The Lake County times. [volume] (Hammond, Ind.) 1906-1933, 1907-02-07

well, you and Morgan are a Inc
pair, l must say. l thought he had
some sense and that you'd see to it
that he didn't make a mess Of this
whole thing. He's in bed now with a
hole in his arm and you've got to go
on alone"
I'll do my best, Mr. Pickering"
Don't call me by name. on idiot.
We're not advertising our business
from the housetops"
Certainly not" replied Bates hum
bly,.
The blood was roaring through my
head, and my hands clenched as
stood there listening to this colloquy.
chickering's voice was-and is-un-
mistakable There was always purr-
ing softness in it. He used to remind
me at school of a sleek, complacent
cat, and I hate cats with particular
loathing.
rs Morgan lying or not when he
says he shot himself accidentally"
demanded Pickering petulantly.
Il only know what l heard from
the gardener here at the school. You'll
understand, l hope, that l can't be
seen going to Morgan's house"
"Of course not. But he says you
haven't played fair with him, that you
even attacked him few days after
Glenarm came"
Yes, and he hit me over the head
with a club. 1t was his indiscretion,
sir. He wanted to go through the IL
brary in broad daylight, and it wasn't
any use, anyhow. There's nothing
there"
But 1 don't like the looks of this
shooting Morgan's sick and out Of
his head. But a fellow like Morgan
isn't likely to shoot himself accident
ally, and now that it's done the work 8
stopped and the time is running on.
What do you think Glenarm sus-
pects?"
Il can't tell, sir, but mighty little,
I should say. The shot through the
window the first night he was here
seemed to shake him a trife, but he's
quite settled down now, 1 should say,
sir. That shot of Morgan's was a
isn't to be frightened away as easily
| as that"
"Morgan's fool. But what is Glen
/ arm doing? He probably doesn't spend
much time on this side Of The fence
| doesn't haunt the chapel, fancy?"
Lord, no! l hardly suspect the
young gentleman Of being 4 praying
man"
You haven't seen him prowling
about the house analyzing the archi-
| lecture"
Not a bit of it, sir! He hasn't,
should say, what his revered grand
father called the analytical mind"
Pickering stamped his feet upon the
paved porch floor In a way that I re
membered of old. 1t marked a con
clusion, and preluded serious mis-
takes.
'Now, Bates" he said with ring
of authority and speaking in a louder
key than he had yet used, its your
| duty under all circumstances to helI
discover the hidden assets of the es
tate We've got to pluck the mystery
from that architectural monster over
there, and the time for doing 1t is
short enough. Mr. Glenarm was &
rich man. To my own knowledge he
had a couple of millions, and he
couldn't have spent it all on tina
house. He reduced his bank account
to a few thousand dollars and sweep
out his safety deposit boxes with {
broom before his last trip to Yer
mont He didn't die with the stuff ii
his clothes, did he?"
Lord bless me, no, sir! There was
little enough cash to bury him, witt
you out of the country and me alone
with him.
He was crank and l suppose h,
got lot of satisfaction out of buryinl
his money. But this hunt for it ism
, funny. I supposed Of course we'd di
it up before Glenarm got here or
shouldn't have been in such a hurr
to send for him. But it's over Their
somewhere in the grounds. Their
must be plan Of the house tina
would help. I'll give you a thousan
; dollars the day you wire me you hav
found any sort of clue"
Thank you, sir
81 don't want thanks, l war
the money or securities, or whateve
1t is. I've got to go back to my ca
now, and you'd better skip home. Yo
need't tell your young master tia
I've been here"
l was trying hard to remember, q
I stood there with clenched hands GU
side the chapel porch, that Arthu
l chickering's name was written in tn
list of directors of one Of the large:
J trust companies IN America and tia
j he belonged to the most exclusiv
4 clubs in New York. l had come OF
for my walk with only an inverness
E over my dinner Jacket, and | We
thoroughly chilled by the cold mis-
:. I was experiencing, too, an inner col