The Wolf Point herald. (Wolf Point, Mont.) 1913-1940, 1920-02-12

nAl oANd&A ht AL
with most of his assistants, relied TO
results on hard work and plenty O
common sense. He had never been {
detective of the snowy type. Results
mad justified his methods, but he wal
perfectly aware that young Nh. Oakes
looked on him as a dull old man who
had been ~miraculously favored by luck
MIR. SNYDER had selected Cakes fol
the case in hand principally because
it was one where inexperience could
do no harm. and where the brilliant
guesswork which the latter called his
inductive reasoning might achieve an
unexpected success.
1t was one of those bizarre cases
which call for the dashing amateur
rather than the logged rule-of-thumb
professional.
Mr.. Snyder had, moreover, a kind
of superstitious faith in the luck of
the beginner.
Another motive actuated Mr.. Sny-
der in his choice. He had a strong
suspicion that the conduct of this case
was going to have the beneficial result
of lowering Cakes self-esteem.
If failure achieved this end, Mr..
| Snyder felt that failure, though it
would not help the agency, would not
be an unmixed i'll.
The door opened and Cakes en-
tered tensely. He did everything tense
Iy, partly from a natural nervous
energy, and partly as a pose. He
was a lean young man, with dark eyes
and a thin-lipped mouth, and looked
as like a typical detective as Mr..
Snyder looked like a comfortably pros
porous stock broker.
Mr.. Snyder had never bothered him
self about the externals of his profess
sion. One could imagine Mr.. Snyder
in his moments of leisure watching a
ball game or bowling. Cakes gave the
impression of having nj moments of
leisure.
"Sit down, Oakes,'' said Mr.. Sny-
der. 1--WE got a job for you"
Cakes sank into a chair like a
crouching leopard and placed the tips
of his fingers together. he nodded
CURLY. 1t was part of his pose to be
keen and silent.
at want you to go to this address
he handed him an envelope-'and
look around. Whether you will find
out anything, or whether there's any
thing to find out, is more than | can
When the old lady was telling
the story 1 own 1 was carried away.
She made it convincing. She thinks
It was murder. I don't know what to
"The facts?" said Cakes briefly.
Mr.. Snyder smiled quietly to him
;elf.
1.-THE address on that envelope is {
If a boarding house on the water :
ront, down in Long Island. You know !
sort of place-retired s~ea-captains !
nd so or. !
"All most respectable. Don't u
with the idea that I'm sending /
to some melodramatic helrs-kitch-
n where the guests are drugged and
hanghaied on the day of their arrival.
"As far as I can gather, this place F
J a sort of male Martha Washington. /,
q all its history nothing more sensa- !.
has happened than a case OF I
Inspected cheating at pinocle. Well, a
ian has died there" +
"MurderedT"
"I don't know. That's for you TO
nd out. The coroner left it open. l
ont see how it could have been muir !,
er. The door was locked; nobody !.
,uld have got in"
1.-THE Window"
1.-THE window was open. But the nj
,om is on the first floor. And, any w
you may dismiss the window. l CT
member the old lady saying there
as a bar across it, and that nobody m
ruld have squeezed through" n
Cakes eyes glistened. He was in :,
"What was the cause of deathT" ~
Mr.. Snyder coughed.
he said. te
Cakes careful calm deserted him. 81
2 uttered a cry of establishment. nj
"Whati' it
ITS the literal truth. The medical ba
animation proved that the fellow n
d been killed by snake poison. To =
exact, the poison of a snake known (
the kraft. In this Long Island VI y.
arding house, in a room with a nj
,ked door, this man was stung by a -
ait. It's a small snake, found prin-
ally in India.
To add a little mystification to the
lpid simplicity of the affair, when
: door was opened there was no
of any snake.