The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1913-01-11

a-tHinhin tnat very tnlng. An rlSnt
away. sir. l says to myself. says l.
It's that Chink what just went up to
the house to borrow a rifle"
That Chink?" l repeated. puzzled.
Yes, sir. Yellow Chinese boy, 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? l asks. 'Mistle Mulfy,' he
says. 'wantee hollow life, shootee
weasel. stealee chickee' All right
tells him. and away he goes. So.
you see. sir. when l hears the shots
thinks right away that Mr.. Murphy's
Chink is tryin' his Followed life on
some Of Mr.. Cameron's pheasants.
maybe. But Is minutes later. along
comes John again. with an innocent
grin on his face. the rife over his
shoulder. and his hands empty as 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. l swears
at him. good and hearty. and calls
him what he is. But all he can say
is. No lie; me no shootee.' Then l
asks him If he didn't hear a gun go
of. Cum he says. as II he didn't
know what gun meant. Life / ex-
plains. Yes. yes says he, me hear
life shootee. Not my life Whose
lif1e?' asks him. Man with life.
up load he says. pointing back. An
that was all could get out of him.
sir
l should have been amused. I sup
pose. by old Romney's recital. 1t
was certainly very graphic, and his
imitation of the Chinaman was his
ironically artistic-I fear the stage
missed comedian OF merit when
Romney took to lodge-keeping-but
at the first mention of the oriental. l
had pricked my ears. and throughout
the narration my mind was busy with
those strangely worded letters Of
Cameron's and those still stranger
blots which looked one way like a
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 I could hardly rec
oncile the notion OF this apparently
ignorant Mongolian 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 it 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 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 Cragholt, 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-first a August He was equal
ly at a loss concerning the fourteenth
Of August and the fourteenth of Sep
tember.
What do you know Of this artist,
Murphy. who employs John?" I
asked.
Not much. SIR" was his answer.
They do say as he 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 a story
as to him gettin' into fight up at
Garrison's hotel in Greenwich village,
and nearly killin' three young water
men near as big as himself"
HAS he lived here long?"
Coin on two years, now, SIR"
He paints and sells pictures. / sup
pose"
though But they calls him an artist,
SIR"
determined to visit Murphy on
the pretext of purchasing some Of his
work, and in this manner learn, il
possible, something more Of his ce-
lestial servitor.
"Of course you didn't see any one
else with n rife. today?" l asked. in
conclusion. THE man with life up
load didn't materialize?"
No, sir. Not another soul, sir.
asked some OF the boys-them as has
charge Of the deer in the preserve.
over the way the shootin' sounded.
But they hadn't seen no one, either.
sir. Though they did hear the shots"
thanked Romney for his interest
he knew / was one OF the state
game wardens-and admonished him
to keep his own counsel as to my
visit, leaving the impression with him
that wished to round up the culprit.
and feared IL my activity in the mat
ter were scented my prey would be
me.