Iron County record. [volume] (Cedar City, Utah) 1893-1982, 1906-02-09

of the house was opened and two men
appeared. They were no more than
shadows under the overhanging, heavy
roof OF the stone pillared portlco, yet
n of them was 50 tall that 1t must
be S%tendhall. The other disclosed no
recognizable characteristic. They walk
ID slowly along the portico, which end
ID at the wall Of an adjoining build
Ing. For perhaps two minutes they
were invisible to me. Then Stendhall
returned alone and entered the house.
What had become of the other man?
1t was an interesting puzzle, but one
that l despnired Of solving. l contin-
ued to stare idly at the house until
S%fendhall had turned up the light In
his room. Then l abandoned my posi-
ton N faced toward home. At the
corner of the next cross street I looked
westward, attracted by the brightness
Of the moon, and so / CHANGED to see n
man coming out of q house upon that
street.-the third from the corner. 1t
was my partner, John Hammond.
II his had been ordinary /
should have followed and hailed him,
but he was so obviously daunted by
the brllliancy OF the night md made
such haste TO pull his hat down so that
the shadow of its brim might shield his
face that / vas thrilled with n sudden
monstrous suspicion, and l let him go
upon his way.
1t seems certain that some revelation
must have come to me before I'm order
that 1 should have been prepared to
condemn Hammond upon such evil
dence. There was merely the physical
possibility that a secret passage might
lead from Stendhall's portico to this
house upon the street below, and yet
my mind would never have accepted so
readily the suggestion of my partners
treachery unless unnoticed hints of its
Inception had been accommodating in the
remoter regions of my brain during the
past month of our joint labors with the
Desborough case.
In the succeeding portion Of the night
/ slept little and thought much, and as
q result of it all l went next morning
at the earliest possible moment to the
Central Safe Deposit vaults, where we
kept certain documents of capital i'm
portance to our affairs. Among them
was the original contract drawn near
ly twenty years ago between Clarence
Desborough and Richard Stendhall,
whereby the former coded n part of the
control of his business to the latter. A
dozen other men in the same field of in
dustry had committed a similar indis-
erection, and then "Stendhall had exc
cuted the first grand coup of the career
which raised him to such heights of
wealth and power. How II was done
has never been disclosed-probably by
a trick as simple MS the commonest
slelght of hand. The salient fact Is
gate to himself powers not delegated
in these agreements, and when the
victims perceived his intent and turned
to study their contracts not one Of
those documents could be found. Then
began interminable lawsuits, marked
by incredible scandals, disgracing
many courts, but Stendhall's grip upon
that industry which he had planned to
seize grew always tighter. Some of his
opponents became his tools and waxed
rich; others were ruined. Two sue
cumbed to the stress Of the unequal
battle and died insane. One of these
was Clarence Desborough.
By what means the Desborough con-
tract escaped destruction l do not
know, but 1t was offered to the widow
by n wretched creature who had long
served Stendhall and had been discard
ed. My partner, Hammond. had just
formed the acquaintance OF the Des-
boroughs and had lost his heart to Al
ice, who was never in the least attract
ed toward him. The affair was put
into his hands. l naturally tool part in
the investigation which followed. We
satisfied ourselves of the g%enuineness
and Importance of the document and
advanced to Mrs. Desborough the mod
crate price demanded. It's value was
in the millions, but the man who sold
1t cared little for money, knowing him
self to be Oh the brink of the grave.
If Hammond was to play us false
this document would be the nucleus Of
his %treachery, and jealousy rather than
money the true motive. He fancled
that had displaced him with Alice,
but this was impossible for the reason
which l have stated. Indeed, no one
knew this better than he did in his
calmer moments, but jealousy is a kind
OF madness.
Surprising him to have had n trea-
sonable interview with Stendhall, there
was n fair probability that the con
tract had been exhibited, and with thl
thought in mind l went to the safe de
post box that morning. The result
seemed to Justify my suspicious, for
the precious document was not there.