The Washburn times. [volume] (Washburn, Wis.) 1896-1976, 1909-08-26
THE TRAITORS THUMB.

1
sheet. what do you make it work out
at Willie?"
Willie Stamfords face looked rather
white as he slowly totaled the amount
that Hardwick and his partner had won;
| he was already realizing what fool he
| had been to attempt to play bridge
against man with Hardwick's motor
ious luck.
Il think" he said at last, cit is exact
| ly $3.50. I'll have to send you a check,
| Hardwick."
"All right, returned the other man
easily. mo hurry, old chap. Nobody
game for another rubber, Ell? Well, it
is a bit late. Have whisky and soda
before we go, you fellows"
''You do have the most extraordinary
| luck, Guy" said Willie as the club wait
er departed for what one of them called
a stirrup cup.
"Luck!" said Hardwick. ''You may
well say that; I've got mascot, you
| know"
Mosan, his partner, laughed somewhat
skeptically.
at is all very we'll to laugh at what
you don't understand. but I'm not jok-
ing. Look here, if you fellows will hold
your tongue I'll show you the thing"
Hardwick took silver cigar case
from his pocket and held it out to them
open. They peered over it eargerly,
wonder written large on the faces of all
three.
1t did not contain cigars. All that
there was inside it was curiously
shaped brownish, weezened shriveled OBJ
iect set in a wide gold rim of antique
workmanship, round which ran a some
what roughly executed Inscription.
wick. 81 found it amongst lot of odds
and ends when l succeeded my old uncle
at Hardwick. You know he would not
have left the place to me only l happen
to be the last Hardwick left, and he
went and chucked a whole lot of the
money-all he could in fact-to impos-
l was up a tree with the death duties
and that. Well. l was roofing about,
and as 1 say l found that grizzly relic
and a long rigmarole written on parch-
ment wrapped round it, which being in
terpreted and condensed informed the
reader that the owner of the thumb had
been a disreputable Hardwick who had
tried to betray some fortress for the
safety of which he was responsible.
He was caught red-handed sneaking off
with the keys of the front gate, and
somebody Topped off his thumb during
the resulting unpleasantness. The gen
tleman was subsequently boiled in oil
or hanged-I. forget ,which-and. the
thumb was picked, and sent to his sor-
rowing relatives as a little reminder not
to follow his distressing example. AS
for that chaste and elegant mounting,
don't know who put that on.
Il felt pretty desperate when | found
what a trick old Uncle Guy had played
on me, and as I stood one day with that
thing in my hand an idea flashed into
my head.
'''Good luck you bring, do your
said to myself. Well. Mr.. Traitor. we
will try your luck
II did. l went off with my last hun
dred pounds and a single ticket to Monte
The traitor certainly was all on for rou-
lette. Then 1 tried the stock exchange
and paid off the death duties and all
little worries like that. Apparently, all
is fish that comes to my lamented ances-
tors net; we scoop the dollars gaily in,
even when we play bridge for penny
points or beggar by neighbor with some
body's children. Well, good night, you
fellows"
He iounged out laughingly. putting the
silver cigar case carefully back into an
inner pocket as he did so.
Il wish,'' said Willie Stamford, as
they parted on the club steps, 'sOme
kind ancestor had left me a mascot"
Get Hardwick to lend you his" sug-
gested White, the man who had been
his partner; and he and Mason hailed
belated taxicab, leaving Willie alone
in the murky night, for Hardwick was
already out of sight.
groaned the young man to himself as he
walked along the deserted street
Heavens! Why, 1 can't raise fifty,
let alone Eve hundred. Brief1ess harris
tiers shouldn't play bridge Suddenly
something lying in the mud by the curb
caught his eye, as the hazy light from a
street lamp fell upon it. He picked it
up. 1t was a silver cigar case with
crest engraved upon ;t-Hardwick'
He opened it. his hands shaking with
excitement as he did so. There was no
mistake. Inside-sinister, crooked, lOath-
some-lay the gold-mounted traitors
thumb.
..Hardwick's luck" he exclaimed. by
George! He must have dropped it out
of his pocket and not noticed. I'll take
it round to him in the morning. 1t is
too late now"
He slipped the silver case into his
pocket, and suddenly Whites words as
flashed into his brain "Get Hardwick1
to lend you his hammered and
churned seething in his head. He pulled
out the case again. 'Why not borrow |
the thing for a bit?" he told himself. |
Not keep it, just borrow it for a week
OF. two to pull things round bit and |
refuse if I asked him, so I will say |
nothing about it. If it doesn't bring me |
luck I'll return it at once. At any rate, |
it is too good a chance to be thrown |
away"
He closed the case and again put it |
in his pocket as he reached the front |
door of the old house where he lived |
and pulled out a latch key.
After he had drawn the bolts he felt |
in his pocket the last edition of an even
ing paper at which he had not yet trou--
bled to look. He unfolded it and |
glanced absently through its columns.
''By George!'' he cried. 'Florida has |
won the Grand National. A 60 to 1 out |
sder and I have a flyer on the beast. |
Hardwick's luck has started me off with
$780,"
Three months later Willie Stamford, |
poor briefess. obscure no longer, en-
gagged to be married to a girl whom he
had loved for several years, but whom
he had not dared to ask before to share
the fortunes of younger son. stood wait
ing for the door of Hardwick's fat to |
be opened for him. In his pocket he |
carried the silver cigar case and its
withered crooked contents which at last i
he was returning to their owner. He was
going to make clean breast of what
he had done. Hardwick, he knew was
never a fellow to bear malice. Even as
a boy at school he had been a generous
hearted lad: Willie felt certain that
when he explained to him how very
tight a corner he had been in when the
traitors thumb came into his possession
he would understand and overlook what
Willie acknowledged to himself had been
a breach of honor, though the lapse had