Waterbury evening Democrat., 1906-04-14

Thinking of these things, David Kent walked uptown when he might have taken car When the toxin of panic is in the air there is no antidote like vigorous action.
 Passing the Western Union central office, he stopped to send Ormsby a second telegram, reporting progress and asking him to be present in per- son at the denouement to put the facts on the wire at the earliest possible instant of time. Everything depends upon this" he added, when he had made the message otherwise emphatic. If we miss the morning papers, we are done"
 While he was pocketing his change It the receiving clerks pigeon-hole, a cab rattled up with a horse at a gal lop, and Stephen Hawk sprang out. Kent saw him through the plate-glass front and turned quickly to the public writing-desk, hoping to be overlooked. He was. For once in way the ex- district attorney was too nearly rattled to be fully alert to his surroundings. There were others at the standing desk; and Hawk wrote his message, after two or three false starts, almost st Rents elbow.
 Kent heard the chink of coin and the aow-spoken urgings for haste at the receiving clerks window; but he for bore to move until the cab had rattled aEay. Then he gathered up the spoiled blanks left behind by Hawk and sho6thed them out Two of them bore nothing but the date line, made illegi- ble, 1t would seem, by the writer's haste and nervousness. But at the third attempt Hawk had got as far as the address: "To All Trans-Western Agents on Western Division"
 Kent stepped quickly to the receiver: window. The only expedient he could think of was open to reproach, but i, xas no time to be over-scrupulous.
 Pardon me-" he began, but didn't the gentleman who was just here for get to sign his message?' r The little hook caught it's minnow. Thereceiving clerk was folding Hawks message to place it in the leather car rier of the pneumatic tube, but he opened and examined it.
 "No," he said; tits all right: J. B. Halkett. G. S."
 "Ah!" said Kent. That's little odd. Mir. Halkett Is out of town, and this gentleman, Mir Hawk, is not in his department. believe should investi- gate little before sending that, if 1 were you"
 Having thus sown the small seed of suspicion, which, by the by. fell on bar ren soil, Kent lost no time in calling up M'Tosh over the nearest telephone.
 Do our agents on the Western Di- vision handle Western Union busi- ness?" he asked.
 The reply came promptly.
 Yes: locally. The W.-U. has an in- dependent line to Breezeland Inn and points beyond"
 Well, our right-of-way man has just sent a telegram to all agents, signing Halkett's name. i don't know what he said in 1t, but you can figure that out for yourself"
 You bet I can!" was the emphatic rejoinder. And then: Where are you now?" .fDs I'm at the Clarendon public phone, but am going over to the Argus of- flee. I'll let you know when leave there. Good-by."
 When Kent reached the night editors den on the third floor of the Argus building he found Hildreth i'm 'mersed chin-deep in a sea of work. But he quickly extricsted himself and cleared a chair for his visitor. : Praise bel" he calculated. T was beginning to get anxious. Large things are happening. and you didn't turn up. I've had Manville wiring all over town for you"
 What are some of the large things" asked Kent, lighting his first cigar since dinner.
 Well, for one: do you know that your people are on the verge of the much-talked-of striker"
 | Yes; I knew it this morning. That was what I wanted you to suppress in the evening edition"
 T suppressed it all right; didn't know it-day and date, mean. They kept it beautifully quiet But that isn't all Something is happening at the capitol I was over at the club , little while ago, and Hendricks was there Somebody sent in a note. and be positively ran 10 get out When I eame back, I sent Rogers over to Cassatti's to see if he could find you. There was a tunto dinner eonfab on: Meigs, Senator Crowley, three or four of the ring aldermen and half a dozen wa-vard politicians Rogers has a bose for news. and when he had 'phoned me you weren't there. he hung iroand on the s6ges.-
 Good men you have. HiIdreth. That did the uninpeaehable Rogers ne7"
 He sar on a large scale iust what | had seen on a small one: soneboiy pup-passed a note in. and when it had gone the round of the dTnner-tzbie those fellows tunbled over each ether trying to get away"
 -Is that aII7- Kent inquired
 "So. Apart from his nose. Rogers is gifted with horse senss- When the | dinner crowd boarded an uptown car. our man paid fare to the same con- ductor. He wired me from the Hotel Brunsuick . fe- minutes aga There is some sort of . osuc1s snfrx oa ia i