Evening Republican, Volume 17, Number 116, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 May 1913 — Page 3

The Cases of Alice Clement

True Stories of the World's Greatest Woman Sleuth as Told by Herself to Courtney Riley Cooper , . 11 II The Crossed Clue . (Copyright, by W.G. Chapman.)

yr ’LL telephone home and ■ then I’ll be right with you,” said Miss Clement, detective on the municipal force °t Chicago, as she gave her number to the girl at the hotel telephone booth. A moment or so of waiting l and then we started for the Idining room. And as we seated ourselves, Miss Clement seemed busy with thought “Tve just been wondering,” said she, "‘whether it was here or somewhere else.” I laughed st her vague remark; Miss Clement has always been a sort of a study to me. There is a kittenish childishness, a twinkle and sparkle of the eyes, a series of mannerisms which give her many times the appearance more of a child than of a woman who has tracked thieves and other evil doers for years. She has a way of presenting things In the most girlish of ways; there is sometimes a little air of irresponsibility that is fetching to the degree that you forget entirely that this woman ever could have had adventures, that she ever could have been in places where the slightest false move would have meant death. She' perked her head coquettlshly to one side and looked at me out of the corner of her eyes. "Well,” she asked, "what’s so funny about that?” ' "Just the way you put the remark,” I answered. “What were you wondering about?” > “A certain telephone call of about two years ago. I just happened to think about it when I came oiit of the booth and then, of course, I started wondering where it had happened. After all, I believb ft was here. And by the way, it was a telephone call of some importance. It solved a mystery for me.” We stopped conversation for a minute that we might give our orders and then Miss Clement took a little notebook from her handbag. “It’s marked down here as the 'Case of the Crossed Wires,’ ’’ she said, “and that’s about what it was. I don’t care what you say, luck certainly does play Into a detective’s hand if that detective knows enough to take advantage of the opportunity when it is presented. And to tell the truth, the drowning man who grasped at the fabled etraw was not any more desperate than I was the night a pair of crossed wires started me .on the way to a big arrest. But that part comes later,” «he added. “Three weeks before, one of the big mercantile companies of the city had discovered a $30,000 loss. The police 1 department believed that James Whitney, by which name we shall know the embeszler, was still In the city. It was my duty to find him. “Did you ever seek a man who was biding from you in a city of two and a half million people? For 21 days I sought, I had invaded every possible place where the man might be. I had shadowed his friends. f I had watched the house In which he lived, I had men stationed at every depot. I had followed out every bit of a clue—and all had resulted In failure. There was not a thing left to work on. There was not a possibility on which to rest a hope that I might find the man I sought And I knew that every day brought my chances of making the arrest to smaller and smaller proportions. “And so it was one night that I came Into the hotel here. I was tired; I was discouraged. And so I determined to do that thing which I have done many times before when I have been blue and worn out .and tired—telephone home to my little kiddie, and have her tell me, over the phone, all the things that have been happening In her young life since I left her in the morning. When the world of crime seems dark and forbidding, it is good to hear the-volce of a little child in your ears, detailing to you all the adventures of her dollies, all the things she has been doing, all the playing she has been Indulging In. And so I walked to the operator and asked for my number.” Then It was, as there came an interruption in the form of a waiter, that I saw the reason that Alice Clement seems always young, always happy, in spite of the morbid, gruesome half of the world in which she makes her living. She has her foil In her little girl and the reaction takes away the stain of the world of darkness. Miss Clement glanced around the room and continued. “I had hardly gotten my number when there came a great buzzing and crackling on the line. I jerked the receiver away from my ear, held it out a moment until the noise would cease, and then called *hello* again. The answering voice was that of a man. „ "*<•; " ‘Well, what became of you?’ came the question. “I started to tell him that he was talking to the wrong person. Then something. I don’t know why on earth, caused me to answer differently. "*1 wasn’t sure of who this wis,’ I answered. The reply caused me to take more interest in life. There was

something about the remark —well, do you believe in intuition? I do. “ ‘Has anybody called up? Have they got on to me yet?’ “ ‘Not yet,’ I answered. “But goodness only knows what Is going to happen. They’re hot after you.’

“‘I know It,’ came the answer. A queer thrill shot through me. That voice of. the man on the other end of the wire had been described to me. I knew It wae only a chance in a million, but I determined to take It. Luck It seemed, was playing Into my hands.

“ ‘But, Jim ’ “The effort brought fruit. There was a quick gasp from the other end pt the wire.

‘“Nix on the names,’ came quickly. “Now, listen. We’ve got to beat It and beat it tonight. Do you know how to get the stuff?’ “‘The money?* I “ ‘Yes.’

“I felt a cold perspiration on my forehead. * , “‘Jim ’ I said In a frightened tone, ‘I I’ve forgotten.’ ‘“You’ve forgotten?’ shot angrily Into my ears. ‘What do you mean by

" ‘Don’t be mad with me,’ I begged; Tve had so much to think about I’ve been so frightened, I’ve— —’ ‘“You weren’t frightened yesterday when I called you up.’

“ T was. I have been frightened all along. Only I’ve—l’ve just been a bit braver about warding it off than I am tonight. I don’t know what’s the matter—l’m just afraid, that’s all.’

“ ‘Well, cut that sort of* stuff out. Now, listen. You go to the old shop and look in the switchbox. You’ll find the stuff there. Then come on and meet me by the statue at 10 o’clock. I’ll have a taxicab. Go out the way we talked of, in case anybody’s watching. Understand?’ •“Yes,’ I answered. I heard him hang up the receiver, and just as quickly, I plunged the hook up and down with all my strength. “ ‘What number was that I was talking to?’ I asked Central when she answered. There was a delay of a few minutes, and then came the answer. Hastily I scribbled the number on a piece of paper and called information. ‘“What address has No. Blank?’ I asked. “She consulted her directory and gave the name of a place near Lincoln Park. It was enough. I hurried out of the hotel and to detective headquarters. “ ‘Captain, I said, ‘what have you to do tonight?* “ •Nothing,’ he answered. ‘Why?’ "*X think you’re going to have a prisoner or two to sweat. Is there a man on the force who can run a taxicab?’

“ ‘Certainly,’ was the answer, and the captain grinned at me. 'What’s the excitement?’ "Hastily I told him of what had happened. I looked at the clock. It was 8 o’clock; two hours In which to work. In five minutes a man In khaki was before me. In two minutes I had told him everything I wanted done, and in another thirty seconds we were speeding for the home of the embezzler.” ’■'b • "Why there?” I Interrupted. Miss Clement laughed. “Ypu never can wait, can you?” she asked. “We were going to the home of the embezzler simply because I had learned that instead of only the man being mixed up In this thing that the wife had a share In It too. And I wanted to get her away before there was any change of plans. “We neared a drug store. I called to my policeman driver. ‘“Right here will do,’ I said. He stopped the machine, went inside and Into a telephone booth. ‘Make your voice a bit rough,’ I told him as he entered. ‘And don’t talk any longer than you "have to. Say that you’ll be in the machine waiting.* •

*T watched him through the hlg windows. I saw him run through the names In the telephone book, select the one he was after, then call for the person. There was a short conversation. He came out of the booth and climbed on his seat. “ ‘Weil run around the block a couple of times,* he. said, 'and then we’ll go there ’ '“Did. she seem surprised?* I asked. ‘“Yes. Asked if I had the money with me. I told her I did, and that I’d be In the taxicab, and that just as soon as It stopped to run out of the house and jump in; that we didn’t have much time and there were a bunch of people watching us. She’ll be on deck.* "A te* moments later we stopped tn front of a good looking apartment There was a short wait and then a door swung ope® and a woman, heavily veiled, hurried forth. My taxi driver leaped from his sent opened the door as she rushed forward, then closed it behind her as she entered the taxi. She was excited; I could hear her heavy breathing as she stepped Into the vehicle. In the corner of the machine she saw my dark form and stretched forth her hands to me. •“Jimi* she cried. “There was a clicking sound and even in the darkness something flasb-

ed. The woman gave a scream that sounded even above the whirring of the machine as she felt the cold steel of handcuffs on her wrists. I anticipated her question. I "*My name is not Jim, but Alice,’ I said. ‘You will see Jim presently, for he is about to be placed under arrest also. Now, sit down there and be as calm as you can, for I want to ask you some questions.* “The answer was a blow that caught me full in the face. With a great effort the woman had shot her manacled hands forward and the steel had struck me between the eyes. It dazed me, but I reached gropingly outward. I tried to seize her as her locked hands worked' clumsily with the catch of the door. My fingers seemed nerveless; Great splotches of red flared before my eyes. I screamed. Then all grew black.

"When I revived, I was still in the rocking, hurrying taxicab, and vaguely I wondered what all had happened —and what had become of the woman Who had struck me. I became aware that I was crowded far into a corner by a great form and that someone was whistling. We passed a flaring streetlamp. I saw next to me the hulking shape of my old friend of the uniform, Tom Malloy.

“ ‘I got hep to somethin’ on th’ corner,’ he said by way of explanation, ‘yvben I seen th’ door av th’ taxi open an’ a woman jump out. Then, when I seen thim wrist decorations, I knowed th|>re was a party av some kind on. So I just-joined in. Bless me, s*long as there’s a man about, ’tls a quiet little dame she is, isn’t she?* This was addressed to the opposite corner of the taxicab, where the wild eyed woman sat gritting her teeth. I saw the hands that had felled me tight and clenched. And I was a bit thankful that big hearted, big fisted old Tom Malloy was with me. Gradually I learned all that had happened. Malloy had seen the woman leap from the machine and stqrt to run away. Believing it was a case of attempted white slavery or something of the kind, he had hurried forward, just in time to intercept the women. The officer at the wheel had stopped and was hurrying back. Mrs. Whitney’s little attempt at escape had failed and Malloy decided, as soon as he saw me still slumbering from the effect of the blow that I had received, that he had better make a little trip to the station himself.

“A few minutes more and we were at headquarters. At least one of those concerned in the theft of the $30,000 had been captured. But the real prisoner was still free.

“ ‘Maybe we’d better take you home,’ the driver suggested as the desk sergeant booked the arrested woman. I turned him a pair of flashing eyes. '' “‘Send me home?’ I demanded. •Well, I should say not—at least not when there’s a chance of catching a man I’ve been looking for as long as I have Jim Whitney. The next thing on the program is to put Tom Malloy In the taxi for an anchor, and drive as hard as you can to a point near the statue of General Sherman in Lincoln Pirk, fend there —’ ”

Slow minded me! I simply had to break in for a question. “But, Miss Clelnent, all you knew about the thing was that the telephone call had come from a place near Lincoln Park.”

A smile of commiseration wasturned on me and It lasted as long as the waiter remained at his task of removing dishes. Then when the field Xvas clear of listeners again. Miss Clement allowed the smile to turn Into a full grown laugh. “And you call yourself a—well, I won’t say it,” she bantered. "Don’t you know that a man who was in the circumstances of Jim Whitney wasn’t going to do any more wandering around the city than he had to? He telephoned from a place near Lincoln Park. The nearest statue to that place Is the statue of General Sherman. Therefore —” She smiled at me again and I waved a hand.

"Were you right?” I asked. She did not heed the Interruption. told the man at the wheel to get to the statue as soon as possible and appear hungry for a fare. If he got me In the machine, all right If he didn’t —then It was up to him to find the machine I was in, and to find it In spite of everything that might exist I boarded a car.

"I never saw a stretch of path that was longer than my walk toward the statue. At every form I started —half believing each was the man I sought I was not sure of his face in the dim light I was not sure of his general appearance. Every spark of my Intuitive powers was at work. I had my chance there to find the man I sought —and I had to make good. I neared the statue. , A man started forward. Fbr one brief second, something within me Impelled me to rush forward. Then came a check on my nerves, just In time. He passed under the light. At a glance, I knew he was not the man I wanted. “A vague fear seized me. In spite of the fact that I had put on the clothing of his wife, in spite of the fact that my face was concealed by a veil, there was the chance that he might understand, that be might know I was not the woman he was looking for. How I prayed for that taxicab! At last a chortling sound came from down the roadway. I had sheltered myself in the shadow of some trees. A glance outward and I saw the form of a man emerging from the darkness behind the statue. I saw him raise his hand. The taxi came to a stop. I heard him give some Instructions in a low tone. I knew that he was ordering the taxi driver to take a short spin and then return. ' “My eyes seemed to burn in their sockets. Just for a glint of light that

I SAW THE FORM OF A MAN EMERGING FROM THE DARKNESS BEHIND THE STATUE.

I might see the man on the seat! Just Tor a—the machine started slowly. I saw the driver was my man. I rushed forward. I raised a hand and stopped the machine. I leaped to the door, opened it, beckoned’over my shoulder and hurried in, to plump forgetfully into the lap of my old friend Tom, the patrolman. “The man in the roadway seemed to hesitate. I leaned forward and called to him In an excited whisper: “ ‘For God’s sake, come on! They’re after us!’ “He. hurried forward and lingered at the door of the machine. ‘“Did you get it?’ he asked. “‘The cash? Yes, get in.’ “‘Drive to the Englewood station!’ came the terse order. Then, as he climbed in, he whispered: ‘We’ll have to make a change in here. I’ve got a wig in my pocket. I’m going to put it on, and I want your clothes to go with it I think I can get past in the station that way and get the 10:20 out. You go back home then and get into some other clothes and come on the next train. You’ll have to be a real man for awhile tonight, Marie,’ he joked. I smiled in the darkness. “‘Now for the change,’ I said. “I drew hurriedly back as Tom Mal-

FINDING REAL JOY IN YOUR GARDEN

"Who dares be downcast when he is making ready for the rewards of spring? Little boy, don’t wrinkle up your face as you sit on the fence and watch me. Be cheerful; what if you did misspell a word! If you study it tonight, you will get it correctly tomorrow. The reason I plant young primroses in a row and cover them with leaves, and why I spend all my pocket money for daffodils in the fall, is because I want flowers as soon as the snow melts in the new year. All winter long, whenever I look out of this window on «the brown earth, I think of the flowers sleeping under it”

The Hollyhock Woman pulled off her gardening gloves as she finished talking and nodded brightly to the scowling boy on the fence post. He had jeered at her for working in the earth when the dull November days had come. Now he watched her go into \th6 house and come out with a plate of cookies. That in itself was a bait to draw good humor to the face of any boy. "Sure, I’ll rake the grass for you. I’ll haul a lot o’ dried leaves from the woods to scatter over everything. I’ll get some brush to prop over the rose bushes and the hardy hydrangea. My, but'that's a pretty bush with the dry flowers still hanging on.” The Hollyhock Woman agreed that his intentions were good. "Let me tell you a secret, Tommy. The folks around here do not get half the delights out of their gardens that they ought to. Just think of it—you are helping creation along. Nobody can make a flower, but we can help one grow; we can lend a hand to it” "You talk about flowers as if they were real persons," commented Tommy as he began to help by sorting the bulbs she took from a basket full on the porch. “Now, when I begin to look at them I say to myself, ’Hello, Mr. Tulip, you’re waiting for a chance to put your red head out.’ These are the red Darwins that look like soldiers In a row, ain’t they? I remember them. They come later than the others. ’Hello, Lady Narcissus, you want to nod to the robins.’ Tea, I read Narcissus was a boy, but the Narcissus in the gnyps always make me think of girls. ’Be patient. Snowdrop; your turn is coming in April.’ Don't you wonder where the hyacinths keep their sweet smells?" The Hollyhock Woman smiled, for she knew she had won a faithful helper. The fair days of November were always busy ones. She had to banish the faded plants and ragged vines of sumfner and fall from her garden, and besides going over the bulb beds at last year, to set fresh

loy slid forward. Almost before he knew it, James Whitney, thief, was sitting next to a big policeman and that big policeman’s hands were clamping hard on his wrists. This time there was no struggle. There was no chance for one. Within fifteen minutes Whitney was in the police station and the captain was taking his confession. “But there was one thing he would not tell—what he had done with the money. I did not care much, for I believed I knew. Near the Whitney apartments was an old carpenter shop that once had been equipped for electric lights, and then the wires taken out. I hurried to the place. I had made a few enquiries of neighbors and found that the place had recently been rented for purposes unknown. I laughed to myself. At last I was rounding out the evidence in a case that had seemed hopeless to me twelve hours before. I asked some flatdweller for an axe. “ *A what?’ he replied in surprise. “‘An axe; I want to break down a door.* I showed him my star. He gave me the best thing he hard—a long, heavy iron rod. Then, just to show that he had the real sporting blood In him, he went along to break down the door for me himself. A

ones in those borders where she would plant the annuals In June. However thrifty the iris and the peonies had been, she gave them a helping hand in the autumn. The tulips, living below ground In the beds belonging to the annuals, were planted deep to leave enough surface earth for the passing summer flowers, while those she planted in clumps m the perennial borders did not require deep setting.

Tommy and the Hollyhock Woman talked in whispers at the gate just as the sun was setting. Tommy agreed to be the conspirator’s aid. There was but one way to bring indifferent villagers to their senses, and that was by surprising them. "You can do it when I cannot. Tommy, but you must keep the seshe said. “Here is a basket of odd bulbs, the Glory of the Snow, l bright yellow jonquils, scillas, snow drops and stars of Bethlehem, Plant them in the flower beds where the folks are sure to see tjiem from the path or the window. You can stick in crocuses almost anywhere. Take first those houses we picked out as places where the folks did not care very much about gardens. This ought to convert them.” "I should think so,” said Tommy, out loud. “Think what?" asked a familiar voice as the Primrose Man loomed up in the dusk. “One thing I think is that her cookies are good,” said this aiding conspirator. “You are evading, young man,” said the great gardener of the village, who had more than once paid him for weeding. “Tommy cannot tell you,” said his companion conspirator. "He has a missionary deed on hand, and you know the left hand should not hear what the right hand doeth. He is going out to do good deeds, and he should not talk about them.” The Primrose Man looked toward the west where the evening star hung bright and clear. The purple veil of night was drawing slowly across the evening red.

“Tommy,” he said, "I have no secrets from this lady, though she may have secrets from me. She bakes the best cookies man or boy ever ate, and she is so industrious in her garden that she leaves me nothing to do but to give her a primrose plant now and then, which I can do, since I am the only one around here who makes an art of cultivating primroses. If we were in England, Tommy, we could pick primroses along the roadside in spring, but Americans have not discovered that they can have— * •" ‘A primrose by the river’s brim,* ” quoted Tommy. "Yes, and in the gardens and on tlfo roadside, and cowslips with them, too.” "Don’t forget the secret you wore

crashing blow or two and the old door yielded. I lighted a match as I went inside. Far In one corner, almost cov ered with dust, shavings and debris was the old meter box. I sprang for It, dug away the coverings with my hands, and excitedly reached inside. A roll of something touched my hand. I gave a cry and brought it forward. Money. I reached again and found a nat package of bills. And then, regardless of the man with me who stood open eyed, lighting matches, I sat on the dirty floor and began counting money. And It was not long before the choking sensation in my throat had resolved itself into tears that filled my eyes. Every one of those bills was a silver certificate. There was not a yellowback In the bunch. Out of the $30,000 he had stolen, there was lets than S2OO left And that is all that was ever recovered, for that is all that existed.” “But then,,” I said u Miss Clement finished her story, “It was something to catch the embezzler.” “Yes,” she added a bit sadly, “yes, it was something—but it wasn’t the thirty thousand dollars. I wish that orchestra would start pretty soon. Have you heard that new song from 'The Modern Eve?’”

to tell” Tommy reminded him, still holding behind his back the basket the Hollyhock Woman had given him. "It is this: Here are a dozen of wild grape vines with good roots, in this bundle. This is a list of places where I think they will da well and become ornamental along the street fences. This first gentleman on the list will be pleased when he sees wild grape vines running along his fence, so plant his with care, but do not let him see you do it. Then you will be a real Traveler’s Joy and a missionary of flowers.” This admonition was too much for the boy’s sense of humor. The fatherly manner of the Primrose Man held him mannerly until the speaker came to his period. Then boy conduct would have its way. He grasped the bundle of wild grape vines and went shouting down the street, running and laughing wildly. The Hollyhock Woman pretended that it was by accident that the Primrose Man had stopped to talk to Tommy at her gate, and so she turned and went up the steps toward the house door. Doing good deeds by way of planting flowers was a fancy ot her own, and she did not care to discuss it with anyone. "Are you going to leave me out In the dark and the cold? A November evening, if clear, is still frosty,” said he? shivering as he spoke. “I must talk over our window gardens with you, and I have two or three fine catalogues here." “Fear the Greeks bearing gifts,” she said. "How would meat pie and a cup of coffee do with flower talk?” “It is the way of a woman, but you shall have It,” he replied, coming In. “You know we must have flower cheer for dark days.” LENA MAY M’CAULEY. (Copyright, 1912. by W. G. Chapman.) —— —u ,

Shipyards Kept Busy.

The shipyards of the leading commercial nations of the world are'still very busy, notwithstanding the large additions recently made to the available tonnage of the merchant marine of Europe and America. Last year’s losses were uncommonly heavy, headed, of course, by the Titanic disaster, and there is a record-breaking volume of traffic by sea in all parts of the civ- ’ ilized world. The approaching opening of the Panama canal has an important effect upon the demand for new vessels of large tonnage and high power.

Oldest Ancestor of Horse.

The American Museum of Natural History reports that It has found the skeleton of the oldest ancestor of a horse In a bank of earth In Wyoming. The skeleton shows the original must have been about the else-of a fox tan Her dog and had four toes.