The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1929-06-06
CHAPTER Is
SHADOWS OF OGDEN'S PAST
4 eAANAAnS, 1>AA~ -,t~> R--NS-

ID OF OGDEN'S PAST
I scarcely heard what MacNair
said. Deacon's discovery had as
tonished me less than It had shocked
my moral sense, for all day the trend
Of the evidence had been towards the
conclusion implied by the finding Of
the pistol in Ogden'S room.
You have given Us another fact
to build a theory on, Deacon" he was
saying. "A fact hard and square, fast
and real"
THE theory?" Henry demanded.
bluntly.
Very WE'LL" MacNair began. Con
slider the facts. TINS man Furic calls
on Hyde yesterday afternoon. Hub
bard overhears Ogden shout the two
words gold bullets Furie leaves. Og.
den telephones PEBBLES and is stabbed
as he sits at the instrument. Incl
dentally, Ogden has a card left at
my house asking me to call.
During the afternoon PEBBLES
buys a gold.mounted pistol from Ma
than Hyde. Early this morning
PEBBLES house is entered by q man
who is after the pistol. One Of the
gold bullet LOADED cartridges of the
pistol is found to contain q message
from a mar named Jerry The mes
sage was written In 1896 and 1t ac-
cuses one James Dillon Of murder.
Later on. we find evidence that leads
US to believe Ogden has been paying
Dillon blackmail for Is years. It al
SO turns out that Ogden desperately
wanted this gold mounted pistol
himself. Hyde, it appears, bought it
from this mar Ftlrie who called on
Ogden. We also find in Ogden's safe
Is poker chips and q deck Of cards.
Ogden was known to be prejudiced
against card playing.
"Why should Ogden have been pay
ing Dillon blackmail for Is years?
Why should Ogden want this gold
mounted pistol? Our feeling that
he vas not the man the community
supposed him to be, becomes GER
tainty. And now we have your dis
covcry. Deacon, of this other gold
mounted pistol in Ogden's ROOM"
He paused.
Il venture to say" he went on. that
Alex Peterson. swashbuckler and
gambler. and Andrew Ogden, our late
exemplary citizen. and builder of San
Felipe were one and the same man."
Again he paused.
II suggest, furthermore.' Mac
Nair continued ruthlessly, that Dill
lon blackmailed- Ogden because of
something that happened when Og-
den was Alex Peterson; that the man
Jerry was q close relation-a brother.
perhaps-or close friend of Peter
sons $50 close. in fact. that Ogden
called his own son after him); and
that the poker chips and the deck Of
cards symbolic the indiscretion for
which Ofden a blackmailed."
Sounds reasonable" Deacon
growled.
MacNair bowed ironically. by the
way" he resumed. Il wonder II
either Of you have forgotten the So
called legend OF the poker game
that cracked the town'?"'
I jumped at this. You NEAR that
fool yarn about Peterson playing
poker for a human life?" I stormed.
MY dear Watson! I was merely
dropping q seed into the ground made
fertile by our recent discoveries II
that poker game should prove to be q
fact it might have had something
to do with Ogden's DEATH"
1T isn't a fact" I said doggedly.
But I wasn't so sure, for he had car
ried me along with the sweep of his
logic. What about those pieces Of
quartz?" I demanded. There should
be motive enough for YOU"
I was coming to them. One speci-
men was In Ogden's desk: the. other
was in Hyde's. I believe Furie could
tell us something about them. At