Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1900-02-22
CHAPTER xIx-Continued1

learn his true parCntage, TO nave access
TO his papers, and to have seen my ad
vertisenent. A clever scoundrel would
quickly see his chance. The sEbse'
Quent correspondence, backed up by
the stolen documents and the photo
! graph, would follow, as a matter OF
course. No one over here knew Luxe
Arnew God; the game seemed n safe
n TO play, provided the real man did
not subsequently turf up. Had the
adveTtUler taken this risk, or was Luke
ArIeWOod dead?
1t flashed across my mind that the
man who had returned by the WairOa
had caused himself to be tattooed on
board by a quartermaster. He had
chosen the initials l.. A. for his arm,
and the pUnning II. y. (woOO upon his
breast, clearly an imitation OF the man
he was personating. And now these
very same letters. with precisely the
same DESIGNS, were found upon the arm
and breast of the imbecile digger,
whom Dicky had pulled out Of the
shaft! Taken in conjunction with the
fact that Nat Rainsforth had, that very
day, been tracked to within a mile or
so OF this very shaft, the conclusion
seemed as inevitable as it was start
ling. Rainsforth must have watched
his opportunity 10 push Dicky's protege
down the shaft, and had left Queens
land in the full belief that his victim
was lying dead at the bottom. And,
moreover, the evidence seemed to indl-
cate. very strongly that this reSuscitat-
ed victim was the real heir TO Arne-
wood Hall. Well, II all this were In
deed so, the vengeance of Heaven had
already Overtaken the would-be muir
derer. Was it still my duty to hunt
down his slayer, or did my task end
here?
/ thought OF my promise to Madge,
that answered the question. Her broth
Their was still wanted for the Greek
street murder, and, even though In
sane. a criminal lunatic asylum would
still be his doom, upon the finding Of
the ccroner's jury. So far as O'Brien
and Grudgery were concerned land
Hawkins & Co., too, for the matter OF
that, the case might, perhaps, be re-
garded as concluded. But for me, 1t
would end only with the fulfil!ment OF
my mission.
Z needed help. Why not take the
kindly little Strong Man entirely into
my confidence? He was sitting oppo-
site to me, also deep In thought.
"Mr. Dicky," I said, abruptly, Eight
up your pipe, mix yourself some grog,
and listen to me. l need your advice,
and ii may be | shall need the help of
those strong arms Of yours a few hours
hence"
Both are at your service, sir" he an
swered. "And, by the way mot that 1t
matters), my real name is Dirk VAN
ston."
Without further preface, l told him
all the main facts of the case, as l
knew them, supplemented by such
plain deductions as seemed to arise
from his own narrative. He listened
intently, but put in a word until
I had finished.
"And yet I have heard men say there
Is no God" vas his comment. "Why,
blame me. If His hand amt plain t o be
seen throughout the whole piece! " "
you'll pardon me, sir. but | can't hard,
ly realize yet the wonder OF 1t all. Ned
n gentleman of family and fortune!
Nat Rainsforth twho, no doubt, tried
to kill him) murdered here I'm London,
and poor, silly Tom suspected of the
crime! It Just fair daZes me to take il
all in, just at first"
II quite agree with you there, Dirk ~
assented. Eve must accept the facts
as they are, though, and see II we can
not bring everything to a satisfactory
termination. So far as | can fudge,
the meeting at the house in Rodney av-
enue between the stranger and BlogQ
Is almost certain to result in onversa-
ton OF n compromising character: not
imposSibly, the whole scheme of the
murder may leak out, especially If they
should quarrel. We must contrive to
be present, or, at all events, within ear
shot at the interview, and we must be
prepared, II need be. to seize the two
confederates. One Of them is n power
full man, and both may be armed"
VERY good" sale Dirk, quietly; then
we had better go armed. also. But
think If | once get my grip on this
Blogg / shall need nothing more than a
piece Of cord to tie him Up with. Can
you manage the otherT''
Yes" answered. "you may safely
leave the stranger TO me-"
May | ms just n question: he IN
CURED, n little awkwardly. Would II
not he simpler, and even safer. to leave
the arrest Of these two villains to the
police?"
Yes" I answered, at would. and In
spectcr Trail would only be too pleased
to have the job thrown into his hands.
But my personal pride and-weTl a
great many reascns-impel me to see
the thing through without police help
Say no more, SIR" reioined Dirk.
Your reasons, whatever they are. are
more than sufficient for me. Only tell
me at what time and where I am 10
meet you tomorrow, and I'll be there.
fully prepared, to the minute. Luckily
we don't show tomorrow, and / cen
take a day off without any reference to
the boss. As for Ned and Tom. it'll be
q sort Of Sunday for them. and they'll
be as right as trivets until l get back,
Very well, Dirk" I said. meet me
here mt 2 O'Clock. Take a couple Of INV
cards, In case you forget the address.
And now, help yourself to a night-cap
and get back home; it's past l O'clock
now, ana you may need n good nights