The Bluffton news. [volume] (Bluffton, Ohio) 1875-current, 1940-04-11


Your intelligence is such that we
could safely pay you in advance
and confidently count upon your tes-
timony."
"You can cut the fat off the ham,"
said Moses. "Trot out the meat.
What do you want that's worth a
thousand rupees of anybody's mon
ey? 1t amt your money!"
''Sahib, Miss Harding saw a cer-
tain person drop from his pocket a
packet containing diamonds of great
value
"Easy!' said O'Leary. Easy.
Now | get you! You and i can do
business. You're a sensible man..
The blokes who selected you to prop
osition me picked a winner, they
did. Sure. You pay me a thousand
rupees; and all I've got to do is to
get a haircut and borrow an off,
GERS uniform, and go and make
love to the gal. That's simple. She'll
fall head over heels in love with me
as sure as my names Moses. Then
all I've got to do is teach the lady
how to get British officer in trou-
BILE. Oh, it's crafty! Come on, hand
over your thousand rupees"
''But, sahib, listen to me-"
mo. My ears are too full o.
your wisdom. They won't hold any
more. D'you notice the toe o. my
boot? It's just been cobbled. It's
hard. It's going to land right in
your stomach If you waste any
more o. my time. Who's that bloke
watching your"
Moor Mahlam turned, stared,
blinked and shook his head:
"I don't know who he is" he
answered. "But have been told that
it is very dangerous to know too
much and to refuse generous offers
of payment for a very simple little
thing that man of your talents can
easily do"
What do you want me to do?"
"Invent an excuse to speak to
Miss Lynn Harding. Tell her that
q reward has been offered for lost
packet of diamonds, which are said
to have been dropped by someone
near the palace guesthouse veran-
da. Should you say it subtly, she
will answer innocently. She will tell
you what she saw. II you should
take witness with you"
Sergeant Stoddart, for in
stance?"
Eyes, the sergeant would do per-
fectly. Then there would be two
reliable witnesses to what she said,
and she would not retract. There
would be a thousand rupees for
YOU"
"And Captain Norwood?"
THAT will be his business. It is
unfortunate but"
''Tm a halfbreed, / am," Moses
answered, land I'm sinner, if you
know what that means. / could use
that thousand rupees. But I'd rath-
er go to hell for pulling out. your
tongue by the roots than for franz
ing my officer. He has his faults,
but he's gentleman and I've KEEP
him out O. trouble for thirteen years.
Go and tell that to the Brahmins.
Scram!"
Moor Mahlam smiled again.
There are MEANS" he remarked,
''for compelling silence"
yeah, I know" said Moses. "You
signal that bloke in the red turban,
and he sticks a knife in my back.
I'll give him the signal and let's see
,<sf h1y
Somewhere Moses had learned
soccer, and learned it well. His
right toe landed accurately on the
bulge of Moor Mahlam's belly and
almost buried itself. Moses right
fist moved eight inches like a pis-
ton. A hook to the jaw staggered
Moor Mahlam backwards into dark
doorway, where he lay writhing.
There was no need to waste any
more attention on Moor Mahlam.
But the man in red turban, who
had been watching the conversation,
made a signal. A constable, who
had been lettering through the ba-
zaar, abruptly turned his back and
walked away The man in the red
turban rushed at Moses, not show
ing his knife until he was almost
within stabbing distance But his
tempo was wrong. Perhaps he new
er learned soccer. Certainly he had
never learned boxing; he carried his
chin much too far forward. 1t was
an absolutely perfect target for
Moses toe, which very nearly broke
from the impact. The man in the
red turban dropped without a groan,
motionless, stunned. Moses picked
up his knife, wiped it carefully,
smelt the blade and ran his thumb
gently along the edge. A very dirty
looking person in a huge soiled white
turban and ragged clothing emerged
from a doorway and grinned at
Moses. Moses handed him the
knife:
"Khabardar honal Watch
out. That things poisoned. can
smell it. See here now: I'm off to
the cock-fights-after that, a woman
Il don't know yet which woman,
but she'll be a tiger-cat. SO stand
by. There'll be others laying for
me- Use that knife if you have to.
I've got to dig to the bottom of this"
Norwood cantered from the Resi-
dency toward the guesthouse, to
have galloped would have been a
bit too noticeable. Even SO, he was
delayed, near the end of the street
tnat leads toward the teeming sec
tion of the city. Moses O'Leary
stood there watching for him. He
looked filthy, and at least partially
drunk PIT he made signals. 1t