The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1912-03-27
CHAPTER TX.

lu6 uUOl OpcuCu, q SCoSCu' ono "N
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, It 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.
1--WE sure been going some" he sigh
ed. I'VE sure trimmed them beautifully.
1t was real slick. And the beauty Of the
| play never dawned on me till the very
end. It was pure and simple knock
down and drag out. And the way they
fell for 1t was amazin'."
Letton made a dry sound IN his
throat. Dowsett sat quietly and walt
ed, while Leon Guggenhammer strug-
1gled into articulation.
"You certainly have raised Cain" he
| said. - -.
D~aylight's black eyes flashed In a
pleasant way.
Didn't l. thought" he proclaimed.
jubilantly. And didn't we fool 'em!
l was teetotally surprised. never
dreamed they would be that easy.
And now" he went on. not permit
ting the pause to grow awkward. we
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 1t with both his hands. But
don't forget, boys. when you-all want
me to hornswoggle Wall Street anoth-
err 1utter, 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 mass of stubs, check-books. and
, brokers' receipts. These he depos-
tied in a heap on the big table. and
dipping again, he fshed out the strag-
| glers and added them to the pile. He
consulted a 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 fgurin' on my expense.
OF course that-alr's taken from the
winnings before we-all get to f1gurin'
on the whack-up. Where's your fig.
] ures? 1t must / been a mighty big
cleanup"
The three men looked their bepuz-
element at one another. The man was
a bigger fool than they had imagin.
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 has
been a gratifying cleanup. Suppose
we have lunch together and talk 1t
over. I'll have the clerks work through
the noon hour so that you will have
ample time to catch your train"
Dowsett and Guggenhammer mani
| tested 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, Indian-like
man whom they had robbed. They re-
membered unpleasantly the many sto--
les of his strength and recklessness. of
Letton could only put him off long
enough for them to escape into the pO.
Iced world outside the Office door. all
would be well; and Daylight showed
all the signs Of being put of.
I'm real glad to hear that" he said.
81 don't want to miss that train, and
you-all have done M proud, gentle
men, letting me in Oh this deal.
just do appreciate it without being
able to express my feelings. But | am
sure almighty curious, and I'd like ter
rible to know, Mr.. Letton. what your
figures of our winning is. Can you-all
give me a rough estimator"
Nathaniel Letton did not look ap-
pealingly at his two friends. but in the
brief pause they felt that appeal pass
out from him. Dowsett, of sterner
mold than the others, began to divine
that the Klondiker was playing. But
the other two were still under the
Establishment of his child-like limo
cence.
1T is NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS." Leon
Guggenhammer began. You see, Ward
Valley mas f~iuctuated so. err"
That no estimate can possibly be
made in advance" Letton supple
mented.
approximate it, approximate IT."
Daylight counselled, cheerfully. 1T
don't hurt If you-all are a million out
one side or the other. The figuresll
straighten hat up. But I'm that curl
Gus I'm just itching all over. What
dye say?"
Why continue to play at cross pur-
poses?" Dowsett demanded abruptly
and coldly. Let us have the explana-
ticn here and now. Mr.. Harnish Is Ia