The Washington herald., 1922-02-05

s'He's rot the loot an hen b gone tn
moment moaned Pony. Then suddenly -
ciappsd his hand 70 his forehead and gave
sort Of whispering shout
-'Its him. he said. 1T must belt must
bel Gosh, what . geniusi Come on. Jim;
wen 30 over to them now
He got mp, took his cane and gloves. and
stroued across. me with him. didn't under
stand at an, but cleared for action in case
. punch should b wanted and held my
tongue Pony was nne-smiling and lofty
and more like . colonel than ever. The pair
Of EN- looked up a. We came alongside their
table.
s-'Huilor said Pony. enable and Oh handel-
Il didn't know you two knew each other
He nodded to his iordship and then turned
to the other. You're iooidn' very well
Casey.
There was q moment or two Of silencs
broken only By the tall of his Iordships 3.v.
The bald man Stared up at Pony as II he w.s
the devil. Pony went on smiling.
Who-who are you calm Csseyf' do
manded the bald man
why. you. o. course said Pony. Nov,
don't you start being silly with me. COS
haven't the patience. Sit down. Jim!'
He pulled himself out chair and we sat
down. one on each side O. the bald man
where he'd have to turn his back on one Of
US IL he wanted to start Anything with tn.
other. His lordship was stin sogsIing at the
lot Of US.
-'well.' said Pony. any complaints! You
aren't soin' to call in q policeman. are you.
Casey! I wouldn't IL I was you
my names not Casey snsrled the other.
The man named Casey Is dead and buried.
an this man killed him.
~ know nodded Pony. and II you don't
want him brought to LIE in about ten seconds
to explain where you got that other corpse
you hand over that envelope which his IcrS-
ship just gave you
He laid his open hand nat on the table
and waited. The other glared at him. and
Pony just smiled at him Ne. I'd rather he'd
pun a gun on me than smile at me like that;
but then, you see. know him And after .
bit it worked The bald man let his breath
go In . loud pun and fetched out the envs
lope and put It in Pony's hand
-'How did you knowf' he said IN n.s
ural voice-
His lordship got his thoughts IN order a:
that Are you cssey!' he cried 'Iou-you
internal seoundrel. ru-IU-
PONY turned on him Nov. pcw!' h
said. what's all this noise! Aft.r all tn
trouble that Jim and ha~s taken to ersak
out like thisI I'm ashamed Of you!' Il was
as II he'd been scolding . noisy child. an5
casey-It was him. an riEht-grinned at It.
-'You see.' Pony explained 10 him. IN my
humble opinion you overdid h You were
knocked out with . bottle while you'd q gun
in your hand. and there was that sIly unneo
essary deal at poker. and the fact that your
three friends. with a gold mine all to them
selves. took in q fourth. But the thing th.t
finally gave you away -aspsrdon e
that head OF yours.
-'You see, once I'd rot my brains to work
ing, It was clear enough that q long haired
man with q beard couldn't choose q better
disguise than . head IKE q bladder Of ard
The only thing that stin puzzles me 8. your
dead body
Casey grinned again. Wen he ssid
maybe there's a better disguise for q naka
with the police after him than . i've bs.-
dred franc funeral. but it's good enough for
me. An that corpse-its only . ques tioa
Of biding your time and the Se.ps II certain
to contribute an unknown Frepchman with
a black beard which . few oSl.sln' TRINA
can go along and Identity
But there's one thing that puzzles ae'
put in. You amt got q mark nor . scar
on you. wher.'d all that blood come from.
then?'-
-'Blood!' he says o. that!' ans -
laughs. He provided the blood he sa->
nodding at his Iordshfp. 1t wasn't . chaIo-
payne bottle he hit me with. 1t w.s bun
Eundy and that was the blood'-
His lordship gasped- I've had enough
of this he snaps to Pony. 'otvs me tn,
money and I'm off,
PONY stared at him Give you tn
money he said. why. # lint yourr; you
gave it to Mr.. Casey here. What the deuos
should give you the money for7'-
ID you want me to call . policeman
in7' he cried.
"'Yes!' said Pony and Casey together.
THAT was enough for him and he shAn,
bled on. his very back blasphsuins as b,
went. Pom and Casey and me sat snt