Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1915-07-24
CHAPTER XIV. (Continued.)
PETEY DINK

F OEAFINH AV. lCOHtlnue0.)
Good heavens, Jackl You wouldn't
~ 10 sell 'em both dialogue7"
why not? Play one against the
other make EN- keener for my
goods. rye got q notion to clean up
here quick and then go back to the
real stun. That little girl from the
middle west-1've forgot all about her,
Of course. But speaking Of cleaning
up-I'm thinking of it, Dick, my boy.
Yes, l believe III take them both on
secretly, of course. It means hard
work for me, but when one loves ones
art, no service seems too tough"
you're hopeless" Minot groaned.
'say not So" laughed Paddock, and
went away humming frivolous tune.
At quarter before seven, for the
first time. Minot entered Mr.. Tom
Stacy's Manhattan club and grill To
4 Any one who crossed Mr. Stacy's
threshold with the expectation of i'm
mediately encountering lights and
Eaiety. the first view of the interior
came as a distinct shock. The main
dining room of the Manhattan club
was dim with the holy dimness OF
cathedral It's lamps, hung high, were
buried In oriental trappings, and
Bhone half heartedly. Family through
the gloom could be discerned white
table cloths, cleaning silver. The
scene demanded hushed voices, noise
less footsteps. 1t got both.
The main dining room was followed
out of the center OF the great stone
building and its roof was off in the
dark three stories above. On each
side of the entrance, stairways led to
second and third floor balconies which
stretched around the room on three
sides. From these balconies doors
opened into innumerable rooms
rooms where lights shone brighter, and
from which the chief Of police, when
he came to make certain financial ar
rangements with Mr.. Stacy, heard
frequently gentle click-click.
Il may have been that the furnish
ings OF the main dining room and the
balconies were there before Mr..
Stacy's coming, or again they may
have set forth his own idea OF suitable
decoration. Looking about him, Mr..
Minot was reminded Of play like
Sumurun after three hard seasons on
the road Moth-eaten rugs and musty
tapestries hung everywhere Here
and there an atrocious cozy corner be-
lied its name Iron lanterns gave par
eimonious light. Aged sofa pillows
law Imply. Oriental" Mr.. Stacy
would have called the effect. Here in
this dim, but scarcely religious light,
the patrons of his grill ate their
food being not without misgivings as
they stared through the gloom at their
plates.
The long tables for the narrowly
dinner were already set, and about
them lowered walters of a color to
match the room. Most Of the guests
had arrived. Mr.. Paddock made 1t
point to introduce Mr.. Minot at once
10 the Duchess of Lismore. This
noble lady with the packing house
past was making commendable ef-
fort to tighten the Manhattan club
by a wonderful display of jewels.
q "Then felt I like some watcher OF
the skies, when a new planet swims
into his KEN" whispered Minot, as
the duchess moved away.
Paddock laughed.
"a dowdy little woman by day, but
pillar Of fire by night he agreed.
Spy the way, I'm foreman Of her COM
posing room, beginning tomorrow"
"Re careful Jack" Minot warned.
"a double life from now on" Pad
dock replied "but / think I can get
away with 1t. Say, for ways that are
dark this man Stacy seems to hold a
better hand than the heather Chinee."
IN one corner the portly Spencer
Meyrick was Grating to a circle OF
young people on the evils OF gambling.
Minot turned away, smiling cynically:
Meyrick, as everybody knew, had
made a large part of his fortune in
Wall street.
The dinner was much larger than
Mrs Bruce's. Minot met number
lof new people-the anemic husband Of
the Jewels, SNUG In his dukedom, and
several very attractive girls thrilled