The Oakley herald. [volume] (Oakley, Idaho) 1908-1961, 1922-09-29

L.
young Maillard-s Of the banke
He roped me into an oil company
caught me. like sucker, almost III
first week / was here / put prett
near my whole wad into that compan
of his"
you mean he stung your"
mot yet" Gramont smiled coldly
harshIy. Il fell right enough--but II
come out on top of the heap"
The other frowned. 81 don't ge
you. cap'n. Some kind o. stock dealt
Eyes, and no." Gramont paused, ans
seemed to choose his words with care
Miss Ledanols, the lady who wa.
driving with us this afternoon, is a.
old friend OF mine. I've known fol
some time that somebody was fleeing
her i suspected that IL was Maillard
the elder, for he has had the handling
Now. however, those papers have given
me the truth. He was straight enough
With her: his son was the man.
''He worked on his father, made his
father sell land owned by Miss Leda-
nois. and he himself reaped the prof
its. There are notes and stock issues
among those papers that give his
whole game away, TO my eyes BY the
way, get that tin box out of my trunk.
will you? | want TO take my stock
certificates with me in the morning,
and must not forget them"
g.,@..
Joining room.
Gramont sat gazing at the boxes be
fore him. He shook his head gloomily,
and his eyes clouded.
"All wasted-the whole effort - he
murmured. 81 thought it might lead
TO something, but all 1t has given me
is the reward OF saving myself and
possibly retrieving Lucie. AS for the
larger game, the bigger quarry-it's
all wasted. / haven't unrayeled q
single thread; the first real clue came
to me tonight, purely by accident
Memphis Ivy Gumbertsl That's the
lead TO follow I'll get rid Of this
Midnight Masquer fooishness and 90
after the real game"
Gramont was to discover that 1t is
not nearly so easy to be rid Of folly
as 1t is to don the testers cap and
bells; fact which one SimplicissImus
had discovered to his sorrow three
hundred years earlier. But. as Ora
mont was not versed In the line OF
literature. he yet had the discovery
ahead of him.
Hammond re-entered the room with
the tin box, from which Gramont took
his stock certificates issued by Bob
Maillards oil company. He pocketed
the shares,
'I1l go to Maillard the banker-Jo-
seph Maillard-frst thing I'm the morn
ing, and offer him my stock. He'll
be mighty glad to get II at discount,
knowing that 1t is in his sons COM
pany. You see,, the son doesn't conflde !.
in the old man particularly. I'll let
the father win a little money on the
leal with me, and by doing this I'll
manage to save the greater part of my
Investment"
"Holy. mackerell" Hammond ex-
,Ioded In burst Of laughter as he
aught the idea. "Say. IL this amt
he richest thing ever pulled When
he crash comes, the fancy kid viii be
tlnging his dad good and hard, eh?"
Exactly; and | think his dad can
ford to be stung much better than
an" agreed Gramont. cheerfuly.
New let's take those packages and
-Ow them away In the luggage com
artment of the car. I'm getting
ervous at the thought OF having
rem around here. and they'll be per-
,ctly safe there overnight - safer
lere than here. In fact Tomorrow
on can take the car out of town and
end the packages by parcels post
rom some small town.
"In that way they ought to be de-
yered here on Wednesday. You'd
ettcr wear one of my suits. leaving
our ella uffeur's outfit here, and don't
alt the var in front of the post office
here you mail the packages"
81 get YOU" assented Hammond.
ageIy. '"But what about them avia-
,r's clothes;"
Take them with you--better get
ZEN wrapped up here and now. You
IN toss them into a ditch anywhere"
Hammond obeyed.
Ten minutes afterward the two men
# the room. carrying the packages
: loot and the bundle containing the
,iator's~ uniform. They descended
the courtyard in the rear of the
,use. Here was small garden, with
fountain in its center. Behind this
eIe the stables. which had long been
sIsed as such. and which were now
Cupied only by the car Of Gramont.
1t was with undsguised relief that
'BmOnt now saw the stuff actually q
II of the house. Within the last few 3
AIRS he had become intensely afraid c
joachim Fell. Concentrating himself S
ION the man. picking up information g
ardedly, he had that day assimilated c
my small items which increased his Il
use of peril from that quarter 1
raws, no more. but quite significant {