Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1904-02-03
8 OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
Scoundrels eco. |
By COULSON KERNAHAN
Author Of Captain Shannon,'' "A Book Of
Strange Sins. A Dead Mans Diary" Etc.
Copyright, 1899, by Herbert S. Stone Co.
CHAPTER I.-CoSr1SUEn-

Copyright, 1885, by Herbert S. Stone & Co,
CHAPTER I.-CoNT1NUED,
And where do I come in. in this
business?" asked the newly appointed
councillor nervously.
An! you are business-like," replied
the chairman, with a smile. Listen.
The detective is to join Councillor
Number Seven. as we will continue for
the present to call him, at midnight,
on board the yacht have told you of.
1t will be our business to see that he is
prevented from getting there, and you
may rely upon our doing it, for the
resources at our command can &C.
compllsh anything. We are going to
take you ashore with us in the dinghy
When this meeting is concluded. There
skiff will be waiting for you, in which
you will row out to pay visit to
Councillor Number Seven. In fact.
You will go there impersonating his
expected visitor Detective Marten. He
has never seen Marten, and doesn't
even know what he is like, which SIM
2llhes matters very much. You see this
lndla-rubber ball, scarcely bigger than
marble? You will have no difficulty
IN concealing it in the palm of your LETT
hand. You notice that there is a tinv
tube or pipe to it? Well, Councillor
Number Seven has long story and
dry one to tell you, and from what I
know of him, can promise you that
he will offer you refreshment, and will
not want much pressing to join you
himself. You must make some Oppor-
tunlty, when he is not looking, to pass
your hand over his drink. AS you do
so, squeeze the ball, and if one drop of
what 1t contains goes into the whisky,
your business will be done. But even
if you can't manage the business that
way, you will have no difficulty in
erecting his removal, for he has
arranged to give the detective a berth
for the night, and you can easily chlo-,
reform him when he is asleep. Well
supply you with the drug for the pur-
pose"
and what do do with the body ?"
asked the new councillor His face was
now deadly pale, and his fingers were
picking at the braid on his coat while
he spoke.
THAT too we have arranged: was
the answer. You see that brown
leather handbag on the locker? Lift
it. Rather heavy, isn't it? Let me
show you what it contains. This
weight attached to chain is heavy
enough to sink two men. When your
business with Councillor Number Seven
is transacted, you will slip the chain
round his ankle, fasten it so, and drop
the body overheard. Then haul up
the anchor, row ashore, and leave the
yacht to drift with the tide. She may
go a long way out to sea, and the
farther the better.
"On the first of next month the
council meets again, when you viii!
make your report Put this letter in
your pocket. 1t contains instructions
as to where we meet and under what
circumstances.
And now about the disguise. You
received, before you came here to-
night, the clothes you are wearing, the
false beard and the rest of it, with in
strnctions in regard to getting up"
Yes said the recruit; but
didn't know that all the seven were to
be disguised alike, and it gave me
turn when I first came down in the
cabin. 1t is the cleverest thing l ever
saw, for behanged if the seven of us
aren't as like as two peas. If we were
all shuffled together like cards in a
S11-
any one of US again to save my life.
What's it for, and how do you know
each other again."
I'VE don't know each other again."
was the calm reply. NO man here
except myself, SO far as I am aware,
knows the name of any of his fellow
councillors. Why should they? There's
no chance of my turning informer. If
l turned Queens evidence a thousand
times over, it wouldn't save my neck
What there is against me is too bad
and there is too much of it for that
ever to be thought of. Hence we are
known to each other only by a number.
You are Number Seven and am Num-
Der One, as I ought to be, for origi-
mated the whole concern. Every man
here has been invited to join us on my
responsibility alone. 1 do the thing
carefully, you must admit. In your
own case, for instance, l knew what
your suspicious were about the council
and had satisfied myself that it would
be safe to make Overtures to you, or
else you would not have received the
Invitation in response to which you
are here tonight. And yet you don't
know who am, nor whether you and
have ever met until tonight. Is that
so?'
1T ISL
The admission was made grudgingly
and reluctantly. But, blended with
something very like fear, there was in
the way in which the words were
spoken, the submission of one who
recognizes his master.
CAS- for your inquiry, What's it
for?'" went on the councillor who had
called himself Number One" 81
should hardly have thought a man of
your acumen would have needed to put
the question. The facts about a con-
Germ Of this sort can't be kept too
close. Why should you put your head
into moose of which others hold the
string? Don't you see it's safer for
each individual councillor if his ident-
ity is kept secret? This man whom
you are replacing on the council-if
he'd known who his fellow-councillors
were, it is very possible that he'd have
given all our names to the police and
that each of us would have had two
or three detectives on his track who
mould hovo orro1tad TIC como roto1v A,