Omaha daily bee., 1911-04-16

life l viii put my faith in what myself
know OF Hardy Maxwell against all the de-
tectives and lawyers and Harteys In the
world"
Mcbride shrugged his shoulders, rs II he
had nothing to say In the face Of such
obstinacy as that. She went on:
but enough OF this can't We do some
thinge Can't we settle this uncertainty
somehow. and get to the bottom Of It all''
~ am ready to do anything YOU sug-
gest" he said quietly.
why not ask the police TO find him.
~ suppose they ste doing their best in
that direction now, II they know who he
is | Judge from the PAGERS that the whole
police force Of New York has been after
that gang for weeks
why. he was in the city every day. lie
went walking with me on the avenue. lie
belonged to q well known club why didn't
they arrest him them
Give II up" was all Mcbride could say,
for he was struck by the force Of her argu-
mcnts. shall I go TO the police and tell
them he was friend OF yours and went
walking with you?" lie smiled ironically,
Vest Certainly" she answered instantly.
You can tell them that. am not ashamed
of Hardy NJ. well You can tell them that
| went walking with him that he visited
me at my own home, and that | am en-
gagged TO him. And you can ada that
am not ashamed Of it either, and that
hope they will send for me the moment
they find him. | want to be the first 20 tell
him that no matter what he has been to
me, I was true to him. Two wrongs do not
make right MIR Mcbride, and his false
ness II such It be is no excuse for my be-
ing false to him.
Mr., Mcbride stood there stupefied, He
could not understand such philosophy.
why" he said, III any one were to come
and tell me facts as straightforward as
those l have told you, I would certainly
attach some weight Ito them, and take It
for granted that my informant was telling
the truth until | found ont the contrary"
II you were in love with girl and some
one came and told you stories about her.
you would take it quietly, and believe every
word of II, would you?'
why, of course The recollection OF
the language he had used to Mr.. Groscup
in the office the day before stopped him,
and he turned very red in the face, lie was
about to stammer something, when she
went on:
your arguments do not convince me at
all. l do not believe any dislnterested per-
son would listen to them Perhaps IL you
will go and tell the police that the dread
full forger they are looking for is Mr.. Max
WELL they might ask you for proofs. DO
you think your evidence would convict
him? II they asked me, I would swear on
a thousand bibles that he was innocent"
When he came to think over It, Mcbride
had to admit that he could not prove very
much. In spite of himself he felt that
she was right about one thing; there were
too many of Mr. llarteys fasehoods
floating round to make a straight story
out of what he had heard Finally he had
an idea.
You seem to be the only person, Miss
Ohstrom, who knew him as Maxwell At
the clubs aud at the hotel he was known
as Milton Fletcher There is no doubt
about his being the same man, as your
own Identification OF him is complete. Now,
why not ask the police to find Milton
Fletcher? Have you a picture Of him?'
NO." she said half regretfully, land
what is very curious, l have not line
from him. He never wrote me note, and
l never saw his handwriting"
But you can describe him. Suppose we
write 1t down"
Yes. she could do that, and while the
description may have been trifle flatter-
ing, 1t was fairly accurate; quite good
enough for any detective. The mustache
and the Vandyke, Mr.. Mcbride did not
think much Of He suggested that MIR.
Fletcher had probably cut all that off
when he ran away, IL it was not false in
the first place
oh not that she said, looking up
quickly. II cannot imagine him with "a
shaven face. Please don't describe him
without mustache." Mcbride was quite
sure the mustache was misleading; but it
lr,N
Maxwell was.
An hour later, one of the men at 800
Mulberry street was reading over that de-
scrlption carefully. He did(not think much
Of It, He wanted to know something about
the clothes Fletcher had on when last
seen, and was especially inqusitive as to
the probable motive for his disappearance
Was he in trouble, or I'm love? Did he
drink, or use drugs? Had he done anything
that was worrying him? Or had he Just
dropped out of sight? Had he any money
about him at the time, that he might have
been robbed Oft
Mcbride had no idea that he would be
asked so many questions He thought the
description Of the mans appearance was
quite enough; which made the officer smile
The most important thing OF all, the officer
told him, was where he was last seen
awe ana by Whom, McBrlde promised to
find out, and bring the information next
day, Somehow or other, ne was glad to get
out Of that office. He felt that he might
make a slip any moment, and that the
officer would see through the whole thing.
and lock him up as witness. lie would
then have to account for his knowledge of
the Ardmore gangs affairs.
That night every police platoon that went
on duty in New York city heard descrip-
ton of MI Milton Fletcher read out at
the stationhouse. From that day on, every
policeman in New York was supposed TO
have a special eye out for a handsome
young man about six feet tail, with black
hair; very quick and active in his move
ments and with an English accent AS
there are two or three such descriptions
read out every night, IT more than probable
that this one did not make any particular
impression. F1etcher's own observation
would probably apply, that as there was no
financial inducement for any officer to
devote his time and attention to that par