Cameron County press. [volume] (Emporium, Cameron County, Pa.) 1866-1922, 1902-04-24

suffered. Can you wonder that we are
anxious to find him?"
Il do not wonder at that at ALL"
said. My only feeling is that l must
regard it as an entirely business mat
ter"
eve cannot blame you," Kitwater
replied. Yet you must surely under
stand our anxiety for definite and
immediate answer. The man has had a
considerable start of us already, and
he has doubtless disposed of the jew
els ere this. At whatever price he sold
them, he must now be in possession OF
a considerable fortune, which rightly
belongs to us. We are not vindictive
men; all we ask is for our own"
Il quite agree with you there" re-
piled. The only question in my mind
is, who shall get it for you? Let me
explain matters little more clearly.
In the first place have no desire to of
fend you, but how am | to know that
the story you tell me is Il true one?"
Il have already told you that you
will have to take our word for that"
he said. "It will be great disappoint-
ment to us if you cannot take the mat
ter up, but we must bear it as we have
borne our other misfortunes. When
we realized the way you managed
those bank people we said to each
other: That's the man for us! If any
one can catch Hayle he's that person.
1t naturally comes to us as a disap-
pointment to find that you are not
,.ri11inpr tn 10 lya he
81 have not said that | am not will
ing" l answered; 81 only said that 1
am not going to commit myself until
have given the matter due considera-
tion. If you will call here at four
o'clock tomorrow afternoon, | shall
be able to give you definite answer"
81 suppose we must be content with
that, said Kitwater lugubriously.
They thereupon thanked me and
rose to go.
'By the way" I said, docs this man
Hayle know that you are in England?"
The blind man shook his head.
"He thinks we are lying dead in the
Jungle" he said "and it is not his
fault that we are not. Did he suspect
for a moment that we were alive and
in the same country as himself, he'd
be out of it like a rat driven by fer
ret from his hole. But if you will give
us your assistance, sir, we will make
him aware of our presence before very
long"
Though he tried to speak unconcern-
edly, there was an expression upon the
mans face that startled me. / felt
that, blind though he was, / should not
care to be in Mr.. Hayle's place when
they should meet.
After they had left me I lit a cigar
and began to think the matter over.
! had had a number of strange cases
presented to me in my time, but never
one that had opened in such fashion
as this. A man robs his friends in the
center of China; the latter are tor
tured and MANNED for life, and come to
me in London to seek out their be-
trayer for them, in whatever part of
the globe he might be. The whole
thing seemed so preposterous as to be
scarcely worth consideration, and yet,
try how | would to put it out of my
mind, | found myself thinking of it
continually. The recollection of the
blind mans face and that of his dumb
companion haunted me awake and
asleep. More than once l determined
to have nothing to do with them, only
later to change my mind, and vow that
| would see the matter through at any
cost to myself.
Next morning, however, saner coun-
sells prevailed. An exceedingly re-
munerative offer was made me by a
prominent trust company, which at
any other time | should have had no
hesitation in Immediately accepting.
Fate, however, which is generally
more responsible for these matters
than most folk imagine, had still
card to play upon Messrs. Kitwater
and Codd's behalf, and it was destined
to overthrow all my scruples, and what
was more to ultimately revolutionize
the conduct of my whole life.