The Farmington times and herald. (Farmington, St. Francois Co., Mo.) 1902-1905, 1902-12-04

II ~aDt you to lend me one on
your men for a few days" ] said- II
have TO send my ewn msn back TO
England. ans | am afraid the gensle-
man We wcrs discussing last nighs
may give me the slip In the mean
time " I'm not careful"
The better 10 euable him 10 APP
prseiate the position. furnished
him with brief summary OF the
caae upon which ] was engaged.
"And so you are to dine with your
prisoner to-night7" he remarked,
with one OF his quiet ehuakleE,
That IL droll---very droll. II 10 ssry
good for you that II Ia at such =
place. or I should have my doabts IN
10 the rascai'H intentions. But you
are we'll able to take care u your-
self. my friend: that ! know"
"And the mani"
"You shall have him. You shall
have half dozen u you like. | am
only too pleased TO be able 10 help
in such a good work. You shall have
Pierre Lspallard. my right-hand.
.aan.. give you better. Nothing
escapes Pierre, and he IL discreet. oh,
yes. my friend. he Is discreet. He
win not obtrude himself, but he will
know all that yonr friend does, to
whom he speaks. what ne said 10
him, and sometimes even what he In
tends doing before he does H."
''In that case he Is just the mar
for me-" / replied. 81 am exceed.
ingly obliged 20 you for your con
sidrFa,e courtesy. Some day J may
be able 10 repay a."
Within half an hour the sssimasilt
Lopallard had been made acquainted
with his duties, and within an hour a
ragged INSTRUMENTATION of q man was
selling matches on the opposite side
Of the read 10 that on which HAYES
apartments were situated.
reached the restaurant at which
we were 10 dine that evening pune
tuai TO the moment, only to find that
Hayie had not yet arrived, Far .
minute was tempted 20 wonder
whether he had given me the slip
again. but while the thought was
passing through my mind a cab
drove up, and the gentleman himself
ahEhted.
Il must beg your pardon for keep
ing You waiting" he said. apologrt-
icaiiy. AS your host should have
been here hrst. That would have
been the case had not been de-
ialned at the last moment by an
old friend. Pray forgive mel"
I consented to do 80, and we en-
tered the restaurant together.
discovered that he had already
engaged table. arranged the ncnu,
and bespoken the wines. We ae'
cordingIy sat down. and the strangest
meal of which ! had ever partaken
commenced. Less than a week be.
fore the man sitting In front of ns
had endeRvored Ia bring about my
destruction; now he was my host,
and to all outward appearances my
friend a. we'll ! found him = mos,
agreeable companion. a witty con.
vcrsationaBst, and a born raeonteur,
He seemed 60 have visited every part
~ the known globe; had been a
sailor. rcvoiutionist In South
America. q blackbifder In the Pacific,
had seen something Of what he
called the ''plg.tail trade" TO Borneo,
some very queer life in India. that Il
60 say. in the comparatively un.
known native states, and had come
within an acc Of having been shot by
the French during the war In NADIA
gasear.
''In point OF fact" he said, ~ may
say that ] have Travelled from Dan
TO Becrsheha, aud, until struck
tHiz present vein of good fortune.
had found all barren. Some day. n
can summon up sufficient courage,
shall ~ out an expedition and re-
turn 90 the place whence the stones
came. and get some more, but not
Just OF present Events have been
a little too exciting there OF late to
let us consider it healthy country,
BY the way, have you heard from
our friend. Kitwater. yetY'
II have" l answered, "and his re.
ply IL by no means satisfactory"
II understand you 90 mean that he
win not entertain my 0ffer?'
nodded ray head.
"He must have all or nothing he
declares. That Is che wording Of the
telegram I received"
We'll. he knows his own affairs
best The difference In a large one,
and villa materially affect his In.
come. VIII you take creme de minthe'
bpThmel OF vognac?9J
"rognac, thank yon," replied, and
thas was the end of the matter.
During she TeEpAfstieE OF, the essnf
Ing not another Word was aAld upof
the subject. We ok=:ss3 upon a vAri-
ETY. of topics. but neither the mat.
ter of the precious stones nos even
RitwaSer's name was once mem
toned. I could not help faneyiug,
however, that the man was consider.
ably disappointed ut the MONACO
ceptanes OF his prcpostsrous after.
He had made q move on the board.
and had lost II. knew him weii
enough, however, By this time 20 feel
sure that be had BIZ no means de.
spaired yet Of winning the game.
Men Of Gideon Hayle's stamp are
hard 10 beat.
WOW" he said. when we had
smoked our cigarettes, and after he
hsd consulted his watch, "the
night h Htili young. What do you sag
II we pay visit to q theater--fhs
HlEpodronse. for instance. We might
whIls a~sy en- hear shere very pleas
antiy. " you feel so disposed"
I wiIliAgiy AcsEsssted, and we 40.
earAiasly lesii th@ restaurant. onse
We were IN the street fIRyle sallssE
cab, gsxs the naEa sssl Instructions,
and we entered IL Chatting pleas
snsIy, and atIii srpoEshg. We passed
nlokat the brsliiaasiy illuminated
bonievardn. 7 bessewe& little. n aay,
attention on thF direction In which
we Fsesv proceeding. Iadsed, II wouia
have been difslealt to have done 90.