Elbert County tribune and Elbert County banner., 1921-07-29
CHAPTER ~.
! Become a weII.known Thief.

j Become Well-known Thief.
The sudden. unanticIpated attack.
the burst of dazzling light In my eyes,
rendered me for the moment utterly
helpless. 1 was blinded, and so tightly
grasped at the throat as to be nearly
strangled. / only dimly realized that
my assailant was a man, his grip that
of giant. Then, to my surprise, the
fellow laughed oddly, swapping out his
light, and releasing his grip.
well, If this don't beat h-ll." he
said, In the tone of cheerful disgust.
"Come in here and let me look you
over"
His hand closed on the sleeve OF my
coat, and before | scarcely found time
to catch my breath again had been
dragged through narrow opening and
became aware that door shut silent
ly behind me.
The fellow gave me little opportuni-
ty to either act, or think. match
fiared, and was held aloft to gas jet
which instantly broke into a dull fame.
sufficient to render visible the full ex-
tent Of the small room in which we
stood. In some semi-conscious way I
was aware of bare walls, of small
table opposite with some writing ma
terials on IT. and short bench covered
by blanket. / suppose / saw these
things, yet all that / seemed to per-
ceive was the man fronting me, who
stared In my face, a quizzical smile On
his lips, as though still half uncertain
Of the reality of my presence. He WAS
tall. trifie angular, but exceedingly
well-dressed, with closely trimmed
iron-gray beard and peculiar eyes
deeply set in a rather chalky face. He
broke the silence, evidently inclined to
look upon this meeting as a joke.
Don't recognize me, reckon7 Well,
that amt to be wondered at, for likely
enough you never saw me before.
Beats the devil though why you
should drift in here; now / suppose 1t
will have to be tifty-ffty"
His words and manner gave me a
new lease on life. Whoever the follow
might be he was seemingly friendly. l
must meet the fellow In that same
spirit and endeavor to extract from
him some knowledge of whom he sup
posed me to be.
U
this" / ventured. you imply that you
know me-"
I'LL, yes. Over in Bow Street. on
the other side. The Hartlebury rob-
berry case. I'd been hearing about you
for years, and when that came on,
took chance and drifted into court
one day just to see what you looked
like. You've shaved your mustache.
and look ten years younger, but l
knew you, all right. / never forget
face. Say, who put you onto this game
-Waldron?"
/ nodded, taking a chance. I'D have
bet my life he was the guy. l might
have known he would double-cross me
some way. OF course tips tip in
this game, and l don't blame you for
horning in. Naturally you never knew
this was my game-how could you2
Waldron never said word about me,
did her"
Not once"
That Is how l had it sized up, so l
don't hold any grudge against you
Now listen" and he bent forward con-
fidentially. lowering his voice so l
"We'll talk 1t all over later, when we're
alone. 'Tain't exactly safe here for
these walls are thin, and there is quite
bunch around tonight. There's plenty
for the two Of us, if we play the cards
right, and wen let Waldron hold the
bag. What do you say, Daly?"
So my name was "Daly." Well, that
was Interesting at least, although 1t
gave me no new light. However, moth
ing remained for me to do except agree
to his blind proposition.
That's mighty handsome OF you.
What's the figure?"
"A million !" enthusiastically "Wait
until ] get a chance to explain the
plan; 1t looks like Providence had Just
handed us out the money"
"Why not explain the scheme TO
me"
mot now; there amt time" He
glanced at his watch land besides, for
all l know, some guy might he listen
ing in to what we say. You see there
Is bunch o. hell-cats in there waiting
for me to give them song and dance
I'm the big end right now, but I've got
to sing low until Pm sure what word
these guys have got from Washington.
After that I'll know how to trim sail.
You wait until come back, DAILY, and
then Wen plan this thing out. You
think I'm aiming to play fair. don't
your"