Democratic Northwest and Henry County news. [volume] (Napoleon, O. [Ohio]) 1894-1905, 1896-05-14

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"Tben." said Mr.. Barnes, taking in
the kind of man with whom be had TO
deal, ''I'll engage you on job that /
have for you and pay you double wages
as long as use you.
Now you are talking. said the fel-
low. "Where'll we goi"
81 think I'll take You to my hotel"
And thither they proceeded. Up in his
own room again Mr.. Barnes felt at ease,
while his companion certainly made
himself comfortable, selecting rocking
chair and putting his feet up on the
window sill
"Now then." began Mr.. Barnes, "I
want to ask you few questions. Are
you prepared to answer them?"
"That will depend on what they arc.
If you don't ask impertinent questions
or ones that think l ought to get more
than double wages for answering-why,
I'm with you"
"1n the first place, then, are you will
ing to say whether you ever knew q wo-
man who called herself Rose Mitchell"
"Well, rather. lived with her till
she broke me- ="
"Do you know where she is now?"
81 don't, and don't care to-"
Suppose were TO tell you that she
Is dead, and that she had left 800, 900
which is unclair. .ed?"
The man jumped to his feet as though
shot and stood staring at the detective.
He gave long, low whistle, and keen,
tricky gleam came into his eye, which
Mr.. Barnes noted. At length he spoke:
Are you giving me this straight"
II am telling you the truth. The wo-
man is dead, and that amount of prop
erty is where can get it for the man
who can prove that he is entitled to it. "
And who would that bei" He wait
ed eagerly for the reply, and Mr.. Barnes
saw that he was playing trump cards.
"Why, Mr.. Mitchell, that is what I
am down here for. You see, I thought
the party would be willing to pay me
good commission for proving him the
heir, and that is why am hunting him
up. started out with the idea that
might find her husband. He would have
claim.
II see." Saying which, he sat down
and seemed lost in thought. The detect
i've deemed it we'll to wait for him to
speak again, which he did.
"See here" he exclaimed. "How
much do you want for getting this mon
ey for mef"
II cannot get it at all unless you are
the woman's husband" replied the de-
tective.
"Well, I am her husband. Didn't I
tell you I lived with her till she broke
me?"
eyes. but are you legally married to
her?"
"Why. to he sure Don't I tell you
am her husband?"
"Then, in the name of the law, I ar
rest you," said Mr.. Barnes, suddenly
rising and standing over the man.
ARREST me-" said the fellow, jump
ing up, pale with fright. "What for?"
Rose Mitchell has been murdered,
and the man who killed her has con-
fessed that he was hired to do it by
you"
"He's blasted liar.
II hope SO for your sake. But as you
admit that you are her husband, you
are the man we are looking for. I'll
have to take you to New York" "
But say" said the fellow, now
thoroughly alarmed, there is big
mistake here. I've been lying to you;
I'm not the woman's husband, and my
name is not Mitchell"
"That won't do, my man. had you
pointed out to me by Seton, the detect
i've here" |
"But he is the very man that hired
ME to pass off as Mitchell to you."
Mr.. Barnes chuckled as he found his |
ruse successful. He had suspected all |
along that the New Orleans detective |
was trying to lead him off on wrong
scent and now thought he saw a chance |
to turn the tables upon him and get |
some valuable information
"That is very thin story" said he,
"but if you will tell me all you know,
perhaps I may believe you.
"You bet I'll give you the whole
story straight to get out Of this scrape. |
In the first place, my name is Arthur
Chambers was up in the world once, |
had money and was respectable. But
drink changed all that. Now anybody |
can buy me for few dollars, and that
is what Seton did. He came to me
about a week ago and told me that de- |
tective was down here from up north |
nosing around for this Mitchell. He said |
it was important to an employer Of his |
up in New York to have this detective |
balked; that he was hired to do it, and
to make him lose time; that time, in
some way, was an important item"
"You say" interrupted Mr.. Barnes,
"that Seton told you he was hired by
some one in New York to throw me off |
the scent?'
"That's what he said. replied Cham
bers. Mr.. Barnes easily guessed who was
employing Seton, and once more he
paid the tribute of admiration for the |
caution and ingenious scheming Of Mr..
Mitchell.
"Go on" said the detective.
"There amt much more to tell. Sef-
ton hired me to play off that was
Mitchell, and he gave me cock and bull |
yarn to feed you with about woman
named Rose Mitchell"
"What was that story?'
"Say, look here" said Chambers. his
confidence and cunning returning as he
felt himself out of danger Of arrest You
don't want that fairy tale You would
rather have the true story, wouldn't |
you?"
Certainly"
"Well, I'm an old timer, lam. There
amt much that's happened in the Cres-
cent that I couldn't remember if was
paid for it. F."