Chapter I: Introduction

Ashton-Kirk, who has solved so many mysteries, is himself something of a problem even to those who know him best. Although young, wealthy, and of high social position, he is nevertheless an indefatigable worker in his chosen field. He smiles when men call him a detective. "No; only an investigator," he says.

He has never courted notoriety; indeed, his life has been more or less secluded. However, let a man do remarkable work in any line and, as Emerson has observed, "the world will make a beaten path to his door."

Those who have found their way to Ashton-Kirk's door have been of many races and interests. Men of science have often been surprised to find him in touch with the latest discoveries, scholars searching among strange tongues and dialects, and others deep in tattered scrolls, ancient tablets and forgotten books have been his frequent visitors. But among them come many who seek his help in solving problems in crime.

"I'm more curious than some other fellows, that's all," is the way he accounts for himself. "If a puzzle is put in front of me I can't rest till I know the answer." At any rate his natural bent has always been to make plain the mysterious; each well hidden step in the perpetration of a crime has always been for him an exciting lure; and to follow a thread, snarled by circumstances or by another intelligence has been, he admits, his chief delight.

There are many strange things to be written of this remarkable man--but this, the case of the numismatist Hume, has been selected as the first because it is one of the simplest, and yet clearly illustrates Ashton-Kirk's peculiar talents. It will also throw some light on the question, often asked, as to how his cases come to him.

A second volume that shows the investigator deep in another mystery, even more intricate and puzzling than this, is entitled "Ashton-Kirk and the Scarlet Scapular."

CONTENTS

CHAPTER
I. PENDLETON CALLS UPON ASHTON-KIRK
II. MISS EDYTH VALE STATES HER CASE
III. THE PORTRAITS OF GENERAL WAYNE
IV. STILLMAN'S THEORY
V. STILLMAN ASKS QUESTIONS
VI. ASHTON-KIRK LOOKS ABOUT
VII. THE SCHWARTZ-MICHAEL BAYONET
VIII. THE NEWSPAPERS BEGIN TO PLAY THEIR PART
IX. MISS VALE TELLS WHAT SHE KNOWS
X. ASHTON-KIRK ASKS QUESTIONS
XI. PENDLETON IS VASTLY ENLIGHTENED
XII. ANTONIO SPATOLA APPEARS
XIII. A NEW LIGHT ON ALLAN MORRIS
XIV. MISS VALE UNEXPECTEDLY APPEARS
XV. MISS VALE DEPARTS SUDDENLY
XVI. STEEL AGAINST STEEL
XVII. WHAT HAPPENED ON THE ROAD
XVIII. ASHTON-KIRK TELLS WHY
XIX. THE TWO REPORTS
XX. ONE OF THE OLD SORT
XXI. ASHTON-KIRK BEGINS TO PLAN
XXII. ASHTON-KIRK IS ANNOYED
XXIII. THE SECRET OF THE PORTRAIT
XXIV. THE SECOND NIGHT
XXV. APPROACHING THE FINISH
XXVI. THE FINISH

ILLUSTRATIONS

"JUST AS I THOUGHT" ... FRONTISPIECE
"YOU DO NOT MEAN TO GO THERE"
HE RAPPED SMARTLY ON THE WINDOW
WHAT SHE SAW MUST HAVE STARTLED HER

Ashton-Kirk, Investigator