Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1910-09-22


the smoking-room. ! want to see
you"
Hanson" he asked, with a curl
of his lip. where did you get that
suit of clothes?"
What business is that of yours?"
| demanded.
IT'S lots of my business" he re-
torted THAT suit belongs to mel"
felt my muscles weaken all over,
but / kept up show Of bravado.
you must be crazy. Braxton!"I ex-
claimed in half whisper. II know
where | got this suit and l know that
it's not yours!"
Yes, and know where you got II,
too" he Kissed back. you took II
from the closet OF my room down at
the factory week ago! It's my suit"
'Braxton. you're wrong" | protest
ed, now thoroughly panic-stricken. IF
you must know the truth, | rented this
suit from Solomon's today. But do
hope you'll be gentleman enough not
to say anything about it,"
He laughed fiendishly. Likely
tale! Solomon doesn't buy stolen
suits. See here, Hanson, get your hat
and duck! If | catch you in the ball
room again, you thief. I'll tell Miss
Walker and all the others about you.
Duck, / say, duck, You can explain
to me tomorrow"
You'd better take my advice" was
his parting shot to me as he disap-
peared inside the ballroom.
In utter despair | sank down on a
chair. / would far rather have faced
the lannon's lurid breath than Miss
Walkers and Mr.. Cramps eyes after
this contemplate Braxton had said
six words to them.
And the worse of It was that he
might be right. / might have on his
suit 1t probably had been stolep
from his Office and sold to Solomon.
left the hotel without bidding any
body good-by. The first thing was to
get off the clothes was wearing; my
flesh seemed to be burning under
their weight rushed off to my
boarding house. and went upstairs.
But I didn't linger to ponder on my
feelings. went straight for Solo
mons. In five minutes ! had reached
that secondhand shop. 1t was as
dark as Egypt inside.
rang the door-bell. then pounded
on the door. There was no noise
within. But / knew that the owner
was sleeping upstairs. and / contin-
ued to pound and make all the racket
could without arousing the neigh
borhood.
Just as my patience was about ex-
ments. turned the knob and opened
the door a few inches.
What is it?" he queried in a gruff,
frightened voice.
I'm the man you rented dress
suit to today" I said. Its a stolen
suit and you've got to take 1t back!"
81 want you to write me a state
ment at once. saying that I rented
the suit from you" l said in deter
mined tones. THAT will square me
with the man who owns 1t. He Is
the assistant cashier in the cloak
mandatory. Give me this statement,
and then you two can fight 1t out"
"All right. I'll write it," he agreed.
leading the way back into one OF the
rooms
He took out piece of ruled paper
from his desk, and / dictated while
he wrote a line saying that I had
rented the suit from him. and that
he had bought 1t from a young man
with red hair. When he signed the
paper I took it. thanked him. and hur-
ried out of the place.
My steps led up the street in the
| direction of the factory. AS
walked I also racked my brain
to think of some young man
with red hair who might have stolen
the suit. There were three or four
hundred men in the place. and the
looking for a wheat grain in a sack
of oats.
AS the factory was close, I deter
mined to go to II and telephone to the
arrogant Braxton that Solomon had
given me a written statement exon
Grating me from blame. | dared not
go back to the hotel in my sack suit
for fear of causing comment and pos
sible exposure.
II was dark. but I did not turn up
the lights in going upstairs. ] made
my way over to the desk and in ST.
lence sat down to ponder a few mo-
ments over the words | would use in
'phoning and in writing to Braxton.
Finally. I decided just what to say
to him and was on the point of get
ting up to go over to the telephone,
when something don't know what
caused me to hesitate.
A strange feeling OF the presence
of another person in the room sud
denly came over me. Silently
peered into the darkness. my cares
alert for the slightest sound.
Them saw light-a round
bright light, flash out across the hall
through the open door. Was 1t the
night Waterman? | listened.
Distinctly ! heard soft footballs not
twenty feet away from me. The light
appeared again-this time holding