Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1902-02-25
CHAPTER Nv.

CaAII l.G Nv.
1T will be a truisnl to declare that
human nature is abo.it as complicat-
ed piece of machinery as could be
found in the human world. And yet
l do not know why ii should be con
sidered SO. All things and all men
do not run in grooves. A man to be
a criminal need not i3e hopelessly
bad in every other sense. have met
murderers who did not possess suffi-
Gent nerve to kill rabbit, burglars
who would rob a poor man of all his
possessions in the world, and yet
would not despoil a little child of a
half-penny. The fact of the matter
is we all have our better points, our
own innate knowledge of good and
evil Hayle had betrayed Kitwatel
and Codd in the cruclest fashion
possible, and by SO doing had con-
demned them to the most fiendisll
torture the mind of man could con-
ceive. Yet it was through his one
good point, his weakness, if might
SO describe it, that was ena bled to
come to my first grip with him.
1t was between the hours of two
and three that / entered the gates of
Brompton cemetery and commenced
my examination of the various graves
therein contained. Up one path l
wandered and down another in
search of the resting-place of the
poor crippled sister of whom Gideon
Hayle had been so fond. 1t was a
long time before + found it, but at
last ! was successful. To my aston
ishment the stone was plainly new
one, and the grave was tastefully
decorated with flowers. AS matter
of fact it was one of the prettiest in
its neighborhood, and to me this told
its own tale. I went in search of the
necessary official and put the case to
him. He informed me that 1 was cor.
rect in my superstition, and that the
stone had only lately been erected,
and, what was more to the point, he
informed me that the gentleman who
had given the order for it had only
the week before. paid the necessary
sum for insuring the decoration of
the grave for many years to come.
u gather from your words that
the gentleman, who must be rela-
tive of the deceased, has been here
lately" l said. H.
"He was here last Sunday after
noon,' the man replied. "He is a
most kindly and generous gentleman,
and must have been very fond of his
sister. The way he stood and looked
at that stone the last time he was
here was touching to see. He'd been
in foreign parts, sir, and is likely to
go out there again, so I gathered
from what he said. It is a pity
there are not more like him."
This was news, indeed, and I
pricked up my ears on hearing it.
Having learnt all / was likely to
discover, thanked the man for his
kindness and left the cemetery. If !
had done nothing else, had at least
satisfied myself upon one point, and
this was the fact that Gideon Hayle
had been in London within the week.
Under such circumstances it should
not be very difficult to obtain his ad-
dress. But / knew from experience
that when things seemed to be run
ming most smoothly they are as
much liable to breakdown as at
any other time some times even
more SO. accordingly hailed cab
and drove back to my, Office. Once
there entered up my diary accord
ing to custom, wrote note to Kit
water, informing him that l had dis
covered that Gideon Hayle had not
left London on the previous Sunday.
and also that believed him to have
negotiated, certain OF the stones in
London, after which returned to
my hotel to dine.
Most people who know me would
tell you that it might be considered
consistent with my character that ]
still occupied the same apartments
in the private hotel, offothe Strand,
in which had domiciled myself
when first arrived in England. If
I am made comfortable prefer to
stick to my quarters, and the hotel
in question was quiet one; the
cooking and the service were excel
lent, and, as every one did his, OF
her, best for me, saw no sort of
reason for moving elsewhere. 1t is
something in such matters to know
the people with whom one has to
deal, and in my case could not have
been better cared for had been a
crowned head. ] suppose am bit
of faddist in these things. Except