The Argosy — page 187: what you’re looking at

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

170 The Mystery of Allan Grale. ‘Ves, sir; that is so.” ‘“ How long had you been taking charge of the box ?” ‘¢ Allan brought it to me on the very day my uncle was taken ill. He also brought me, at the same time, a loan of fifty pounds, which I had asked him for.” Edgar spoke slowly and with emphasis, and this time he looked Mr. Grale straight in the face. ‘Dr. Palmer tells me you never asked for any further loan. Is that SOE: “Certainly I did not,” replied Edgar. ‘I should never have thought of asking for that loan, had I dreamed you were to be troubled for it, Mr. Grale. I thought it lay between Allan and me—as friends.” ‘“‘T have a letter asking for a second loan, addressed to myself, and purporting to come from you,” said Mr. Grale. ‘‘T never wrote it,” answered Edgar. Mr. Grale shook his head. ‘‘ We have your note to Allan, written in my hall, and your label on the Corrabuin box with which to com- pare it.” “JT cannot help that—I did not write it,” returned Edgar, his tone sounding reckless, as that of one turned at bay. Mr. Grale threw himself back in hischair. He believed it to bean untruth. ‘‘ Have you had any further communication from my son ?” ‘No, sir, I have not. None whatever.” ‘Well, now, Edgar Vivian, what is there in this that you have now said, which prevented your saying it at the time ?” spoke Dr. Palmer, quite sternly. ‘‘ Could Mrs. Grale have been told that you had heard from her son from Glasgow subsequent to his mysterious departure from home, it would have seemed to her as a solace from Heaven.” “The reason was that—that ———” he was hesitating again. ‘‘ The reason I could not speak,” he went on rapidly, ‘was that Allan charged me in the note, most earnestly and solemnly, not to disclose to any human being that I had heard from him.” “Did you receive any such note from him?” asked Mr. Grale, gazing in the young man’s face; “any note at all?” ‘‘T did, sir,” was the angry answer. ‘Have you any objection to show it to me ?” ‘IT suppose there can be no objection, as you appear to know so much,” said Edgar, haughtily. He rang the bell; and, when Stephen appeared, directed him to go to his room and bring down his inlaid writing-desk. ‘‘ Not my large writing-desk, Stephen, the little one,” he added, to the man. Stephen brought back the desk, and set it on the table. Edgar took his keys from his pocket and unlocked it. He lifted a few papers from the top, and laid them aside. ‘Then he took out some letters and looked through them. He looked through every letter and paper in the desk, without appearing to find the right one. ‘Then he looked through them all again, more minutely. His CONIC MOOOKS (C(O)