Rooms We must and will close out all the odd lots, broken assortments and discontinued lines before the opening of our new addition, which takes place August 31st, and everything will be put on sale regardless of cost or value. TAILOR-MADE SUITS, SHIRT WAIST SUITS, SUMMER COSTUMES, WRAPS andJACKETS, SKIRTS, WRAPPERS AND CHILDREN'S AND MISSES' DRESSES AND COATS. Now is the time to supply your wants for the Summer or early Fall, giving economical buyers a chance of securing new, seasonable, Ready-to-Wear Garments, in the Correct Styles at a mere fraction of their cost. POSITIVELY THE GREATEST MONEY-SAVING OPPORTUNITY IN THE HISTORY OF TWIN CITY MERCHANDISING. Shirt Waist Suits, One lot of new correct style Shirt Waist Suits, assorted colors, those that sold for Ladies' Skirts, One lot of fine Wash Skirts, as sorted colors and styles regularprice $2.95 to $3.50. Clearance sale price One lot of fine Linen, Duck and Pique Wash Skirts, white and colors regularly sold at $5 and $6.50. Clearance ^r*r Lot of thefinestDress and Walk ing Skirts ever shown at the price. Come in Brilliantine, Etamines, Voiles, Cheviots and Fancjy Men's Wear Cloths regu larly-saidat $7.50, $8.50 and $10 all new. Clearance, WWB Lot of very fine Dress Skirts, in silk and cloths all are our own exclusive styles perfect in every detail sold at $12.50, $15.00 and $16.50. Clear ance sale price, to close Ladles0 ' jM\& excellent $10.00 One lot of fine Long Sil Travel ing Coats and Rain Coats, are regularly worth $18.50 to $22.50. Clearance sale.. Girls' Goats One lot of girls' reefers and long coats, latest spring styles those that sold at $7.50 and $8.75 Clear ance Sale Price .. 95c sees* Gingha m Tailor made Suits, One lot offineTailor Made Suits, broken lots of our $16.50, $18.50 and $20.00 lines. Goats, Ooatsm iOngSilk k Travel - Rai n Coats , are Clearance sale price One lot of very fine Tailor Made Suits, made of finest men's wear cloths, broken lots of $25.00, $30 and $35.00 lines. Clearance $15.00 ^ suyies, muse $5.00 Lawn Remnants. 5,000 yards of Fancy Printed Lawns, Fancy Figurea Swisses, Dimities and Satistes, in lengths from 3 to 12 yards reg ular values 15c, 20c and 25c. Choice Thurs day only, per yard his.motives for this crime been the ac quisition of this .filigree ball? If so, why had he left it on the table upstairs? A candle had been lit in that roomcould it have been by him in his search for this object? It would be a great relief to believe so. What was the reason, then, that my mind refused so emphatically to grasp this possibility and settle upon" him as the murderer of Mrs. Jeffrey? I can not tell. I hated the mat. and I likewise deeply distrusted him. Bat I could not, even after this revelation of his duplicity, connect him in my thoughts with abso lute crime without a shock to my intui tions. Happily, my scruples were not my colleagues. They had listed sale price One lot 69 suits, no two alike, all that is left of our high grade numbers, correct and exclusive styles, not to be found elsewhere those that sold from $65 to $100. Price Imported Novelties. 100 pieces fancy Novelty Wash Fabrics. Also entire line of Linen Suitings regular price $1.00 and $1.25 am Jfe per yard. Choice Mk m B * Thursday only,per wJHBBl yard % W m* V t i lengths 9c him. Here I felt my shoulder touched, and a newspaper was thrust into my hand by the man who had just addressed me. (To be continued to-morrow.) Ho! for Camp Lakevlew. Don't fail to go on the Journal excursion to Camp Lakevifiw, Friday, July 10. See large ad. - , . v i*' *' A Shirt Waist Offer. $0.50 Women's Fine Lawn Shirt Waist front trimmed elabo rately with four rows embroid ery insertion and fine tucks , fly front, tucked stock and cuffs. Regular value, $1.25. Special. $19.50 lanne 75ctucKs 8,000 yds. fancy Striped Madras all this season's newest stylesand colors mill short lengths, from 5 to 15 yards regular values 20c and 25c. Special Thursday only, per yard NEW PLACE FOR POND Quartermaster Department of Dakota to Be Made Assistant to Quarter master General. Lieutenant Colonel G. E. Pond, quarter master of the department of Dakota, with headquarters at St. Paul, is slated for the position of assistant to Quartermaster General Humphrey at Washington. He is expected to leave about Sept. 1, and either Lieutenant J. W. Jacobs, quartermaster at St. Louis, or Major W. H. Miller, quar termaster at Chicago, will assume the duties at St. Paul. Colonel Pond waB $8.00 to Chicago. This low rate now in effect via Chicago Great Western Railway. No intermedi ate point higher. For further informa tion apply to L. C. Rains, Gen'l Agent, Cor. Nicollet Ave. and .6thSt., Minne apolis. $45 32-Inch Madras, 10c. 10c appointed quartermaster of the depart ment of Dakota in 1899 and since that time has had charge of the work of con structing buildings, sewer and water sys tems and of installing electric light plants at the various posts as well as of attend ing to the supplies of food and raiment for the soldiers. Detroit $9.75 For the round trip, via the Soo Line. A great opportunity. Call at the ticket of fice, 119 Third street S. -_ - The Four Track News for July, best vet. Sold by newsdealers. Five cents a oonv. 7 . \,j ii i- % r 1 *'*' M V