The Caldwell watchman. (Columbia, La.) 1885-1946, 1912-05-24

he said half interrogatively, half as
sertively. told him l had not. His
next question was, "Why?"
Because of several reasons. First
of all, they did not ask me; second,
because l have no idea that Bruce is
guilty in this matter; and third, be-
cause l did not care, under the cir
cumstances, to put his reputation in
their hands, Also, assumed that he
would Immediately acknowledge his
possession of it and give an adequate
explanation. You will readily under
stand that did not want the newspa-
pers to come out with sensational
story, and l, therefore, reserved that
bit of information for my own investi'
cation. You may be sure, however,
that | had intended to mention it to
him privately when we met again, and
only volunteered the information to
you because l knew you would work
up to it eventually and corkscrew it
out of me. Furthermore, know ! can
rely upon you to suppress details,
which although as yet unexplained, in
/ all probability. have no real bearing
on the issues" His reply came with
out hesitation.
tom, you have known me for
years and you know that even as a
boy I always played fair. Now, have
no more use for professional GRIM
inal than | have for a mad dog or a
venomous serpent. They have shot
me, stabbed me and laid in ambush
to assassinate me, and when I think
of them am imbued with a great and
righteous wrath. But when l come
across young fellow Of good instincts
who has fallen because of a reckless
step, would whole lot rather give
him boost than a kick. l want you
| to get me right on that statement"
signifed my comprehension. AS
he himself said, LeDuc had always
been a fair, even generous, fighter,
and his last assertion was wholly In
accord with my understanding of the
man. CHANGING about to make sure
that we were safely beyond earshot OF
any possible listener ! preached a
matter about which l had been think
ing for some little time.
BILLY, there is another thing which
the police did not bring out and which
did not volunteer. but which you
ought to know. My excuses for not
having stated it before are practically
the same as those I gave In Bruce's
case, namely, because do not be-
lieve it has anything to do with the
crime and because ! wish to shield
certain individual from annoyance
and publicity. Under the same un'
Outstanding that you are to consider
it as a privileged communication !
will tell it to you. Il is this: There
is one more person, at least, who
knew that Uncle Abner occasionally
had considerable sums of money on
hand. and to whom impaired In q
casual conversation the circum-
stance of this particular amount being
in the house. had little visit with
her yesterday on my way downtown
after my quarrel with my uncle. In
II told her of Bruce's misfortune.
Also, / once left my keys at her
house through an oversight and they
remained there several days. And
while I should bitterly resent even
the intimation. that she was a con-
scious party to the crime, 1t is never
the less a crevice through which the
information may have leaked. l sup
nose YOU would like to hear me out
On this line" He slipped his arr
through mine, drawing me closer to
him.
"By all means. 1t may prove decid'
edly interesting. My promise goes to
this angle of the case as well as all
others. Shoot ahead.
Then / do not mind telling you
that I am in the habit of calling upon
a lady who is-well. we win call her
an exceedingly good friend of mine. l
care a great deal for her, respect her
Thoroughly and believe she is fond
of me. / have incidentally told her
i ahout Uncle Abner and his strange
ways. and one evening left ny keys
in h.. apartments after having opened