Rocky Ford enterprise., 1910-11-04
CHAPTER iv-continued.


feet. face down. head peering under
the berth. Now he got,.un without
apology. revealing the man who had
summoned the conductor. He was
dusty. alert, cheerful, and he dragged
up with him the dead mans suitcase.
The sight of 1t brought back to me at
once my. own predicament.
II don't know whether there's any
connection or not. conductor said.
'but am n victim, too. in less degree;
I've been robbed of everything pos
sess. except a red and yellow bath
robe. happened 70 be wearing the
bath-robe. which was probably the
reason the thief ovariooked.it"
There was a. fresh murimur in the
crowd. Somebody laughed nervopsly.
The conductor was irritated. =.
81 CANT bother, with that now" he
snarled. The railroad company Is
responsible for Transportation. not for
clothes. jewelry and morals: II pco.
pie want to be stabbed and robbed In
the ccmpany's cars. It's their affair.
Why didn't you sleep in your clothes!
I do"
took an angry step forward. Then
somebody touched my arm. and / un-
clenched my fist. fcould understand
the conductors position. and beside.
in the law. had been guilty myself
OF contributory negligence.
I'm not trying to make you re-
sponsible." protested. as amiably as
l could, and ! believe the clothes the
thief left are as good as ms own They
are certainly newer. But my valise
contained valuable papers. and It is to
your interest as well as mine to find
the man who stole It."
why. of course" the doctor said
shrewdly. Find the man who skipped
out with this gentleman's clothes. and
you've probably got the murderer"
''r went to bed In lower nine I
said. my mind full again OF myrlost!
papers .'and I wakened in number
seven. ! was up in the night prowl-
ing around. rs I was unable to sleep,
and must have gone back to the
wrong berth. Anyhow. until the DOR.
ter wakened me this morning I Knew
nothing of my mistake. In the inter-
val the thiefTmurderer. too. perhaps
must have come back. discovered
my error. and taken advantage of It
to further his escape" ?; 81.
The inquisitive man iiboked at me
from between narro%ed."eyefids. fer
ret-liRe. ~" 80
did anyone on the train III ii suspect
you of having valuable papers?- he
inquired. The crowd was listening in
tently. o.. .. e: t,gt- ..
NO one." Ians~ered promptly and
positively. -
The doctor was investigating. the
murdered mans effects. The pockets
OF his trousers contained the usual
miscellany OF keys and small change.
while In his hip pocket was found a
small pearl-handled revolver of :. the
type women; usually keep; around. A
gold watch with a Masonic charm had
slid down between the mattress and
the window, while snowy diamond
stud was still fastened in the bosom
OF his shirt. Taken as a whole. the
personal belongings were those OF a
man OF some means. but without any.
particular degree OF breeding The
doctor heaped them together 'F"
: EITHER robbery was not the mo-
tive" he reflected. "or the thief over
looked these things In his hurry
The latter hypothesis. seemed the
more tenable. when. after a thorough
search. we found no pocketbook and
less than dollar in small change.
The suitcase gave no clew. 1t con-
.tained one empty leather-covered flask
and pint bottle, also empty, a change
of linen and isofne coflat n I1t-; ttl the
laundry mark. S. II. In the leather
Tag on the handle was a card WITH the
name Simon Harrington. Pittsapyg. -
The conductor sat down on my AIn.
made berth. across. and made an en-.
try, of the name and address. :Ihen,
on an old envelope. he wrote a lew
words and gave 1t to the portct, who
disappeared. ."
Il guess that's Gil can ds," he
said I've had enough trouble this
rip to last for a ysar. They don't
aeed p conductor on these trains any
NOR: wnat they ought to have is.
sheriff and a posse"
The porter from the next car came
In and whispered to him. The con-
ductor rose unhappily.
Next cars caught the disease. be
grumbled. Doctor. woman baclH
there has got aIumps or bubonfc
plague. or something VIII you come
back7"
The strange porter stood asida