Arizona republican. [volume] (Phoenix, Ariz.) 1890-1930, 1911-02-07
THE ADVENTURES OF
MR. PETER RUFF
BY {. Phillips oppenheim-Mrs. Bog
nor's Star Boarder.
(Copywright, 1909. by the Pearson Pub
fishing Coz
CONTINUED from Yesterday

1
He lives at a clearinghouse in
Russell Street, Bloomsbury" Sir
Richard said. at is Mrs. Bognor's
clearinghouse. She calls it, /. be-
lieve, the American Home from
| Home The number is IL
/ " A boarding house." Peter Ruff re-
/ peated, thoughtfully. Makes it a
little hard to get at him privately,
doesn't it?"
Fling him bait and he will come
to you," Sir Richard answered. He
is an adventurer pure and simple.
though perhaps you wouldn't believe
it to look at him now He has grown
fat on the money he has wrung from
me-"
"You had better leave the matter
in my hands for a few days" Peter
Ruff said Il will have a talk with
this gentleman and see whether he is
really so unmanageable. If he is.
there is, of course, only one way. and
for that way, Sir Richard, you would
have to pay little high"
a" If l were TO hear tomorrow" Sir
Richard said quietly, that Teddy
Jones was dead, / would give five
thousand pounds to the man vino
brought me the information!
Peter Ruff nodded.
1t would be worth that" he said
quite! | will drop you a line in the
course of the next few days"
Sir Richard took up his hat, lit an
other of Peter Ruff's cigarettes, and
departed. They heard the rattle of
the lift as it descended. Then Miss
Brown turned round in her chair.
Don't you do it, Peter! she said
solemnly. The time has gone by for
that sort of thing. The man may be
unfit to live, but you don't need to
risk as much as that for matter Of
five thousand pounds"
Peter Ruff nodded.
"Quite right" he said "quite
right, Violet. At the same time, five
thousand pounds is an excellent sum.
We must see what can be done"
Peter Rufus method of seeing what
could be done was at first the very
obvious one of seeking to discover
any incidents in the past of the per-
son known as Teddy Jones likely to
reflect present discredit upon him IL
brought to light. From the first, it
was quite clear that the career of this
gentleman had been far from immacu-
late. His researches proved, beyond
a doubt that the gentleman in queS-
ton had resorted, during the last
ten or fifteen years, to many and very
questionable methods of obtaining a
living. At the same time. there was
nothing which Peter Ruff felt that the
man might not brazen out. His pres
ent mode of life seemed-on the sur
face. at any rate-to be beyond re-
proach. There was only one associa-
ton which was distinctly question
able. and it was in this one direction,
therefore. that Peter Ruff concen-
trated himself. The case, for some
reason, interested him so much that
he took a close and personal interest
in it. and he was rewarded one day
by discovering this enemy of Sir
Richards sitting, toward five o'clock
in the afternoon. in a cafe in Re-
gent Street, engrossed in converse
ton with a person whom Peter Ruff
knew to be very black sheep in
/deed--a man who had been tried for
murder. and concerning whom there
were still many unpleasant rumors.
From behind his paper, in a corner of
the cafe, Peter Ruff watched these
two men. Teddy Jones-or Major Ed
ward Jones, as it seemed he was now
called-was a person whose appear
ance no longer suggested the poverty
against which he had been struggling
most of his life. He was we'll dressed
and tolerably well turned out. His
face was a little puffy, and he had
put on flesh during these days Of his
ease. His eyes, too, had somewhat
furtive expression, although his goD-
eral department was one of bragga-
docio. Peter Ruff, quick always in his
likes and dislikes, found the man re-
pulsive from the start. He felt that
he would have genuine pleasure
apart from the matter OF the five
thousand pounds, in accelerating
Major Jones's departure from a world
which he certainly did not adorn.
The two men conducted their con-
versation in subdued tone, which
made 1t quite impossible for Peter
Run. in his somewhat distant corner,
to averhear a single word Of 1t. II
was obvious, however, that they were
not on the best of terms. Major
Jones's companion was protesting,
and apparently without success,
against some course of action or
speech Of his companions. The con-
versation, on the other hand, never
reached a quarrel, and the two men
left the place together apparently on
ordinary terms of friendliness. Peter
Ruff at once quilted his seat and
crossed the room toward the spot
where they had been sitting. He dived
under the table and picked up a news
paper-it was the only clue left to
him as to the nature of their CONVEX
sation. More than once. Major Jones,
who had, soon after their arrival, sent
a waiter for it, had pointed to a GER
t9in paragraph as though to give
weight to his statements Peter Ruff
had noticed the exact position of that
paragraph. He smoothed out the
paper and found it at once. 1t was
an account OF the murder of a wealthy
old woman, living on the outskirts
OF country village not far from Lon
don. Peter Rufus face did not change