The Iuka vidette. (Iuka, Miss.) 1894-1912, 1912-02-01
CHAPTER TX.

| ANatndAlcl lLttlOu Was tdlhiuS WuCn
the door opened; he ceased. and with
his two companions gazed with con-
trolled perturbation at Burning Day
light striding into the room. The free,
swinging movements of the trail-trav-
eler were unconsciously exaggerated in
that stride of his. In truth, 1t 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. We sure trimmed them beautifully.
1t was real slick. And the beauty Of, the
play never dawned on me till the very
end 1t was pure and simple knock
down and drag out. And the way they
fell for 1t was amazin"
Letton made 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
Dayiights black eyes flashed in
| pleasant way.
Didn't l. thought" he proclaimed.
jubilantly. "And didn't we fool 'em!
was teetotally 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 well have an accounting.
I'm pullin' West this afternoon on
that blamed Twentieth Century" He
tugged at his grip. got it open. and dip
ped into it with both his hands. But
don't forget, boys. when you-all want
me 10 hornswoggle Wall Street anoth-
err fiutter, all you-all have to do is
whisper the word. I'll sure be right
there with the goods"
His hands emerged, clutching a
| great udSS VI otui'os CucCh-DOOhot anu
brokers' receipts. These he depos-
tied in a heap on the big table. and
dipping again. he fished out the stxag-
glers and added them to the pile. He
consulted slip of paper, drawn from
his coat pocket and read aloud:
Ten million twenty-seven thousand
and forty-two dollars and sixty-eight
cents is my figurin' on my expense.
| OF course that-alls taken from the
winnings before veal get to figurin
on the whack-up Where's your fig
ures? 1t must a. been mighty big
cleanup"
The three men looked their bernz-
element at one another. The man 1ras
a bigger fool than they had ima4:n-
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 can
be made Mr.. Howison is at work upon
| it now. We-ah-as you say, 1t bias
been gratifying cleanup. Suppose
we have lunch together and talk It
over. I'll have the clerks work through
the noon hour SO that you will have
ample time to catch your train
IS. Dowsett and Guggenhammer mani
! fested a relief that was almost OBJ
! vious. The situation was clearing. 1t
was disconcerting. under the circum-
stances. to be pent in the same room
with this heavy-muscled. IndianIike
man whom they had robbed They re-
membered unpleasantly the many stor-
ieg OF his strength and recklessness. II
Letton could only put him on long
enough for them to escape into the po-
Heed world outside the Office door. all
would be we'll; and Daylight showed
all the signs Of being ptrs~of.
I'm real glad to hear that he said.
Il don't want to miss that train, sud
you-aIl have done me proud. gentle