The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1902-06-13
Ny Strangest Case
BY GUY BOorHBY.
Author Of cdr. KikoIa." 1.-THE Beautiful
White Devii,'' "Pharos, The
Egyptian" Etc.
CHAPTER III.-CoNT1NuED.
Copyrighted, 1901. by Ward. Lock q Col

CHAPTER uI.-CoNTINUED.
She rested her ciasped hands upon
the table and looked p.eadingly at me.
"And will you do 500"
81 am considering the matter" l
said. with the first feeling of reluc-
lance l had experienced in the case.
az have promised to give them my de-
.eision this afternoon"
$50 they informed me and that is
why 1 am here" she replied. "Oh, Mr..
Fairfax, you don't know how I pity
them! Surely if they could find this
man his heart would be touched, and
ne would refund them a portion, at
least, of what he took from them, and
what is legally theirs"
II am afraid it is very doubtful
whether he WILL" I said, "even in the
event of his being found. Gentlemen
of his description are not conspicuous
FOR their pity, nor, as a rule, will they
sdisgorge unless considerable pressure
of an unpleasant description is brought
to bear upon them"
"Then thatpressure must be brought
TO BEAR" she said, land if / may 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, tt implore you, if necessary, to
take the matter up. lam not very rich,
but l would willingly give all l have in
;the world to help them"
"In hat case you are one niece in a
thousand, Miss Kitwater," 1 said, with
= smile. "Your uncle is indeed fortu-
mate in having such a champion"
She looked at me as if she were not
quite certain whether l was joking or
mot.
"You will do this for them?"
What was I to say? What could 1
say? [ had well-nigh decided to have
nothing to do with the matter, yet here
Il was, beginning to think it was hard
Ipon me to have to disappoint her.
My profession is not one calculated to
render a mans heart over tender, but
L must confess that in this case l was
by no means as adamant as was usual
with me. AS 1 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,
Nike other people, are only human.
"Your uncle and his companion have
promised to call upon me this after
NOON" 1 said, "and when they do so,
II think 1 may promise you that will
sendeavor to come to some arrange
rment with them"
"I thank you," she said; "for l think
that means hat you will try to help
It, Tf ,,~,, Al IT foo1 oorfiHanf tha
you will succeed. l hope you will for
give me for having called upon you as
have done, but, when l saw how dis
appointed they were after their inter
view with you yesterday, 1 made VI
my mind that 1 would endeavor to SET
you and to interest you on their behalf
before they came again."
"You have certainly done So" I an
swered, as she rose to go. IF l tak'
the case up, and believe me I am no
at all sure that I shall not do so, the.
will 1--WE it to your intercession."
ooh, no, 1 did not mean that ex
actly," she replied, b%lushing prettily
81 should like to feel that you did i
for the reason that you believe ii
the Justice of their cause, not mere
Iy because I tried to persuade yo
into it. That would not be fail
either to them or to you"
would it not be possible for
TO be on account of both reasons?
7 asked. "Let us hope so. And no,
good morning, Miss Kitwater.
trust your uncle will have good new
for you when you see him again thi
afternoon"
81 hope so, too," she answered, an
then with a renewal of her thank
.and a little bow she left the Office.
L closed the door and went back t
my seat, almost wondering at IN
own behavior. Here was I, a HARD
headed man of the world, bein
drawn into an extraordinary piece G
business, which l had most certain
uy decided to have nothing to do will
simply because a pretty girl ha
smiled upon me, and had asked me
do it. For 1 don't mind confessin
that I had made up my mind to hel
Kitwater and Codd in their scare
for the villain Hayle. The Trus
company would have to look elst
where for assistance. And yet, as
had the best of reasons for knowing
that piece of business was likely t
prove twice as remuneraliye as thi
search for the traitorous friend. Hal
PLY, however, money is not every
thing in this world.
During the remainder of the da
T found myself looking forward wit
II feeling that was almost akin t
.~eagerness, to the interview I was t
have with Kitwater and Codd tina
afternoon. If the two gentlemen ha
faults. un~punctuality was certainl