Chapter I: Front Matter

THE THREE STRINGS

THE
THREE STRINGS

BY
NATALIE SUMNER LINCOLN
AUTHOR OF “THE MOVING FINGER,” “I SPY,” “THE NAMELESS MAN,” “C. O. D.,”
“THE TREVOR CASE,” “THE OFFICIAL CHAPERON,” ETC.

ILLUSTRATED BY
CHARLES L. WRENN

D. APPLETON AND COMPANY
NEW YORK LONDON
1918

COPYRIGHT, 1918, BY
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY

Printed in the United States of America

TO
MRS. THEODORE VERNON BOYNTON
OF WASHINGTON, D. C.

WHOSE LOYAL AFFECTION HAS BEEN MINE SINCE CHILDHOOD,
I SEND THIS PROBLEM, IN FULL ASSURANCE
THAT SHE WILL PULL THE RIGHT “STRING.”

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

To Alain Campbell White, Esq., of Litchfield, Conn., the Author is indebted for kindly assistance in working out a chess problem which his expert knowledge of chess made feasible.

The Author desires also to express her appreciation of the assistance of Dr. Alexander J. Anderson of Waterbury, Conn., whose help in solving a “knotty” problem was but one of many acts of kindness.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

I. THE FIRST MOVE 1

II. COMPLICATIONS 9

III. UNIDENTIFIED 22

IV. A QUESTION OF TIME 39

V. THE “ACE” 53

VI. DEVELOPMENTS 70

VII. THE FIFTH MAN 85

VIII. FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS 100

IX. THE TELEGRAM 113

X. “SEDITIOUS UTTERANCES” 126

XI. CONFLICTING CLUES 143

XII. THE CALL 162

XIII. THE BLOTTED PAGE 177

XIV. BURNHAM PREFERS CHARGES 188

XV. “THE BEST LAID PLANS” 204

XVI. IN THE LIMELIGHT 220

XVII. CAMOUFLAGE 236

XVIII. “THE HANDWRITING ON THE WALL” 250

XIX. BRIBERY 264

XX. IDENTIFICATION 276

XXI. UNMASKED 284

XXII. THE MISSING DIAGRAMS 297

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

FACING
PAGE

“Hurry, hurry,” she gasped, as a white-robed figure
stepped inside her room _Frontispiece_

Step by step she advanced nearer the dead man 12

He took out Marian’s package of papers and placed
them in Evelyn’s lap 80

“René,” she blushed hotly, “René loves me” 252

THE THREE STRINGS