The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1904-09-04
BY
WILLIAM HAMILTON OSBORNE,
CHAPTER XII
Ellington o'keefe Hits Back


O some time. A few miles off the
island of Swat he had been taken
aboard of vessel bound for San Fran
cisco-and the rest was easy. An or
binary man would have marched him.
self into Monroe, just as he was, with
his ragged clothes, in a white heat of
indignation-he would have turned the
rascal out, had him locked up and once
more assumed his place in the city.
But Ellington O'Keefe was not an or
binary man. In the first place he rec
ogniZed the fact that remarkable re-
semblance did exist between himself
and the man, who masqueraded in his
place. He had realized this from his
experience with Noteworthy Jenkins.
And since this resemblance did exist,
he was not quite so certain that the
chief of police of Monroe-or any other
person-would readily recognize him as
Ellington O'Keefe, when his double
possessed all the indicia of the gen.
uine O'Keefe. Possession is nine tenths
of the law, and Smith was in posses
sion He wore about his neck the inev-
liable gold chain which fixed the iden- 5
tity in Monroe of Ellington O,Keefe.
OKeefeifelt that he must first prepare
himself-get new clothes of his usual
make; make himself so like himself as
he used to be, that his appearance away
from the other man would carry con-
viction with it. He therefore, bided his
time. E'e fitted himself out in clothes
of his GU. Nomary kind, and trimmed his
beard until it assumed the old shape,
and in addition he even by hook and
crook purchased a. brass chain; one
not exactly like the other; but one
that answered the purpose well enough.
He bided his time for several reasons.
He desired to acquaint himself with the
exact conditions of affairs in Monroe,
and to take the best and swiftest meth
cd of getting back his own, and of Wis
iting condign punishment on Constitu-
tional Smith.
He was actuated, above all things, by
an intense desire for revenge, and he
wanted his revenge to be as complete
and effective as possible. And to that
end he was waiting for the arrival OF
just one mana man whose presence
in the vicinity of Monroe was necessary
to his scheme.
He was going to hit back-that was
all. He. could have forgiven a good
many things; he even admired the
coup detat of Constitutional Smith
he liked his nerve; but Ellington
O'Keefe could not forget the whip
pings he had received ever since his
absence and it was his sublime pur-
pose to get even, and to get even in
his own way.
In New York when some member of
~, cfo
other, the victim puts a seal upon his
lips; he will not let the law take it's
course; he knows better remedy.
"I'I fix him when I get well. Leave
1t to me. Just wait till I get the
chance"
This was Just how Ellington O'Keefe
felt. He might with propriety have
told the whole story to the chief of
police, and Constitutional Smith would
have been forthwith cast into Jail with
many years of confinement before him.
But Ellington O'Keefe thought he
knew trick worth two of that. And
besides, he was afraid that Constitu-
tional Smith, in the custody merely of
the public authorities, might effect an
escape. And at the most a prison is
but sanitarium, and Smiths punish
ment in prison would be too light to
suit O'Keefe. So he laid his plans ac-
cordingly. He met Smith. therefore,
with a seductive smile upon his face
which Smith did not understand.
Come, let us reason together" said
Ellington O'Keefe. Constitutional
Smith sat down. O'Keefe did the
talking He told him, first, of the visit
of the chief and the huckleback. Then
did Smith. breathe easier. For then he
knew that this man did not intend to
give him up as yet. OKeefe then
pulled from his pocket paper. Have
you seen that?" he asked. Smith had
not. He took it and read it. 1t was
one of the. notices which had been dis
tributed among the creditors of
O'Keefe. Smith glanced up in sur
prise.
What are you going to do?" he
asked. Did you distribute these?"
O'Keefe nodded in assent. How the
devil are you going to pay them?" de-
manded Smith.
OKeefe had thought out what he
would do. What he was going to do
was apparently risky thing; yet in
view of the future precautions he
would take, he concluded that the risk
was justified by his enjoyment of the
discontinue of Smith, when he found
out wherein he had miscarried.
Pm going to pay them," said Billing
ton OKeefe, "in gold coin.'
He rose and crossed to his safe. He
had seen before that the lock was bro
ken off. But he felt of the door to see
that it was well closed. Then encir-
cling the room, at various points upon
the wainscot he pressed his thumb. He
did this in an irregular way, pressing
one and then another, and then coming
back to press third one; then crossing
the room to press a fourth. Some of
them he pressed more than once. The
things he pressed were little invisible
buttons of wood. The instant that he
pressed the last one, there was a sharp
click. He returned to the safe, and
using one of the hinges as a handle,
tugged at it gently. 1t will be remem-
bered that the safe was set in the wall,
and that it was somewhat shallow, and
that Smith had been able to find very
little of value in it. The reason of this
was that the small safe itself was moth
ing more nor less than the door to a
larger safe whose interior OKeefe now
exposed to view. The small safe was
merely a blind. O'Keefe, a very eau
tious man, had entrusted his wealth to
no one. He had not deposited it in a
bank, nor safe deposit vault, nor had
he changed it into treasury notes. He
had appointed himself the custodian of
his own wealth and he had provided
against loss by burglary or fire There
lay his fortune Snugly tucked, in the
shape of bags of gold coin, in the large
safe, of which the small safe was but
the door.
Lucky thing for me-" remarked
Okeefe, that YOU never found this