The Bemidji daily pioneer. [volume] (Bemidji, Minn.) 1904-1971, 1915-04-02


the rubbish heaped yards. Two blocks
up from the car line she found her
number. house slightly better kept
than most But she noticed in the
yard an uptilted ash mans cart. IN the
rear was rickety stable. She entered
the gate and rang the bell. ,. :"
"A very large. III dressed Italian wo-
man opened the door, letting out
tremendous odor of garlic and cheese
She surveyed her caller with suspicion
and then beamed. ~ .r.~ 1
s"Oh. you come looka de papes?" she
demanded ST.. ..,....
= Estelle merely showed copy Of the
advertisement -.
"Yes, my husband be put that in de
pape." the woman said. losing her
smile.
For some moments Estelle tried to
get a glimpse Of the documents The
Italian himself came on the scene and
demanded a full description. When
Estelle said that they had been lost
from the Manx hotel he nodded and
explained that he had been removing
the ashes therefrom when his eye had
been caught by the folded papers. but
he still insisted on an accurate de-
scription. which the maid could not
give. At last she said quietly, 1.-The
papers are of no value to you, and
am authorized to pay good reward
for them"
At the word reward there was
change. and the woman demanded to
know how much it would be.
Estelle thought rapidly. It had been
impressed on her that haste was nee
essary. She decided on Offering good:
~ sum, yet not enough to make the
ash man and his wife think they were
in possession Of papers of extraordi-
nary value. She pulled out her purse
and held out S.. The man was taking
it. His wife interviewed.
'Twenty dolla,' she said cunningly.
and then said in a tone that was de-
cisive. IF you show me the papers
and they are the ones l want I'll give
you SIS and no more"
The deeds were produced, and q
glance told her that they belonged to
Ruth. She paid the money and hur-
ried away.
Everett and Dorr had gone over the
situation thoroughly together, and the
broker agreed that he would help out
in putting the Master Kew mine on
it's feet again. -
II think l can do it tomorrow" he
said. Just let me have all the pa
pers. and I'll go over them tonight"
Ruth has them" John replied
Wed best 60 up and get them now
Rnth received them cheerfully and
promptly went to her trunk for the
deeds. Her first search was not re-
warded. and she lifted a puzzled face
to John. Then she once more went
through all her belongings. It was
fruitless. She then remembered the
desk and searched it with the same
result
"rhey're gonel' she stammered. ~;
s'impossible!' said Dorr. 'AThey must
be somewhere here
NO" she mourned. 1--WE looked
everywhere" ..
Everett was the first to suggest that
no time should be lost in locating the
missing property. He sent for the
evening papers and delved into the
Lost and Found" columns, with the
result that he very soon handed pa
per to eDorr and pointed out the adver-
isement which had attracted Wilker-
sons attention.
Half an hour later John Dorr turned
away from the ash mans door and
said to Everett: "I1l bet that was one
of Wilkerson's crowd. We must no.
dfy the police before he can get
away" =
They had soon told their difficulties
to the sympathetic ear at headquar-
ters and started back for the hotel.
John was in the dumps.
1T seems as If everything goes
wrong when try to do something for
that little woman" he growled.
II begin to think myself that you
are playing in hard luck" was the re-
ply. But | always did like a good
fight, and this promises to be one. ri
stick. john )
They shook hands.
They found Ruth and Tom Kane
anxiousiy awaiting them. John sim
ply stated the case and then turned
to comfort Ruth. he was startled to
see how white she was. .
Ruth, Ruth" he cried In. alarm,
what is the matter?"
There was no answer. She had faint
ed away.
All else was forgotten for the time
being. A maid and doctor were
quickly summoned, and presently
Ruth revived. Old Tom Kane was
seated beside her patting her hand
"The papers" she moaned.
Don't you worry about the papers,"
he said promptly. We'll look after
them"
But the folks at the mine-who will
look after them?" she pleaded.
The old cook swore that he would
do so himself with Johns help. At
this point the doctor interfered with