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"I Am Not Through With You Even Yet, Puppy."
in, TO* LASH <f l
Jj CIRCUMSTANCE
rfjWft Hapry Irving Greene
Author <y~Yosonde of the Wilderness"'
HKjst>-a.*rioris by Magnus O. Ketlner
N COPYVIuHT WO W. Q. CMAHMA.N ',*.7LV *'/v *■?*''. o".'*!.
SYNOPSIS.
Ahner Halllday. a miserly millionaire,
l« found gagged. bound and Insensible In
his room, his safe rifled and $40,000 mlns-
Ing. The thread of the story is taken up
by his nephew Tom. Living in the same
house are other relatives: reckless Bruce
Ilalliday and pretty Clare Winton. Bruce,
•p.i s n bond broker, lias been trying to
TMiseV slf>.ooo to put through a deal and
rave nilmself from financial ruin. lie has
applies! to his miserly uncle and to others
for the loan but has been infused. Tom
eends for William LeDue, an old-time
friend connected with a detective agency.
In relating the story Tom reverts to his
acquaintance with a Mrs. Dace, a wealthy
widow, whose business agent Is Richard
Mackay, a boodler and political boss.
Tom Is jealous of Mackay and Is deeply
In love with Mrs. Pace. Bruce Halliday
warns him to shun her as an adventuress.
Tom sees Mrs. Dace and Mackay togeth
er He afterwards meets the woman at
horse race, and, happening to mention
that Bruce had a tip on the winner, she
gives him $."00 to place on the race. The
lip go. s wronjj and she loses her money.
Later Torn invests in stocks. He makes
#ome mom y. and returns the lost Jftoo to
Mrs. Dace. Tt is at tills Juncture that the
theft of the $40,000 from old Ahner Halll
day occurs. Le One meets Clare and
Bruce, lie learns that the key which
Clare had to the house is missing. Mae
k.iv's dealings with Mrs. Dace make Tom
more .lealous. The detective Intimates a
d"sp!clon against Bruce Halllday as the
thief. This dare Wlnton indignantly re
pudiates. Mrs. Dace accepts Tom as her
nance, and encourages him to Invest In
a cerinin stock. Tom has a row with
Vackny and the latter threatens revenge.
The detective announces that he has dis
covered important clews as to the thief
If looks as if Mackay had got hold of
Tom's key to the Halllday home and
might have been the burglar.
CHAPTER XV.—(Continued.)
At the first corner a shrieking news
boy nearly ran between my legs, an:l
Ibove the uproar of the street 1
heard him shout a sentence that
caused me to gasp and clutch at a
lamp post for support. Snatching a
paper from liifn I threw him a coin
and began to read, the paper shaking
1n my hands like a wind-thrummed
reed. Two paragraphs told me the
hideous truth. Upon information that
had been given him by Richard
Mackay, who had been frozen out of
the combination by his co-conspira
tors, the state's attorney had filed a
quo warranto proceeding in which he
attacked the very life of the fran
chise of the underground system.
Should that official be able to sub
stantiate the attack and prove that
the grant had been obtained by fraud
and trickery, as Mackay stated, the
■courts might deprive the corporation
of all its rights and privileges, take
away its power to act and render it
hopelessly impotent. Under such a
frightful condition of affairs the stock
would become absolutely worthless,
and beneath this stab at its heart it
had already fallen with a crash that
had carried half of those who had rid
den upon it to ruin. My meager mar
gins had been wiped out as quickly as
a guilty schoolboy scours his slate,
and 1 had been made a bankrupt in
the time which It takes to tell it. I
dropped the paper and staggered into
a doorway, my hands pressing my
temples.
The world swam drunkenly before
me in a hideous gray mist, through
which men with faces lined and hard
ened by hopes long deferred, passed
ghostlike as they plodded silently
along with strained eyes in search of
the sordid necessities which bind the
noul and the body together. The roar
cf the street came to my deadened
ears like the sullen grumble of thun
der. From cut of the gloom weary
shop sirls and racged newsboys stared
mriously up >wt my drawn face, none
Marw tin* L. M*>« h&tf so wretched.
For they had abided in the depths and
had not seen the star of hope shining
close above them, whereas I had been
hurled from the battlements of heav
en in the twinkling of an eye. Dead
ened of senses and seeing but vague
ly, I went stumbling towards my
broker's office, my only hope being
that I would awake and find that I
had dreamed a nightmare.
His doors were locked. Already a
rabble stood before them vainly clam
oring for admittance, and realizing
the uselessness of remaining here. 1
rushed down the stairs and towards
the floor of the exchange. The shriek
ing uproar of the pit was unintelligible
to me, but in the midst of it with his
collar torn from his neck and his coat
split down the back was my agent,
still dancing about insanely with
wild thrusts of his fingers into the
air. The frenzy upon his face left me
no vestige of hope, and I turned away
with my brain spinning. Four steps
further and I almost ran into the arms
of Richard Mackay.
His teeth showed beneath h's
heavy mustaches; his eyes burned and
Ills face was stamped with the vin
dictiveness that had brought this in
ferno about. He saw me at once and
a brutal laugh of satisfaction burst
from between the half-sealed lips
which my fist had split. "I did it
partly for your benefit, if that is any
satisfaction to you. Hut I am not
through with you even yet, puppy,"
he said in my ears, as he passed. Too
broken of spirit to resent the insult
other than by a look I passed hiin in
silence.
How I got through that terrible af
ternoon 1 am still uncertain, except
in a vague way. I dared not keep my
luncheon engagement with Mrs. Dace
and tell her all; but instead kept
mumbling to myself that I would call
her up that evening when I had a
chance to think over what I should
say.
There is always a chance, though
it be only one in a million, that some
thing will be saved out of a wreck:
antf come what might matters could
not possibly be more hopeless at
nightfall than they were now. And
perhaps by then T could think of some
thing to retrieve myself temporarily;
something which would eventually
start me' once more along the prim
rose way. Scarcely conscious of what
I was doing I wandered to Bruce's of
fice. He was not there, but his clerk
told me that my cousin for some rea
son had closed out ajl his holdings
the day before at a handsome profit
and had announced himself as through
with speculation. The bitterness of
the contrast between him and myself
brought the tears to my eyes. Should
he carry out this resolve and stick to
his commissions, as I had little doubt
that he would under Clare's persua
sions and the weight of his promise,
his happiness was in his own keeping.
He had undoubtedly again gained a
modest competence, had a good busi
ness and the love of a sweetly beauti
ful and contented wotnan. Verily the
richest gifts of the gods reposed in
thte hollow of his hand.
I went home and threw myself heav
ily upon the bed. At the summons
to the evening meal I failed to re
spond: burying my face in the pillow
instead, as for the hundredth time I
rehearsed what I was to say to Mrs.
Dace. I could only tell her that I had
received a b«r«rt> •etback but wan
; planning * new mmrn'ri, ant «*f
her a few dnys' Indulgence until I
could go over 11 stttra t;lie had te'd
me that *be to he at hems fhit
evenlt g, and It had bun urne : *too |
brtttpa u* that Iv a* 10 be with her
therefore, at oitbt o'clock 1 aro*«« 1 trl
called for her number. The vole • of
Janet answer d me, telling me that
her mHtre s wa* not nt home.
Wi:h an overwhelming pre-entmcnt
of more mini ry to come, I vainly im
plored some Information a<« to where
, *he hnd gon • and at wl 'l hour she
was expectod to return The anawer
that I received wa* a click that told
tue of the hanging up of the earpiece
and my further volt Itig* brought only
the ringing silence of an unsnswerlng
wire. I sank Into my chair ;:galti.
In the midst of my stupor I hea'd
the ringing of the door hell and a mo
ment later the *ounil of light footsteps
asc« ndlng the stairs. There was a tap
at my door, and at my Mat less re
sponse I,eDuc quietly entered. I saw
him run his eyes quickly over me as
lie tossed his hat upon the bed and
drew a chair close beside mine, lie
said nothing, did not even smile us
was his habit, and in my misery !
did not nlTi r hitn any greeting For
perhaps a minute he sit without
spiaklng and then addressed me with
unwonted gravity: "Tom, I have the
proofs."
1 started sllg'-t'y and raised my
eyes to his. I fancied they were full
of regret, even sorrow, but his mouth
was (irmly set. My head was hot and
my throat dry, and I cleared the lat
ter before I spoke. Then I asked
; him hoarsely where they were,
lie laid thetn on the tabl» before
j me. They consisted of a silver card
case, a bookmaker's ticket, a bit of
i steel, a soiled piece of paper and a
small lump of some grayish substance.
Stupidly I stared at them.
CHAPTER XVI.
In the silence that followed the slow
ticking of the tall clock sounded like
the tolling of a bell. I shut my eyes.
| "Gp on," I commanded as he sat
facing me with no signs of any ir.cll
' nation to proceed. "What does this
| junk signify to you?" lie got up and
crossing the room silently bolted the
door that led to my uncle's apart
ments; then resumed his seat and ad
dressed me in the low tones of one
who adds caution to precaution.
"When I began this Investigation,
Tom, as 1 then told you I was about
1 to do, I commenced to shift the chaff
from the wheat in order to decrease
j the number of objects which 1 would
in the last analysis be compelled to
examine with great minuteness. My
inquiries made upon the morning I
first came, together with my inspec
tion of the house upon that occasion,
satisfied me of several things, among
which were that Mrs. Tebbets had
possessed no knowledge of the money
being in the safe, and because of thai
and divers other reasons she should
be eliminated; that your uncle had in
110 wise spread the information of his
having the currency to anyone ex
cept yourself and Hruce, and there
fore that he, as a distributor of the
news to outside parties, was to be
eliminated; that the house must have
been entered by the front door, and
therefore that the idea that all par
! ties were telling me without reserva
tion all they knew about the matter
was to be eliminated; and last, that
on account of the unusual drilling of
the safe and the quantity and quality
of the explosive used, that all thought
of its being the work of a profession
al cracksman must be eliminated. You
see that brought nie down to a pretty
narrow field." He ceased speaking,
and with my eyes still closed and my
head resting heavily against the back
of the chair 1 nodded slightly.
"1 understand. Having eliminated
the possibility of its having been done
by a professional, you have brought il
down to Bruce, who possessed a key,
or to Richard Mackay or one of his
friends who might have obtained a
I duplicate from the key 1 left at Mrs.
Dace's. However, go ahead."
"You seem to be following me to
a certain extent. Having decided that
it was the work of an amateur, 1 was
obliged to start out with those
thoughts in my mind as I attempted
to still further construct the circle.
Your key was in the possession of
your uncle at the time of the crime,
! and I did not believe that you had
I ever had another. Mrs. Tebbets and
your uncle had theirs; Miss Winton's
was missing and you had assured me
that Bruce had been in the possession
of one which he failed to account for;
that he had made rash statements
about getting money; had become
angry at your uncle; had been in a
generally unnatural and desperate
frame of mind the day before, and
therefore I started into investigate
him. This seemed to me the most
logical way of going at it, for loom
ing as big as he did among the sur
roundings, I must either concentrate
upon him as the probable thief, or
greatly simplify matters by getting
rid of him altogether. You had told
me of his entering a cab the evening
before the crime, and so I went to
a friend of mine who is an official in
the cab drivers' union. They are prac
tically all union men in tills city, and
he sent out a circular to every mem
ber of his association calling upon the
driver who had conveyed the person
described to come forward and receive
reward. Within two days I was talk
ing to the man who had driven Bruce,
and in that way found out where he
spent the night. The cabman drove
him to a resort ten mile3 from this
j place and Bruce spent the night of
! the robbery there asleep." I unclosed
I my eyelids with an expression of sur
prise.
"I did not. know that Bruce went to
such places," I muttered. LeDuc
went on.
"Nor does he voluntarily. Ha
liven drt'Hurd Hut 1 w ill com# to
't| it In a moment Hiving secured
« till* Information, which of course
o|':nlnated him a* the actlv» burglar,
I w rtit to him pnd told him uphill and
liown ti nt ht wn* making « blank fool
of himself. \Vh"n lie learned thai I
had uneuv" r»d hla whereabout* •»# the
night in question be made a clean
breast of It While he had been
1 lung d in tie pair by the ora-h, yet
he had taken hut two drinks that day,
one being a 00.Mail with you In a
rife. Boon after the Inst drink ha
had become stupefied. which fact he
attributed to the reaction fr-jm hla
highly nenoua State, but i came to
a totally different conclusion, although
I said nothing to him about it at the
I time. With your assistance he <-n
i tered a cab and roniomberod nvmh
llng a direction to the driver to take
, him to his room*; yet when he awoke
In the morning he found himself at a
place where lie had no desire to he.
IVar of Miss Winton's disph asure bail
made him n . olve to remain silent
lather than hurt her by the cotu'. si on
thai lie had got drunk,'as he imagined
he had. and (rone to such a pine" 1
could not understand why the cabman
j had taken It upon himself to convey
! him to this resort against Bruco's di
• reotlons. so I came back at the driver
I hard. By the dint, of more question*,
j aided b.v a few Judicious threats, I
. dr"w out the information that the
1 change In address had bo» 11 given by
a certain party whom the drlv< r knew
i to In- a friend of his passenger from
1 the fact of having seen them tog tlior,
j and who had stopped him and Riven
; new Instructions as to where to con
j vey the sleeping one Inside. That ox
; plained the driver's peculiar actions,
and things were becoming decidedly
interesting. Although practically sat
isfied now that Hruce had had nothing
"vi 11 indirectly to do with the matter,
I neverthless went a little further in
my investigations. 1 was very much
interested to find out where ho had
secured the money which had enabled
i hint to resume his operations on
'change. When I had convinced him
that I would keep the information ab
solutely secret, he told me that it was
furnished him by a woman client who
did not care to have her name men
| tioned in connection with speculative
! matters. I traced the story to it3
j foundation and learned that it was ab-
I solutely true. That left only one mat
-1 tor to be explained so far as Bruce
' was concerned."
I suppose you mean his possession
i of the key and his denial that he had
j it, coupled with the possibility that
i some one else had somehow come Into
possession of it,"l said, breaking the
moment's lull. LeDuc nodded.
"Exactly. 1 was almost certain from
the time that Miss Winton announced
I the loss of her key that it had some
| how got into the possession of her
(sweetheart; for Its disappearance
from her keeping convinced me that
! you had not been mistaken when ynu
said Bruce had exhibited it or its
; duplicate. I had several talks with
1
"Tom Halliday, You Stole Your Uncle's Money."
him and her on the subject, and they
still insisted with a posltiveness that
I could not ignore that their original
statements were absolutely correct;
namely, she denied that she had ever
loaned him the key, and he asserted
that he liaa no knowledge of ever
having it in his possession. I made
them rehearse all their actions when
together for some days previous to
the robbery, and filially a thought
came to her. She remembered that a
short time previous while she and
Bruce had been strolling together that
she had slipped her poekotbook con
taining the key into his side coat
pocket for a few moments while she
was putting on her gloves And that
in turn suggested an idea to me. Had
the poekotbook been partially un
clasped, the key might easily enough
have fallen from it into his pocket,
and not having any occasion to use
it tor the next few days she uaturally
| wiough b*d not nil*»i <1 It 80 we
Rot th» rout he had worn on that
occasion and want through It. We
found a email rip In the bottom of th«
outside pocket, and going further dta
rn vc rod the k<')' In tlx- bottom lining
That solved tin' mystery \.< lor hla
having pounded on the table with It
and afterwards denied It, that was
< 'nelly accounted tor b.v tin 1 fact that
I' In hH worrlmrnt 1«» had unconsciously
drawn it Ironi hla pocket and need It
ns von described and then icpla«-«d It
mech(inlcall> without noticing what
| he had hold or i< tin inhering the in
-1 oldont. I accepted tliia as tho correct
solution of tlii' key Incident, and then
and there dlamlaaed Itruoa from all
connection with the matter. For had
ho entered Into col!ut>lnn with any
one else and loaned him the key for
the night, the other per Hon moat cer
tainty would have been a professional
who owned his own toola and knew
how to use them, and that Idea as you
know, I had already abandoned. Do
you get mo?"
"1 think so. And having eliminated
Bruce, whom 1 all along told you was
j innoci nt. you turned your attention
! to Richard Mackay as the next pos
sibility." My companion smiled faint
ly, thrusting his hands Into hla pock
ets and leaning forward in his chair.
"Yes, for about ton minutes. At the
end of that time I had reasoned him
! out of the case. The' man who
strangled your*uncle was described
by him as a large, strong man who
coughi d peculiarly. Thpt description
fitted Mackay to a dot, and further
more there was a possibility of his
having been informed, through his
more or less familiar connection with
Mrs Dace's establishment. of the
j money being in the safe at this partic
ular time. Then, too. the Incident of
| your having left your keys there for
| some days furnished a possible way
by which he could have secured a
duplicate through a conspiracy with
I one of the household. Hut that he
did it personally was absurd. He is
| far and away above it. lie Is not
| a burglar; he Is a boodler. lie has a
1 million dollars of his own, and would
! no more risk himself in an act like
this than you would for a handful of
silver. And having previously strlck
j en out the professional cracksmen be
! cause of the erudeness of the job, I
| was now compelled to eliminate
1 Mackay and his friends because of
the same reasoning that I had applied
jin Bruce's case. Had he turned the
i Job over to some needy friend of his
I from the underworld, that person
' certainly would not have been a bttn
-1 gler. You see what that brought me
to."
1 arose in my chair with a mingled
sensation of heat and cold climbing
my spine and stiffening my hair. "Do
! you mean to say as the last remaining
] possibility you fastened your suspi
j cions upon me?" 1 gasped. One of
1 his hands fastened upon my wrist
| with the snapping grip«of a steel trap;
1 his fingers biting like teeth into my
[ flesh. As in our school days 1 felt
the piano wire strength of his tendons
and clinched my teeth between the
fierceness of the clasp.
"Tom Halliday," he returned stern
ly, "you stole your uncle's money,"
Glaring at him, quivering under an im
pulse to tear myself from him and
strike him down, T first swelled my
muscles for the effort, then letting
them subside sank back with an ex
clamation of supreme disgust.
"So that was your ultimate analy
sis!" I said, with bitterest scorn. "Of
all the absurd, asinine idiots it was
ever my misfortune to come in con
tact with, you are the most complete
—you, an alleged detective. But you
might as well finish your dream. I
will compel myself to listen " 1 turned
my head from him contemptuously;
became aware that something cold
and metallic was snapped around the
wrist which he held and leaped to my
feet only uj Ood luuidcuflsd to
arm of On- b-ary oaken chair
FYetuttcd with rage I made an awk
'iird dive behind lay bark with mf
loft hand fnr my right-hand hip pocket
a* he looked hi* arm* around me.
With !!•• qulckrn s« of thought he hud
twlMed ii revolver from my Angora,
and FiirltntliiK hii<k luld It on thft
dresser beyond my rrnch, an shackl" <i
to tin hi iiv.v jtlo< • • of furniture J oouiA
onlv nil,ml quivering In holploa* pa*
clou !(• allying mv physical lai|>t>
tonce I Mit down sullenly.
"80 you fe*red I would murder
you." I sneered. HP negatived.
"No, 1 did not think you wou'd do
that Hut I feared that you might
murder yourself. IN> yon wlph mi' to
prorocd quietly, or shall I summon
your uncle to hear what ! have 10
say"" For n moment I hesitated as
I calmed myself by a mighty effort
There could lie no good n Retting
hint excited. "If you have anything
more to say to me you may cotitlnue
or not, as you choose. Iran scarcely
help hearing you, hut you will r< grot
this outrase when I am set fre«." He
did not seem to become either alarmed
or nnery at the threat; on the con
trary Ills voice was even smoother
than In fore as he resumed his seat.
"Tom," he continued, "I have al
ways been your friend and I wish to
always remain so. When ! have done
telling you what 1 know about this
crime we will talk about other mat
ters, if you desire. Hut what 1 wish
to tell you additionally Is this.l had
been compelled to eliminate every
body but you. and was therefore com
pelled, most regretfully, to start along
your trail. As my first step I went to
the hotel where you told me you
staid on the night of tiie crime;
looked at the register and ascertained
the room that you had occupied. I en
gaged it, and went to it for the par
pose of a thorough inspection. it
was a back room overlooking an alley
and the fire escape ran close by one
of its windows. It at once occurred
to me. therefore, that it would have
been the simplest thing in the world
for you, after having called up your
uncle and after having left a request
at the oflice for a morning summons
in order to Impress it upon the minds
of others that you were in your room
at midnight, and thus establish an
alibi in case of suspicion, to have
passed down the escape in the dark
ness, gone to any place you wished
and returned before daybreak. I
therefore went down the ladder, as I
assumed you had done, and at its bot
tom chanced upon what I consider
to have been the only piece of pure
good luck that came my way in the
whole case. For, mind you, I insist
that the rest of #ny discoveries were
the result of experience In such mat
ters, aided by close reasoning. Be
that as it may, at the foot of the lad
der I found your lost card case. I
could only account for its presence
there in one way; namely, that it had
dropped from your pocket while you
were either descending or ascxiding
the ladder with your arms working
above your head. That will perhaps
remind you of the other night when
you and I burglarized that office
downtown. You will remember upon
that occasion 1 handed you your
match safe after we had come down,
and told you that I had picked it up
at the foot of the ladder we had just
left; mentioning the fact that climb
ing up and down under such condi
tions was apt to work a smooth ar
ticle out of one's vest pocket. There
is nothing truer than that statement,
and 1 have no doubt but that is ex
actly what happened in the original
case of your lo°>t card receptacle. Mow
as a matter of fact. I extracted that
match safe from your pocket in the
darkness when you were occupied in
pressing the putty against the window
in order that I might try an interest
ing experiment. The experiment suc
ceeded. My calling your attention
to the likelihood of losing such ar
ticles under conditions similar to those
you had just experienced, started a
train of thought in your mind. I knew
you were worried by the loss of your
card case and were very desirous of
regaining it. My stratagem of the re
stored match box made it occur to
you that it was possible that you had
lost your card case Ingoing out of
the window on the night of the crime,
and that there was a bare possibility
that it had not been picked up and
that you would find it among the rub
bish back of the hotel. Having as I
hoped sowed this thought in your
mind, I made an excuse and left you.
You will recall that the pretext I
made for departing was that I wished
to make another experiment alone. I
immediately made it, the experiment
consisting of my going rapidly to the
head of the alley passing the Pacific
hotel and waiting there for you. True
to my reasoning you went straight to
the place where I had found the card
case, and lighting a cigar made a brief
search of the premises by the light of
the match, of course unsuccessfully.
Then as you came hurrying into the
street you popped into my arms
where I had stood to watch if you
would fall into the trap. 1 remember
your expression of surprise and dis
pleasure at unexpectedly seeing me
there. As an excuse I told you that
the criminal was downtown then and
moving around considerably himself.
1 imagine that remark rather got you
to guessing."
(TO BR CONTINUED.)
Unnecessary Advice.
A fioston school teacher, on attir
ing after 49 years' service, had these
suggestions to make to young women
teachers: "A little harmless flirting
x.ith nice people with whom you are
acquainted will do much to rest the
tired mind after the arduous dutiea
of the schoolroom; be a live wire ev
ery mliiute; do not eat too much"
Advice is given to those who need it:
it is easy to guess what voung Boston
setool teacher* are UJe«.