The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1913-02-08
The
Sable
I.orcha
IT
Horace Haxoltino


you know, and there's always q few of
the moonfaced boys snuffed out, which
amt much loss nohow. But this time
they interfered, you See, with you and
hiss orayson. and they beat up that
driver OF our buxzcarriage something
lsrce; and the Commissionsr's issued
orders to put the whole yellow popula.
ton On the pan n necessary to get the
ones what In responsible"
Were any arrests nader" I In
Quired.
OHnra smiled. Were any arrests
nader" he rel~sted in a tone that In
dicatsd supreme pity for my ignorance.
why, We Jok 'em in by the whole
sale. We lowered the net and dra.ged
IL and you ought to see what come up.
There was one fellow. a skinny old
geezsr half-breed. neither Chink nor
white man, but Shiny mixture of all
that's bad In the two. We've had him
On the griddle all night. Talk about
the third degree! He got II good, and
hes made enough admissions already
to send him straight to the chair"
And Murphy" I suggested.
He's tough one. that lad! When
they'd brought him TO, they figured
they'd get him to convict himself in
the sams old way. But there was
nothin' doing. He Just shut his trap.
and not word would he answer one
way or the other. But his turnIl come,
all right. I've got IL on him, Mr.. Clyde.
While I've been shadowin' him for the
past month I've picked up a bunch of
stun that will come In good. To be.
gin with. his name amt Murphy. It's
Pat Moran. and his mugs at head.
quarters"
"His mugp
Sure! In the Rogue's Gallery. And
his records there too. He's done time.
already"
For what?"
For stabbin' man In the back"
IL requires no great mathematical
ability to put two and two together.
= The result Is always either four or
twenty-five. SO. In logic. the answer ia
Invariably either right or wrong. Muir.
ply had stabbed a man In the back:
McNish carried the scar of a knife
wound under his shoulder blade. There
were the two and two.
What were the facts?" I asked.
with kindled interest. "Whom did be
STAB! When? Where?"
The bloke's name," o'Hara an
s"ered' after a moments thumblng OF
MS note book. was MacNichol-Doug.
lass MacNichol. II was In Buffalo. In
1900" 49,
MY putting together OF names could
hardly be coincidence.
Pat Moran served Ave years in Au-
burn" the detective added.
You don't know what became of
McNish-I mean MacNlchol!"
mo"
Nor any facts about the cause OF
the stsbbingY"
that's easy got" O'Hara informed
me. But 1t amt In the record at
neauquarters. What is there. though,
Is that Moran had lived in Chinatown
in Frisco. and was arrested there and
uied Tor smuggling opium, but was ac-
quilted for lack Of evidence"
FOR a moment | slipped my coffee In
thoughtful silence.
Inc skeleton guy knows Moran, all
right OHara broke In.
You mean the half-breed?"
Yes. He give that away"
what does he call himself?"
He's known In Chinatown as John
Soy. He says he's a cook"
once again l was busy with two and
TWO. Unless all signs failed this John
soy and Peter Johnson and the Eura-
sian cook OF the Sable Lorcha were a
single entity.
"o'Hara." I said. finishing my cor.
zee and putting down the cup and sau.
GER Il have the key witness in this
case. You and | together are going
10 take him with us and have him con.
front both Murphy and John Sow.
promise you the result will be interest.
ing"
The detective looked his perplex,ty
Some one who knows them ?" be
asked.
Un'ess am very much mistaken"
answered. ut Is some one who knows
them both better than any other per.
son In New York. Unless He, on "a
Just now engaged In constructing enig.
mas simply for the bewllderment OF us
mortals. the witness have is the man
whom Murphy stabbed in the back. in
Buffalo. eight years ago."
But before I could carry out my
plan there were several minor mat
ters which claimed my attention.
Ever since reading tho note which
Miss Clement placed In my hands I
had been uneasy concerning her safe.
" To judge from o'Hare's report
Chinatown had been In n ierment
most OF tho night, and I feared lest
tho blame for the disturbance be Wis.