The Pleasantville press. (Pleasantville, N.J.) 1912-1929, 1923-04-11
The Joy of Living
By SIDNEY GOWING
Illustrations by ELLSWORTH YOUNG coa7ee1 a5 BY M. lowing

reply would the captive vouchsafe to
any of Arkwright's queries. Billy
took the Vicomte by the arm, led him
outside, and drew a long breath.
Got a cigarette?" he said anx-
iously. 81 gave my list one to Jake"
Bertrand produced his case.
But what a triumph p he said with
a daZed air.
Its not the sort 1 enjoy replied
Billy, but | had to see it through"
The W inspectors emerged.
"Panke," said Arkwright, there's a
gate in the field-fence just up there,
l think. Will you and Poison lift 1t
off Its hinges and bring 1t here? We
must get the man out he can't walk"
He turned abruptly to Billy. "And
now-wiIl you explain, Mr.. Spencer?'
Sure" said Billy. II believe you
know 1t was l who came across the
thieves on the night of the holdup.
and got Knocked out. 1t seems to
have been taken for granted the pair
OF them made a getaway on their ma
chine, and likely were half across
England by morning. | wasn't so sure.
The case was important for me, too,
for 1t loo ed as if l was going to be
suspected.
Il happened to come across some
tracks of a cycle tire on the field
here; they were old and faint, but
they set me thinking. / wish I'd struck
them before. I'm used to following
trails-had a lot of experience In 1t.
Went to the place where the argu-
ment happened, up the lane. and made
out that the motorcycle, after the
scrap, came back along the road yon-
der. The tracks are there vet IL
you've eyes to see them. l guess the
machine was half-crippled and they
were driving it too hard. l made out
that it crashed again-a bad crash
that time. Do you follow me?"
YES" said the amazed Arkw right.
"but how"
Here's a piece of the machine
found it on the road said Billy.
handing him the scrap of metal. 1.-THE
tracks didn't go on. So what became
of the machine? l found the tire
marks passing through a gateway into
the field.
what did that say? That they
could wheel the machine, though they
couldn't drive it. Engine done I'D.
What would they do with it? Hide 1t.
so nobody would know they didn', get
clear away. You'll find the machine.
a twin Indian, we in the old clay Dit,
under some brushwood.
"What did the two of them do then?
You can ee by the tracks In the field
that one of them was dead lame. So
lame that he had to be carried or
dragged, half of the way. 1t must
have taken quite a while. They
couldn't be far off, and, to cut it short,
l searched the pits through and found
Jake where he is. l didn't get wise
to 1t till now He's got a leg so badly
spralned that q compound fracture
wouldn't have laid him I'D much more
thoroughly. And here you are, In
spector, just in the nick Of time, as
the story-books say. OF course"
added Billy, you'd have found 1t out
yourself as soon as you got to work.
I happened to be on the spot, that's
all. And l shall be obliged If you'll
say nothing about my share In 1t, at
headquarters. Thief-catching isn't
really in my line-T'm a motor-engi-
neer, and 1t might do me harm to
have it known l was wasting time on
things that aren't my business"
Inspector Arkwright gazed at Billy
dumbly. Arkwright was not a man of
ungenerous instincts.
81 call that a very remarkable
piece of work for an amateur" he
said ungrudgingly.
II suppose I've set your mind at
rest, that I'd nothing TO do with the
burglary myself? You're not aching