Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1902-11-20

81 have pr ,mised to give them my de-
cision this afternoon"
$50 they informed me and that is
why | am here" she replied. "Oh, MIR.
Fairfax, you don't know how ] 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"
IL am afraid it is very doubtful
whet her he WILL" l 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
ofan unplc asant description is brought
to bear upon them"
"The n tina 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 have called upon you this
morning. ] have come to plead with
you, TO iinplore you, il necessary, TO
take the matter up. lam rot very rich,
but l 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
smile. "Your uncle &jndeed fortu-
nate in having such a champion"
She looked at me as il she were not
quite certain whether 1 was joking or
not.
you will do this for them?'
What was I to say? What could l
say? l had well-nigh decided to have
nothing to do with the after, yet here
| was, beginning to think it was hard
upon me to have to disappoint her.
My profession is not one calculated to
render a mans heart over tender, but
l must confess that in this case l wa
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 to call upon me this after
noon" said. land when they do so.
I think I may promise you that l will
endeavor to come to some arrange
ment with them"
II thank YOU" she said; "for think
chat means that you will try to help
them. If you do, | feel confident that
you will succeed. ! 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 up
my mind that ! would endeavor to see
you and to interest you on their behalf
before they came again"
You have certainly done So" I an
ewered. as she rose to 60. "lf / take
the case up, and believe me | am not
at all sure that shall not do so, they
will owe it to your interce ssion."
"Oh, no. l did not mean that ex-
nctly," she replied, blushing prettily.
II should like to feel that you did it
for the reason that you believe in
the justice of their cause, not mere
ly because l tried to persuade you
into it. That would not be fair,
either to them or to you"
Would it not be possible for il
to be on account of both rcasons?'
I asked. Let us hope so. And now
good morning, Miss kitwater. l
trust your uncle will have good news
for you when you see him again this
afternoon
81 hope so, too" she answered, and
then with q renewal of her thanks
and little bow she left the office.
l closed the door and went back to
my seat, almost wandering at my
own behavior. Here was I, hard
headed man Of the world, being
drawn into an extraordinary piece Of
bus mess. which | had most certain
~ decided TO have nothing to do with
simply because pretty girl had
smiled upon ne, and had asked ME to
do it. For | don't mind confessing
that l had made up my mind to help
kitwster and Good in their search
for the villain Hayle. The Trust
company would have to look else
where for assistance. And yet, as |
had the best of reasons for knowing,
that piece of business was likely to
prove twice as remunerative as this
search for the traitorous friend. Hap
PLY, however, money is not every
thing in this world.
During the remainder of the day
I found myself looking forward wit h
feeling that was almost akin to
eagerness, to the interview l was to
have with Kitwater and Codd that
afternoon. If the two gentlemen had
faults, unPunctuality was certainly
not one of them, for the clock upon
my mantelpiece had scarcely FINISHED
striking the hour of four, when l
heard footsteps in the Office outside,
and next moment they were shown
into my own sanctum. Codd came
first, leading his friend by the hand,
and as he did so he eyed mo with q
look of intense anxiety upon his face.
kitwater, on the other hand, was dig
nifed, and as impressive as ever. II
he were nervous, he certainly con-
cealed it very well.
Good afternoon, Mr.. Fairfax" he
said, as Codd led him to q seat. SAC
cordinR to the arrangement we came
to yesterday afternoon, we have
come here to learn your decision
which you promised to give us at
four o'clock to-day. l trust you
have good news for u.s."
That depends upon how you take
t." l answered. II have made up
my mind to help you on certain con-