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By VAN TASSEL SUTPHEIN CHAPTER IV. The Private Letter Box DHAD agreed to meet Esper Indiman at the Utinam and dine there. The weather had turned cold again, for it was the end of our changeable March, and the-fireplace in the common room of the club was heaped high with hickory logs, a cheer ful sight, were it not for that odious motto, "Non Possumus," graven over the mantel shelf where it must Inevit ably meet every eye. Never could I read it without a tightening at my heartstrings; a potency of blighting evil seemed to lie in the very words. There were but two or three club members in the room, one of them the young Mr. Sydenham, who had at tracted my attention once or twice before" by the infinite wretchedness of his face. A mere boy, too, hardly five-and-twenty at the most. He .sat In a big chair, a magazine with its leaves uncut lying in his lap. For an hour or more he had not stirred; then he rang for a servant, directing him to inquire for any mail that might have come in the afternoon delivery. Noth ing for Mr. Sydenham was the report, and again the young man relapsed into melancholy musing. An hour later, and just after Indiman had joined me, Mr. Sydenham repeated his inquiry about his letters, receiving the same negative answer — "Nothing for Mr. Sydenham." Evidently the disappoint ment was not unexpected, but it was none the less a bitter one. With a sigh which he hardly attempted to stifle, the young man took up his un cut magazine and mad^ a pretence at examining its contents; I watched him with a lively but silent pity; any ac tive sympathy might have seemed ob trusive. A servant stood at the young man's elbow holding a salver on which lay a missive of some sort, a telegraphic message, to judge by the flimsy, buff envelope. "Telegram, sir," said the man at length. "For Mr. Sydenham; yes, sir. Will you sign for it?" The boy turned slowly, and there was a shaking horror in his eyes.that made me feel sick. He signed the book and took the message from the salver, apparently acting against a sense of the most intense repulsion, and for all that unable to help himself. The mes sage once in his hand he ditl not seem to concern himself with its possible import: presently the envelope- fell from his inert fingers and fluttered down at Indiman's feet. The latter picked it up and handed it to the young man, who thanked him in a voice barely audible. "The man is waiting to see if there is any answer," suggested Indiman, quietly. .Mr. Sydenham started, colored deep ly, and tore open the envelope. He read the message through carefully, then perused it for a second and a third time, and sat motionless, staring In to-vacancy. Indiman leaned forward. '•Well? he said, sharply. The young man looked up; the cool confidence of Indiman's gaze seemed suddenly to inspire in him a feeling of trust; he took the risk: he handed the message to Indiman. "What an swer would you advise me to give?" he said. "The Empire State express passes the Fifty-third street bridge at 5:35 o clock tomorrow morning. You can drop from the gMrd-rail. Is life more than honor? Answer. *• °. Indiman looked at me, then he rose and took Mr. Sydenham by the arm. "Let us go into the card room," he said, quietly. "Thorp, will you come?" The young man's story was very simple. He had held until lately the position of cashier in the firm of Sand ford & Sands, stock brokers. On Jan. 15 a shortage of $50,000 had been dis covered in his books. Mr. Sandford being an intimate friend of the elder Sydenham had declined to prosecute. That was all. "Let us proceed frankly, Mr. Syden ham," said Indiman. "Did you take the money?" "I am beginning to think so," an swered the young man, dully. "Come," said Indiman, encouraging ly, "that does not sound like a confes sion of guilt. Don't you know?" Mr. Sydenham shook his head. "I can't tell you," he answered, hopeless ly. "My accounts were in perfect or- SEUMAS ia REMARKABLE sign of the times, /M and of the Gaeliclzing of our Prot- Zro estant fellow countrymen, showed itself on last St. Patrick's day, when the service in St. Kevin's, a fashionable Prot estant church in Dublin, was entirely con ducted to the Irish language. Our Protest ant brethren are gradually stripping off from them the Anglic.zing bonds that bound them. In their ecclesiastical or gan the Church of Ireland Gazette, a controversy between the nationally pro gressive and conservative element is now For a long time, being waged Those of them who would move forward with the national spirit of the times, contend that the Protestant church has been long los ing pr-estige in Ireland by opposing ev erything that was truly Irish, and that when the rest of the nation, fighting for an Irish Ireland, is ljeing revolutionized, the Protestant church would show its wisdom by at length, throwing in its lot with their Catholic fellow-countrymen in the struggle that is being waged to make Ireland an Irish-speaking nation. A church member, writing in a recent issue of the Church of Ireland Gazette, asks why Protestant churchmen, as a rule stand aloof from the Gaelic revival, and replies that it is only because of mis understanding and distrust of their neigh bors coupled with a sad notion that the correct way to be truly Irish is to acquire an English accent and embrace every thing that cornea from that country, to the detrimont and neglect of their own. He trusts that Lord Dunraven's new re form association will be a stepping stone for his Conservative brethren that will enable them to view things Irish through Irish glasses; to put aside the old preju dices and think of "forgetting the past in which they played a part that few would now care to be unduly reminded of." lie warns his fellow-religionists that if they persist in their anti-Irish attitude they will find their already "rapidly decreasing church pouulation immersed in the rising tide of the majority." He tells them that the Gaelic league has come to stay, and that whether church people assisted or not, it will succeed; and some day, wh.en it is too late, they will probably regret their apathy, and lofty attitude, towards the movement. Writing upon the same subject, Sn the name organ, a churchman who had been touring in the west of Ireland told a capital little story. Being driven on a Jaunting oar through a portion of the re mote mountains, he found that his jarvey THE GATES OF CHANCE der up to Jan. 10, when I discovered that our bank balance showed a dis crepancy of $50,000. I covered it over for the time, hoping to find the source of the error. Five days later I told Mr. Sandford. The money was gone, and that was all that I could say." "Let us recall the events of Jan. 9. Did«you make your regular deposit that day, and where?" "We keep our account at the Bank of Commerce. But that afternoon I overlooked a package of bills in large denominations. I sent another mes senger over to the. bank, but it was after 3 o'clock and the deposit was re fused. The boy brought the money back to me —the package contained $50,000." "And tlien?" "I don't know. I might have locke<i it up in our own safe or carried it home with me or pitched it out of th* window. It is all a blank." "Did you stay at the office later than usual that day?" "Yes; I was busy with some of Mr. Sandford's private affairs, and that de layed me untilall the others had gone. I left about 5 o'clock.'' "And.now who is V. S.? Pardon me, but the question is necessary." "Miss Valentine Sandford —Mr. Sand ford's daughter. I was engaged to be married to her." "Since when?" "I had proposed and was waiting for my answer. Then that very day she sent me'a telegram. It contained the single word 'yes,' and was signed by her initials. It came a-t the same mo ment that the messenger brought back the money from the bank." "And it is the same V. S. who sends this message?" asked Indiman, smooth ing out the telegraph blank which he held in .his hand. The young man took a bundle of papers from his breast pocket. Theji were all .telegraphic messages, and each was a suggestion towards self destruction in one form or another. "Suicide's corner" at Niagara, poison, the rope—all couched in language of devilish ingenuity in inuendo, and end ing in every instance with the expres sion, "Is life more than honor? An swer. V. S." "I have had at least one every day," said the young man. "Sometimes two or three. Generally In the morning, but they also come at any hour." "And Miss Sandford?" "I wrote and told her of my terrible misfortune, released her from the un announced engagement, and begged her to believe in me until I could clear myself. I have not seen her since the fatal day of the 15 th of January." "And you have received from her only these —these messages?" "That is all." "And you think they come from her?" "No; or I should have killed myself long ago. But there are times when I have 'to take a tight hold on my self; today is one of them," he added, very simply. "Mr. Sydenham," said Indiman, sol emnly, "I now know you to be an inno cent man. Had it been otherwise you would long since*have succumbed un der this mysterious and terrible pres sure." "I am innocent!" repeated the yoking man. "But to prove it?" "It shall be proved." "The money?" "It shall be found." "Through whom?" "Yourself. A simple lapse of memory is the undoubted explanation. The gap must be bridged, that is all. Will you put yourself in my hands?" "Unreservedly." "Good! I desire then that you should return to your home and wait there until you hear from me. The address —thank you. You had better leave the club at once; this atmosphere is not the most wholesome for a man in your position." Mr. Sydenham proved most amen able to all of Indiman's suggestions, and we did not lose sight of him un til he was finally on his way uptown in a Columbus avenue car. "A good subject," remarked Indiman, "and it should be comparatively easy to get at the submerged consciousness in his case. A simple reconstruction of the scene should be sufficient." "You don't think the money was stolen, then?" "Not at all. It will be found In some safe place, its disposal being an act of Sydenham's subliminal personality, of which his normal consciousness knows nothing." "But why—" "The man was not himself that ninth day of January. He had received a tremendous impression in the receipt was an Irish!speaker .(as might be ex pected) and : addressed in Irish \ all whom he met on the road;; but, whenever he S . had : occasion j to; speak \to i the I horse, v the; tourist was surprised to : find ' that he , In variably spoke in English, y A bit puzzled at this, the tourist inquired of the - jar vey why, though he spoke to everyone he ; met in Irish, he used English for his ani mal. "Arrah, sir," said the jarvey, "is it what you'd be wanting me to waste-our ; - elegant tongue upon the baste. - Isn't Eng lish good enough for horses?" —*- It is deeply to be regretted that, present " ly, there seems to be a recrudescence of bigotry growing up here and v there over •.' Ireland. We, :in Ireland,i alas, suffered too ■ long ; from this curse, and '. it is time ! we had done with Sit entirely. It is all j the more lamentable: when we consider, that in I many,recent casesj the '. offenders are, peo ple of authority;and: high position, -whose : words are" apt '■ to ; carry weight \ for good or evil. There has . just * been a bit of _: a --' storm raging over an address delivered by Dr. .; Elliot.-1 a '-s*Protestant bishop in the '• West, in the course of ; which he ;accused: .; Catholics' of being liars and deceivers.'." A prominent servant of Christ, jas ! Dr. El- ; liot i is, . should realize \ that | this kind of . speaking, ,in a*. country J like Ireland, 'ie ' hardly in . accordance -with the spirit ■ of :: his Master's teaching. :^X - i;;;; :^V; The Irish Temperance association is ~ trying a very interesting experiment—and ah amusing one—they are going to have a 3 series of (■ lectures delivered "v within the walls 5. of the 'jails! in Ireland. r; It would ;'lseem.to some hardly fair to the poor pris -1 oners Sto r take ; advantage of > them, when ;; they find them under : the weather, and :that they ; have them in a cul-de-sac; but, ; to the i credit of the. association it * must j be said, i they : only ask: for voluntary -. at tendance at : the lectures. XrAt^ least 5-It -. " was - so . ;. in Dundalk prison, where they have tried the first experi , ment. We read that although only a por tion of the ; prisoners turned up, the lec \ ture was ' attended - f by the ;fullf- visiting committee, the . chaplain, the ~" governor, ; and all the warders. Consequently it may do much good after all. »"/ . ' : '§&&&■'■' '■■ ■'■-'- --■*: ""^rff--.-- '-'':; -:.'"-- ■"-"" ■;' There I has been no political move in Ireland in recent \ years ".which'; has caused so much confusion and division of opinion "<in" all political ; camps, as that of the Irish f» Reform i. association. Many" Conservatives '-. have Fcxpressea^ themselves ?ia favor of : it; THE ST. PAUL GLOBE. SUNDAY, OCTOBEK 23, 1904 of that message from Miss Sandford. He was an accepted lover, and the consciousness, for the time being, swept him off his feet. He was doing his work mechanically, and it did not matter so long as it was only routine. Then came the emergency, and, ob jectively, he was unable to cope with it. The subjective personality took command and did the right thing, for Sydenham is an honest man. What action the subliminal self actually took is known only to itself, and no effort of Sydenham's normal memory will suffice, to recall it. But there are oth er means of getting at the truth. The most practical is to reproduce, the sit uation as exactly as possible. Given the same first causes and we get the identical results. First, now to see Mr. Sandford, with whom luckily I have some acquaintance." It was like the playing of a game, the scene in Sandford & Sand's office that following afternoon. The staff ot clerks had been sent home as soon as possible after 3 o'clock, all save the young man who acted as bank messen ger. The calendar on the wall had been set back to Jan. 9, and the Herald of that date lay half opened on Syden ham's old de.sk. It will be remembered that Sydenham had been detained on some of Mr. Sandford's private busi ness, and it was perfectly feasible to reconstruct Its details. Mr. Sandtord had been coached in his part by Indi man, and the precautions for the ex periment being finally perfected, Syr denham was called in. He appeared, dressed in the same clothes that he had worn the month before, looking a little fjale, indeed, but resolute and collected. "Mr. Sydenham," said Indiman, keep ins his eyes fixed on the young man's face, "you will observe that this is Jan. 9, 1903. Kindly seat yourself at your desk, and remain there as passive as possible Wait until we withdraw." Through the half opened door of Mr. Sandford's private office we could see distinctly all that passed. Sydenham sat motfonless at his desk; Alden, the bi'nk messenger, was within call in the outer office. The hands of the clock, which had, been set back, pointed to 5 minutes ot 3. A telegraph delivery boy entered and handed Sydenham a yellow envelope. He signed for it and the boy withdrew. He opened it, &nd instead of a written message drew out a fresh, sprig of heliotrope. Motionless and scarcely v breathing, he sat and gazed at it as though he could never fill his eyes with, the sight. "Now," said Indjman, pushing Mr. Sandford into the room where the young cashier sat. The conversation was a brief one, relating to the papers that Mr. Sand ford carried in his hand. "Leave them on your way up town in my box at the safe deposit com pany," concluded Mr. Sandford. Then he took his hat and went out. Sydenham swung back to his desk; the Herald lying there was In his way. and he tossed it onto the floor. Under neath lay a package of bills of large denominations. The cashier acted quickly. "Alden!" he called, and the messenger came running in. "I overlooked this package," said Sydenham; "it contains $5,000. Do you think you can get to the bank with it ? You have a minute and a half." The messenger seized the package and dashed away. Sydenham looked again at the sprig of heliotrope; he pressed it passionately to his lips. Then carefully placing it in his pocket book he began an examination of the papers left by Mr. Sandford. The clock struck 3. The clerk Alden re-entered. "They wouldn't take It," he said, and handed the package of bills to Sydenham. "Oh, very well," said the cashier, ab sently, "I'll take care of it. That's all, Alden; you can go." For an hour or more Sydenham worked steadily. Then, gathering the papers together, he rose, took off his office coat, and began making prepara tions to depart. Once he came into Mr. Sandford's private office, where we were sitting, but apparently he did not notice our presence. Indiman gripped my hand hard. "Going splendidly," he whispered. The cashier put on his hat apd top coat. The legal.papers were carefully stowed in an inside pocket, and he was about to close down his roll-top desk when the package of bank bills met his eye. He frowned perplexedly; then picking up the bundle he dropped it into the same pocket with the papers belonging to Mr. Sandford. He went out, closing the door behind him. many Liberals, on the other hand, stern ly oppose it; some extreme Nationalists are with it; many moderate Nationalists denounce it, for that it is the drawing of a red herring across the home, rule trail. In Ulster both the executive com mittee of the Ulster Liberal Unionist as sociation and the central committee of the Belfast Conservative association hurl against it' thundering resolutions that they expect will demolish It. Redmond, of course, long ago, welcomed it; Davltt is' denouncing it with all his might and main; and William O'Brien is expected very soon to act the part of father-in law to it. Healy has not yet spoken on the sub ject, but his very near relative and po litical alley, the genial poet, T. D. Sulli van, has written a very earnest poetical appeal to his countrymen, asking them to welcome and to encourage those of our countrymen who, formerly estranged from us, are now too pleased, through the medium of the new association at last to line up. He entitles the poem "For Erin's Sake. It is well worth quoting, so I give it here: I cannot deem it good or grand To thrust aside a friendly hand Stretched forth to help our native land; I cannot think it just or wise To welcome long desired allies With bitter words and scowling eyes. We asked their help, we wood them long, To aid in righting Ireland's wrong; We spoke them fair in speech and song. If from their wave.ring ranks today Whole groups seem fain to come our way, Shall we arise and say them nay? And on the path they wish to tread Xo soft green turf in kindness spread; But scatter flints and spikes instead? Not on those lines, "Young Ireland" wroueht. Not such the creed "The Nation" taught. Not such, was Butt's or Parnell's thought. Not so would Thomas Davis do— A faithful guide, a leader true, A patriot, but a statesman, too. " 'Twas thus their noble message ran: We spurn no class or creed or clan; We cannot spare a single man; 'Our country needs the help of all. And be their prowess great or small God prosper those who heed her call," That prayer we echo; thus we say To friends who doubt and make delay— Fear uot, well ahav and clear the way." He Reeled and Fell, the Money Still Clutched In His Hand We followed as quickly as we could, but this time luck was against us— Sydenham had disappeared. "To the safe deposit company," said Indiman, and we jumped into a Jian som. Mr. Sandford was there, and we waited impatiently for Sydenham's ap pearance; it was the only chance of again picking the lost trail. There he came, walking slowly up Nassau street, his manner a trifle pre occupied and his eyes feent on the pavement. Opposite the safe deposit company he stopped and thrust hiss hand into a waistcoat pocket. He took it away empty and a terrible change came over his face. With a quick movement he drew out the bundle of bank notes and regarded it fixedly. A cry burst from his lips;, he reeled and fell, the money - still clutched in his hand. Instantly we were at his side. A coach was at hand, and^we got him into it and directed the driver to pro ceed to Indiman's lodgings. The at tack had been a momentary one, and Sydenham revived as we turned out of Park Row. He looked ac us, then at the money in his hand. "It has fatted," he said, brokenly, and none of us could say a word. "I came to myself," continued Sydenham, with forced calmness, "there in Nassau street; it was as though I had awak ened from a dream. The money—it was in my hand. I stood before the world, a self-convicted thief. I thank you; you have done your best, but It is useless." He passed the money to Mr. Sandford; mechanically his hand went to fhe inside breast pocket of his over coat; he drew out the package of legal papers bearing Mr. Sandford's name. "But —but," he stammered, "I don't understand —I left these in your box at the safe deposit company." "To be sure you did," answered Indi man, coolly. He pulled the check cord. "Drive back to the safe deposit," he called to the hackman. "Nowt then," said Indiman, in a quiet, matter-of-fact tone, "will you tell me the conditions under which you had access to Mr. Sandford's vault. Of course your name as an authorized Be not deterred by scoffs and jeers, Or taunts that sting like poisoned spears; These things come down from woeful years. The scene will brighten as we go; A nobler pride our lives will know; Now love shall set our hearts aglow. And If at first your sole design Is but to dwell in shade or shine At some small siding on the line— Well, haste you there; for sure were we, Tour stopping place can never be The station next to Liberty! We thought ftiat we needed a compul sory education act in Ir^Jand. Perhaps we did. But there is always consolation in the knowledge that there are others as badly off as ourselves. A report In the Manchester Guardian contains the follow ing tit-bit of English, literature, taken from the agenda paper of one of the Manchester boards of guardians: "That there be a special committee from this board to inquire into the mat ter with regards to the interment of H H , also with regards to the conduct of our relieving officers -with regards to the removal of Mr. G and Mr. W , and why our of ficers should go into the house of Mr. G and walk upstairs and unlock the drawer and take out the money; and in the other case we take the money and bank books and are retaining them" The English here is not Baconian, nor is it Addisonian, nor yet has it the De Foe flavor. It belongs to a school that has not yet been exploited—but which should be exploited, for tfeere is much individu ality and originality about it as should make Kipling busk and look to bis laurels. —Seumas MacManus. Donegal, Ireland. GIRL ONLY EIGHTEEN PROVES A BIGAMIST Indicted at Terre Haute, Ind., for Wed ding Too Often TE£RE HAUTE, Ind., Oct. 22.—Mrs. Goldie Dingman was arraigned today on an indictment for bigamy. She la only eighteen years of age. ana was married to Bert Dingman, of SullivSn county, three years ago. She left him last year, and, coming to Terre Haute, was. married to Walter Brownfleld last December. When Brownfteld learned of her deception he left her. Dingman tried to persuade her to return to him, and when she re fused he. submitted the evidence he had obtained to the grand jury. agent of Mr. Sandford was on the com pany's books. You had your pass key, of course?" "No," said Mr. Sandford. "There was but one pass key, and that I kept my self. When Mr. Sydenham had any business to do for me at the safe de posit vaults I would let him have the key temporarily." "You gave it to him on that particu lar day, the 9th of January?" continued Indiman. "Yes." "Where is it now?" almost shouted Indiman. "Here," said Mr. Sandford, in sur prise. "On my key ring." "Exactly. There is the broken link in our psychological chain. When Mr. Sydenham felt for the pass key, which should have been in his pocket, he dis covered that it was missing. Instantly the continuity of events was broken, the subliminal personality was again submerged, -and Mr. Sydenham's nor mal consciousness was re-established. Mr. Sandford, you are perfectly aware of the fact that these legal papers were properly deposited in your vault, and that the pass key was returned to you by Mr. Sydenham on the morning of Jan. 10. Gentlemen, it is evident that we shall find the original $50,000 lying in Mr. Sandford's strong box, where it was left by Mr. Sydenham on the after noon of Jan. 9." I confess that I was mightily excited when the moment came to test the cor rectness of Indiman's deductions. We were shown into a private room, and, under Mr. Sandford's eye, the treasure box belonging to him was carried In and opened. Almost at the bottom lay a long, brown Manila envelope fastened with three red rubber bands. It con tained fifty $1,000 bills. !'I noticed that envelope several times," explained Mr. Sandford, "but supposed it contained some mining stock. You see here is another en velope identical in appearanqe and ly ing directly beneath It. Mr. Sydenham never suggested even that he might have left the missing money in my safe deposit vault." "It never occurred to me that I could ->.'.-._.. -.■;■■-'- .; ' -■ ' . . .■ t ■ '--.,- ■ -.■ l~- -> i-"' --•■,",--- v ■ ■*" - ' -• . ■ ■■— ■'_ (^ - |B|Y the recent decision of the British IDI lords > twenty-four of the least *»' progressive, least representative churches of Scotland are made to out weigh the 900 churches constituting the great body of the Christian people of that country, and are given the con trol of millions in property and reve nues for church purposes. It was a purely Scottish question. The Scottish courts, representing the almost unani- - mous sentiment of the people, decided for the nine hundred-and against the twenty-four. But in the United King dom there is an appeal to the house of lords as a sort of supreme court, and that house, made up of Episcopalians and dissenters of all kinds, with not a few Roman Catholics, freethinker.-, and agnostics, decided finally upon this ecclesiastical and Scottish matter. "It will have this inevitable effect," a "distinguished Scottish educator and journalist remarked recently; "it will precipitate a demand for home rule in Scotland." It would seem that every agitation for home rule is based upon some instance or allegation of gross injustice to one or more of the grand divisions of the kingdom. To an Amer ican it does not seem dear why this should be. Passing over the disgrace ful manner in which the Irish parlia ment was abolished, a century ago, and waiving all question as to the right fulness of the recent decision relative to the Scottish churches, it would seem to an onlooker from this side of the water that a system of home rule for England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales would be a most desirable modification of the present form of government of the kingdom. Superficial thinkers and writers in this country often point out what they deem the great superiority of the Brit ish government to our own. Certainly the British government may respond more rapidly to public sentiment than does our own, for we have fixed pe riods of administration and fixed terms of membership in our national legisla ture. A president might retain in of fice throughout his term of four years a cabieet which had become very dis tasteful to the people—-indeed, a cabi- have done so," said Sydenham. "I re membered making a deposit of the papers—but the money, no, I had no recollection of having seen or touched it from the moment that Alden brought it back from the bank and laid it on my desk." "Gentlemen," said Mr. Sandford, "I am indebted, to you for much more than the mere recovery of the money. But we will speak of that again. Where Can I put you down? Mr. Sy.- i denham I shall carry off to my house; I want to have a talk with him." But Indiman declined to re-enter the coach, pleading some further business down town, and, of course, I remained with him. The carriage was about to drive off when Indiman put up his hand. . "How stupid of me!" he, exclaimed. "I had almost forgotten." He took from the pocket of his overcoat a rath er bulky package and handed it to young Mr. Sydenham. "They'll ex plain themselves," he said, smiling. The coach rolled away. • "The missing letters from V. 5.," said Indiman, in answer to my look of inquiry. "An average of tfro a day, and all addressed to frSm at the UtLnam. Well, what was tha poor girl to do? The young fool had changed his lodg ings and obliterated every possible trace of his whereabouts. All Miss Sandford had to go on was the bare intimation that he could be addressed at the Utinam club. She might as well have posted her communications in the North river." "I don't follow you." "Two days ago I put a dummy letter addressed to Sydenham in his private lock box at the Utinam. I had prom ised, you know, to send him on his mail if he would keep away from the club, and accordingly I had the key of the letter box in my possession. Ten mm- " utes later I went again to the box and it was empty—that is, you could see distinctly from one end of the box to the other, and it was absolutely bare." "A duplicate key, of course." "Not at all. It is only a stupid per son who descends to crime—except ai. a last resort." "Well, then?" "Did you ever attend any of the ex hibitions at the old Egyptian hall? One of the favorite illusions was the trick cabinet in which the performer seated himself in full view of the spec tators. The doors would be closed for an instant, and then, when reopened, the man had disappeared. The full in terior of the cabinet was plainly visi ble; it stood on legs, which precluded the idea_of a trap door, and it was in contestably shown that egress from the back, top, or sides was impossible." "Yet the performer was gone?" < "I said that the cabinet appeared to be empty—quite another thing." "Go on." "It was a simple arrangement of plate glass mirrors fitting closely at the sides and backed by the distinctive pattern of wall paper with which the rest of the cabinet was covered. Im mediately that the doors were closed, the performer drew these false sides outward, so that they met the center post of the doors at an acute angle. The true side walls thereby exposed, and, of course, they were papered to correspond with the rest of the in terior. Their reflection was doubled in the mirrors, making it appear to the observer that the whole cabinet was open to his vision. The truth was that he saw only half of it, the performer being concealed behind the mirrors. The only possible point at which the illusion could be detected was the angle where the mirrors joined, and this was masked by the center post at which the double doors -met. To con clude the trick, the doors were again closed, the performer swung the mir rors back into place, and, presto! he was back in the cabinet, smiling gen ially at the gaping crowd." "Then you think " "I know. Lock box No. 82 was con structed on the same principle in min iature, the letter slit being placed in such a position that anything deposited in the box fell behind the mirrors, the whole interior remaining apparently visible through the glass front, and presumably empty. The owner of the box would naturally glance into it be fore actually using his pass key. X>b viously, it were a waste of time to go through the form of opening an empty box, and so poor Sydenham never got any of the letters that were daily de posited there, for the receptacle is a large one, and the Secret place behind the mirrors was almost full. The ac tion of unlocking the box operated By HUBERT M. SKINNER net unpopular from the beginning. In Britain, on the other hand, an appeal may be made to the people at any time. But those who make this comparison between the two governments leave out of consideration the very important fact of the state governments in Amer ica. Here the great mass of the legis lation is not performed by congress at all, but by the legislators of the vari ous states. The average citizen - seldom sees a federal officerSxcept some one con nected with the postoffice. The great body of the laws, civil and criminal, which govern his interests from the cradle to the grave are state laws. In no other great nation of the world, per haps is the national government left so free to devote its time and energies to international and to great national affairs. Suppose we had no legislative body in this country except our con gress, and all the laws under which we live had to be passed by its cham bers and signed by the president. Could the government possibly give them adequate time and attention? Would not measures of pressing need be delayed for years to await their turn in the great accumulation of work to be done? This is precisely what happens in the United Kingdom. Mr. Gladstone gave his great soul to the tardy relief of the people at home, by passing great reform measures. But in so doing he neglected the interests of the vast British empire, in the judgment of the BTitons of today. Lord Beaconsfield built up the empire with amazing abil ity and power, but he neglected the suffering interests at home. It is no reproach to either of these great states men that he failed to accomplish the impossible. One interest or the other must of necessity suffer, under the present system. It is astonishing that the central government of the greatest *napire known to human history—more than three times the size of the Roman empire in population—should attempt to do all the lawmaking for such capa ble peoples as the Scotch, the Irish, the Welsh, to say nothing of the English. A local legislature for each of these grand divisions of the kingdom need not weaken it in the least. The limits of the legislative powers granted to each might be clearly and conserva tively drawn, and the old American heresy of the right of secession would Copyright, 1904, By Harper & Brothers upon *an • interior mechanism that swung back the mirrors at the same instant that the door was pulled open. After seeing my dummy disappear, I tried the experiment, and was amply 1 rewarded. "There isn't much more to tell. When I saw the letters lying there I knew that it was all right so far as the' girl'was concerned. I had only to ac quaint 'Jliss Sandford with the cir cumstances in the case to secure her further cp-operation, for, of course, she had never ceased to believe in her lover. She prepared and-sent the mes sage whioh you saw delivered to Sy denham iii Sandford's office this after noon. "But it was not the same as the one received by him on the actual Jan. 9th. That contained a word, 'yes,' ana was signed by her initials; this second one consisted simply of a sprig of helio trope." "Do you understand the language .of flowers.? Tha heliotrope means, 'Je t'adore,' and Sydenham understood it instantly, as you saw." "Yea; but why; " "To repeat the original message would not have impressed him as I wished/, it would simply have seemed part of the illusion which he knew per fectly well we were endeavoring to, create. The problem was to suddenly startle him by a real communication from V. S-, and, above all, to have it ot such a natur.e as to convince him that the cloud between them had finally lifted. Now, without trust and con fidence, true love is impossible. The message of the sprig of heliotrope told him all that he had been hungering and longing to hear throughout these terrible two months; the shock was sufficient to drive the normal conscious ness from its seat and permit the sub liminal self to take control. In other words, it practically put him back in - the identical mood of the afternoon of Jan. 9th, and that was the crucial point of the whole experiment. Anything more ?" "Who sent the false telegrams?" "Of course, you would ask that. I don't know." "Such a monstrous wickedness! It is Inconceivable." "Yes, unless we admit the existence of a spirit of pure malevolence seeking t6 drive an innocent man to self-de struction for no other motive than that of doing evil for evil's sake. That such an intelligence has been active in this case is certain; or how explain the cheat of the letter box, a necessary factor in the problem, as you will ad mit?" "But you don't know." "Not yet," answered my friend Indir man." We dined down town that evening, and it was about 9 o'clock when we called a hackney coach and started homeward. As' we drove up the Bow ery an illuminated transparency caught our eyes. " 'Fair and Bazaar, 1" read Indiman. '"Benefit of the United Housesmiths* Benevolent Association.' What is a housesmith, Thorp? Evidently we will have to go and find out for ourselves." He pulled the check cord and gave the driver the new direction. Pure fool ishness, of course, but Indiman was not to be put out of his humor. Up one flight of stairs to a large, low-ceilinged hall that was jammed to suffocation. A score of gayly trimmed booths wherein fallals and cheap bric a-brac, each presided over by a lady housesmith. "Or should it be house smithess?" Behind a long counter covered with red paper muslin sat a dozen young women of more or less pronounced per sonal charms, and a huge placard an nounced that kisses were on sale at the uniform price of 5 cents. "Take your own choice." Smaller cards bore the various cognomens assumed for the occasion by the fair venders of oscu latory delights. "Cleopatra,". "The Fair One with Golden Locks," Kath leen Mavourneen," "Pocahontas," or more simply, albeit not less mysteri ously, "Miss A. 8.," or "Mademoiselle X." Of course, each had dressed the part as nearly -as might be, and the exhibition was certainly attractive to the masculine eye. In questionable taste, no doubt, but one does not stand upon trifles when it is all for sweet charity's sake. ■ •»,. "My dear Thorp," said Indiman, with the utmost gravity, "have you half a dollar in your pocket? Then come with me" and forthwith we jammed and corkscrewed our way through the crowd until we reached the long coun ter covered with red paper muslin. (To be continued.) have no place in such a scheme. All would be better satisfied with such a plan, it would seem. The peo ple of the four grand divisions—call them states or what you will—would not have to wait for slow reforms which are urgently needed. They would be better satisfied to manage their own affairs in their own- way." And the splendid system of the British govern ment in national affairs could go on as now. Perhaps there should be proposed five local legislatures instead of four. There are really two Irelands, rather than one. When home rule is proposed for Ireland the Scotch-Irish of Ulster are alarmed. They would be at the mercy of Irish Ireland. The people of Ulster are of Scottish blood, and of the Protestant faith. The rest of Ireland i B Irish and Catholic, if we except the Pale The latter contains many who are English and Episcopalian. It has been the center of English power in Ireland for centuries. Ulster and the Pale would be outvoted in a legislature for all Ireland, and the bitter feuds of centuries would find expression in par tial legislation. Let the two Irelands be recognized in any plan for home rule, and this difficulty disappears. Let Ulster and the Pale, joined by the northeastern coast, constitute one leg islative entity and the rest of the Em erald Isle another. Thus there would be essential unity in each of the bodies politic. The Welsh, the Irish and the Scotch .\jrer« all there before the Saxons came to England. They represent the original peoples. It would gratify their natu ral pride to possess autonomy, while abating none of the glory which, they, share in being at the head of the world's greatest empire. Such a scheme would strengthen, not weaken, the central power of the empire. Shall we ever see it? Time only will tell. But to an. American the idea seem* feasible and probable. His Ambition "flogan.phwat would yez do if yez wo* rich?" "Shure, O'id nor allarum clocks jptrungj - all over me bedroom." ' "But bedad! they'd wake yez up\" •"Phot's phwat Oi'd like. Thin Oi cufl shake me fist ut thim aw n say: "Tutl Tut! Oi kin take another nap in peac*!' * —Baltimore Herald.