Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1902-07-18


this individual have for sling upon
me, and why should hel have made
me such an oner as I have described
to you?'' *.:z. q
The director shook his head. The.
question was evidently beyond him. E
can assign no sort Of reason for
it, he said, unless he has some hope
of being able to get you out Of Eng
land-for a time. . .: s:
II don't see how that could benefit
him." replied. 81 am connected
with no case in which he has any
sort Of interest" ; !.
"You never can TELL" the old gen.:
tleman replied. Prom what know
of him, Gideon Haylet was Always
''Gideon. what? p. I cried; springing
TO my feet. ibid I: understand you
to say Gideon Hayle?" o., =: ,
: That's the name OF the young man
of whom 4 have been speaking Ito.
you," he replied. "But what makes
you sosexcited ?''' =
.'vs~" Because can understand every
thing now" 1 declared. "Good
heavens! What an idiot I have been
not to have seen the connection be-
fore!> Now I know why Gideon
Hayle tried to lure. me out of Eng
land with his magnificent offer. Now
I see why he set these roughs upon
me. IT'S all as plain as daylight"
II am afraid I do~not quite under
stand" SAID my .cetnpapion in his
turn. "But it is quite evident to me
that you know more Of Hayle's past
life than dol"
81 should think I did," I replied.
''By Jove, what a blaokguard the man
must be-! He robbed his two part
ners of enormous wealth in China,
in the hands of the Chinese
to be tortured and m8imed for Lfe,.
and now that he Knows that I am
acting for them in order to recover
their treasure, he endeavons to put
me out of the way. But you've not
done it yet, Mr.. Hayle,' continued,
bringing my fist down with a bang
upon the. table, land what's more,
clever as you may BE, you are not
likely to accomplish such an end.
You'll discover that I can take very
good care of myself, but before very
long you'll find that you are being
taken care of by somebody else.'
This is strange affair indeed,
Mr.. Fairfax - said the manager, ~and
it is evident that have been of some
assistance to you. need not say
that I am very glad, the more so be-
cause it is evident; that our company
is not involved in any system of
fraud. I will not disguise from you
that had my fears that it was the
beginning of trouble for us all.''
'*You may disabuse your mind of
that once and for all,' 1 answered.
eff there is any trouble brewing it
is for our friend, Mr.. Hayle. That
gentleman's reckoning is indeed like
ly to be heavy one. would not
stand in his shoes for some thing:''
There. was a brief and somewhat
uncomfortable pause.
And now allow me. to wish you q
very good af!ernot Il, the old gentle
man observed. -. '.';' .**"'* .'-"='' r.,
"Good afternoon" / replied, "and
many thanks for the service you
have rendered ne. It has helped me
more than can say"
pray don't Me Et:cn it. my dear
sir, don't mention it,. replied the
kindly old gentleman, as: he moved
towards the door. III am very glad
to have been useful to you"
When he. had gone=I sat down at
my desk to think. had had good
many surprises in my life, but don't
know that I had ever been more as
tonished that I was that afternoon.
If only had been aware of, Hayle's
identity when he had called apon me
two mornings before, how Simply
everything might have been ar
ranged! AS matter of fact had
been talking with the very man had
been paid to find, and, what was
worse, had even terminated the in
terview myself. When I realized
everything, could have kicked my
self for my stupidity. Why should
I have suspected him, h6wever? The
! very boldness of his scheme carried
conviction with it.! Certainly, Mr..
Gideon Hayle was a foeman worthy
of my steel, and 1 began to realize
that, with such q man to deal with,
the enterprise 1 had taken in hand
was likely. to prove a bigger affair
| than l had bargained for.
| Having failed in both his attempts
to get me out of the way, his next
move will be to leave England with
as little delay as possible" I said to
myself. IF only 1 knew in what part
of London he was staying, I'd ran
sack it for him, if had to visit every
house in order to do so. As it is, he
has thousand different ways of es-
cape, and unless luck favors me
shall be unable to prevent him from
taking his departure"
AT that moment there was tap
! at the door and NV c1er1. en+erad tho