Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1902-03-25

may give me the. slip IN tho mean
time If I'm not careful"
The better to enable him to ap.
preciate the position, I furnished
him with brief summary of the
case upon which was engaged.
"And so you are to dine with your
prisoner tonight" he remarked.
with one of his quiet chuckles.
''That is droll-very droll. 1t is very
good for you that it is at such o
place, or should have my doubts as
to the rascal's intentions. But you
are well able to take care Of your
self, my friend; that I know"
"And the MANI"
:-You shall have him. You shall
have half dozen II you like. am
only too pleased to be able to help
in such good work. You shall have
Pierre Lepallard, my right-hand. /
cannot give you better. Nothing
escapes Pierre, and he is discreet, oh,
yes, my friend, he is discreet. He
will not obtrude himself, but he will
know all that your friend does, to
whom he speaks, what he said to
him, and sometimes even what he in
tends doing before he does it."
"In that case he is just the man
for me-" 1 replied. II am exceed
ingly obliged to you for your CON
siderate courtesy. Some day may
be able to repay It,"
Within half an hour the estimablo
Lepallard had been made acquainted
with his duties, and within an hour .
ragged characterization Of man was
selling matches on the opposite side
OF the road to that on which Hayle's
apartments were situated.
I reached the restaurant at which
we We're to dine that evening punc-
tual to the moment, only to find that
Hayle had not yet arrived. For .
minute was tempted to wonder
whether he had given me the slip
again, but while the thought was
passing through my mind cab
drove up, and the gentleman himself
ahghted.
II must beg your pardon for keep
ing you waiting" he said, apologet-
ically. "As your host should have
been here first. That would have
been the case had not been de.
tanned at the last moment by an
old friend. Pray forgive mel"
I consented to do SO, and we en-.
tered the restaurant together.
/ discovered that he had already
engaged table, arranged the menu,
and bespoken the wines. We ac-
cordingly sat down, and the strangest
meal of which had ever partaken
commenced. Less than week be-
fore the man sitting in front Of mo
had endeavored to bring sbout nv
destruction; now he was my host,
and to all outward appearances my
friend as well. I found him most
agreeable companion, witty con-
versationalist, and born raconteur.
he seemed to have visited every part
OF the known globe; had been q
sailor, revolutionist in South
America, blackbirder in the Pacific,
had seen something of what he
called the "pig-tail trade" to Borneo,
some very queer life in India, that is
to say, in the comparatively un-
known native states, and had come
within an ace Of having been shot by
the French during the war in NADIA
gascar.
in point of fact, "1he said, 81 may
say that I have travelled from Dan
to Beershsba, and, until struck
this present vein of. good fortune,
had found all barren. Some day, If
I can summon up sufficient courage,
I shall fit out an expedition and re-
turn to the place whence the stones
came, and get some more, but not
just at present. Events have been
little too exciting there of late to
let US consider it . healthy country.
By the way, have. you heard from
our friend, Kitwater, yet?"
II have" I answered, land his re-
ply 10 by no means satisfactory"
Il understand you to mean that he
will not entertain my offer?''
I nodded my head.
HE must have all or nothing he
declares. That is the wording Of the
telegram received"
"WeH, he knows his own affairs
best. The difference is large one,
and will materially affect his in
come. Will you take creme de minthe-
kummel or cognac?''
"Cognac, thank you" I replied, and
that was the end Of the matter.
During the remainder OF the evsn-
Ing not another word was said upon
the subject. We chatted upon Q vari-
ETY. OF topics, but neither the mat
ter OF the precious stones nor even
Kitwater's name was once mem
toned. I could not help fancyinR,
however, that the man was consider
ably disappointed at the monaco
ceptance of his preposterous offer.
he had made q move on the board, |
and had lost it. I knew him we'll |
enough, however, by this time to feel
sure that he had by no means de-
SPARED yet of winning the game.
Men Of Gideon Hayle's stamp are
hard to beat.
Now" he said, when we had
smoked our cigarettes, and after he
had consulted his watch, ..the
1ight 10 still young. What do you say
I we pay q visit to theater-the
dippodrome, for instance. We might
while away an hour there very pleas
lntly, II you feel 80 disposed"
willingly consented. and we &C.
'ordingly left the restaurant. Once
We We're in the street Hayle called a
lab, gave the man his Instructions.