The Caldwell watchman. (Columbia, La.) 1885-1946, 1912-05-17
CHAPTER TX.

LeDuc was medium-sized, man,
wiry of build and tough as whale
| bone. His eyes were restless and the
faint smile which hung habtually
about his lips was offset by hawk
ISL nose. had known him ever since
we had attended the same school as
youths. Later on he had naturally
gravitated into the service OF one of
the big detective agencies: had been
successful on important cases with a
uniformity that mere good luck could
not account for, and having thus &C.
quired reputation had established
an agency Of his own. l had seen
very little Of him in the last ten years,
but as boys We had been more or less
chummy, the difference in our ages
having been peutralized by the phys.
ical fact of my being considerably
larger for my years than was he.
had admired him in those days for his
remarkable agility and strength. As
1t is quality Of brain matter which
counts rather than quantity, so it is
equally true Of muscle. And while
Billy was not especially powerfully
made as far as appearances went, his
muscles were like piano wire and the
bulk of his competitor in a physical
contest was to. him a matter of su-
preme disregard. Moreover, he was
shrewd and pleasant to meet and a
decent fellow withal, and our friend
ship had wendell along smoothly un.
I'll the inevitable separation of our life
paths. AS he had never called to
see me before, it took no rare instinct
on my part to divine that this visit
was not purely social one.
DR.. Courtney passed us in the hall
on his way back to his Office, and
with a farewell salutation to him I
led my old friend up to my private
quarters. He seated himself and I
gave him a cigar. No sooner had he
got 1t burning to his satisfaction than
he preached the subject of his visit,
Il have just heard that you have
had a robbery Of some consequence"
he began. I assented with the remark
that 1t was a beastly affair. LeDuc's
eyes had always impressed me as hav.
ing the alertness Of a watching
hawks, and now noted that they
were flicking about the room as
though searching for some lost article
and apparently overlooking nothing.
He continued:
i don't suppose under the circum.
stances that it is necessary for me to
state the object of my visit, although
| presume may as we'll do so. When
/ got wind of this affair it occurred
to me that perhaps l might be of as.
sistance to you professionally, and
even If that were not the case that I
would be glad to see you again on
general principles. So hurried right
over. But now that we have shaken
hands and looked each other over I
am anxious to know the particulars of
this a1air-thief catcher's instinct. you
know. Mind telling me about it,"
Not In the least. Glad you came. !"
l returned heartily. Without further
ado briefly outlined the salient facts
in the case as they had come under
my observation. He then asked me
a few questions as to who had pos.
sessed the keys, and such like to
which l gave him the same answers
that had the police. He listened quiet
ly and without comment, and then
expressed wish to be introduced to
Uncle Abner, whereupon Immediate
ly took him to the adjoining room
and made them acquainted. ,LeDuc
settled down to business without de.
lay.
las you perhaps know, am a pro.
fesslonal detective and cases like this
are strictly my specially. take it
Tor granted that you wish to appre.
mend the parties who did this Job, and
that you would like to recover your
money. or as much of it as possible.
mat being the case I would like to
make an arrangement with you. | am
IN more favorable position to get
you results than are the regular po-
lice for a number of reasons. In the
first place l am better equipped for
1t than are the majority of them, both
oy nature and education. 1t is mat
ter Oh common observation that the
smart crook is smarter than the av.