The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1913-01-10

grin on his race, the rifle owe HI!
shoulder, and his hands empty RS air
Well. to be sure, | stops him, sir
You been shootin' in the woods?'
asks. No shootee,' he grins back
Me no shootee.' Then, sir, | swear'
at him, good and hearty, and calls
him what be is. But all he a say
is, No lie; me no shootee.' Then
asks him il he didn't hear q gun &c
Of. Gum he says, as IL he didn'
know what gun meant. Life ] ex
plains. Yes, yes says he, me heal
life shootee. Not my life Whose
life? / asks him. Man with life
up load he says, pointing back. An
that was all could get out Of him
sir"
| should have been amused, sup
pose, by old Romney's recital. II
was certainly very graphic, and his
imitation Of the Chinaman was his
ironically artistic-l fear the stage
missed a comedian OF merit when
Romney took to lodge-keeping--but
at the first mention of the oriental, ]
had pricked my ears, and throughout
the narration my mind Val busy with
those strangely worded letters OF
Cameron's and those still stranger
blots which looked one way like q
Chinese Junk and the other way like
a coolie in a straw helmet. The pos,
sibility Of a connection, especially in
view Of the rife and the perforated
painting, seemed to me the reverse of
remote. And yet | could hardly rec
oncile the notion OF this apparently
ignorant Monaghan being in any wise
interested In bringing disaster upon a
person so far removed from him in
every way as was Cameron; much
less in evolving or taking part in
such a crafty plot as everything we
had thus far learned of 1t indicated
this to be.
My questioning Of Romney shed
very little new light on the subject.
He had seen the Chinaman pass the
Lodge on several occasions; he had
rarely entered the grounds, however.
| tried 10 ascertain what his rarely"
meant, and finally got him to say that
in the past six months, John" as he
called him, had visited Cragholt, on
one pretext or another. possibly {hree
or four times. But Romney's memory
for dates was exceedingly feeble. He
could not recollect whether one Of
those times vas on or about the
twenty-first Of August. He was equal
ly at a loss concerning the fourteenth
Of August and the fourteenth OF Sep
What do you know of this artist,
Murphy, who employs John?" 1
asked.
mot much, sir" was his answer.
do say as he Is rather eccen.
trio, sir. He and the Chink lives alone
there in the bungalow, summer and
He's a big red-headed and
bearded fellow, sir. I did hear a story
as to him gettin' into a fight up at
Garrison's hotel in Greenwich village,
and nearly KILN three young water
men near as big as himself"
HAS he lived here longr"
"Goin' on two years, now, sir"
"He paints and sells pictures. l sup.
Maybe, sir. l never sees any,
But they calls him an artist,
| determined to visit Murphy on
he pretext of purchasing some of his
work, and in this manne learn, il
possible, something more Of his &C.
estial servitor.
"Of course you didn't see any one
Use with n rife, today?" I asked, in
conclusion. 1.-THE man with life up
DAD didn't m~aterialize?"
mo, sir. Not another soul, sir. II
.sked some Of the boys--them as has
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
anne wardens-and admonished him
0 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
er were scented my prey would be
ut on his guard and thus escape
le.
1t still lacked twenty minutes of
be hour of my appointment with
ivelyn when | issued from the Lodge,
nd to occupy the time | entered the
'ide gateway between the great
tone pillars with their heraldic
and saunteEed leisurely along
lie smooth macadam drive. bordered
Y sentinel elms.
My thoughts weS busy with the
ew line Of conjecture which Romney
ad unconsciously opened up for me.
wondered whether by any POSSIBLE
y this eccentric painter, Murphy,
'uid be personally involved. Was
ameron acquainted with him? Had
Iey ever quarrelled? From what
omney had told me OF the affair at
arrison's the artist was evidently OF
b~ellicose disposition. He had come
IRE two years ago. Cameron had
Vned Cragholt less than a year.
at the time he was preparing
e mansion for occupancy he had
the too sensitive Murphy.
ho--I was letting my Imagination /,
free--may have wished to take
hand at the new decoration. II
ould probably be well for me to see !:
ameron before seeing the artist. The
volutions Of my hypothetical train :
d me. | fear. into many monstrous-
preposterous %coneoits; yet, as sub
quent events proved, the cogitation |
which | INDUCED on that afternoon
ak was not wholly idle. Although 7
n yrnr1-ff-e n -t,A .rra nfz-y Ill., w..