Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1900-07-07

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y upon any given Mccartney re-
CURED within a week or two. But
after three weeks of nonsuccess, both
by himself and his agents, he began
to question il the lost man was in
New York.
Il cannot tell" said the widow
when he raised this doubt to her,
that he is, but / have always since
he disappeared had a premonition
that he would be discovered here. My
husband, when he was on his death
bed said something about Mccartney
having gone west, but his mind was
probably wandering at the time. 1t
does not stand to reason that a man
would flee across the world to escape
the prayers of a poor woman or fear
her when he has a powerful hacker
interested in protecting him. He
might have stayed right here safely,
and probably, in my opinion, did so.
One great trouble has been that /
have never seer him. / may have
run against him in the streets a score
of times. He must be quite an old man
now"
HAS it never occurred to you as a
possibility that he may be dead?"
John asked her.
mo. 1t has not. God would not
let him die without making some rep
aration for the great wrong he aided
in doing. / am as sure of il as that i
am alive-some day he will turn up
again."
"Well,' replied John, IF he is here,
he is well hidden. When / started in
to find him | went upon the hyopthe-
Gle fhnt hn ~ pt4la. lA - L., Ii
rectory or have relatives-other Nc
Catfreys-who were and through
whom he might be reached. 1t was
soon established hat neither of the
Michael McCaffreys in the directory
was the man we want. Then l went
to work upon the most promising hun
dred of the McCaffreys that could
pick out from the list, old and young,
male and female, of all classes.
The most pronounced result as yet
is a profound conviction that the Nc
Caffrey mind, for occult reasons best
known to itself, has a deeply rootd
antipathy to the police, and | have
also a vehement suspicion that the
police will be justified in looking very
sharply after doings instigated by the
Mccartney mind. All my inquiries af-
ter the vanished Michael, elected only
demands of what / wanted with him.
| did not feel myslf authorized to give
any definite information on that head,
and the Mccartney mind. of. course,
leaped to the conclusion that ! was a
minion of the law seeking TO abridge
the liberty of one of the clan, as n.
consequence of his highly creditable
disregard for some statutory enact
ment. One amiable old lady McCaff-
rey pathetically regretted that she
had nc water handy that was hot
enough TO scald me, and a combative
gentleman Mccartney, strangely gifted
in ornate establishment of his parts
of speech, proposed to do me up just
for luck and would have assaulted
me beyond q doubt if | had not been
armed.
81 have made up my mind that
whatever talent i may have as n
sportsman does not lie in the direc-
ton of McCafferty hunting. But the
game shall be pursued all the same
and more effectively than by me in
person. The man l have engaged for
the chase is an old and skillful detec.
tive, an exceptionally smart one, who
DNllAS SdNl 10 iOb AZ III llhClN W DS
suspected by them, and i shall keep
him at worh among them until / know
all we want to know about all the. Nc
Caffreys."
IT don't like the idea" stam-
mered the widow uneasily, "of involv-
ing you, a stranger, in such an eX-
pense as that. / know it costs a good
deal to hire a good detective"
"Oh, that's all right" answered
John jauntily. 81 want to doit for my
own satisfaction now. And you will
soon get over the idea of looking upon
me as "A stranger / hope. Addie has
already"
Addie peeped slyly at him, with a
smile and a blush, and even
around the old woman's mouth there
was n momentary deepening of the
wrinkles, as il she, too, would have
smiled had not that grace been long
by the muscles in her sad
countenance.
John Latham told the truth when
he said that he wanted to keep up the
Mccartney hunt on his own account.
He was determined he would not be
driven from that field. And, still n
reason the continuance of the
chase afforded him an excuse for fire.
quent calls at the cottage to tell how
his detective was getting on and to
consult with Mrs. Han. incidentally
Addie was always present during
these visits, so that he was now sure
of a pleasant hour, or two in her So
ciety at her home, at least once and
sometimes twice a week. And he saw
with pleasure that her mother was
growing accustomed to the sight of
him, perhaps was sometimes even
pleased to see him. In truth, he was
making better progress than he
thought. Under her hard and cold ex.
terror the widow hid a good warm
heart, and was not slow to appreciate
the sterling manhood of her daugh-
lover. "He will make her n good
husband when justice is done and |
am gone" she said to herself.
e u y
One evening when Latham returned
home Chester Sewall said TO him:
"You look as happy as if you had
won the grand prize in a lottery"
why, so i have, the grandest prize
in the lottery of life, the honest affec-
ton of a noble, true-hearted girl"
"Ah, yes, very delightful, no doubt"
drawled Chester, affecting a cynical
tone, "but il isn't practical"
What is the matter with you,
Nothing, only my girl and Wall
together are teaching me the
of the practical"
HAS Miss Willmarth come around
to her fathers views?"
IL can hardly say definitely as to
that. She continues urging me to go
into politics under the banner of Mr..
of whom, between us, / am get
ting rather tired, and j have agreed
to, as you suggested, look the field
over and see what it offers. But
there's time enough for that. The
burning issue of the hour is that the
last dollar / have in the world is in