The Argosy, June 1904 — page 66: what you’re looking at

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

502 ; There was no doubt about it, the papers were gone! CILAPTER AANII. REALIZATION OF FEARS. By the next morning’s post there was brought to me a letter from Watson Ward. It did hot begin with a frigid and formal “Sir,” but im it he “ My dear’d me.’ I experienced a vast amount of relict from that very simple fact. Unless he was playing some deep double game—and I did not suspect hin of that—it was evident that he was in- spired by a friendly feeling toward me. Certainly, had he considered me guilty of murder he would not have been likely to address me so. He had evidently dis- covered nothing to make him regret the friendly hand- “clasp at parting. The letter read: Will you come and see me this after- noon? J shall be in after two till four o’clock. I told you that I disliked to be linked with a failure, and you may be pleased to hear that in this case I con- sider myself in conjunction with success. T have found out what your friend Mr. Kane instructed me to find out, and that little theory of mine about the trigger and the two barrels seems like going off. (That sounds closely allied to one of Mr. Kane’s jokes!) I told you that you were in one of the barrels, and I have not pulled the trigger of that one fruitlessly. What I hare to say concerning you eannot fail to interest you. Do not bring Mr. Kane with you. He is instrueting me, and [ will make my report to him in due course—yours is more a side issue. Meanwhile, rest assured of my earnest wishes for your welfare. J am, my dear sir, Yours very truly, Watson Warp. If I read that letter once I read it a dozen times. Tried hard to read be- tween the lines, but never onee °"¢c- ceeded in doing so. He said so much and yet so Iittle. But the dominating note of friendliness in it was what pleased me. What was it he could have to sav “which could not fail to interest me”? What did he know? What had he found out? PRODUCED BY UNZ.ORG comicboo THER ARGOSY. ff he had discovered my connection with the disposal of the dead man’s body, how was it that he wrote me in the friendly strain he did? The whole letter was Incomprehensible. fle had * found out what Mr. Kane had instructed me to find out.” If so, then the detective’s ability bordered on the miraculous. Reeret assailed me very keenly—that I bad not made a clean breast of it to Mr. Ward. But the success attending my previous concealment of the truth, and the fear—the not knowi ing what use he would make of my confession—had thwarted the desire to which his friendly attitude had given birth. Outwardly, he was everything that was friendly: but I was not ienorant of the reputation he bore of being a mer- ciless man in the pursuit of clues. Besides, there was a reward offered for the elucidation of the mystery. In addition to the money there would be a big reputation for the man who cleared if up. Both these items were likely to ap- peal to a private detective, and they made me think—on reflection—that I had acted wisely in keeping a still tongue in my head. The friendliness might be a portion of the disguise in which he garbed him- se]lf—even as his face was a mask. The afternoon came, and I was punc- tual in finding my way to Watson Ward’s chambers. I had started with eager feet, but they lagged a little as f reached my des- tination: so many doubts dogged my heels. When I entered the outer office and heard that the detective was out, I felt something as the man with an aching tooth feels when he learns of the den- tist’s absence. Some one was before me inquirins for Watson Ward, and the clerk was saying that he had sud- denly been called into the country. On the point of accepting that as an answer to my tinspoken question, 1 was turning on my heels with intent to leave the office—relieved in one sense, disappointed in another. The clerk saw my called after me. “ One minute, sir, please.” moyvement and CO ELECTRONIC REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED