Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1902-02-18

CNS AZ III AAS 0OtH 51OuHds
of his description are not conspicuous
for their pity, nor, as rule, viii they
Gisgorge unless considerable pressure
ofanunp.sasant descripti is brought
to bear upon them"
The ntbat pressure must be brought
to bear she said, land if ma y say SO.
you are the only one who can do it.
That is why l have called upon you this
morning. l have come to Plead with
you, to implore you. if necessary, to
take the matter up. am mot very rich,
bLt would willingly give all l have in
the world to help them"
in that case you are one niece i'll
thousand, Miss Kitwater,. said, with
smile. your uncle is indeed fortu-
nate in having such Champion"
She looked at me as if she were not
quite certain whether was joking OF
not.
"You will do this for them?"
What was to say? What could
say? had well-nigh decided to have
nothing to do with the matter,yet here
1 was, beginning to think it was hard
upon me to have to disappoint her.
My profession is not one calculated to
render mans heart over tender, but
must confess that in this case was
by no means as adamant as was usual
with me. AS / have said, she. was an
unus Usually 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," said, land when they do so,
/ think ] may promise you that l will
endeayor to come to some arrange
ment with Them
81 thank you" she said; "for think
that means that you will try to help
them. If you do, feel confident that
you will succeed. j hope you will for
give me for having called upon you as
/ have done, but, when saw how dis
appointed they were after theireinter-s
view with you yesterday, / made up
my mind that would erdeavor 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 I take
the case up, and believe me am not
at all sure that / shall not do so, they
will owe it to your intercession."
''Oh, no, did not mean that ex-
actly," she replied, blushing prettily.
81 should like to feel that you did it
for the reason that you believe in
the justice of their cause, not mere
ly because 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"
81 hope so, too," she answered, and
then with a renewal Of her thanks
and little bow she left the office.
closed the door and went back to
my seat, almost wondering at my
own behavior. Here was l, hard
headed man of the world, being
drawn into an extraordinary piece Of
business, which had most certain
ly decided to have nothing to do with,
simply because pretty girl had
smiled upon me, and had asked me to
do it,. For / don't mind confessing
that 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 I
had the best of reasons for knowing,
that piece of business was likely to
prove twice as remunerative as this
search for the traitorous friend. Hap
PLY, however, money is not every
thing in this world.
During the remainder of the day
I found myself looking forward with
a feeling that was almost akin to
eagerness. to the interview 1 was to
have with Kitwater and Codd that
afternoon. If the two gentlemen had
faults, unpunctuality was certainly
not one of them, for the clock upon
my mantelpiece had scarcely finished
striking the hour of four, when 1
heard footsteps in the Office outside,
and next moment they We're shown
into my own sanctum. Codd came
first, leading his friend by the hand,
and as he did so he eyed me with a
look of intense anxiety upon his face.
Kitwater, on the other hand, was Dig
nified, and as impressive as ever. If
he were nervous, he certainly con-
cealed it very well.
Good afternoon, Mr.. Fairfax" he
said, as Codd led him to a seat. "Ac-
cording to the arrangement we came
to yesterday afternoon, we have
come here to learn your decision
which you promised to give us at
four o'clock to-day. trust you
have good news for us"
THAT depends upon how you take
it," 1 answered. 81 have made up
my mind to help you on certain con-
ditions."
"And those conditions ?n
Are that you pay my expenses and
the sum of $500, to which another
$500 is to be added if am successful
in helping you to recover the treas
ure of which you told me yesterday.
Is that fair offer2"
An exceedingly fair one" Ntwater
replied, while little Codd nodded his
head theoretically to show that he
appreciated it. I'VE had expected
that you would charge more. OF
course you understand that it may
involve a chase round half the world