The Chesterfield advertiser. [volume] (Chesterfield C.H., S.C.) 1884-1978, 1921-10-06

! as though there might be something
in 1t, so blew over here tonight lust
to take a lock. was merely prowl-
Ing around when ran into you"
II see," he muttered, as came to
! an end, chewing savagely on his cigar
"Did the Russian say anything about
me2"
| "Not whisper. supposed had a
clear run for the money, except his
! rakeoff"
"The dirty dog. Because I di,,n't
show up on the dot, he was ready to
| ditch me. Now lister, and I'll tell you
/ the straight story. I'm going to need
you, and Wen divide fifty-fifty, leav-
Ing this guy to suck his thumbs. Is
that a go7'
Hes sure nothing to me-shOot."
Harris poured out a stiff drink, and
! put 1t down; then touched match to
the extinguished cigar.
"WaidrOn sent me a cable in Eng
land about month ago" he explained
briefly. "He didn't make the thing
very clear, only that he had big deal
on. and wanted me In on It, l had
made enough to get back on, and took
second-class passage on the Vulcan
! 1t was NOT. a big boat, and, to escape
| close inspection, / went aboard at
| Queenstown. At that time / had no
more notion what was up than blind
rnt. I was Just desperate enough to
take a chance"
! He paused and relit his stub, with
an oath at finding 1t again useless.
"Then things begun to happen.
was roommate with bird nalned
, HOrner. who claimed to live I'm De
troit. He must have cottoned to me.
for we got bit chummy, and in that
way picked odds and ends out Of him
which set me thinking. He was quite
foxy bird-One of these tall, raw
bOned, sccretive cusSeS, who talk a
/ lot, hut never say nothing, and he
came near getting my goat. l went
through his baggage, of course, tu.
that was just ordinary stuff-he only
had one grip, which he left unlocked :;
hut i did get onto a pocket belt the
fellow wore around his waist. He
| never let that get away from him
night or day. I studied every On
| way I could think up to get peep at
1t, but nothing gave me a chance.
came near going bugs over the thing"
He laughed, exhibiting a row OF
rather ug'y teeth behind his thhr lips.
"1,H.r the devil must have helped
me. One nigl five days out. for we
ware a slow toat-we ran into A HI
or storm. We both o. us tlmbIed
out, and began hustling on our duds.
d lie was trying to get u shoe on, and
went plunging head-on into the side of
the ship / reckon it nearly Drained
MIN, but, to make things sure, hand.
ed him one to the jaw before ne got
his senses, and he went out for the
count. Then, believe me. l didn't lose
no time in frisking the. .guy-nnd, say,
what do you think ! found?"
l shook my head, unwilling to inter
rupt. fascinated with his description.
Ihe fellow was revolutionary
! agent. L didn't get onto all of il then
i didn't have time, but found let
ter Of credit for q million dollars. and
memoranda Of how it was to he de-
, livered. The d-n thing wasn't any
good to me-it was to be paid to this
Fellow by banker in New York
named Krantz-but 1t sure made my
mouth water just to see it-a million
dollars, good old U. s. currency. Can
you beat it2"
Looked easy-you had It, and you
didn't have It,"
You said it, Daily. didn't dare
keep the thing and 1t wouldn't have
done me any good If I had; there was
no way of my cashlng the paper. What
the HI could I do7 If l denounced
him, the game was all off; II held
on to the stuff he'd report his loss
soon as he landed in New York, and
that letter of credit wouldn't be worth
the paper 1t was written on Say.
/ was in some boat: but, believe me.
1 had no notion Of giving up that mil
lion--it locked darned good"
II should say yes" and I leaned for
ward to show my interest. "And from
what know OF you, Harris, that guy
had no show on earth. Did, you croak
him7"
He grinned, evidently pleased at the
note of admiration in my voice, and
tossed down another drink.
''That. never amt been in my line
OF course / was tempted to-a cool
million would tempt any guy. But I
just showed everything back exactly
where 1t come from, and fetched the
steward. Between us we hOisted Hor-
ner back into the bunk and doused
him with water till he came to. First
| thing he did was to feel for that belt.
and he never got wise that 1t had
ever been touched. Anyhow, he never
let on to no suspicion"