Detective Bob Bridger — page 137: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

~—- 130° e DETECTIVE BOB BRIDGER. two, as if the sick man considered himself imposed upon. But these quarrels alway s ended by assurances and prom- ises on the strong man’ s part, the meaning of which the servants did not learn’” “And yet the sick man never complained or spoke to you concerning his affairs?” ‘Never. Indeed he never had an opportunity to speak to me, or any one, save in presence of the strong man, and on account of the watch which he continually kept over the invalid, and their seeming quarrels, I mistrusted that something was wrong between them.” “Well, we are certainly sorry to discommode you so late at night, but rest assured that we will in no way call your house into public prominence because a man wanted by the law has lived here for a time.” “Oh, thank you, sir. Forit would hurt my business; don’t you think so?” : ‘But we would ask you, madam, to permit us to look at the rooms lately vacated by the two men, that we may see if anything has been left behind, which might lend a clew to their present whereabouts. “Certainly. I will be below in an instant and let you in.” A moment later the landlady, a neat little New England woman of middle age, appeared at the door, and admitted the detectives. The search revealed that everything had been removed from the apartments-recently occupied by the mysterious lodgers save the furniture and those fruits, ee etc., of which the landlady had spoken. The fire in the grate had died away, and as the two sleuth-hounds were about turning away, Bridger picked from the dead coals a half-consumed wad of yellow paper. It proved to be an envelope of a class used by ticket agents to inclose railway tickets, and bore upon it the ad- dress of a railway ticket agency on Broadway. Thanking the landlady for her kindness the two detec- tives hastened from the house. They well knew that the ticket agency would be closed, but they found the night watchman at the number in- dicated, and from him learned that the agony was a single’ man, and lodged at a certain hotel. Hailing a passing cab they drove to this hotel at once, and the clerk succeeded in routing the agent from his -slumbers. He remembered the man described as Videre, and had 5 sold such a person two tickets to Jacksonville, Florida, via ? + we. ) ' EGOomic 70° oks s.cor