The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1907-07-12

m4t
~sn=.e4 ~As 81 as 49, e~e.
POTTER AsEAt54Ay
.s ~4s ti.s deliberate sepiy ~ ;Ar
- ] cAaa s~s II Aas nothing 70 d. VIA Gus
toifss sot II iHtefeslA ~. a4.G / want u
-sNo Joe.
a.. ! help you
No. ! don't mink So.
""hat shall 1 dor
60 home 81 ahead with your dinner
sad leave the rest 10 me
Hut how can ! give tire ,tttirr without
The opaisf II don't get them before We
oil down al . O'Clock In have to provide
other souvenirs. and II l do thai Haz-
Aard and Winchell Will think I'm "A bluff
fer
II said go ahead with the dinner re-
piled the CHIEF. with n trace OF asp-rity
IN his voice. You've got TO take a chance.
I'm not infailible. / may succeed or ]
may fail, Tho thing for you to do u to
look and act as natural as possible. Don't
say anything to any one. Simply play
the part OF an agreeable and self-con-
tanned host.
Potter arose. shook hands all around and
left the ROOM. looking far from satisfied.
Forward gazed at the chief inspector In a
curious manner.
This case seems to be without begin
ming or end" he ventured.
The old man, who was pulling off his
s'hohlhs JACKET preparatory TO leaving the
house. nodded.
CLANCY he remarked. You heard all
that was said. Go to the appraisers
stores, find out all you can there and If
necessary go to the residence of the ex-
aniner who passed the opals and pump
him dry. Forward. I'm going to press
you into service also. Look up this man
West. Shadow him for the next two hours
and then you and Clancy report to me
here at s O'Clock tonight
They separated and went their several
ways. Promptly az the hour designated
all three returned to the Washington
square apartments.
Well, Clancy" said tho chief to his
assistant. what have you to report?'
The dapper little fellow seemed dis
turbed. AS he spoke his voice trembled:
THE opals were delivered all right;
they have the receipts to show that, but a
queer thing happened"
What was that?'
Why, you know Harmer, the exam
iner?"
Certainly" said the old man, what
about him.
He's very SICK" replied Clancy. He
appraised the opals this afternoon and
started home in the best of spirits, but be-
fore he reached there we was taken with
a higa fever and an hour ago he had tc
be operated on for appendicitis. The at
q GdiLo SO suddenly mat II unnerVeO
the man and all Of the members Of his
family. l just left there. The doctor says
the operation was a success and that he
will recover, but he certainly had a close
call"
rs that alp" asked the chief, grimly.
That's ALL" murmured Clancy, and ]
think it's enough, too.
Without noticing the observation of his
assistant, Barnes turned to Forward:
What did you find out about George
West?"
West got the opals all right" replied
the chemist, and apparently delivered
them into the hands Of Mary Martin, the
servant, at Potter's house, but by a
strange fatality he was afterward knocked
down by a team While crossing the street
In front of Washington square, and he is
now In st. Vincent's hospital with a brok-
en- leg. The surgeons set it and say thai
it will knit and heal up all right. But the
poor fellow will be on the broad of his
back for the next four weeks"
Again the chief smiled that grim smile,
He spoke in a low voice:
u suppose l might as Well hand in my
little contribution. I have verified what
you both tell me. The opals We're deliv-
cred by Harmer and properly receipted
for. George West carried them to Potter's
house and handed them to the servant
girl, and she insists that she placed them
mn q y Z. wv ldi, 81 Soou,
but about an hour ago she was hurrying
through the dining room. when she slipped
ana fell on the polished floor and smashed
a magnificent vegetable dish that had been
a family heirloom for over a hundred
years. The dinner is beginning now, but
Mary Martin, who was to have helped the
caterer, is in her room crying her eyes
out"
What about the caterer?'
Mrs. Potter vouches for him. She says
that he came to the house this afternoon
and brought two colored assistants with
him. She sat in the receation hall, where
she could see or hear him all the time. and
she is positive that he did not go upstairs
Turing the time he was In the house."
Clancy noticed a CLINT of satisfaction in
the chiefs eye.
Were all at sea- he said; but you've
got something up your sleeve. What is
it?"
The old man smiled that inscrutable
smile of his. He shook his head.
Never count your icken before
they're Matched. l can tell you nothing at
present."
Meantime the dinner of the Last Mans
club had started at the home of Clarence
Potter. The quaint dining room with
its old fashioned decorations was pref
tily arranged for the occasion. A mirror
covering the center of the table. deftly
trimmed with moss. easily created the flu
sion Of a placid stream Of water. Flowers
and lighted candles added to the cheer
fitness, while several musicians hidden be-
hind a mass of artificial shrubbery dis
coursed such sweet harmony that the sur
viving member of the club, with one ex-
ception, felt as if they were in Elysium.
That exception was the host. Potter.
who sat at the head of the table. alternat-
ed between agony and bliss. 1t would be
the most successful dinner in the history of
the club-if it were not for the opals. He
had been reluctant to begin without the
stones, but he remembered the explicit di-
%rections Of the chief inspector and he was
grimly obedient. The oysters had been
served, and Potter between the bivalves
strained his ears for the ring of the door
bell that would announce the arrival of
Barnes. But the course came and de-
parted and there was no sign of the old
man. The soup followed. and the dis
tracted host scalded his mouth in a bung-
ling attempt at trying to talk, to listen
for a sound at the front door and to eat
at the same time. Presently his agitated
manner was noticed, and the members be-
gan to banter him on his melancholy ap-
pearance. Hazard and Wtnchell were
especially boisterous because they believed
his uneasiness was due to his doubt about
-.