Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1902-08-08

place, or 1ihould have my doubts as
TO the rascal's intentions. But you
are val able to tx. taks care Of your,
sell. - friend; hat I kna
:: "And The MANI"
"Yod zshall hese him. on, shs1l
have half . dossn If you IKE. I On
only too pleased ito be able to help
in such good work. You shall have
Pierre .Lepallard, my right-hand. I
cannot give you better. Nothing
escapes Pierre, and he is discreet, oh,
yes, my, friend, he is discreet. He
will not @obtrude himself, but he will
know all that your friend does, to
whom 11he speaks. what. he said to
him, and sometimes even what he in
tends doing before he does it,,
I'm that case he is just the man
for me- I replied. IT am exceed
ingly obliged to you for your con-
siderate courtesy. Some day / may
be able to repay it," s-<$S
Within half an hour the estimable
Lepallard had been made acquainted
with his duties,, and within an hour .
ragged characterization of man was
selling matches on the opposite side
of the road to that on which Hayle's
apartments were situated.
I reached the restaurant at which
we were to dine that evening pune
tual to the moment, only to find that
Hayle had not yet arrived. For q
minute I was tempted to wonder
whether he had given me the slip
again, but while the thought was
passing through my mind a cab
drove up, and the gentleman himself
alighted.
II must beg your pardon for keep
ing you waiting" he said, apologet-
ically "As your host should have
been here first. That would have
been the case had I not been de-
tanned at the last moment by an
old friend. Pray forgive mel"
I consented to do so, and we en-
tered the restaurant together.
I discovered that he had already
engaged a table, arranged the menu,
and bespoken the wines. We &C.
cordingly sat down, and the strangest
meal of which I had ever partaken
commenced. Less than week be-
fore the man sitting in front of me
had endeavored to bring about my
destruction; now he was my host,
and to all outward appearances my
friend as we'll. found him q most
agreeable companion, witty con-
versationalist, and born raconteur.
He seemed to have visited every part
Of the known globe; had been q
sailor, revolutionist in South
America, blackbirder in the Pacific,
had seen something of: what he
called the "pig-tail trade" to Borneo,
some very queer life in India, that is
to say, in the comparatively un-
known native states, and had come
within an ace Of having been shot by
the French during the war in Mada-
gascar.
I'm point of fact" he said, ~ may
say that I have travelled from Dan
to Beersheba. and,- until 4 struck
this present vein of good fortune.
had found all barren. Some day, If
I can summon up sufficient courage,
I shall fit out an expedition and re-
turn to the place whence the stones
came, and get some more, but not
just at present. Events have been
little too exciting there of late to
let US consider it healthy country.
BY the way, have you heard from
our friend, Kitwater, yet?'
II have" answered, land his re-
ply is by no means satisfactory"
II understand you to mean that he
will not entertain my .offer?"
!, I nodded my head. :--:It..ssa -
HE must have all or nothing;;She
declares. That is the wording 81 The
telegram received" =.
well, he knows his own affairs
best. The difference is large one,
and will materially affect his in
come. Will you take creme de1minthe:-
kummel or cognac?'' ~ =
, "Cognac, thank you." I replied, and
that was the end of the matter. {! ,:
During the remainder of the even
ing not another word was said upon
the subject. We chatted upon a vari-
ETY. of topics, but neither the mat
ter OF the precious stones nor: even
Kitwater's name was once mem
toned. I could not help fancying,
however, that the man was consider
ably disappointed at the monaco
ceptance OF his preposterous offer.
He had made move on the board,
and had lost it. I knew him well
enough, however, by this time to feel
sure that he had by no means de-
SPARED yet Of winning the game
Men Of Gideon Hayle's stamp are
hard TO beat. 1-.s,..fg s>-r.4:..r.
''Now," he said, when we had
smoked our cigarettes, and after he
had consulted Il his wa Oh. I. the
night h still young. What do you say
It we pay q visit to theater-the
Hippodrome, for instance. We mi4ht
while AWAY m ho,,r ~ n~n w>,- ~1~..