Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1906-12-29

better serve the ends of justice by fol.
lowing out his present task of bring
Ing this man and the Englishman to-
gether and watching the result. But
| how, with the conditions laid on him
| by Mr.. Grey, was this to be done? He
knew nothing of the mans circum-
stances or of his position in the town.
| How, then, go to work to secure his
cooperation in scheme possibly as
! mysterious to him as 1t was to him
self? He could stop this stranger In
mid-street, with some plausible ex-
cuse, but it did not follow that he
would succeed in Turing him to the
hotel where Mr.. Grey could see him.
| Wellgood, or, as he believed, Sears,
knew too much of life to be beguiled
by any open clap-trap, and Sweet.
water was obliged to see him drive
OFF without having made the least adj
vance In the purpose engrossing him.
But that was nothing. He had all
the evening. before him, and re-enter-
ing the store, he took UP his stand
near the sugar barrel. He had per-
ceived that in the pauses Of weighing
and talking, Dick talked; if he were
guided with suitable discretion, why
should he not talk of Wellgood?
He was guided. and he did talk and
to some effect. That is, he gave infor-
| nation of the man which surprised
Sweetwater. If in the past and in
New York he had been known as a
waiter. or should say steward, he was
known here as a manufacturer of pat
ent medicine designed to rejuvenate
the human race. He had not been
long in town and was somewhat Of a
stranger yet, but he wouldn't be so
long. He was going to make things
hum. ,he was. Money for this, money
for that, horse where another man
would walk, and maxwell, that alone
would make this postofice worth while.
Thenthe drugs-ord by wholesale.
Those boxes over there were his,
ready to be carted out to his manu-
factory. Connt them, some one, and
think of the bottles and bottles of stuff
they stand for If it sells as he says
1t &will-then he will soon be rich:
and so on, till Sweetwater brought
the tgarrulous Dick to standstill by
asking whether Wellgood had been
away for any purpose since he first
came to town. He received the reply
that he had just come home from New
York, where he had been for some ar
ticles needed in his mandatory.
Sweetwater felt all his convictions
confirmed, and ended the colloquy
with the final question:
And where is his mandatory?
Might be worth visiting, perhaps"
The other made gesture, said
something about northwest and rushed
to help customer. Sweetwater took
the opportunity to slide away. More
explicit directions could easily be got
elsewhere, and he felt anxious to re-
turn to Mr.. Grey and discover, if pos
sible, whether it would prove as much
a matter of surprise to him as to
Sweetwater himself that the man who
answered to the name of Wellgood was
the owner of a mandatory and bar
rel or two of drugs, out of which he
proposed to make compound that
would rob the doctors of their bust
ness and make himself and this little
village rich.
Sweetwater made only one stop on
his way to Mr.. Grey's hotel rooms,
and that was at the stables. Here he
learned whatever else there was to
know, and. armed with definite infor-
nation, he appeared before Mr.. Grey,
who, to his establishment, was dining
In his own room.
He had dismissed the waiter and
was rather brooding than eating. He
looked up eagerly, however, when
SWeetwater entered, and asked what
news.
The detective, with some semblance
Of respect, answered that he had seen
EWellgood, but that he had been unable
to detain him or bring him Within his
employers observation.
HE Is patent-medicine man. he
then explained, "and manufactures
his own connections in a house he has
rented here on lonely road some
half-mile out of town"
"Wellgood does? the man named
Wellgood?" Mr.. Grey exclaimed with
all the astonishnent the other secret
ly expected.
YES; Wellgood, james Wellgood.
There is no other in town.
How long has this man been
here?" the statesman inquired, after
a moment of apparently great discom-
future.
Gust twenty-four hours, this time.
He was here once before, when he
rented the house and made all his
plans"
"A1l!"
Mr.. Grey rose precipitateIy. His
manner had changed.
Il must see him. What you tell me
makes 1t all the more necessary for
me to see him. How can you bring it
about?"
without his seeing YOU" Sweet,
alter asked.
Yes, yes; certainly without his see
me. Couldn't you rap him up at
own door, and hold him in talk a
e, while looked on from the
e or whatever vehicle we can
carry us there? The least
Of his face would satisfy me.
,night."