Evening Republican, Volume 15, Number 226, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 September 1911 — FOUR BITES OF A CHERRY. [ARTICLE]

FOUR BITES OF A CHERRY.

By George Folsom.

How a Genius Collected |40»000 At the Rate of $10,090 a Clip s —and Kept It.

Copyright, The Frank A. Munsey Co. o—— • “Let the case alone for a few days. Cossett may wonder why we don’t report on his card, and look you up. Then he may be pushed into giving more details. If he doesn’t help us we are- as good as done. All the professionals seem to be accounted for, and the robberies must have been done by outsiders. .£■ “These young men are clever. When a clue touches one it doesn’t fit the other. Unfortunately, the clues are not reversible, like Linden’s coat- Tes, Dempster, we’ll drop it for a few days, unless Mr. Cossett gives us a new start” ' • \ : ■ • • ; * * "Well, Mr. Fenton,” cried Linden, the evening of the day following Dempster’s report, “the third bite of the cherry is an accomplished fact.”

“Linden, I hope you will excuse my abbreviation of the usual title,” said the lawyer, “I am really interested in you. I may safely say that you are the only criminal in whom I have ever been, interested, sentimentally. But I will never be at ease until I turn you out an acquitted man, or see you board a Hudson River train chained to a plain-clothes man. You deal me shock after shock. Tell me the worst ol this last exploit.”. * , VHa, ha!” laughed Linden, “you would never be able to guess. The third bite of the cherrynvas offered to, and accepted by, Miss Nellia^Cossett.” “In other words, Mr. Cossett gave Miss Cossett ten thousand dollars?” “Exactly—her share of the estate 1 have been fighting for.* . “What about conditions *’ said the lawyer, ftho, having knowledge of Mr. Cossett’s suspicions of Linden—suspicions which 'professional etiquette fofbade his divulging to the young man—was thinking that there must be a trap somewhere. _ “No conditions whatever., He said that her coming mairiage interested him greatly, but, before he' gays her the money, he tried to turn her against me.” * t “How do you account for that?” said the lawyer. my being on the side of the

other Cossetts, whom he evidently hates as much as he loves Miss Cossett. That is the only reason I can find.” " #'M “And you are sure—pardon me for pressing the matter —that he did not give some definite reason?" “Miss Cossett’s manner didn’t suggest anything serious. She naturally did not wish to see any very bad motive in his action, and it seems that at the end he frankly said that he might, after ail, be mistaken in saying that I was not worthy of her.” “And I have something else to tell you,” continued Linden; “I think I am my apartment-house inquiring for a man with dark-red hair who is a

friend, he said, of mine. Then a man used my name at my tailor's. Said he admired my gray clothes, and wanted some made the same way. My tailor may have told all he knows, but that would not be enough to give me Into their hands/' / “You don’t seem to be alarmed?” said the lawyer. ' . v'o am alarmed,” returned Linden, “but they cannot get far on what they know. My alarm Is a sort of general "alarm. One bit of it is due to a, mistake I made.”' “A mistake?” echoed the lawyer. “Yes; you knbw I gave Mr. Cossett my address after the second affair. Now, Creel, myVousip, who is in my office, and who was the wheelman of the first robbery, writes a very queer hand. I have often practised it for fun, and, in my effort, in the restaurant, to disguise my own hand, I used his. I wrote to Mr. Cossett a few days ago, at Miss Cossett’s request, telling him of our intended marriage. I carelessly used a hand more like Creel’s than my own, and he has both specimens.” * r, “That accounts for Mr. Cossett’s ‘new developments which, make It undesirable, etc.,”’ said the lawyer to himself.,. Then, aloud, “And what you think will be the outcome of that foolish proceeding ” —— “I don’t know,’” replied Linden, carelessly. “Mr. Cossett happened to see a specimen of my real handwriting which Miss CoSsett had. He called her attention to the difference between It and the writing in my letter. His edriosity is aroused, at least** “And the police have the card, of course?” said the lawyer. '

“They have had it several days, I expect,” replied Linden, “hence the shadowing. But it isn’t enough. It was written under Mr. Cossett’s very nose by a man totally unlike Creel. They wouldn’t dare take'Creel on that. We’re safe enough at present.” “Suppose Mr. Cossett should give them your letter in Creel’s hand. What then?” • r “It he does, Creel will have to swear he wrote it tor me, that’s all. I don’t deny there is danger in the mistake I made, but no great danger until they get closer .to the actual facts.” “Your optimism cheers me,” said Mr. Fenton, as Linden rose to go, “but if you are going to complete the eating of the cherry, please get it over with as quickly as possible.” “I am as determined as ever to go to the end,” replied Linden grimly. “And, as I don’t anticipate that Mr J Cossett will make another donation just at present, I am going to settle the matter with the least possible delay, if only to ease the strain my good lawyelr is laboring under." (To be continued.)