The Farmington times and herald. (Farmington, St. Francois Co., Mo.) 1902-1905, 1902-10-09

1 must confeSa pat IN lhh cahS was
hy no means as adamant a. was usual
with me. As I have said. she was an
unusually pretty girl. and had she rot
been kind enough TO express her BELIEF
In my powersi After all. detectives
like other people. are only human.
"Yonr uncle and his companion have
promised to call upon me this AFTER
noon" / said, land when they do 10,
/ think may promise you that VIZ
rpdeRyar 10 come TO some arrange
meut with them"
IL thank you" she said; "for J think
that means that you vii try 10 help
Them. II you do, feel confident that
you viii succeed. l hope you VIII 'oF-
give me for having called upon S"n -
/ have done. but, when saw how dis'
appointed they we're after their Inter
view with you yesterday, ] made up
nv mind that would eudsarnr To ars
Won and 10 interest you on their man
before they came again"
You have certainly done SO, ] an
swrrcd. a. khe rose to 20. III ! take
the case up aud believe me ] am not
nj all sure that shall not do 50, they
will owe Il to your interocEsion.
"Oh. no, | did not mean that eH-
actly," she replied, blushing Pretiily'
81 should like 10 feel that you did u
for the reason that you believe In
the Justice Of their cause. not mrFe-
liz because / tried 60 persuade you
into Il. That would not be fair
either TO them or to you
Would Il not BE- possible for "
10 be on account of both reasonsY
/ asked. Let rs hope so. And nos
good morning. Miss kiiwater. !
trust your uncle viii have good news
for you when you see him sgaip this
afternoon"
II hope so, too" she answered. hn6
then with renewal OF her thanks
and a little how she left the offer.
l closed the door and went back to
my seat. almost wondering at my
own behavior. Here wa ]. hard
headed man OF the world. being
drawn into an extraordinary piece Of
bus lnesS. which had most certain
Iy decided 10 have nothing to do with.
simply because n pretty girl lad
smiled upon me. aud had asked me to
do il. For I don't uind confrssing
that I had made up my mind to help
Kitwater and Codd ia their search
for the villain Hayle. The Trust
company would have TO look else
where for assistance. And Yet. as l
had the best " reusOns for knowing.
that piece Of business was likely TO
prove twice a. Temuuerntivr gs this
search for the traltorous friend. Hap
PLY. however, money Is not every
thing Ia this world.
During the remainder OF the dag
] found myself looking forward w!th
n feeling that was almost akin TO
| ea-rrnrss. Ia the interview ! was to
have with Kltwatrr and Codd that
| afternoon. II the two gentlemen had
faults, unpunctualiiy Was certainly
not one ~ them, for the clock upon
| my mautclp.rrc had scarcely finished
striking the hour Of four. when !
heard footsteps IN the Office outside,
! and next moment they were shown
| into ms own sauctum. Codd came
nrst leading his friend by the hand,
and as he did 30 he eyed me with q
look Of intense anxiety upon his face,
Ritwater, on the other hand, was dig
nifed. and as impressive as ever. II
he were nervous, he certainly con'
ceAled 10 very well.
'Good afternoon. Mr.. Fairfax" he
said. a. Codd led him tu a seat. "Ac-
cording Ia the arrangement We came
to yesterday afternoon, we have
come here to learn your decision
which you promised 10 give US at
| four o'clock to-day. trust you
have good news for us"
THAT depends upon how you take
IT," answered Il have made up
my mind To help you on certain con-
| diiions"
| And those conditions?"
Are that you pay my expenses and
the sum Of $3.50, 10 winch another
500 is TO be added If am successful
L. helping :a= - -esa:s: :as :ss==-
uFe of which YOU told me yesterday.
Is that a fair oaeT2'
AN exceedingly fair one, Ritwater
replied. while little Codd nodded his
| head cnergrtiCaily 20 show that he
appreciated IT, I'VE had expected
that you would charge more. OF
course sou understand that IL may
involve chase round half the world
before you can find him? He's as
slippery as an eel, and, II he once
| gets 20 know that sse are after him,
he'll double aud twist like o hare"
"Hen not he the first man ! have
had TO deal with who possessed these
characteristics" answered. "And
have generally succeeded in running
them TO earth at the end"
Lets hope for all our sakes that
you will be rs successful in this case, 81
he said. And now. IL ! may ask the
question. when will you be ready TO
begin your search7 We shall both
feel happier when we know you are
on his track"
81 am ready as soon as you like"
| I rejoiued. Indeed, the sooner the
better for all parties concerned.
Nothing is 10 be gained by delay, and
II. as you say, the man has now been
In England two months, he may soon
be thinking of getting out of Il again,
II he has not done so already. But
before l embark on anything. you
| must answer inc some questions"
"A hundred. " You like" he re-
turned. "You have only 60 ask them
and win do my best TO answer"
ain the first place. must have q
description of this Mr.. Gideon Hayle.
what Is he like7"
stall, thin, with brown hair, and
o short. elose-cropped beardi he car
ries himself erect. and looks
about ss."