The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1911-12-22
CHAPTER TX.

his two companions gazed with con-
trolled perturbation at Burning Day
light striding int the room. The free.
swinging movements of the trail-trav-
eler were unconsciously exaggerated in
that stride of his. In truth. it seemed
to him that he felt the trail beneath
his feet.
"Howdy, gentlemen. howdy," he re-
marked, ignoring the unnatural calm
with which they greeted his entrance.
He shook hands with them in turn,
striding from one to another and grip
ping their hands so heartily that Ma
thaniel Letton could not forbear to
vince. Daylight flung himself into a
massive chair and sprawled lazily, with
an appearance of fatigue. The leather
grip he had brought into the room he
dropped carelessly beside him on the
floor.
I've sure been going some," he sigh
ed. w SUR trimmed them beautifully.
1t was real slick. And the beauty Of the
play never dawned on me till the very
end. 1t was ure Il simple knock
down and drag out. And the way they
fell for it was amazin'."
Letton made a dry sound in his
throat. Dowsett sat quietly and wait
ed, while Leon Guggenhammer strug-
gled into articulation.
"You certainly have raised CAIN" he
said.
DayIight's black eyes flashed in a
pleasant way.
Didn't l. thought" he proclaimed.
S,I;lo-, A-l JfIvs{ uro fool sorof
l was t~eetotally surprised. l never
dreamed they would be that easy.
And now" he went on, not permit
ting the pause to grow awkward, I'VE
all might as we'll have an accounting.
I'm pullin' West his afternoon IN
that blamed Twentieth Century" He
tugged at his grip. got it open. and dip
| ned into it with both his hands. "Bat
don't forget. boys. when you-all want
me to hornswoggle Wall Street anoth-
er f1utter, all you-all have to do is
whisper the word. Ill sure be right
there with the goods"
His hands emerged. clutching a
great mass of stubs, check-books. and
brokers' receipts. These ne depos-
tied in a heap on the big table, and
dipping again. he ished out the strag-
glers and added them to the pile. He
consulted a slip OF paper. drawn from
his coat pocket and read aloud:
Ten million twenty-seven thousand
N forty-two dollars and sixty-eight
cents is my fgurin' on my expense.
OF course that-alls taken from the
winnings before we-all get to fgurin'
on the whack-up. Where's YOU fig.
ures? 1t must a. been a mighty big
cleanup"
The three men looked their bepuz
element at one another. The man was
a bigger fool than they had imagin
ed, or else he was playing a game
which they could not divine.
Nathaniel Letton moistened his lips
and spoke up.
1T will take some hours yet. Mr.
Harnish, before the full accounting car
be made. Mr.. Howison is at work upor
it now. We-ah-as you say, it has
been a gratifying cleanup. Suppose
we have lunch together and talk i
over. I'll have the clerks work through
the noon hour so that you will hav.
ample time to catch your train"
Dowsett and Guggenhammer mani
tested a relief that was almost OBJ
vious. The situation was clearing. |
was ~disconcerting. under the circum
stances, to be pent in the same ROOF
with this heavy-muscled, Indian-lik,
man whom they had robbed. They re
m%embered unpleasantly the many stor
les of his strength and recklessness. l
Letton could only put him off lonl
enough for them to escape into the DO
Iced world outside the office door. al
would DC well; and Daylight showed
all the signs Of being put OF.
I'm real glad to hear that" he said
Il don't want to miss that train. ant
you-all have done me proud, gentle
men, letting me in on this deal.
Just do appreciate it without bein,
able to express my feelings. But an
sure almighty curious. and I'd like ter
rible to know. Mr.. Letton. what you
figures of our winning is. Can you-al
give me a rough estimator"
Nathaniel Letton did not look az
pealingly at his two friends, but in tn,
brief pause they felt that appeal pas
out from him. Dowsett, of sterne
mold than the others. began to divin'
that the Klondiker was playing. Blu
the other two were still under tn
Establishment Of his child-like innc
|. cence.
1T is Observation-Disclosures" Leo
Guggenhammer began. You g War
! Valley a luctuated so, er-
. That no estimate can possibly b
: made in advance" Letton supple
mented.
Approximate it. approximate It,
{ Daylight counselled. cheerfuIly. 81
/ don't hurt II you-all are a million GU
one side or the other. The figuress
, straighten that up. But I'm that cur
3 GUS I'm just itching all over. VIII
dye say"
II Why continue to play At cross pul
poses?" Dowsett demanded abrupt
: and coldly. Let M have the explain,
{ ton here and nov. Mr.. HarnisANtsl