Adventure, December 1914 — page 15: what you’re looking at

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

The Stolen War Secret replied Burke. ‘But I believe the Govern- ment—our Government—has had a good deal of trouble with him about the embargo on arms, since it was reéstablished. He has been shipping them down there when he gets a chance. I can find out all about him for you, though.” “T wish you would,” said Craig, ‘‘but the plans—how did they happen to be in West- port? What connection did Sinclair have with them?” ‘“‘Well, you see, the thing was the inven- tion of Colonel Sinclair,’’ explained Burke. “T saw him, and although I couldn’t get him to talk much about these people—I suppose he was afraid to, for fear of his interests in Mexico—he was ready enough to talk about his invention. He told me he had never patented it, that it was too valuable to patent. He has been working on it for years, and only recently perfected it. As soon as it seemed likely that there might eventually be hostilities, he took a trip to Washington and gave it outright to the Government.” “Mighty patriotic,” I commented. “Yes,” agreed Burke. ‘The Colonel is a big man all right. You see this was one of his hobbies. He has spent thousands of dollars of his own money onit. There were two sets of plans made—one which he took to Washington and one which he kept him- self out on his estate on Long Island. His own plans out there are those that have been stolen, not the plans that he gave to the Government.” “The Government had accepted them, then?” queried Craig. “Yes, indeed. They sent experts up to look at his machine, went over the thing thoroughly. Oh, there is no doubt about it.” “You certainly have made a good start,”’ commented Kennedy. “T haven’t had much time, it’s true,’ said Burke modestly. ‘Sinclair had Wash- ington on long-distance as soon as he dis- covered the theft, and I was taken off a case and hustled up to Westport immediately, without much chance to find out what it was all about.” “What did you find up there?” asked Kennedy. Burke shook his head. “As far as I can make out,’’ he answered, “it must have been a most remarkable theft. The plans were stolen from Sin- 13 clair’s safe, in his own library. And you can imagine that Sinclair is not the sort who would have an old-fashioned, antiquated safe, either. It was small, but one of the latest type.” “What did they do—drill it or use soup?” cut in Craig. “Neither, as far as I could see,” replied Burke. ‘‘That’s perhaps the most remarka- ble feature of the whole thing. How the fellow got into the safe is more than Ican figure out. There wasn’t a mark of violence on it. Yet it had been opened. Not a soul in the world knew the combination except Sinclair, and he says that if he should hap- pen to forget it or to die the safe would have to be drilled open. But they got in, never- theless, and they seemed to know just what. to take and the value that might be at- tached to it.” As Burke proceeded with the details of the amazing case, Kennedy became more and more interested. For the moment, he forgot all about Valcour, or at least con- cluded that we had unexpectedly crossed a trail that would aid in the solution of that case. See cious pocket a small but rather heavy apparatus, and, as we gath- ered about, displayed it under the light of the electric lamp overhead. ‘Sinclair found this thing in his study the next morning,” he explained. ‘‘The thieves, whoever they were, must have left it in their hurry to get away after they found the plans.” I looked at it uncomprehendingly. It was a small box, flattened so that it could be easily carried in a coat-pocket. Craig opened it. Inside was what seemed to be a little specially constructed dry bat- tery, and in another compartment a most peculiar instrument, something like a di- minutive flat telephone transmitter. It was connected by flexible silk-covered wires to ear-pieces that fitted over the head, after the manner of the headgear used by tele- phone operators or operators in wireless. ‘“‘T can make nothing out of it,”’ confessed Burke, as Kennedy turned the thing over and over, shook it, fitted it on his head, ex- amined it again, and then replaced the whole thing in its neat, compact box. “T suppose you have no objection to my keeping this for a day or so?” he asked. BURKE had drawn from his capa- DOOK C@