The Nevada County picayune. (Prescott, Ark.) 190?-current, 1909-04-08

VI winter own spy, appeared before
he had waited three minutes. He re-
ported that the old gentleman got into
a cab with his secretary and the valet.
and the other gentlemen took another
cab. The secretary paid the bill Had
he gone sooner than expected? No;
he had engaged the rooms until Thurs
da, night; this was Thursday night.
The colonel asked about the next
room, which was directly on the cross
corridor leading to the elevator. The
detective had been instructed to watch
1t. How long had the Fireless Cooking
Stove man had it? There was no meat
for suspicion in the answer. The stove
man had come the day before the
Keatcham party. He was a perfectly
commonplace, good-looking young man,
representing the Peerless Fireless
Cooking Stove with much picturesque
eloquence; he had sold a lot of stoves
to people in the hotel, and he tried
without much success to tackle 'old
Keatcham;" he had attacked even the
sleuth himself He gave me a
mighty good cigar too" chuckled the
red-headed one
'Hmn, you got it now?"
Only the memory" the boy grinned
you ought to have kept it, Birdsall
would tell you; you are watching
every one in these rooms. Did it have
a necktie? And did you throw that
away"
NO sir, l kept that; after I got to
smoking, l just thought I'd keep it,"
When he took the tiny scrap of pa
per from his pocket-book the colonel
eyed it grimly. "A de Villar Y Villar,'"
he read, with a slight ironic infection
Decidedly our young Fireless Stove
promoter smokes good cigars,"
Maybe Mr.. Keatcham gave it to
him. He was in there
Was he? Oh, yes, trying to sell
his stove-but not succeedins?"
He said he was trying to get past
the valet and the secretary; he thought
If he could only get at the old man and
demonstrate his stove he could make
the sale. He could cook all right, that
Teller"
The colonel made no comment, and
presently betook himself to his aunt.
She was waiting for him in the parlor,
playing solitaire. Through the open
door the white bed that ought to have
been Arches was cleaning family.
The colonels brows met.
We'll, BERTHE? Did you find any
thine?" Mrs. Winter inquired,
smoothly
I'm afraid not; but here is the re-
port" He gave it to her, even down
to the cigar wrapper.
1T doesn't seem likely that Mr..
Keatcham has anything to do with it,"
said she He, no doubt, has stolen
many a little railway, but little boy
is too small game"
~'Oh, don't suspect Keatcham; but
| wish / had caught the elevator to-
queer way
did you recognize his secretary as
any one whom you ever saw before?"
asked Mrs. Winter.
Il can't say" was the answer, given
with a little hesitation. I'm not sure"
Il don't think l quite understand
you, BERTHE; better make clean
breast of all you know. I'm getting
little worried myself"
The colonel reached across the cards
and tapped his aunt's arm affectionate-
". He felt the warmest impulse to-
ward sympathy for her that he had
ever known; it glistened in his eyes.
Mrs. Winters cheeks slowly Grim
soned: she turned her head, exclaim-
ing. did she hear a noise; but the
coloneTs keen ears had not been
warned. Poor woman" he thought,
"she is worried to death, but she will
not admit 1t"
"Now, BERTHE" said Mrs. Winter,
calmly, but her elbow fell on her
cards and spoiled very promising
game of Penelope's Web, now, Ber-
tie. what are you keeping back?'
Then, at last the colonel told her OF
his experience in Chicago. She heard
him quite without comment, and he
could detect no shift of emotion In her
demeanor CT absorbed but perfectly
calm attention, unless certain ten
sion of attitude and feature (as If, he
phrased 1t, she were holding herself
in') might be so considered. And he
was not sure of this. When he came
to the words which stuck in his throat,
the sentence about Miss Smith, she
smiled frankly, almost laughed.
At the end of the recital-and the
colonel had not omitted word or
look in his memory-she merely said;
Then you think Cary Mercer has kid
mapped Archie, and the nice-looking
Harvard boy is helping him."
Don't you think it looks that way,
YOURSELF"
She answered that question by an
other one: But you don't think, do
you, that Janet is the Miss Smith men,
tiouad op