Missouri Valley times. [volume] (Missouri Valley, Iowa) 1874-1931, 1903-06-25
air Of resignation. "well. ten him to

air Of resignation. well. tell him to
come In
The visitor tripod in gayly. as II
bent on pleasure mission. He was
rather overdressed and wore gar
denia in his lapel His face was smil-
ing. but Barnes in an ill-humor
frowned that down.
You have some information-be
brief. Sit down." motioning toward a
chair The visitor dropped into the
seat
Inspector Barnes, I believe you are
aware that man known under the
sobriquet of Will o. the Wisp recently
escaped, with others. from the Auburn
prison.
Barnes nodded stiff1y.
II have reason to know that he il
still in this city. That he arrived here
few days ago"
Are you sure of that?' eyeing his
visitor keenly. Our men have been
looking for him, but had no news Of
his whereabouts.''
We'll you see an amateur some-
times can beat a professional"
But how. do you know you have seen
the man-do You know him person.
ally?"
We'll, hardly, not being In the habit
of associating with such people, with
a laugh.
Explain yourself"
Il need not go into details-in fact,
I prefer not to. This man, it happens,
called on us some time ago. He holds
paper-a document, which. If made
public, would do a great injury to our
family. Now, he could only have got
hold of this paper through a fellow
prisoner-one Martin Frale-to whom 1t
was confided many Years ago.
II see. Frale was the man who
was killed when a crowd of them es-
capped from Auburn" and the chief eN-
amined paper which he drew from
one of the pigeon-holes above his desk.
This Frale and WILL 1t seems, had
struck UP a great friendship in prison.
Frale, learn. saved his life from the
assault of another man when they
We're working in the shoe shop. Since
that time they We're like brothers. It's
rather a pity that this Frale was shot;
because, you see, he had but II short
time more to serve, If he had not at
tempted to escape" He replaced the
paper In his desk, and looked to his
visitor as If waiting for him to speak.
by the way, you have not told me
your name" as the other maintained
silence.
To be sure. forgot that. OF course,
don't want to appear conspicuously In
the matter"
You need not"
My name is Frank Ellison"
And you think that perhaps this es
capped prisoner may be the head Of
these recent robberies. The SUPPOSE
ton is not bad one, for when he was
at large he conducted some pretty clev-
er jobs
He took q memorandum pad from his
desk, and dipped his pen into the ink.
at the same time assuming an atti-
tude of attention.
Now, then, where is this place where
our man can be found"
There are reasons why I cannot tell
you as yet" said Ellison.
The chief dropped his pen on the desk
angrily.
Did you come here to have fun with
the Department."
Nothing of the kind" And the Wis
itor looked anxiously toward the door.
Then explain yourself, and briefly"
II must arrange a meeting with this
man-if l can"
What for?" snapped Barnes.
1T must be part of our bargain. /
first of all wish to secure possession of
this document. 1t would injure us If
this fellow should be arrested and that
paper in his hands. He would make 1T
public, and that would be poor re-
ward for what I intend to do
CONTINUED Next Weekly