Mexico weekly ledger., 1890-05-01

Fountain. and did iol fail To notice that
Fountain looked curiously ut the buttons
Tom wore in his cuffs
They were the ones Holbrook had given
him.
To draw his attention to then, was
Toms purpose.
When the tale was ended and the talk
tagged for q moment. Fountain leaned
forward and said:
II beg your pardon, Mr.. Bryan, | am
not often guilty of the enormity Of direct
ing attention I the YEA Of gentlemen,
but the buttons you have are 90 curious
that | should like to make an inquiry"
pardon 10 granted, for ! am rather
fond OF these buttons. They are rare,
and as q poor devil Of . newspaper man
Doesn't often mount valuable iewelry, /
am distinguished among my fellows for
them
81 neve saw but n pair like them,"
continued Fountain. land they were in
the nature of an heirloom. Those but
tons were of Florentine manufacture
my friend having had a diamond insert
ed in them. They had belonged to his
| grandfather, who received them as a
present from an Italian. so he told me-"
"Yess" said Tom, dumfounded by the
GOODNESS displayed by Fountain. These
buttons were given me by a gentleman
: friondfor whom once it lay in my power
to do a very great favor"
''It was possibly the same person." said
Fountain.
Possibly" replied Tom.
Tom had expected to discomfort Foun-
tain by displaying them, and was taken
aback by the fact that Fountain had di-
rected attention to them.
He thought that either Fountain wasa
man Of the coolest nerve, or that the but
tons did not belong to him. He was
ioath to give il up 30, and consequently
he d~exterously turned the conversation
to New York matters, and then watch
ing Fountain 20 that he could observe
every shade Of expression, he suddenly
said:
al have been given a hint from head
quarters that they are on the track Of
Templeton's murderer"
Fountains face never fiinched, and an
expression Of mild curiosity only arose
upon it.
Indeed, l hope they may catch the
rascal; 1t was q dastardly deed"
As extraordinary as was the command
Tom exercised over his features at all
times, it Is to be feared that astonish-
ment, if not disappointment, was visible
for a moment However, Fountain had
turned to the others as he pronounced
these words, and did not notice the feet
ing expression on Toms face.
"How long do you stay, Fountain
inquired some at the table.
II return tomorrow night" was the
reply.
"And | tomorrow morning" inter-
posed Tom airily. "And as / have to get
of at an unconscionably early hour, ]
Of vice, flee the temptation of your Sc
ductive society, and say good night"
Once on the sidewalk, he struck his
cane on the stones and said aloud:
"Well, he beats the deck for GOODNESS
and self possession. Iexpected to carry
him by a coupde grace, but not a tremor,
by Jove! He Ia q man OF nerve. How
ever, my trip, as much by good luck as
by tact, has not been unfruitful. One
or two more turns of the coil and I've
got him." After q moments silence:
Hang it, I'm growing frightfully stu
pid. Why in the name of common sense
didn't I ask him who it was who owned
the buttons? If there was a convenient
stone wall here I'd butt my head against
it to see if 1t has turned soft. However,
that photograph ought to be ready by
the time I get back to New York, and
then for the Identification. By st.
George, the work goes bravely on! So
I'll to bed"