The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1903-06-22
BOOK l.
The Forbidden Room.
CHATTER TX

The Forbidden Room.
CHAPTER TX.
Jimmy.
have already mentioned the man whom
secretly looked upon as standing be-
| tween me and all preferment. He was
od-looking fellow, but he wore nat
| ural sheer which for some reason felt
to be always directed toward myself. This
sheer grew pronounced about this time,
and that was the reason, no doubt, why
continued to work as long as did in
secret. dreaded the open laugh Of this
man, laugh which always seemed hover
Ing on his lips and which was only held in
restraint by the awe we all felt of the
major.
| Notwithstanding, made one slight
move. Encountering the deputy coroner, !
ventured to ask if he was quite satisfied
with the evidence collected in the jeffrey
case.
His surprise did not prevent him from,
asking my reasons for this question
replied to this effect:
! Because have q little friend, win
some enough and subtitle enough to worm
the truth out of the devil. 1 hear that the
! girl Loretta Is suspected of knowing more
! about this unfortunate tragedy than she
IS willing to impart. II you wish this lit
tie friend of mine to talk to her, I will see
that she does so and does SO with effect
The deputy coroner looked interested.
| whom do you mean by little friend
and what Is her name?''
| II will send her to you''
And I did.
The next day I was standing on the
corner of Vermont avenue when I saw
jimmy advancing from the house In X
street. She was clipper, and she was
smiling In way which made me say to
| myself:
1t Is fortunate that Durbin is not here, !"
For J1nny's one weakness is her lack
OF power to hide the satisfaction she
takes In any detective work that comes
her way. ! had told her Of this and had
more than once tried to impress upon her
that her smile was complete give-away.
but noticed that If she kept it from her
lips, 1T forced its way out Of her eyes, and
II she Kept 1t out Of her eyes, it beamed
IKE an inner radiance from her whole
race. so l gave up the task Of making
her perfect and let her go on smiling, glad
that she had such frequent cause for it.
This morning her smile had a touch Of
pride In 1t as we'll as OF delight. and
| noting this I remarked
You have made Loretta talk?"
Her head went up and demure dim
pie appeared in her cheek.
What did she says?" urged. .''what
has she been keeping back?''
1 You will have to ask the coroner. NV
orders were strict to bring the results
OF my interview Immediately to him.
Does that include Durbin?'
! Does 1t include your
Il am afraid not
You are right; but why shouldn't 1t in
clude your
! What do you mean, Jinny?'
why DO you keep your own counsel SO
long? You have ideas about this crime, j
know Why not mention thena?"
"Jinny!'' <@t--..
"A word to the wise is sufficient: she
laughed and turned her pretty face to-
ward the coroner's office. But she was
q woman and could not help glancine ba
and, meeting my dubious look, she broke
Into an arch smile and naively added this
remark: Loretta is busybody ashamed
OF her own curiosity. So much there car
De no harm in telling you. When ones
knowledge has been gained by lingering
behind doors and peeping thru cracks, one
| is not so ready to say what one has seen
and heard. Loretta is In that box. and
being more that q little scared of the po-
lice, was glad to let her anxiety and he,
fears overflow into sympathizing ear
Won't she be surprised when she is called
up some fine day by the coroner. wonder
| If she will blame me for it?"
She will never think Of doing So"
basely assured my little friend, with an
appreciative glance at her sparkling eye
land dimpled cheek. -.
The arch little creature started to move
off again. AS she did SO, she cried: "Be
good, and don't let Durbin cut in on you''
but stopped for the second time when hall
across the street. and when, obedient to
her look, I hastily rejoined her, she whis-
pered demurely: "Oh, forgot to tell you
something that heard this morning, and
which nobody but yourself has any right
to know. was following your commands
and buying groceries at Simpl<ins', when
just as was coming out with, my arms
full, I heard old Mr.. Simpkins mention
Mr.. Jeffrey's name and with such interest
| that I naturally wanted to hear what he
had to say. Having no real excuse fol
staying, poked my finger into a. bag OF
sugar I was carrying till the sugar rar
out and had to wait till il
was put up again. This did not take long,
but 1t took long enough for me to hear
+ the old grocer say that he knew Mr..
jeffrey, and that that gentleman had
come into his shop only a day or two
before his wife's death, to buy-candlesi"
H. The archness with which this was said,
together with the fact itself, made me her
slave forever. AS her small figure faded
from sight down the avenue I decided to
take her advice and follow up whatever
communication she had to make to the
coroner by a confession Of my own sus-
4 picions and what they had led me into.
| If he laughed-well could stand It. It
was not the cononers laugh, nor even the
majors, that feared; it was Durbin g.