Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1896-11-19

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3 tN at the young maj
VI EXAM Who h ad JUS
u MvN thrown huge fu1
hH overcoat on the
3 back of one chair
Cg while he sat down
himself on an.
other. Il got your telegram" began the
editor. Am l to understand from il
that you have failed?"
Yes, SIR" replied the young man
without the slightest hesitation.
"Completely?"
utterly"
Didn't you even get a synopsis OF
the documents?"
"Not a hanged synop."
The EDITORS frown grew deeper. The
ends of his fingers drummed nervously
on the desk.
"You take failure rather jauntily, it
strikes me-" he said, at last.
whats the use of taking itany other
way? have the consciousness of kaow-
ing that did my best"
'Um, yes. It's great consolation, no
doubt, but it doesn't count in the news
| paper business. What did you do?"
81 received your telegram at Montreal
and at once left for Burnt Pine-most
outlandish spot on earth. found that
Kenyon and Wentworth were staying
at the only hotel in the place. Tried to
worm out of them what their reports
were to be. They were very polite, but
l didn't succeed. Then tried to bribe
them, and they ordered me out of the
room"
Perhaps you didn't offer them
enough"
81 offered them double what the Lon
don syndicate was to pay them for max
ing the report, taking their own word
for the amount. 1 couldn't offer more,
because at that point they closed the
discussion by ordering me out of the
room. l tried to get the reports that
night, on the quiet, out of Wentworth's
valise, but was unfortunately inter
Tupted. The young men were sus-
picious, and next morning they left for
Ottawa to post the reports, as gath
cred afterward, to England. 1 sue
ceeded in getting hold of the reports,
but L couldn't hang on. There are too
many police in Ottawa to suit me-"
DO you mean to tell me-" said the
editor, that you actually had the re-
ports in your hands and that they were
taken from you?"
Certainly l had; and, as to their be- !
ing taken from me, it was either that or |
Jail. They don't mince matters in Can
you know"
But l should think man of your |
shrewdness would have been able to get |
at least q synopsis of the reports be- |
fore letting them out of your posses
sion.''
my dear sir" said the reporter, |
rather angry, "the whole thing covered |
l forget how many pages of foolscap |
paper, and was the most mixed-up mat |
ter ever saw in my life. / tried |
sat in my room at the hotel, and did my |
best to master the details. 1t was full |
of technicalities, and l couldn't make |
it out. It required a mining expert to |
get the hang of their phrases and fig |
ures, so l thought the best thing to do |
was to telegraph it all straight |
through to New York. 1 knew itwould |
cost lot of money, but L knew, also, |
you didn't mind that; and I thought |
perhaps somebody here could make |
sense of what baff1ed me; besides, L |
wanted to get the documents out of my |
possession just as quickly as possible"
Hem" said the editor. "You took no |
notes whatever?"
mo, / did not. I had no time. I |
knew the moment they missed the docu |
ments they would have the detectives |
on my track. AS it was, 1 was arrested |
when entered the telegraph Office"
"Well, it seems to me-" said the man.
aging editor, 'if 1 had once had the |
papers in my hand 1 should not have let |
them go until had got the gist of what |
was in them"
'Oh, it's all very well for you to say |
so," replied the reporter, with the free |
and easy manner which exists between |
American newspaper men and their en- |
ployers, "but | can tell you, with |
Canadian Jail facing a man, it is hard |
to decide what is best to do. couldn't |
get out of the town for three hours, |
and before the end of that time they |
would have had my description in the |
hands of every policeman in the place. |
They knew well enough who it was |
that took the papers, SO my only hope |
lay in getting the thing telegraphed |
through, and if that had been accom- |
plished everything would have been all |
right. | would have gone to Jail with |
pleasure if L had got the particulars |
through to New York"
"Well, what are we to do now?" asked |
the editor.
I'm sure don't know. The two men |
will be in New York very shortly. They |
sail, l understand, on the Coloric, which |
leaves in a week. If you think you have |
q reporter who can get the particulars |
out of these men, l should be very |
pleased to see you set him on. tell you |
it isn't SO easy to discover what an Eng |
lishman doesn't want you TO know"
"Well," said the editor, perhaps |
that's true. 1 will think about it. Of |
course, you did your best, and appre-
ciate your efforts; but am sorry you
failed"
"You are not half so sorry as am,"
said Rivers, as he picked up his big Can |
The editor did think about it. He
thought for full two minutes. Then he |
dashed off a note on a sheet of paper, |
pulled down the little knob that rang |
the district messenger alarm, and when
the uniformed boy appeared gave him
the note, saying:
Deliver this as quickly as you can."
The boy disappeared, and the result |
of his trip was soon apparent in the ar
rival of very natty young woman in |
the editorial rooms. She was dressed |
in q atly-ftting tailor-made costume, |
and was very pretty girl, who loo ked |
about 10, but was, in reality, considera-
bly, older. She had large, appealing |
blue eyes, with tender, trustful ex-
preston in them, which made the ordi- |
nary man say: What a sweet, inno-
cent look that girl has," yet what the
young woman didn't know about New