The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-03-25
PUBLISHED B Y SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
The CMnerHOuSe
BY WILLIAM LIE QUEUx,
of Temptation" etc A"
Copyright i9o. by William LIE oueux1

law of gravitation. When a man is single
be finds it advantageous TO move from
one lodging to another, for by SO doing
he escapes that righteousness bred of IA
miIiarity which is one of the most striking
characteristics OF the Cockney landlady. 1
speak from experience. for ! myself had
given up possession OF countless Iatch-keys.
and had run the whole gamut of lodging
house delights. when I at last found myself
the occupant Of A very comfortable draw
ing-room floor at the lower end of Cover
street.
Contented II certainly was. In the ten years
during which 1 had digged it in London
lodgings / had never been so satisfied. nor
had any of my previous IandIadies shown
me such marked attention. 1 had two fell
low-lodgers whom / seldom saw during the
first few weeks, for they were journalists
engaged upon one & the daily newspapers
down in Fleet street, and therefore absent
ali night. while my own duties as clerk at
the Holborn branch of the London and
Northwestern B~ank-close to Cover street
compelled me TO leave the house at nine
a. m, and not return until six. 1t was a
kind Of a Box and Cox ARRANGEMENT. for
while hey occupied the sitting room dur
ing the day, l had 1t all to myself during
the evening.
Their names were Drane and Cayley. the
former about thirty or so, a smart. rather
dandifed young man, while the latter was
nearly fifty, with a blotchy, unhealtny-
looking face, a pair of cold. steely eyes. his
ragged moustache and closely-cropped hair
prematurely gray. He had the air of a
hard livers his breath generally bore trace
of overnight indiscretions. and his general
appearance had but little to recommend
him.
Yet they were merry fellows, both of
them, and 1 often regretted that l saw so
little of them. Full of high spirits and
droll stories, they seemed TO lead a merry,
careless life among their brethren of the
Press Club, and often talked much journal
iStic argot about "fimsies'' and SCOOPS"
terms utterly untelIigible TO me. Drane's
speciality was the working up of mysterious
crimes, and hence he was on friendly terms
with quite a host Of detectives and police
officials of various grades. while Cayley
was engaged in reporting the speeches i'm
the gallery of the House of Commons.
Sometimes on Sundays one or other of
their friends would look in. when much
Hhh@AN $500 - anu NAlC III VI
our sitting room became so thick that one
could see across it only with difficulty. Two
OF these friends. men named Lawrence and
Vickers. lived a short distance away at the
large corner house. one side of which faced
into Holborn and was painted pale green
a house easily recognizable by any curious
reader. They were particularly good com
pany. and we spent some exceedingly pleas
ant evenings together.
I had lived at Mrs. Mackenzie's for about
six months. and had become extremely in
innate with my two acknowledges. when
one day a very curious fact presented it
self. 1 rose at half-past 4 one morning in
order to go TO Kings Cross and meet a
friend who was arriving from Scotland,
but as I approached the front door to let
myself out the door was opened with a
latch key. My acknowledges generally re-
turned from Fleet street about 4. ] knew,
but as 1 stood back in the deep shadow the
appearance of the pair struck me speech
less in amazement. They were Drane and
Cayley. but both wore the uniform of po-
lioemen. Was IL possible that these two
men were not journalists at all. but only
policemen? 1 laughed. congratulating my
self that / had discovered their true posi-
tiOn. for little did they suspect that / stood
back In the WIDE. old-fashioned hall watch
ing them ascending the stairs in the gray
half light.
Excellent" 1 heard Cayley say in a low
whisper. I'VE must see old Isaacs in the
morning"
Better not" responded the other. The
tip is to lie very low for a week. or ever a
month, If necessary"
Bah. you're funky," Cayley laughed.
why. my dear fellow. what is there to
fear?'
1T would be a bit ugly if the truth came
out" Drane said apprehensively.
"But it never will, depend upon it-that
Is. if you keep your mouth shut tight"
Then they assembled the second flight of
stairs leading to their rooms, and 1 could
distinguish nothing more.
1 met them both several times during the
days which followed. but always hesitated
to drop any hint that / had discovered the
secret that they were actually police con-
stables. 1t amused me to think how clev-
erly the pair had disguised their real pro-
fession. and I wondered whether Mrs.
Mackenzie really knew the calling of her
merry dodgers.
The words / had overheard. however.
puzzled me considerably. The apprehen-
sive attitude of Drane was mysterious, to
say the least. and it certainly seemed as
though he feared some fact becoming
known. I entered the bedrooms of both
men during their absence, but saw nothing
OF any portion of their uniforms save a pair
OF white cotton gloves which were lying
upon Cayley's dressing table. That there
was some curious mystery underlying all
this / felt absolutely certain. and my be-
lief was strengthened by the fact that their
nocturnal visits TO their offices in Fleet
street suddenly ceased. and they appeared
TO remain at home always.
One night. when they had both gone TO
bed leaving me writing some letters, 1
Glanced to glance down at the plotting pad
and saw scrubbed upon it two lines of nu-
merals. BY the arrangement of the figures
and letters no second glance was required
20 reveal to my accustomed eyes that they
we're the numbers of two bank notes.
There was nothing extraordinary in the
act that any one should make a note of
the numbers; nevertheless. curiosity
prOmpted me To coDy them uDOn nv shirt