Sir William Harley

Detective Story for Today

by WM. H. S. Atkinson

In a very ancient building near the Battery, New York City, there is a very modern sort of office. That is to say, the internal arrangements of the second floor in that antiquated block comprise every modern improvement known to the present-day office-builder and furnisher.

Not many years ago, upon the ground glass in a door upon that same second floor, in neat black lettering, appeared the words “Arlington & Kane,” while upon a lower line, in bolder letters, one might have read “American Merchants.”

Arlington & Kane was a very old business firm, whose credit in New York, London, and any South American city was almost boundless. Three generations of Arlingtons and Kanes had passed over to the majority since the business was established, and now the reins were entirely in the hands of Mr. Walter Kane, bachelor.

Now, although Mr. Walter Kane was looked upon as a rich man by his friends and business associates, Mr. Kane knew better, and so did his chief clerk and book-keeper.

In fact things were coming to a crisis when, one morning, Mr. Walter Kane summoned his head man into the private office.

“How long can we hold… Read More