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Show ! , t TUU UI7II70 I I f TxIhT Q Their Distinguished Services Are Sought fiELi Hi V Ej VVllviD by the Firm f Rankin & j By ARTHUR C. TRAIN. HE fact;ia," said Rankin, "I don't 44' I 1 quite like the looks of your I friend Johnson." X He spoke bluntly, brusquely In the way of a man "who has no time to waste on inanities. "What's the matter with him?" asked J ud son. "( don't like his nose!" rapped out his associate. "It's too red." Judson laughed uneasily. He had a hupre respect for the sagacity and discrimination dis-crimination of Rankin, the little rat-faced man who had steered him through so many profitable enterprises. "It is a bit high colore!," he conceded. "The deal looks line," continued tbe other. "And he don't promise too much, either. 1 can't focus any flies in the olnt-i olnt-i ment. But we don't know anything about the fellow. His money seems to be O. K., and he's got a first-class elghteen-carat elghteen-carat line of talk about phosphates and all that. First-class people back of htm, i too. But when it comes to handing over a hundred thousand or so for him to deal right out. why, I'd like to know more about my man that's all. You can't chuck out the personal equation merely because It's business. It's what counts in the end. Now, if Johnson drinks " "Never saw him crook "his elbow In the whole six weeks I've known him," retorted retort-ed Judson. "Still, of course, he might be one of those quiet soaks." "You can't arsue from that not a mite!" replied Rankin. "I-ook at old Sax. You'd think he never tasted anything stronger than soda water." "But his nose ain't red at all," answered Judson. feeling that he was scoring heavily heav-ily in favor of Johnson. "Right oh." admitted Rankin. "But vou've got to pay some attention to nature's na-ture's warnings. Maybe Mr. Johnson's a teetotaller and then again maybe he ain't. The last is my best bet. And we've got a lot of money at stake in this thing a whole heap, for us." "Oh. T quite agree with you." Judson hastened to assure him. "We can't be too careful. But what do you suggest? Ye can't call him up on the phone and say casually: 'By the way, Johnson, old ichap, do you hit the booze?' or anything like that." "No, nothing like that," echoed Rankin. "Don't you know any of his people well enough to ask them?'' "No. I don't," answered his friend. "Burton's the only one and he'd probably proba-bly tell hi in I asked." Rankin scratched his chin con tentatively. tenta-tively. "You might hire a couple of detectives," he suggested tentatively. "If lie ever found It out it would put the kibosli on the whole combination." replied Judson. "It's something I've never done. Kind of insulting, don't you think?" "How else can we find out?"' asked Rankin solemnly. "You and I can't gumshoe gum-shoe around after him and see what he does I think it's excusable under the circumstances. Don't you?" "Ye-es," hesitated Judson. He was fatter than his friend and moved slower, slow-er, mentally and physically. Together, beginning in a small way, they had successfully suc-cessfully underwritten some exceptionally paying "propositions, until now each was head of his own banking establishment. Of the two. Judson's was the larger and more comfortable Rankin's the more profitable. Both were men of the highest integrity, each with his own particular virtues and limitations, and not the least fault of Judson was that he allowed his own broader mlndedness to be overridden by the shrewder and less charitable intellect in-tellect of Rankin. "It does sort of seem to reflect on him, though," he added after a moment's pause. "He'd feel sore as a crab if he ever got wise to what we were doing, that's sure! If there was any other way, now" "He don't belong to any clubs that you, know of. does he?"' asked Rankin. ; Judson shook his head. "I bet you don't even know where he lives." persisted the other. "That's true. I don't." admitted Jud- : son. "I understand he's only moved to New York quite recently, though. I don't know the home addresses of lots of my business acquaintances," he added hope- U,,l' heard that he quarrelled with his wife and came to the city so's not to have to live with her abandoned the family fam-ily children and all." said Rankin. '"Who told you that?" inquired Judson, in horrlfiM astonishment. He was a home-loving home-loving man himself. "I forget," replied the other. ' Some one of the boys." "Well that ain't anything against his business honesty, even if it's true." commented com-mented Judson uncertainly. 'That is not if he provided for 'em." Tm merely tellin' you what I heard, 'remarked Rankin. "Of course, we oughter know, said Judson "Maybe vour' re right about the detectives. I guess we can have it done so he won't find out what we re up to. Come to remember. I do think his nose is an awful suspicious color." The International Phosphate Gun no company was the corporation which Johnson, John-son, the gentleman whose morals were under un-der scrutiny, had proposed organizing with the aid of Messrs. Judson and Rankin. He was apparently well informed upon the subiect of guano deposits and gave no indications in-dications of being other than a quiet person per-son of florid exterior and generous proportions propor-tions with a rather huskv voice and an undeniably red nose. As Rankin had admitted, ad-mitted, he had the best sort of financial backing and had secured and now offered to share with the two others some valuable valu-able concessions from a Central American republic The venture looked reasonably safe and the only remaining consideration was 'the personal desirability of the pro- mAnr'hour later. Judson, in the retirement retire-ment of the offices of 11. Judson & Co.. Private Bankers, of Broad street. called up the Never Wink De ec : i v e Agencv of Park Row. and in a diffident manner Informed the party at the other end of the wire that he had a personal matter of some little importance in which he desired their co-operation. Judson bad had no experience of detectives or detective de-tective agencies, except with the gentleman gentle-man who had been detailed from headquarters head-quarters to guard his daughters w-edriing presents, and what he had gleaned from "The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes and of nther distinguished literary sleuths. His conception of a detective was that of a slender man with gimlot eyes, crisp, businesslike busi-nesslike manners, a silent footstep and an intellectual forehead. Twenty minutes later a card was brought to him bv a clerk which read: "Patrick Terence Mul-lallv" Mul-lallv" superintendent Never W ink Detective De-tective Acency. New York City. . . S. A. "Ail!" exclaimed Mr. Judson. Show him in." . . Heaw footfalls announced the visitors approach and the door opened, admitting admit-ting not one man. but two. the like of which Judson had never imagined before. The first, who must have weighed in the neighborhood of 300 pounds, had an accordion-pleated neck, upon which was poised a huge, moonlike face, from the smooth-shaven vastness of which gazed vacantly a pair of watery gray eyes. He gasped as lie moved. Effort was clearly painful to him. His associate was a bullet-headed fellow, with a square, protuberant pro-tuberant jaw, whose left eye was partially partial-ly closed and surrounded by a border of orange and black. Also, he exhaled a pronounced aroma of alcohol. Judson had a momentary qualm. "Er," he remarked. "The detectives I presume?" The large man wheezed condescendingly. condescend-ingly. "You huh sent for us?" "Yes," replied Mr. Judson. "Won't you sit down?" The big man inserted himself heavily in an armchair, which creaked under his weight, and crossed his legs, while his companion, after inspecting the room critically, took a seat in the corner. Judson opened a drawer and produced a box of cigars. "Smoke?" he inquired, feeling politeness polite-ness to be desirable. "Thanks," said the large man. and took two. His companion availed himself him-self similarly of the opportunity. Each placed one In his waistcoat pocket and bit the end off the other. "I'm Superintendent Mullally of the Never Winks." said the big one. "What's your huh trouble?" "I wish to have a man shadowed for a 1 day or two. Want to find out his habits,, especially if he drinks all about him In fact." "H'm!" remarked the big man. "Know his name?" "Of course," replied Judson. "Got a match?" suddenly demanded the bullet-headed man. Judson produced one. which his interrogator inter-rogator accepted condescendingly. Both had retained their hats. The big one wheezed again, and with great deliberation delibera-tion now produced a. minute notebook, the leaves of which he turned contemplatively. contem-platively. "What does he look like?" he inquired, 'his voice dying away into a faint , whisper. "Large man, with a red nose," said Judson. The superintendent made a laborious note. "Name?" he demanded. "Johnson," answered Judson weakly. The detective suspended his pencil and gazed at the banker reproachfully. "TSiere's millions of 'em," he remarked despairingly. "This one's named William," Judson hastened to explain. "What does he weigh?" suddenly asked the big man. with the air of one who has had an inspiration., "Look here," cried Judson, losing patience. pa-tience. "Whut has that got to do with it? I'll point him out to you." "Huh!" grunted the smaller one. "Why didn't you say so?" The big man gasped and put the book back in his pocket. "What's he done?" he inquired slyly. "He hasn't done anything," answered Judson peevishly. "All I want is to find out what his habits are." "Funny case, ain't it, Mr. Mullally?" commented the bullet-headed man, spit- ; ting on the carpet. j "Kind of matrimonial, eh?" gasped the i big one. j "No," retorted Judson. "It ain't matri- monial, or battle,' murder, or sudden! death. I just want to get a line on the , feller, see?" i "Oh," said the big man, and sank into j asthmatic silence. "Can you give us a good spot?" -demanded the subordinate from behind his cigar. I "A what?" asked Judson with diffl- , dence, for he felt his ignorance growing momentarily. "A s-p-o-t," snapped his questioner. "Huh he means, can you huh gii us a look at him?" explained the superintendent. super-intendent. "Saves a lot of huh trouble." trou-ble." "I know where his office is," answered Judson. "Tt'fl over in the Broad Ex-I Ex-I change building. You might go over there and wait for him to show up." "No good," said the big man. "He might see us. Too uncertain. Can't you get him huh to come here?" Judson stared at him helplessly. He supposed he could get Johnson to come over to the office on some pretext If it w-ere absolutely necessary. "I suppose I" he began. "Only way." ejaculated the small man. "We can hide in the corridor and peek through the curtain on that glass door over there." . i "That would huh be a fine 'spot, " agreed Mullally. "Then wheeze I can huh trail him down the elevator and Jim can huh pick him up on the ground floor. You better have two men to shadow- him." "I want to cut down the expense," said Judson. "I guess your partner can handle the job alone all I want. Wait a minute and I'll see if I can get him j to come over here." j He called Johnson's office and got the 1 gentleman on the wire. i "Would you mind stepping over here j about that phosphate business?" he in-, in-, quired. "I'm very busy and can't leave. Yes, now will be all right. Thanks. ; Good -by." j "He's coming." he remarked tri-; tri-; umphantly to the detectives, j "Well. Jim, we might as well get huh located." gasped - Mullally. "Let's see now.' Mr. Judson, make him huh sit in this chair here under the electric light. Yes, you might turn it on. too. And give us plenty of time. These are hard jobs." "I don't want any slip up." commented com-mented Judson, beginning to feei somewhat some-what encouraged. The fellows probably prob-ably knew their business, even if they didn't look like detectives. "I tell you what, after you have had a good look I'll go downstairs with him, so there can be no mistake. You follow right behind, and when we reach the cigar counter in the lobby I'll stop and buy him a cfgar. Then you'll be absolutely sure of your man and you can follow him from there." The two detectives had barely ensconced en-sconced themselves in the hall outside before Mr. Johnson was, announced. He greeted Judson good naturedly, assured htm that it was no trouble at all to come to his office, and allowed himself, without apparent suspicion, to be placed in the armchair under tho electric light. Even his nose did not seem to be as red as usual, and now that the detectives detect-ives had gone, Judson could not smell a suggestion of whisky in the room. He began to fee! rather ashamed of himself. Still. business was business. He certainly had a right to know the habits of a man to whom he was going to intrust his money. But the sight of the two faces peering through the green curtains made him highly uncomfortable. un-comfortable. First one and then the 1 other would appear, gazing steadfastly , at Johnson, until it seemed as though he must be conscious of their never i sleeping eyes. But no, he talked cheer- fully on. unmindful of aught but phos- j p hates. Suddenly the door burst open and the fat man came wheezing into the j room. I "Say. Mr. Judson." he gasped, staring like the headlight of a locomotive into i th face of the visitor. "Have you huh cot huh those letters?" "What let" besan Judm. stupidly. ; Then he recollecu-d h:ms"-!f. "Er. yes. Here thev are." he replied, fumbling in one of the drawers. "Take 'em right i over, will you?" ; "Sure thing." shouted the detective. giving Judson an enormous wink. "You can bet on me." I He had hardly retired before the door opened for th second time and his fel- ! low came clumping into 'r.c room. ; "Want any insurance?" he cried gaily j to Judson. at the same lime leaning over i Mr. Johnson's chair and almost breath- I ing in:o his fare. "'No no. 1 don t wan t a ny insurance. Been fuily insured for fifteen yem-s," r"- I torted Judson nncriiy. lie woiid--red : what on earth Johnson would think of; t.e way his office was run or tho kind i of mn he omnloved. Put evid'-ntlv the detectives had secured just the kind of a spot that they wanted, for they both grinned through" the curtains and waved their hands encouragingly. Mr. Johnson presently said he must be going, and Judson. feeling like a Judas, accompanied him down in the elevator. Tlie two detectives descended with them, crowding Mr. Johnson between them in a laudable endeavor to get a further and unmistakable spot. ' "Have a cigar?" Inquired Judson in as hearty a manner as he could assume under un-der the circumstances. "Thanks, yes," replied Johnson. Mullally and his side partner interfered so at the counter, hanging over it and peering under Mr. Johnson's hat, that Judson purchased the cigars with difficulty. diffi-culty. But finally it was accomplished and he bade his visitor good day. As he shot back to his office floor he congratulated congratu-lated himself that, so far as he was concerned, con-cerned, the dirty work was over. Personally Per-sonally he didn't like this spying on people, peo-ple, even business acquaintances. Johnson John-son had always acted to him like a good fellow. It seemed to him kind of low-down low-down and underhanded. He hadn't felt so mean since he iiad looked over another an-other boy's shoulder and read his answers an-swers at school. But it must be all right. Of course it was all right, or Rankin ! Sure. Rankin wouldn't have suggested anything improper. Everybody used detectives. de-tectives. You simply hired another fellow's fel-low's eyes, that was all. "Cnsleeping eves" Judson had a slight qualm as he recalled Mullally's. 1 He had hardly settled himself at his J desk before the two detectives stumbled i into the room again. "Say," wheezed Mullally weakly. "Your friend huh give us the slip. He's on to us all right." "Musta doubled and gone back upstairs in tlie elevator to sidetrack us," explained the bullet-head. Judson was inexpressibly disappointed. "I tell you huh he sized us up and hull tried to trip us!"' asserted the fat man. "The way you rushed In and out of here and coughed in his face, I wouldn't blame him!" expostulated Judson. "Why. I wouldn't have that man know I was trying to shadow him for the world. It would cost me a lot of money." "Oil!" grunted t he bullet-headed one. "You wouldn't, eh?" "Indeed I wouldn't!" declared Judson. "It seems to nie you might have managed man-aged to follow him." "I tell you huh he doubled on us!" gasper the fat man. Judson courteously refrained from expressing ex-pressing the doubts which assailed him. 'Well, what are we huh going to do now?" demanded Mullally, wiping his forehead. "Yes, we're up against It now, all right," commented the bullet-head. They seemed to regard Judson as entirely to blame for the fact that Johnson had escaped es-caped them. "Well," suggested Judson. "You might go over and try to 'pick him up' fl be-i be-i lieve that's what you call it) at his office." of-fice." "Sure thing, we'll get him huh there, all right," exclaimed Mullally more cheerfully. "What did you huh say you wanted us to do when we huh had located lo-cated him?" Judson's heart sank. "Follow him and ascertain his habits!" he reiterated gently. "Trust us! He won't huh get away a second time, no matter huh how smart he is!" Mullally assured him. The rest of the morning was unoroKen save for a telephone message from one of the pair inquiring the number of Mr. Johnson's-offiee In order to be sure there might be no further mistake. Judson still felt rather ashamed of himself, although he could not have told exactly why. Weren't they going to entrust Johnson with a big lot of, money? Hadn't they the right to look into his moral character? char-acter? Of course, .they had! By such reasoning, oft repeated, he reassured himself. When Judson went out to lunch, as luck would have it. he found Johnson sitting- alone at ie. of the tables in the restaurant, and was invited to Join him. Johnson ordered no liquor and contented himself with a modest glass of milk and j vichy. "A bluff, probably." thought Jud-i Jud-i son, although he was again impressed by I the fact that Johnson seemed like a good I fellow. After lunch Johnson invited him to come over to his office for a cigar, but Judson peremptorily refused. He couldn't have stood passing Mullally and the bullet-headed man outside the door. At 3 o'clock the fat man telephoned again. He wanted a further description I of Johnson. So many persons had been .going in and out of the latter's office that the two detectives had become some-I some-I what confused. I No one had appeared, however, who in the least resembled the man upon whose j trail they were encamped. Mullally was j confident that their quarry was wise and i had "fallen to their game." These fel-I fel-I lows were awfully shrewd. He was sure , their man hadn't been near his office : all day. One red-nosed man had gone . in. but had come out hurriedly a. book agent. He advised putting three men on the job and getting a further spot. He treated Judson's statement that the latter had just heen lunching with their quarry skeptically, if not incredulously. Wanted to know if he w-as dead sure? Judson wrung his hands and hung up the receiver. Then he sent a letter to the a.gency that he no longer required its services. Having done so he felt decidedly de-cidedly more at ease. The longer he considered con-sidered that phophate deal the better it looked to him. The men behind Johnson John-son were so well known that it seemed impossible still he didn't blame Rankin for wanting to take no chances. The first thing that greeted his eyes the following morning on his arrival at the office was a long, plain el low envelope en-velope with his name and address in typewriting type-writing (of an inferior quality), and the words "Deliver personally" in the corner. cor-ner. Opening it, he found thit It contained con-tained several large sheets of letter paper. The first was headed: "Confidential Report. "On receiving call operatives M. and P. immediately repaired to office of employer, em-ployer, at 30 Broad street, where they conferred with latter from 10 o'clock until un-til 11 a. m. On suggestion of operator M., subject was lured to office, where both operators M. and P. secured opportunity for personal examination and identification. identifica-tion. At 11:15 a. m. subject hurriedly left office, accompanied by employer, and descended de-scended in elevator to ground floor. Operators Op-erators M. and P. with difficulty secured places in same elevator and closely observed ob-served subject In transit. Arriving at bottom, employer, accompanied bv subject sub-ject and closely followed by operators, purchased a Peacherine cigar, of which operator P. secured the band Con file at this office). Employer then bade good df.y to subject and reascended in elevator. At this point, owing to confusion, crowds, passorshy, noise, etc, subject eluded both operators and dlsa ppeared. After waiting wait-ing twenty minutes, and finding that subject sub-ject did not return, operators visited employer em-ployer for further instruct 'fins. Were directed di-rected to watch subject's office. It being be-ing lunch time, operators discontinued ' their efforts until 12:4. whTi hoth M. and P. repaired to Broad Exchange building. build-ing. At 3 p. m. ca'led employer on telephone tele-phone for further description of subject. At 5 ::'0 p. m.. :.s subject had not appeared, ap-peared, they discontinued operations aid returned to agency. "P. T. M.. Superintendent. "Note It is our opinion that this man is a d'inTeroiia criminal and is wise to all. the "tricks of the trade.' Operator M. is sure that he- is Lefty Sullivan, alias Big Mike, of St. Louis, Missouri. whTe he did a long term for a mining swindle." The report was dated 7: IT. p. m., and the post mark showed that it had been mailed the preceding evening. Judson gave a mirthless laugh. Somehow Some-how he felt the thing to be a damned insult. in-sult. Not so much that it wasn't true in the. literal s-nse as that it v.ns in fact such nil egregious lie. These preposterous manikins, these lunatics from a Punch i and Judy show hadn't, done anything, and ct t hev pretended to believe thnt thev I'ould make him think ihev had. He felt that his intellect was hejng mnde small ! of. T'id he look like a man who could he ) cheated by a poer like that, when he knew different!-.'? lie h.-id har.llv thrown it a--Me bow- ever, before his clerk brought him a similar envelope, also marked "Personal Delivery." Tiie sheet inside was covered as to its upper half with a woodcut symbolical of sleepless vigilance and a list of offices and branch offices where the sleepless worked: Below it was staled that H- Judson, Jud-son, Esquire, was debtor to tlie Never Wink Detective Agency as follows: To dav s services of special operator op-erator Si., a-i o'clock $ jo. oo To day's services of special operator op-erator P.. 9-1 o'clock 25.00 Luncheon (.' 3.50 Ti Js day's services of special operator op-erator M., o'clock lb. 00 To J-j day's services of special operator op-erator P., 2-6 o'clock 25.00 Dinner (.2) H.'V Car fare, telephones, etc -.So Expenses for refreshments, gratuities, grat-uities, etc.. incurred while shadowing shad-owing subject 19 . fio Cab fare Services of assistant -z dav 12. .n Stenography t . -"i Messenger l-n0 Secret fund 20.i-0 Total 5179 . 75 Received Payment. Judson rubbed his eyes at this monstrous mon-strous joke. He felt stunned. Again and again lie perused the astounding items. Cab fare. ?S! Assistant, $12.50! He had never heard of such a thing. Gradually his rage grew. He would Iwve liked to 1 have those two idiotic, lumbering mutts right there and pounded their two heads , together. He wanted to call in the office force and show them the trick that had been perpetrated upon him. One hundred aud eightv dollars for their disjointed flounderings! He grabbed the telephone and demanded the Never Wink Detective Agency. A gasping voice answered him. Yes. what was wanted? "This is Mr. Judson," he snapped. "I have your ridiculous bill. It's the most preposterous thing I ever heard of! You did nothing at all! You're a joke you two! Mv office boy could have done a thousand" times better. 1 simply won't pav it." A restless silence fell at the other end of the wire. A whispered conversation became audible, and a new voice, that of tlie bullet-head, answered him. "Do I understand you to say that you won't pay?" demanded the man. "You bet f won't!" shouted Judson. "H'm!" returned the other. "Don't you think it would he better to pay that bill than to have Mr. Johnson know you had been setting detectives on his track?" Judson's circulation stopped and then leaped forward again with hurried bounds. He couldn't afford no, absolutely no to let Johnson know of anything of the kind. "You don't mean- you'd tell him!" he stammered weakly. "If you don't treat us on the square we got to protect ourselves, ain't we?" snarled the voice at the other end. "Our I bill's onlv one-hundred and seventy-nine dollars. We might 'a' sent you one for five hundred." "You're a pair of infernal blackmailers! suddenly exploded Judson. "A couple of miserable crooks that's what you are:" A long pause followed, but no burst of indignation came from the other end of the wire. , ,, "If that bill isn't paid by 1 o clock, said the voice very distinctly, "the whole matter will be laid before Mr. Johnson. Mavbe he'll tieat us better!" Ten minutes later Judson and Rankin faced each other blankly in the latter's office. "You have bungled the thing, I must sav!" groaned Rankin. "I'd like to know who suggested it? snapped Judson. "I was against it from the start. "But you might have seen you were dealing with a pair of dunderheads!" complained his associate. "I don't see anything to do but pay the bill. We can t let Johnson find out what we've been up to. It would kill the whole scheme." Judson rubbed his hands through his hair. it , "I'd rather eat crow! be lamented. "Think of paving those ruffians nearly two hundred dollars. Why. it's just out-and-out robbery nothing else! And I lunched with Johnson yesterday, and he didn't drink a thing!" "That hasn't anything to do with it. retorted Rankin. "His nose looks just as red to me as it ever did. It was simply a business precaution. We've got to find out what his habits are merely as a matter of self-protection." "Well. I won't pay tho bill that s flat! cried Judson. pounding the table with his fist until Rankin's ink leaped up and spurted over the blotter. "I ain't goln" to be held up that's all! They're a pair of wretched crooks!" "Sufferin" Mike!" exclaimed Rankin. "You ain't goin' to let the deal fall through luston that account, are you? I sar that ain't hardly fair! Ain't there any other way out of it?" "No way I can see except to get in ahead of 'em and tell Johnson ourselves," answered his partner. ".That would be a fine way! sneered Rankin. , , "I ain't so sure, retorted Judson plaintively. "Mavhe they've told him al- ! ready Perhaps thev sold us out yester- , day. Or. possibly, ho got onto it him- Ee!f.l'. .. . .... , (m- weu. you it nit v o lu iiu in-- iv.. ,..&, said Rankin. I "I will if you will go with me, replied Judson. . , , Very soberly, a pair of schoolboys caught stealing birds' nests, the two promoters pro-moters ascended in the elevator of the Broad Exchange building to tho offices of Mr. Johson, where a. pleasant-faced young woman courteously asked them to be seated in a sunnv office overlooking the river. "Mr Johnson would sec them in a moment." she s;iid. "Prettv bsng-up good office he's got," whispered Rankin. "Pine." assented Judson. "Come right in. gentlemen." cordially exclaimed M r. Johnson, coming out of his inner office a nd grasping the ha nd of each In turn. "I want you to meet Mrs. Johnson and my little girl. Come right Inside." ! An attractive woman of early middle j age rose to greet them as they entered, and a trim young miss of fifteen cour-tesiod cour-tesiod primly. The two business men were very much embarrassed. "I er very glad to meet, yon, Mrs. Johson," :;aid Knnkln, with an a ttcnipt 'at social ease. "Heard a great deal about von er vou know." Johnson's nose beamed genially across the room, rf-dner. t ha n ever, yet somehow some-how seemingly of a more sympathetic t inge. "Great pleasure to have you gentlemen know mv wife." smiled Johnson. "She's only In the city on a flying visit to me and the girl." "Yes. it's six months since I've had a chance to see Willinm." said Mih. Johnson. John-son. "It's so hard for him being a II alone here in New York it's such a big, uriHvmpathtic place." .ludpon looked at Rankin, and Rankin looked at the carpet. "Well. dear. T must he tretting alone." said Mrs. Johnson, "and let you gentlemen gentle-men talk r. er your business. It would never do for me to In t erf ere with t ha t after you had been here all the winter by yourself." Judson and Rankin rose and bowed the ladv out. The little j;rl went with her. Then t hev looked at each other quietly and fidgeted. "It's us to you." warned Rankin. "You offered to do it." Mr. Johnson saw his wife and dauzh-ter dauzh-ter io tlie elevator, and then returned to where the two were seated, twiddling their hats in their hands. "I tell eh ted to see you." be repeated, opening his desk and offering them cigars. ci-gars. "Fact, is, I've wanted a. good np-port np-port unity kt: -this to t- you a lift le something about myself, don't you know. Onlv seamed right if we were going in together. And I realize that I'm u good dea of a stranger." He beamed on them good -n;t t uredly. Judson and Rankin sat as if carved in stone and speei-hleps ;iS mummies. "I wa glfoj to have you meet the wife, too. She worries about me ;, lot--alone here." he continued. " I 'bn k i'-st little- woman in the world -a bit "tui-eri-u-la r s'.-i ved all t he w in'er . brseir In tiie Auironda'-ks. Oh. yes, ni;e's f,n -;),t now. Awful hni-d on her. t ''m-ir-h K j.--..- at school here in the city. So I've lived any old way in bojirdmg houses mostlv. They're more socia Me than tiie big hotels ho-tels arid we're sociable out west whero 1 come from." Judson braced himself and choked. H :eit all the blood in his body rushing io hi: face. ".tohnson." he hlurted out. "I'v got to make a confession. We've prayed ou a dirty trick, and we're damned" sorrv for ir." "Eh?," cried Johnson, "plaved me a dirty trick?" "Yes," answered Rankin, "and got jiolty well stung for it, too. That's whv were here. It's all mv fault." "Mine, too," insiMed Judson. There was an embarrassed silence. Johnson's nose assumed an even brighter hue. "What do you mean?" he asked suspiciously. sus-piciously. Judson gripped the arms of his chair and took a moral plunge. "To make a clean breast of it." he announced an-nounced in hollow tones. "I we didn't know much about vou. and Rankin we -er-.hoth of us. that is thought vou might drink, you know and t here was '. so much money up. you understand . fit. we hired a couple of detectives to follow you up . Damn sorrv and all that, but there you arc." "My fault." said Rankin hastily. Mr. Johnson looked sternly at Judson for a moment and then at Rankin. His face swelled slightly just above his neck, i and he sw allow ed rapidly once or twice. "You mustn't be too hard on us" protested pro-tested Rankin: we- didn't know, vou know, what you know, and no one in New York knew either. We thought we owed it to ourselves to look vou up a bit. But we got it in tho neck, all right." Johnson had turned various colors as the two had made their explanations, until un-til he Hooked not unlike an impressionist sunset with a flaring orb in the center He now shook silently for the space of several seconds a human illustration nf those seismic disturbances which precede the earthquake. Then he burst out into an explosion of laughter that shook evcrv component part of him laughed until he wept, and had to blow his red nose with a t'-umpeting as of a paohvderm "Oh!" he shouted. "Oh. mv!" Judson and Rankin looked at each other helplessly. Johnson gradually got control of himself. "My nose I suppose." he ventured. "Right eh? Well. I don't know as I blame you. Of course, I was a dark horse and alt that. But Burton could have told you all about me. Mv father was the governor of our sta to elected on the Prohibitionist ticket, and my family's always al-ways been of the church-going, home variety. va-riety. Yon see, my nose has always been in my way, as it were. Unfortunate inheritance in-heritance from a granduncle on mv mother's moth-er's side. I don't blame vou, onlv il did hurt a bit at first, the idea of the detectives, de-tectives, you know." Then "Judson regained his courage and told him the whole story, annotated from time to time, with periodic humilities from the now thoroughly humbled Rankin. Ran-kin. When Judson came to the account of the attempted hold-up on the part of th Never Winks, Johnson was more amused than ever. "Oh," he laughed, "a hundred and seventy-nine dollars! Did you ever! And for shadowing a man with a red light In the middle of his face! Why. after you bought me that cigar, so generously tJud-son tJud-son blushed redder than the nose in question). ques-tion). I went out the back entrance of your building because, as T was going to an office on New street, it happened to be more convenient. Then, inside of Ion minutes, I crossed over hero, and was in and out all day. By ihe way, T lunched with you, Judson, didn't I? Of coins5. 1 did. It Is an outrage. I wish you could get even with those rascals some way. Let me see. I haye it! I'll fix 'em!" Johnson, with the smile still lingering round the corners of his mouth and the laugh radiating from his eyes, lifted tho telephone from his desk. "W hat's the number of the Never Winks?" "Four-four-four, Brond !" answered Judson automatically. "Hello! Hello!" said Johnson. "Is that the Never Wink Detective Agency? Yes. Is Superintendent Mullally there? Is this he? Yes. How are you, Mr. Mullally? Tills is Mr. Johnson Mr. J -o-h-n-s-o-n. Yes, Johnson. The gentleman you and your friend were shadowing all day yesterday." yes-terday." Mullally vouchsafed no reply. "Do you hear? I'm Johnson the fellow fel-low vou were trailing yesterday get that?" The silence became oppressive. "I thought maybe you'd like to speak-to speak-to me," continued Johnson in liquid tones. "Mr. Judson is right hero in my office. Nothing to way, eh? Well, thought you might bo Interested to know that he and I had an Important matter on the stocks in which we thought of employing em-ploying your agency professionally understand? un-derstand? But under all the circumstances circum-stances we've decided to give the Job to some one else. So-long." "I guess that'll hold 'em for a while." he remarked, turning to Judson and his partner with a wink. "Now, boysf whut do you say to coming out with me and having a sarsaparilla?" |