Mountain Home maverick. [volume] (Mountain Home, Idaho) 1906-1911, 1911-07-27
CHAPTER lv-continued.

dpOiO6y, ltfcdltu6 luc man WIZ Hdu \
summoned the conductor. He was
dusty, alert, cheerful, and he dragged |
up with him the dead mans suitcase. |
The sight of it brought back to me at |
once my own predicament.
q don't know whether there's any
connection or not, conductor" l said.
"but l am a victim, too. in less degree;
I've been robbed of everything l pos
sess, except a red and yellow bath
robe. ! happened to be wearing the
bath-robe, which was probably the
reason the thief overlooked it,"
There was a fresh murmur in the
crowd Somebody laughed nervously.
The conductor was irritated.
81 can't bother with that now" he
snarled The railroad company is
responsible for transportation, not for
clothes. jewelry and morals. If peo-
pie want to be stabbed and robbed in
the company's cars, it's their affair.
Why didn't you sleep in your clothes?
/ do"
took an angry step forward. Then
somebody touched my arm, and l I'M
clenched my fist l could understand
the conductors position, and beside,
in the law, l had been guilty myself
of contributory negligence.
I'm not trying to make you re-
sponsible," l protested, as amiably as
I could "and / believe the clothes the
thief left are as good as my 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"
Il went to bed in lower nine" l
said, my mind full again of my lost
papers, land l Weakened in number
seven / was up in the night prowl-
ing around, as / was unable to sleep,
and I must have gone back to the
wrong berth. Anyhow, until the por-
ter Weakened me this morning | knew
nothing of my mistake. In the inter-
val the thief-murderer, too. perhaps
must have come back, discovered
my error, and taken advantage of it
to further his escape"
The inquisitive man looked at me
from between narrowed eyelids, fer
ret-like.
did anyone on the train suspect
you of having valuable papers?" he
inquired. The crowd was listening In.
tently.
mo one / answered 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 Masonic charm had
slid down between the mattress and
the window, while a snowy diamond
stud was still fastened in the bosom
of his shirt Taken as a whole, the
personal belongings were those Of {
man of some means, but without any
particular degree of breeding Tit
doctor heaped them together.
. Either robbery was not the mo
: tive" he reflected. "or the thief over
looked these things in his hurry"
The latter hypothesis seemed thu
more tenable, when, after a thorough
: search, we found no pocketbook an,
|. less than a dollar in small change
The suitcase gave no clew. It con
n tanned one empty leather-covered hasl
: and pint bottle. also empty, chang
4 Of linen and some collars with thu
laundry mark. S. H. In the leathe
: tag on the handle was card with tn
name Simon Harrington, Pittsburg.
q The conductor sat down on my ur
made berth, across, and made an en-
try of the name and address. Their
O on an old envelope. he wrote a fe,
i words and gave it to the porter. VIII
q disappeared.
4 Il guess that's all can do" b
said. I've had enough trouble thi
trip to last for a year. They don
/ need a conductor on these trains an
Il more: what they ought to have Is
d sheriff and a posse"
4 The porter from the next car cam
Il In and whispered to him The cor
n ductor rose unhappily.
J., Next cars caught the disease" b
grumbled Doctor. a woman bac
10 there has got mumps or buboni
!" plague. or something. VIII you com
V hack"
= The strange porter stood aside.