Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-03-11

lance 1 had experienced in the case.
81 have promised to give them my de-
cision this afternoon"
$50 they informed me and that is
why l am here" she replied. ooh, 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"
81 am afraid it is very doubtful
whether he WILL 1 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
disgorge unless considerable pressure
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES is brought
to bear upon them"
"Then that pressure 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 lave called upon you this
morning. ! have come to plead with
you, to implore you. if necessary, to
take the matter 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 Kitwater," [ said, with
a 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 do this for them?"
What was I to say? What could 1
say? l had well-nigh decided to have
nothing to do with the matter, yet here
! was, beginning to think it was hard
upon me to have to d%isappoint her
My profession is not one calculated to
render a mans heart over tender, but
l must confess hat in this case l was
by no means as adamant as was usual
with me. AS | 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 t. call upon me this after.
noon" l said, land when they do so
I think 1 may promise you that viii
endeavor to come to some arrange
ment with them"
81 thank you," she said; "for | think
that means that you will try to hell
them. If you do, l feel confident tina
you will succeed. I hope you will for
give me for having called upon you as
| have done, but, when / saw how dis
appointed they were after their inter
view with you yesterday, | made W
my mind hat / would endeavor to SCI
you and to interest you on their behal.
before they came again"
you have certainly done So" / an
swered, as she rose to go. "lf l tak'
the case up, and believe me l am no
at all sure that l shall not do so, the.
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 j
for the reason that you believe il
the justice of their cause, not mere
ly because l tried to persuade yo'
into it. That would not be fair
either to them or to YOU"
Noulu IL IoG ne poSslple loi l
to be on account of both reasons?
/ asked. "Let us hope so. And nov
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.
I closed the door and went back t.
my seat, almost wondering at m.
own behavior. Here was |, a hard
headed man of the world, beinl
drawn into an extraordinary piece o
business, which / had most certain
: ly decided to have nothing to do with
simply because a pretty girl hat
smiled upon me, and had asked me t.
do it.. For 1 don't mind confessin.
that I had made up my mind TO he'll
+, Kitwater and Codd in their searcl
for the villain Hayle. The Trus
company would have to look else
"