Adventure Magazine Cover — page 64: what you’re looking at

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

62 were mere family feuds. But he took that piece of jade to Chutter Chand the jeweler and offered it for sale. Told a lame-duck story. Chutter Chand put him off—kept the stone for appraisal—and brought it to me. I provided Tin Lal—naturally—with a year behind the bars—no, not on account of the stone. He had committed plenty of other crimes to choose from. I chose a little one, just to discipline him. ‘“‘But here’s the interesting part: Ejither Tin Lal talked in the jail—or some one followed him from Tilgaun. Anyway some one traced that piece of jade to this office. I have had an anonymous letter about it— worth attention—interesting. You'll no- tice it’s signed with a glyph—I’ve never seen a glyph quite like it—and the hand- writing is an educated woman’s. Read it for yourself.”’ ea) quisitely fashioned silver tube with v=! a cap at either end. The tube was completely covered with Buddhistic de- signs, that were either marvelously imi- tated or else had been done hundreds of years ago in the period of the highest and serenest Buddhist art. Ommony removed one of the caps and shook out a long sheet of very good English writing-paper. It was ivory-colored, heavy, and scented with some kind of incense. There was no date—no address—no signa- ture except a peculiar glyph, rather like an ancient, much simplified Chinese character. The writing was condensed into the middle of the page, leaving very wide margins, and had been done with a fine steel pen: HE PASSED to Ommony an ex- The stone that was brought from Tilgaun by Tin Lal and was offered for sale by him to Chutter Chand is one that no-honorable man would care to keep from its real owners. There is merit in a good deed, and the reward of him who does justly with- out thought of reward is tenfold. There are secrets not safe to be pried into. There is light too bright to look into. There is truth, more truth than can be told. If you will change the color of the sash on the chuprassi at the front door, one shall present him- self to you to whom you may return the stone with absolute assurance that it will reach its real,owners. Honesty and happiness are one. The truth comes not to him who is inquisitive, hut to him who does what is right and leaves the result to Destiny. Ommony examined the writing minutely, sniffed the paper, held it to the light, then picked up the tube and examined that. ‘Who brought it?” he asked. Adventure “T don’t know. It was handed to the chuprasst by a native he says he thinks was disguised.” | “Did you try changing the chuprassi’s sash?” “Naturally. A deaf-and-dumb man came. He looked like a Tibetan. He ap- proached the chuprasst and touched his sash, so the chuprassi brought him up to me. He was unquestionably deaf and dumb— stone-deaf; and half of his tongue was miss- ing. ‘The drums of his ears had been bored through—when he was a baby probably. ‘“‘T showed him the stone, and he tried to takeitfrom me. I had to have him forcibly ejected from the office; and of course I had him followed, but he disappeared utterly after wandering aimlessly all over Delhi until nearly midnight. I have had a look- out kept for him, but he seems to have vanished without trace.” “Have you drawn any conclusions?” McGregor smiled. “T never draw them, Ommony. At my trade things have to snap together per- fectly without a crack before it’s safe to say they’re proved. But one has to form working theories—temporary hypotheses— to be chucked overboard the minute they don’t tally with new facts. A young wo- man almost certainly wrote that letter; Miss Sanburn’s adopted daughter % “Who I don’t believe exists,” Ommony. ‘‘__ is reported by 888, who has hitherto always been reliable, to have disappeared. She disappeared, if she ever did exist, from Tilgaun; the stone unquestionably came from Tilgaun, and it seems to have been in Miss Sanburn’s possession, in the mission. Ergo—just as a flying hypothesis—Miss Sanburn’s adopted daughter may have written that letter. If so, she’s in Delhi, because the ink on that paper had not been dry more than an hour or two when it reached me.” ‘“‘Have you searched the hotels?” “Of course. And I’ve tried to discover whether any one worth investigating came recently by train from Kalka, but that was hopeless. The trains are being watched now, and if she should try to leave for the north she’ll be spotted.” “I’m curious to meet Hannah Sanburn’s adopted daughter!” said Ommony drily. “T’ve known Hannah ever since she came to India more than twenty years ago. I’ve said OO (©