The Montgomery tribune. (Montgomery City, Mo.) 1892-1910, 1910-07-29
CHAPTER |.
I Co to Pittsburg.

never liked II, and since the Strange
case of the man in lower ten, l have
been a bit squeamish. Given a case
like that, where you can build up a
network of clews that absolutely in
scriminate three entirely different peo-
pie, only one of whom can be guilty,
and your faith in circumstantial evil
dense dies of overcrowding. l never
see a shivering, white-faced wretch in
the prisoners dock that l do not bark
back with shuddering horror to the
strange events on the Pullman car
Ontario, between Washington and
Pittsburg, on the night of September
9, last.
Mcknight could tell the story a
great deal better than I, although he
cannot spell three consecutive words
correctly. But, while he has imagi-
unation and humor, he is lazy.
1T didn't happen to me, anyhow"
Yhe protested, when / put 1t up to him.
f"And nobody cares for secondhand
Z thrills. Besides, you want the I'M
vanished and ungarnished truth, and
Q'm no hand for that. I'm a lawyer"
So am /, although there have been
times when my assumption in that
particular has been disputed. / am
unmarried, and Just old enough to
dance with the grown-up little sisters
of the girls / used to know. / am fond
of outdoors, prefer horses to thea fore-
said grown.up little sisters, and with
out sentiment Gam" crossed out and
was" substituted.-Ed.) and COM
plctely ruled and frequently routed by
my housekeeper, an elderly widow.
In fact, of all the men of m &C.
Quaintance, I was probably the most
prosaic, the least adventurous, the
one man in a hundred who would be
likely to go without a deviation from
the normal through the orderly pro-
-cession of the seasons, summer suits
to winter ~flannels, golf to bridge.
So 1t was a queer freak of the de-
of chance to perch on my un-
susceptible 30-year-old chest, tie me
up with a crime, ticket me with a
love affair, and start me on that SEN
ssational and not always respectable
Journey that ended SO surprisingly less
than three weeks later in the firms
private office. 1t had been the most
remarkable period of my life. I would
: neither give 1T up nor live 1t again
under any inducement. and yet all
that / lost was some 20 yards off my
drive!
1t was really Meningitis turn to
make the next journey. l had a
tournament at Chevy Chase for Satur-
day, and a short yacht cruise planned
for Sunday, and when a man has been
grinding at statute law for a week, he
needs relaxation. But Mcknight
begged off. 1t was not the first time
he had shirked that summer in order
to run down to Richmond, and / was
:surly about It. But this time he had
4. new excuse.
II wouldn't be able to look after the
business If L did 60" he said. He has
a ort of wide-eyed f%rankness that
makes one ashamed to doubt him.
I'm always car sick crossing the
mountains. It's a fact, Lollie. See
saving over the peaks does 1t. Why,
crossing the Allegheny mountains has
the gulf stream to Bermuda beaten to
a FRAGILE"
So / gave him up finally and went
home to pack. He came later In the
evening with his machine, the Can
nonball, to take me to the station, and
ne brought the forged notes In the
Bronson case.
"Guard them with your life," he
warned me. 'They are more precious
nnan honor. Sew them in your chest
protector, or wherever people keep
valuables. I never keep any I'll not
be happy until I see Gentleman Andy
doing the lockstep."
He sat down on my clean collars,
found my cigarettes and struck a
snatch on the mahogany bed post with
one movement.
where's the Pirate?" he demanded,
The Pirate is my housekeeper, Mrs.
Klopton, a very worthy woman. so
a~abeled-and libeled-because of a fe.
rocious pair of eyes and what Nc.
Knight called a ~bucaneering nose. ]
quietly closed the door into the hall.
Keep your voice down, Richey," ]
said. "She is looking for the evening
paper to see II it is going to rain. She
has my ~raincoat and an umbrella wait,
dng in the hall"
The collars being damaged beyond
repair. he left them and went to the
window. He stood there for some
time, staring at the blackness that
represented the wall IF the house
next door.
TITS raining now" he said over his
shoulder, and closed the window and
the shutters. Something In his voice
anade me glance up, but he was watch.
ang me, his hands idly In his pockets
who lives next door," he inquired
In a ~perfunctory tone. after q pause
Il was packing my razor.
House is empty" I returned absent
~. 'If the landlord would put It fr