Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1902-07-12


She rested her clasped hands upon
the ia BILE and looked pleadingly at me.
And will you do sop
Il am considering the matter" /
said, with the first feeling of reluc-
tance I had experienced in the case.
Il have promised to give them my de-
-cision this afternoon"
so they informed me and that Is
why | am here" she replied. sob, Mr..
Fairfax, you don't know how l pity
them! Surely if they could find this
man his heart would be touched, and
he would refund them a portion, at
least, of what he took from them, and
what is legally theirs
I am afraid it is very doubtful
whether he WILL" said, ''even in the
event of his being found. Gentlemen
of his description are not conspicuous
fer their pity, nor, as rule, will they
disgorge unless considerable pressure
of an unpleasant description is brought
TO bear upon them"
Then that pressure must be brought
TO BEAR" she said, "and if may say SO,
you are the only one who can do it.
That is why have called upon you this
morning. I have come to plead with
you, to implore you, if necessary, to
take the ma tier up. lam not very rich,
but would willingly give all have in
the world to help them"
''In that case you are one niece in a
thousand, Miss Kitwa ter" said, with
. smile. "Your uncle is indeed fortu-
nate in having such a champion.
She looked at me as if she were not
quite certain whether l was joking or
not.
you will dc this for them?"
What was to say? What could
say? I had well-nigh decided to have
nothing to do with the matter, yet here
I was, beginning to think it was hard
spon me to have to disappoint her.
My profe ssion is not one calculated to
render a mans heart over tender, but
/ must confess that in this case was
by no means as adamant as was usual
with me. AS I have said, she was an
unusually pretty girl, and had she not
been kind enough to express her belief
in my powers! After all, detectives,
like other people, are only human.
your uncle and his companion have
promised to call upon me this after
noon" I said, land when they do SO,
I think I may promise you that will
endeavor to come to some arrange
nent with them
ST thank you," she said; "for think
that means that you will try to help
them. If you do, feel confident that
you will succeed. l hope you will for
give me for having called upon you as
I have done, but, when | saw how dis
appointed they were after their inter-
view with you yesterday, 1 made up
my mind that I would endeavor to see
you and to interest you on their behalf
before they came again"
you have certainly done so,'' an
swered, as she rose to go. IF take
the case up and believe me I am not
at all sure that shall not do so, they
will owe it to your intercession."
''Oh, no, I did not mean that ex-
actly," she replied, blushing prettily.
''I should like to feel that you did it
for the reason that you believe in
the justice of their cause, not mere
1y because I tried to persuade you
into it. That would not be fair,
either to them or to you"
''Would it not be possible for it
to be on account of both reasons"
I asked. LET us hope so. And now
good morning, Miss Kitwater. I
trust your uncle will have good news
for you when you see him again this
afternoon"
Il hope SO, too," she answered, and
then with a renewal of her thanks
and little bow she left the office.
I closed the door and went back to
my seat, almost wondering at my
own behavior. Here was I, a hard
headed man of the world, being
drawn into an extraordinary piece of
business, which / had most certain
" decided to have nothing to do with,
simply because a pretty girl had
smiled upon me, and had asked me to
do it. For I don't mind confessing
that I had made up my mind to help
Kitwater and Codd in their search
for the villain Hayle. The Trust
company would have to look else
where for assistance. And yet, as
had the best of reasons for knowing,
that piece of business was likely to
prove twice as remunerat tive as this
search for the traitorous friend. Hap
PLY, however, money is not every
thing in tais world. 4
During the remainder Of the day
found myself looking forward with
feeling that was almost akin to
eagerness, to the interview | was to
have with Kitwater and Codd that
afternoon. If the two gentlemen had
faultA uADunctualitY was certainly