The Argosy, October 1906 — page 58: what you’re looking at

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

”» Carter, ‘“ Where’s fae “So it might appear, bues— eg ~ too, wrinkled his forehead. c= the annoyance coming in? ple calling, certainly, for unless some 3 one really, had lost a leather case an- Fi swering ~ that description, with initials _ * and- all, he’d never dare - show up here to ae elaine th : ae op ee “ That’s true.” * “No, it. doesn’t look much > like a Bie ~$cheme_ to annoy me, and I don’t know —__who would stoop to. ue a peti: busi-. ous ness, anyway.” me Vou discharged Say two or three 7G weeks ago ’ Joyce began slowly. ; “ Ves, and he went to Mexico three - 5 e days afterward. And if he had stayed here, what~earthly good could he have ee oe derived from such a prank?” ner. ‘ “Berrian wasn’t that sort, any way. - He was too stupid. No, the thing’ s been intended for a joke—and the Lord help ee -» the mind capable of such humor! sisted. ‘‘ The ‘newspaper ‘people “act put in that ad for amusement. Could it have been any of the men at any of the clubs you belong to? Z . “ Brixton?” Nonsense. See = Mayhew, then. He’s. a _ flippant sort.” s ‘“He’s also in Europe—sailed last = week.” “Then couldn't it have been Kiefer? _- » He’s a good fellow, and all’ at, but he’s generally about 2 ag “Half drunk?” supplemented Car- et her cheerfully. “YT know he is, but he -. couldn’t have been responsible ‘for. this’ = thing. He, too, is out of the city, and - has been for several days.” — Z ws “Then could it have been any one in oe our employ here?” persisted Joyce. ae. B Who? ” Carter’s smile was rather = dry. “Do _you “imagine that, with the 2 ~ kind of discipline we maintain in this_ . = establishment, one or another of our as- a sistants would be likely to undertake the - job, and the risk of being detected, sooner or later?” Joyce chuckled, somewhat grimly. “It isn’t exactly probable, but——” 5 ‘No, it’s not!” THE -ARGOSY. | 22 | Not by peo-- found’ himself: -wonderi — ~ “ “None!” confessed the junior ‘part.’ 4 : ee returned forthe. paper, <7 Hie aes = strange problem. He folded the sheet Se = 4 so that the odd little statement of false-— Ae hood stood out’ before him; and for five aa ae es: he pored over the lines. he advertisement “was a solid fact: ae a : > ae, What could have been its purpose? “Who...” aya could have put it there? eS Most natural of all suspicions, _he : 4 very ‘strongly _ ioe whether Carter had” not really found- such a case, whether he had not inserted. the queer notice, whether now, for ‘some — - ot reason, he was not bent upon concealing aes all knowledge of the affair. “About, the precision of that nan jane address ‘lingered: something meee | annihilative of doubt, of any suggestion ae : of error on the writer’s part. The thing cS was meant to apply to Carter, his Bare ee ner, and to no‘one élse AGS Ao Now, if Carter Fad found such _ a. eee casé———=— od <= - He glanced Saale at the a who _. had bent again over his specifications. SES per- And. Joyce knew himself tobe wrong. oa In the fifteen years of their connec- = tion he could not recall one single in- stance,, great or small, in which the RES senior partnér had deviated from “the— ee rigtd truth. His honesty was gf the old- — fashioned variety. He had just dis- — = claimed any knowledge of ‘the advertises ate ment—therefore, he had. none. Ge r moe = Joyce dropped the paper again. ess “Joe!” Se ‘Can there be anything behind this? ””.-> ets “Behind it? How?” a ae — ~ “IT mean, could any one with a rage im. against us——” ~ - — Carter farce brmtly See a ‘‘Look here, Henry! If your mind is. ae = working along the lines of schemes and — plots—drop it! That absurd thing may have been inserted by some one asa joke; _ <= = = personally, I have a strong suspicion = that some newspaper reporter evolved — = 7 from his inner consciousness as the basis = i for a good story—nothing much has ‘been = = = happening on earth these last few hae Ree However, be the originator who or what = he may, he was a hare-brained - ‘idiot and. = = nothing more Serious. It is not. a _ deep eS, criminal SORE designed _ to. Pie. ‘us! se as em ef Joyce fused. a ae at the tone.