Mezzoni the Brigand — page 138: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

130 MEZZONI THE BRIGAND. the fact was elicited from him, by the ingenious in- quiries of the detective, that the story of the pot of gold was really started, years ago, by Alberto him- self, and through his servant given to the street gos- sips. The simple-minded Beppo could not at first have told how the idea originated, but by placing facts in juxtaposition, it became plain enough that the story was ingeniously devised and set afloat as a ‘‘blind.’’ It had served exactly the purpose designed. The Neapolitan gossips required something to oc- cupy their tongues when referring to Alberto, and the pot of gold was just the thing. Besides it ac- counted for the possession of certain means which might otherwise have caused troublesome notice. Matters were kept as quiet as possible, and the discovery of the secret vault and its contents was said nothing about in public. The police were on the watch for the return of the guilty principal, and therefore avoided publicity until he should be ar- rested. But they did not rightly judge their man if - they supposed that he was not at once informed of all that transpired in his absence. In three hours | after Beppo’s arrest, Alberto knew that his own cuilt had been discovered, and he governed himself accordingly. The officers might have spared them- selves their guard over the Corrello palace. The bird had flown. Equally fruitless was the excursion to Monaco by the police, in hopes to meet the culprit there, at the tables of .the Casino, at Monte Carlo. The mention of his proposed visit to that famous gambling hell — was a mere blind to cover two or three days’ absence in some other direction, which he desired to keep secret. It was found that he had not been at Monaco for a period of months, though he did visit the