The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1913-03-13

"iSH tutH haHIe suotb Set MS
a'thlnkin' that very thing. An right
away, sir. ! says to myself, says |,
It's that ChInk what just went up TO
the house to borrow Il rife"
MAT Chink?" | repeated, puzzled.
Yea, sir Yellow Chinese bog, sir.
He works for Mr.. Murphy. the artist,
what has the bungalow. down on the
| shore near Cos Cob About half an
hour before that he comes by here on
his. way up to the house. What's
wantin'% | asks. MIstle Mulfy,' he
saya, 'wantec hollow life, shootce
weasel, stcalce chickee.' All right !
tells him, and away he goes. So.
you see, sir when hears the shots !
thinks right away that Mr.. Murphy's
Chink Is tryin' his Followed life on
some OF Mr.. Camcron's pheasants,
maybe. But Is minutes later. along
comes John again, with an innocent
grin on his face, the rifle over his
shoulder, and his hands empty as air,
Wen. to be sure, stops him, sir.
You been shootin' In the woods |
asks No shootee, he grins back.
Me no shootee' Then, sir, ! swoars
at him. good and hearty, and calls
him what he Is. But al he can say
Is, No lie; mo no shootee,' Then |
asks him II he didn't hear gun go
of. Gum he says, as If he didn't
know what gun meant. Life ex.
plains. Yes. yes says he, mo hear
lilo shootee. Not my lIHe.' Whose
llie| ! asks him. Man with life,
up load he says. pointing back. An
that was al, / could get out of him.
sir"
! should have been amused, ! sup.
pose, by old Romney's recital It
was certainly very graphic. and his
imitation Of the Chinaman was his.
ironically artistlc--I fear the stage
missed n comedian OF merit when
Romncy took TO lodge-keeping-bu
at the first mention OF the oriental
had pr!cked my ears, and throughout
tho narration my mind was busy with
those strangely wordel letters OF
Camcron's and those still stranger
blots which looked one way like
Chinese junk and the other way like
coolic In straw helmet The pos.
slbil!ty OF connection, especially in
Wow OF tho rife and the perforated
painting, seemed to me tho reverse of
remote. And yet l could hardly rec.
oncile the notion OF this apparently
ignorant Monaghan being in any wise
interested In bringing disaster upon n
person so far removed from him In
every way as was Cameron; much
less In evolving or taking part in
such n crafty plot as everything We
had thus far learned Of 1t indicated
this TO bt.
Ny questioning OF Romnoy shed
very little new light on the subject.
lie had seen the Ch!naman pass the
Lodge on several occasions; he had
rarely entered the grounds. however.
tried to ascertain what his rarely"
meant, and finally got him to say that
in the past six months, John" as he
called him, had visited Crarholt, on
one pretext or another. possibly three
or four times. But Romney's memory
for dates was exceedingly feeble. He
could not recollect whether one OF
those times was on or about the
twenty arst Of August. He was equal
ly at loss concerning the fourteenth
of August and the fourteenth OF Sep
TENDER.
What do you know Of this artist,
Murphy, who employs John?" /
asked.
mot much. SIR" was his answer.
They do say as ho is rather eccen.
trio, sir. He and the Cbink lives alone
there In the bungalow, summer and
winter He's a big red.headed and
bearded fellow, sir. did hear n story
ns TO him gettin into fight up at
Garrison's hotel in Greenwich village,
and nearly KILN three young water.
men near az big as himself"
"Has he lived here long?"
Coin on two years, now, sir"
'IIe paints and sells pictures. sup.
poser"
Maybe. air. never sees any,
.hough. But they calls him an artist, |
sir."
/ determined TO visit Murphy on |
he pretext OF purchasing some OF his
work, and In this manner learn, IL
possible, something moro of his ce-
cstlal scrvltor.
"Of course you didn't BEE any one
Use with n rife. today?" asked, in
conclusion. THE man with life up
DAD didn't mntcriallze?"
mo. sir. Not another soul, sir. |
sked some of the boys-them as has
harge Of the deer in the preserve,
'ver the way the shootin' sounded.
3ut they hadn't seen no one, either,
ir. Though they did hear the Shots"
thanked Romney for his interest
he knew was one OF the state
ame wardens-and admonished him
o keep his own counsel as TO my
isit, leaving the impression with him
hat wished to round up the culprit,
nd feared IL my activity In the mat
err were scented my prey would be
ut on his guard and thus escape
le.