to me, to open the letter at once.'"
"Aha! you recall that now?"
"I do."
"And you are not mistaken?"
"I am not."
"Then he did admit the possibility that there might arise a claimant ere the expiration of the twenty years?"
"He did practically, when he answered my question as I have stated."
CHAPTER III
Again Jack became thoughtful. He appreciated that his questions were developing strange and directing admissions. After some little time he resumed his questions. Our readers will remember that our hero had adopted a line of interrogations in line with a theory that had been suggested in his mind. He asked:
"Did you observe in the securities that they had been wet?"
"No."
"Now mark well this next question, sir: Did you notice any white soil?"
"Great Moses!" ejaculated Mr. Townsend, "young man, who are you – what are you?"
"I am a detective; you have my card; but please answer my question."
"Yes, sir, when I opened the package of securities I observed that some white sand fell on my lap. I remember brushing it off – yes, it's marvelous that you should know this. Are you the heir, or did you meet the man, or do you know him, or did some one tell you, or am I dreaming?"
"None of your propositions, sir, are correct; I am merely shadowing down to facts, going logically to work to find a clue."
"But you must have some basis for these questions?"
"Only such as come to me."
"No facts?"
"None whatever; I never heard of the affair until you related the circumstances to me within the hour, but I am reasoning on certain lines. I may project several theories and consider them all. We have made a little advance; we have learned that the strange man who deposited the fortune with you came from New Jersey; we have reason to believe that his farm was somewhere near the seashore."
"Yes, yes, I see, this is wonderful. Why, the detective business is easy enough if you only know how to go about it."
Jack laughed and said:
"Yes, it is easy, but there is another mystery to solve. How did you cash those drafts on the London solicitors? Did you not receive some intimation from them?"
"They were drafts drawn by themselves on bankers; in fact, they were indorsed by them to no particular individual. I sent them through the regular channel for collection; they were paid and I never received any word from them."
"Didn't your first detective mention them?"
"He did, but I could not remember the names of the drawers of the drafts. Remember, twenty-five years had elapsed."
"Did you make no record of the names?"
"If I did the record was lost."
"And there you lost a clue."
"That is true, I can see now."
"But the securities – did they not contain a name?"
"Certainly, but I have forgotten those names also. Strangely enough, they were indorsed or assigned blank by the London solicitors, and all I had to do was fill in our name and get new certificates; I did so."
"And you claim a great memory?"
"Yes."
"And you do not remember any of the names on those papers?"
"No, you see, I was excited; I may have observed the names at the time, but they passed from my memory. I disposed of them immediately and the matter rested for twenty-five years. It was evident that they had been indorsed in blank on purpose for some one to fill in the name and dispose of them at will. I admit it was a strange oversight for me not to have made a record of the names – indeed, it is possible I did, and that I filed them away with the letter, and if I did so they were destroyed with the letter."
"It does appear," said Jack, "that the fates all combined to hide the identity of the real heirs to that property."
"Yes, but now I recall through your aid that the strange man who deposited this fortune with me did several times speak of possible claimants, and I remember that in the letter he gave me he bade me use my own judgment should any such claimants present themselves."
"And that letter of instructions?"
"It was destroyed along with the other memoranda."
"Now give me a general description of the appearance of the man who deposited the fortune with you."
Mr. Townsend did so, and his description was minute, and as afterward appeared very accurate, and Jack made a mental note of the description, and after some further talk, distinguished by the same singular brightness which had enabled him to ascertain as much as he did in order to establish some slight indices whereon to base a "shadow," he bade Mr. Townsend adieu, promising to call upon him as soon as he had anything definite to report.
Once alone as he walked through the streets going to his lodgings, Jack meditated deeply over the strange narrative he had listened to, and he muttered:
"It is all straight enough save the fact that the old man who has such a good memory in one direction should forget so important a fact as those names, which it appears must have been written on the securities and the drafts; and yet," added Jack, "he appears perfectly frank and honest."
Our hero saw his brother Gil, and the two discussed for a long time the strange incidents, and Jack said:
"It is possible that Mr. Townsend is crazy. He is over seventy years of age and may be laboring under a hallucination. His story does appear incredible; there are elements of romance stranger than any I ever read about. Had the money been deposited with him for a few months, or even years, it would have been different, but a deposit to cover twenty years seems to me almost incredible; and then again, he appeared to be all right."
"You know," said Gil, "some people laboring under a hallucination will tell a straighter narrative than those who are relating facts."
"Yes, I've thought of that, but there is one thing I particularly observed: the old man answered my questions. I revivified his memory, and every time he answered me clearly and naturally, and it is this fact which makes me believe that there may be some truth in his extraordinary narrative. At any rate, I shall investigate the story."
"Have you formed a plan?"
"I have."
Jack revealed his plan to his brother and laid out a course of work for the latter, for which he was particularly fitted. He said:
"I shall proceed in this matter for awhile as though I had not a single doubt as to the authenticity of the old man's tale. I have a theory, and if I am correct I believe I will be able to delve
