Omaha daily bee., 1911-03-12


Douglas, which Maynard seemed to re-
gard as a huge joke.
"Ten thousand dollars seemed TO be a
mere bagatene to them" remarked
Fletcher thoughttully. 81 have heard
about large wagers on the other side, you
know. and / believe that it Is true that
some very large bets are occasionally
made but to be brought face to face with
$4,000 bets in this way is rather a new
sensation, 1 confess"
"Then thousand, my dear fellow! Why,
Hartley must have an income of nearly
half million, and as for Douglas. he is a
plunger in everything. But. l say! Wasn't
Hartley fun, and didn't they go for each
other? And did you ever hear Of such
ridiculous propositions as they made? To
get some one TO rob a bank-wasnt it,
and then run away and hide and see if
the police could catch him"
Paul Maynard slapped his leg and
laughed aloud at the very recollection Of
IL.
Il took It that Douglas was quite in
earnest
ooh so he was, my dear fellow! quite!
When Douglas takes out that note book
Of his and puts down transaction involv-
If you told him you would be willing TO
pay a hundred and twelve for Canadian
Express stock, as / did once 1 got the
stock next day at noon"
"And l also took it." continued Fletcher,
as il not noticing the Interruption that
Mr.. Hartley would spend as much again
to help the police If he were betting on
them. Money is a powerful aid in such
a
ground at once. That is why private de-
tectives fail. They cannot afford to put a
hundred men on the job at once. Many a
man has escaped BECAUSE his pursuers had
not money enough to follow up all the
clues and then a reward is such power
full inducement to an officer to concen-
trate his efforts and let less important
things slide"
Il did not think Of that, the whole thing
being joke But of course you are quite
right l see you are a good Judge of hui
man nature; at least with regard to Hart
ley" Maynard added muslngly. He is
one Of the kind that doesn't let anything
stand in his way when the dollars are at
stake But here we are at the club"
Just as they reached the top step the
sound Of cab door slamming made them
turn round
by jove! Here's Douglas himself" said
Maynard, holding open the door for him.
You fellows here?" remarked Douglas.
nodding to each in turn. Dining, | sup
pose? Sorry | can't join you, but l have a
private dinner upstairs
"Awfully sorry, old chap" Maynard an
swered. I'VE were just talking about that
joke of yours with Hartley you know,
when you offered to bet him million"
Joke nothing!" blurted Douglas as he
stepped into the elevator, slipping his coat
check into his pocket. you are coming up
to Green's Saturday night, are you mott
And your friend2 Let me see; 1 forget the
name. Oh. yes; Mr.. Fletcher. / shall have
something TO propose on Saturday that
will make old Hartley think twice about
backing the omnipotence of the police
force of this town" and he waved his
hand to them through the elevator door as
he went up.
by jove believe he is really in earn,
est" said Maynard with laugh as he and
Fletcher strolled toward the dining room
After they were comfortably seated and
had ordered their cocktails and scanned
the menu critically, Fletcher reverted tC
the subject which was evidently mos
uppermost in his mind.
Eyes, l think Douglas is qule in earnest
! and what is more, l think l could hell
him a bit don't you know, with a sugges
tion or two. Were you ever hunted?"
The suddeness of the question made May
nard turn red in the face. Seeing his EN-
barrassment, Fletcher fastened to put tn,
idea he had in his mind in another way.
did you ever shoot without a dog?'
q why, no. I'm not fond of hunting"
81 don't mean hunting. l mean birds"
9 We'll, we call that hunting in this coun
= try, you know; because the birds are $,
scarce that we have to hunt for them
But what has that to do with Douglass
Il should judge that the hunt he pro
; poses would be quite as exciting and ever
more full Of surprises than shooting with
out a dog"
but you don't for moment suppos
>, that such thing as that will ever b.
attempted
such a thing as what? As settling tina
wager? Why, yes. | rather hope it will A
u least II a practical scheme could be foun
for the test don't you know"
Really. You amuse me. What singula
u ideas OF sport you Englishhen have {
: be sure. OF course, as you say, il woul
o he exciting II one could see anything O
= bank had been robbed and 10 wait for tn
n robber TO be caught does not strike me a
y particularly exciting All you could d
e would be to read the paper every morn
d ing, and then YOU might miss the item.
d Maynard paused a moment as If ponderin
i- over something
q You asked me a very curious questlo
1 just now" ne went on, 80 ] VIII tell 80
little story. Its not "a secret, az ] hay
D. told 10 several times lately / knew
S young man that was held up boy thrC
e ruffans when he was on his way to So
y a girl that lived out i'm the suburbs Of
Il certain town, and he shot one Of theI
plumb in the breast with a forty-fiye Colt
q, The fellow drew up his right leg-suI
sign that he was snot through the heart
, and staggered backward about twenty fe,
y, before he fell. Everybody else ran ava!
= Wen, the young man read the mornin
y papers behind locked doors for three week
!, after that. so that no one should see hin
start and remble or turn pale when b
came across the announcement OF th
finding OF the body.
Every policeman he met fascinated hin
npa aavr tfrrp{pu round aFfaF "a I,,Lr IN