The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1929-05-21
CHAPTER I
THE GOLD MOUNTED PISTOL

There wa nothing in Nathan Hydes
note that even remotely suggested q
| connection with what was to happen
that night. II there had been, ]
should have quailed q little. for I am
getting on for that sort Of thing. Not
| that I am old-at 50 one has hardly
begun ones declining years. My
garden, my books. and my moments.
and Lucy, my niece, gives me such
contact with life as I desire.
The note, which was written In
Hyde's cramped hand, asked me to
drop in and see him about an old pis-
tol he thought might interest me. !
don't are a great deal for Hyde-he
is as smooth a a mahogany walking
stick but he has an uncanny faculty
Of getting his hands on the rarities
collectors barter their souls for. Lucy
calls his shop the Pirates Cave"
and Hyde, she insists, Is a reincarna-
ton of Captain Kidd.
It vas early afternoon. I had moth.
ing to do. so there was NJ reason why
I should not see Hyde at once. Mag
nolia avenue is the loveliest thorough
fare of San Felipe and I drove along
it with pride. And yet, 80 years ago
the San Felipe Valley vas a SUM-
burned waste of sage and cactus. But
that was before Andrew Ogden, our
first citizen, brought water and ac-
complished another of those miracles
which are the wonder of the South
west.
Andrew is my next door neighbor
and my friend. His wealth has left
him unspoiled and we have much in
common. In fact, there is between
us that fine quality of affection which
men achieve so rarely in their friend
ships. And 4. at times, during the
nine years w have known each other,
I have felt q restraint upon his spirit,
had a sense Of looking upon a mask
instead Of the man himself, and if
his ~antecedcnts are a matter of con-
lecture. what of it? My feeling vas
probably nonsense. But II 1t were not,
hasn't he the right to seal what
chambers of his memory he chooses?
Jerry Ogden, Andrews boy, and
Lucy have cemented our friendship.
Lucy, l see, is wearing q handsome
sapphire. l shall be sorry to lose
her.
After the brilliant afternoon sun
light the weird gloom Of Hyde's shop
blinded me and ! had to gropc my
way forward. There seemed to be no
one about; and then I heard voices
in the office at the rear. AS I ap-
preached the office I saw that Hyde
was talking with Roy Hammond, a
local lawyer.
Good afternoon, gentlemen"
I wear rubber heels and I instantly
realized that they had not heard me
coming. Hyde was sitting at his desk.
His hawk-like head went up with q
jerk and he deity slid a letter over
some object on the desk. Hammond
spun on his heel with a muttered ex-
clamation.
Excuse me, Hyde" I said, with
drawing. Il didn't know you were
busy. I'll drop In later"
"Ah, PEBBLES! Nothing OF the sort.
Come right In" Hyde protested
suavely.
He stood up. "long and lean and
lank," as Mr.. Coleridge's Ancient
Mariner.
Il was just going" Hammond
muttered. II wanted Hyde to bring
some junk down from the house."
It was none of my business that
Hammond had lied. He is q tall hcav-
lily built mar with a meaty face which
I never saw cast in any expression
but one Of cultivated affability. In
his younger days Hammond pros
pected through the desert mountains.
A lucky strike gave him q small cap
ital and he went in for law. Now he
belongs to every luncheon club and
fraternal order in town and ! believe
he has designs on the state legisla-
ture. He wouldn't be entrusted with
any Of my legal affairs.
"Well," ! said to Hyde as HAM
mond departed. what have you got?"
1T may not interest you." Hyde's
sly chuckle irritated me.
But when I saw him reach for his
snuff-box, which he keeps in q pocket
somewhere In the tail Of his morning
coat, I knew he had something /
wanted and I should have to pay for
It. The snuff-box, an elaborate af-
fair Of richly chased silver, had be-
longed to q French Louis, and taking
snuff from 1t Is In the nature Of q
ceremony Hyde always INDUCES In be-
fore and after pocketing q fat profit.
After much fumbling he withdrew his
hand without it.
queer" he mumbled.
/ concluded he had misplaced the
snuff box. Never mind, Hyde. TIN
turn up"
His head came up with q jerk. Eth?
Oh. yes, to be sure. The snuff-b
Let me see. Oh, yes, the pistol. Sit
down, PEBBLES"
I did so and he resumed his own