Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1905-09-23
/ ~ | Raffles, |
1 SSza.! me Amateur !
i NHxaS7I Craftsman
kNu4M" ~ BY E w. HoRNUNG
BY e. w. HORNUNG

harder up than 1 wished TO admit I'M
der my own name, that's all, and
want that FLOOD reward"
Two thousand" said the solicitor.
And the man who is not above an
alias happens TO be just the sort OF
man / want, so dol't let that worry
you, my dear sir. The matter. how
ever. il OF 4 strictly private and coati-
very hard at me.
quite so" said Rallies. But there
was something about Il risk
"A certain risk il involved"
Then surely three heads will be bet
ter than two. | said | wanted that
4 600; my friend here wants the other.
We are both cursedIy hard up. and we
90 into this thing together or not at
all Must you have his name too:
should give Ean my real one. Bdnny."
SIR. Addenhrooke raised HE eyebrows
over the card l found for him: then he
drummed upon il with his finger nail.
and his embarrassment expressed it
self i'm a puzzled smile.
The fact is | find myself in diff
ticulty." he confessed AT last. Yours
iS the first reply | have received. Peo-
pie who can afford To send long tclc-
grams don't rush To the advertisements
in the Daily Telegraph: but, ON the
other hand, | was not quite prepared 10
hear from men like yourselves. Can
didly and on consideration / am not
sure that YOU are the stamp of men
for me-mcn who belong to good clubs,
i rather intended to appeal TO the-er-
adventurous classes"
I'VE are Adventures" said Raffies
gravely.
"Eut you respect the law?'
The black eyes CLEANED shrewdly.
1--WE are not professional rogues. if
that's what YOU mean," said Ratfles.
smiling. But on our beam ends we
are. We would do a good deal for
$1,000 apiece. ELI, Bunny
Anything" l muTmured.
The solicitor raped his desk.
"Ill tell you what i want you to do.
You can but refuse. It's illegal. but it's
illegality in good cause. That's the
risk. and my client is prepared to pay
for it. He will pay for the attempt in
case of failure The money is as good
as yours once You consent To run the
risk. My client is Sir Bernard Debcn-
ham of Broom Hall. Esher.''
Il know his SON." | remarked.
Raffies knew him, too, but said moth
ing. and his eye dropped disapproval
In my direction. Bennett Addenbrooke
turned to me.
Then" said he, you have the priv
ilege of knowing one Of the most COM
plcte young blackguardS about town
and the fOnS ct oriGo of the whole trou-
bic. As you know the son, you may
know the father, too. at all events by
reputation. and in that case | needn't
tell you that ne is Il very peculiar man.
He lives alone in n storehouSe OF treas
ures which no eyes but his ever be-
hold. He is said To- have the finest col
lection Of pictures in the south Of Eng
land. though nobody ever sees them to
judge. Pictures. fiddleS and furniture
are his hobby. and he is undoubtedly
very eccentric. Nor can one deny that
there has been considerable eccentric
ity i'm his treatment Of his son For
years Sir Bernard paid his debts and
the other day. without the slightest
warming. not only refused To do so
lads allowance. Well. I'll tell you
what has happened. but first Of all
you must know, or you may remem-
Der, that l appeared for young Deben-
ham in little scrape he got into
Il year or two ago. / got him off all
right and Sir Bernard paid me hand
someIy on the nail. And no more did
l hear or see of either of them until
one day last week"
The lawyer drew his chair nearer
ours and leaned forward with hand
ON either knee.
''On Tuesday of last week I had a
telegram from SIR Bernard. l was to
20 To him at once. j found him wait
ing for me in the drive. Without a
word he led me To the picture gallery,
which was locked and darkened, drew
mp blind and stood simply pointing
10 IN empty picture frame. IL was Il
long time before | could get a word out
OF him. Then ut last he told me that
that frame had contained one of the
rarcSt and most valuable pictures in
England in the world-an original We
lasqueZ. have checked this said the
lawyer. and il seems literally true;
the picture was portrait of the In
fanta Maria Teresa. said 10 be one Of
the artists greatest works. second only
TO another portrait of one of the popcs
in Ronle-so they told me at the Ma
tional gallery. where they had its his
tory by neart They say there that the
picture is practically priceless. And
young Debenham has sold il fer
f5.ODo.
The deuce he has, said Raffies.
l inquired who had bought il.
"a Queensland legislator Of the
name of Cragys-the Hon. John Mon
tagu Craggs. NJ. l.. c., to give him his
fun title. Not that we knew anything
about him on Tuesday last: we didn't
even know for certain that young
Debenham had stolen the picture. but
he had gone down for money on the