Omaha daily bee., 1899-05-14

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the back OF his head at times and he had
been able to make out these words when the
man in New Bedford was writing them.
Happening; Afghanstau," with the fig
ures 1000 after the latter.
Not much sense in them singly or in con-
junction, but the captain muttered them over
TO himself, consulted a little book which he
took from his breast pocket, and found or
seemed to- clew to their meaning. 1t
could only have been partial one, however,
/ for in another instant he turned on Sweet
water with a sour look and a laundering
| OATH
rs this all?" he shouted. Docs he call
this complete message"
There is another word" returned Sweet
water, which he bade me give you by word
OF mouth; but that word don't go for moth
ing It's worth just s25. I've earned it, sir.
l came up from New Bedford on purpose to
deliver it to you"
sweetwater expected a blow, but he only
got a stare.
twenty-five dollars" muttered the cap
tain. We'll, it's fortunate have It, And
who are your" he asked. mot one of Camp
bells pickups, surely?"
II am a confidential messenger" smiled
| sweetwater, amused against his will at
finding a name for himself. al carry mes
sages and execute commissions that require
more or less dscernment in the handling
l am paid well. Twenty-Five dollars is the
price of this job"
80 you have had the honor Of informing
me BEFORE" clustered the other with an at
tempt to hide some serious emotion. why
man. what do you fear? Don't you see I'm
hurt? You could knock me over with a
| feather IL you touched my game arm"
twenty-five dollars" repeated Sweet
water.
The captain grew angrer. Dash it,
aren't you going to have them? What's the
word?'
But Sweetwater wasn't going to be caught
by chaff.
&c. o. d." he insisted firmly, standing
his ground, though certain that the blow
would now fall. But no. the captain
laughed, and tugging away with his one free
hand at his pocket he brought out a pocket
book, from which he managed deftly enough
to draw out three bills There" said he
laying them on the table, but keeping one
long vigorous finger on them. Now the
word"
Sweetwater laid his own hand on the bills.
Frederick" said he.
"Ah" said the other, thoughtfully, lifting
his finger and proceeding to stride up and
down the room. He's a stiff one. What
he says he will do Two thousand dollars!
and soon, too l warrant. WE'LL I'm in
devil of a fix at last" He had again for
gotten the presence of Sweetwater.
Suddenly he turned, or rather stopped.
His eye was on the messenger, but he did
not even see him. lone Frederick must
offset the other,' he cried Its the only
loophole out" and he threw himself into
chair from which he Immediately sprang up
again with yell. He had hurt his wounded
arm.
Pandemonium regned then for a minute,
then his eye fell again on Sweetwater, who,
under the fascination of the spectacle offered
him, had only just succeeded in finding the
knob of the door. This time there was
recognition in his look.
"Wait!" he cried. "I may have use for
you, too. Confidential messengers are hard
to come by, and one that Campbell would
employ. Sit down there! I'll talk to you
when I'm ready"
Sweetwater was not slow in obeying this
command. Business was booming with him.
Besides, the name of Frederick acted like
a charm upon him. There seemed to be SO
many Fredericks, and one of them lay in
such curious way near his heart
Meanwhile the captain reseated himself,
but more carefully. He had a plan or
method of procedure to think out, SO it
seemed for he sat a long time in rigid i'm
mobility with only the scowl of perplexity
or ill-temper on his brow to show the ma
ture of his thoughts. Then he drew sheet
of paper toward him and began to write
letter. He was so absorbed over this let
ter and the manipulation CT it, having but
one hand to work with, that Sweetwater de-
termined upon hazardous stroke The
little book which the captain had consulted,
and which had undoubtedly furnished him
with a key to those two incongruous words,
lay on the floor not far from him, having
been flung from its owners hand during the
moments of passion and suffering / have
above mentioned To reach this book with
his foot, to draw it toward him, and,
finally, to get hold of it with his hand, was
not difficult for one who aspired to be de-
tective, and had already done some good
work in that direction. But 1t was harder
to turn the leaves and find the words he
sought without attracting the attention of
his fierce companion. He. however sue
ceeded in doing this at last the long list of
words he found on every page being ar
ranged alphabetically. 1t was private code
for telegraphic or cable messages, and he
soon found that "happenings' meant: "Our
little game discovered; play straight till /
give you the wink" And that "Afghanis-
tan" stood for: Hush money" AS the lat
toned, the purport of the message needed
no explanation, but the word Frederick"
did So he searched for that only to find
that it was not in the book This name was
perfectly well known between them. and
was that of the person, no doubt, who laid
claim to the $4,000
Satisfied at holding this clew to the riddle,
he dropped the book again at his side and
skillfully kicked it far out into the room.
Captain Wattles had seen nothing. He was
man who took in only one thing at time.
Laboriously the penning Of that letter went
on. 1t took so long that Sweetwater dozed,
or pretended to, and when 1t was at last
done the clock over the mantepiece had
struck 2.
"Halo there, now!" suddenly shouted the
captain, turning on the messenger. Are
you ready for another journey?"
THAT depends" smiled Sweetwater, rising
sleepily and advancing. Haven't got over
the last one yet, and would rather sleep than
start out again"
80, you want pay? Well, youll get that
fast enough If you succeed in your mission.
This letter"-he shook 1t with an impatient
should be worth $4,000 to me. If you
bring me back an answer promising that
mr. or re wit,