emblance to fear. Once more, with fingers which
shook a little, he went through the papers. Nothing! And yet he had a
distinct recollection of snapping that rubber band around them.

Catching up the lamp he set it beside the safe and went through its
contents. His movements became more hurried, more nervous as his search
progressed. But at the end of it, when he had gone through the contents
of the safe half a dozen times, it was absolutely certain that his
search was in vain. He rose to his feet, but sat down because something
seemed to have happened to the stiffening of his knees.

"My God!" he said aloud, "they're gone!"

It appeared to be a shocking discovery. He had found the safe locked,
but somebody must have had access thereto. He felt for the key which
hung behind the safe, and found it. Nobody, to his knowledge, knew of
that hiding place; but somebody must have known of it. Naturally, he
thought of Gerald French. But if French had gone through his safe, he
would have dropped some hint of it during their interview.

A new thought struck him. Was anything else missing? Engrossed in the
search for those particular papers he had not thought of that. He had no
schedule of the safe's contents, but he had an excellent memory. Once
more he went through the papers on the floor, and at last he
straightened up from his task with a full-sized oath.

"Nick Garland!" he muttered. "That envelope is gone, too!"

Now, some years before, Garland had secured money from Mr. Braden on a
promissory note, apparently endorsed by a well-to-do but somewhat
illiterate rancher. When the note matured Garland was unable to meet it,
and Mr. Braden intimated that he would have recourse to the liability of
the endorser. Whereupon Garland, in a panic, had admitted that he
himself had reproduced the rancher's painful scrawl. Mr. Braden secured
his signature to a statement to that effect, and filed it away with the
note. Eventually Garland paid or worked out the face of the note, but
Mr. Braden kept it and the confession as well; Garland for obvious
reasons being unable to insist upon their delivery. Now the envelope
containing that old note and the signed statement had disappeared. The
inference, to Mr. Braden, required no elaborate reasoning.

CHAPTER XXXVI

TURKEY PLAYS A HAND

Mr. Braden's reasoning which fixed the responsibility on Garland, was
perfectly logical; but his conclusion was entirely wrong. The missing
documents