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About The Omaha morning bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 1922-1927 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 10, 1922)
THE SUNDAY BEE: OMAHA. SEPTEMBER 10. 1922. The World Outside U wM rrwa ! Tkm l Zfy arod MacGrath ou cotni scroti Kennedy among lioie namn you can dart lor home. The important point It that Daniel Stewart hall hav no knowledge fof tlii enterprise," "I ee, air. Supposing we go lo your hank at once ami have the letter of credit made out? The toon, cr I atari, the better. Kennrdy; any initial? "I tuppoe that if any Ihry will be C. J.4 "The anthor of the book?" "I have only a upicion." "Well, aomcbody mutt have own ed the mine before Daniel Stewart. No physical risk in thii, i there? I'm not ahying; only I want to be heeled." "If you ran manage to keep Dun. iel Stewart in the dark there will be no risks." "I'll keep him In the dark. I can go to San Francisco and ail from there. When we leave the bank you can hand me a phony check. I'll look it over. Then we'll hake hands and part." "Why that?! "Because you may be followed. You never can tell. The check bua ineit will make it look at if you had paid me off. We'll not be teen together agair. Thit job it impor tant, or you wouldn't be tending tne thousand of mile away. Now, tomeone might not care to have ?'ou dig up what you are hunting or. Logical deduction, they call that." It never entered into Bancroft'a head not to trutt the man. Snell had recommended him at a man who had terved with the Depart ment of I untie during the war. If there waa any speculative thought at all regarding the detective it wa bated upon envy. From New York to La Paz wat a tremendout adventure: and he would have liked the Job for'himielf. ' "If you find Kennedy' name, ca ble Yet; if it appeart nowhere, ca ble No. 1 don't want any letter or rablea that will explain anything. Remember that." "Yet, air; good idea. Now, I'll be honed with you, Mr. Collings wood. The thing could be tolved right here in town." "Attended by a dozen risk of having your business known. The least rumor, and I may find my telf blocked. I am in a blind al ley, the tame at you are. I want an indisputable, undebatable fact; and I stand ready to tpend sev eral thousand dollars to acquire thi fact." "For a young man, air, you teem to know your mind," taid the detective admiringly. "Perhapt I wat educated to know it. No doubt you are mysti fied at to what I really want.' "No doubt whatever. But my busineta begint and ends with car rying out your instructiont." " "Precisely." That Bancroft wat the young man's name, rather than that on bis ticket of lodgement, wa tuf ficient to excite considerable in terest in the detective't mind. He had already built up a case. Either . Kennedy had sold out Stewart and vanished, for reasons best known to himself, or he had been done away with. Bancroft tendered considerably. Was he shooting at the moon? The emerald company was an honorable concern. Bellman, on the face of his affairs, was an idle young man with money and a taste for travel; but whether he had gone through the remarkable exploits attributed to him in the prospectus was something to be proved. Over against these ap parencies stood the preposterous Great Adventure Company, the mysterious visitor to his father, his father himself, and that empha sized line "Paid Kennedy in full," alt in a bewildering penumbra. The failure to disclose the identity of C. J. K. through the publishing business was a blow of force. That door was now closed forever. Daniel Stewart since that was hit official name would know that C. J. Bancroft was no fool. Unused to the world he might be, in fart but not in theory; and day by day theory was resolving into fact. Stewart had known that he wat no fool long before that sin gular visit in the storm. Why, even an uneducated boy would have shied at such rigamarole as a plotted adventure for tale. Edu cation would have mocked the notion; and education had. Stew art had not pursued him; he had adroitly let him be. Why? To lharpen the edge of curiosity, which wat exactly what had hap pened. The absurdity of the adventure proportion wat something that could not be dismissed. Opposed to thi absurdity wat the precise nest with which Stewart had gath ered the Bancroft historical data. Now, no man with any degree of mentality would waste all thit labor over an absurdity; he would have tome other end in view. Still. aH thi would have been futile and Bancroft would have gone hit way forgetfully but for the developing mystery of hit father'! life ami the peruliar circumstance! of hit death. It wat a queer business, aud Han croft found himself going around, over, and under without getting any handhold. Of one thing he wat now grimly certain. Deep in the background there lurked a initer motive; and perhapt hit life depend ed upon the ditcovery of thit mo tive before it wat tct into action. Suddenly he developed hit cam paign. He would do precisely what hit inttinctt forbade him to do, what hit intelligence expressly warned him wat folly. He would rail upon George Bellman because it was plainly indicated that he wa expected to call, lie would ign the preposterous contract because it wat plainly evident he wti ex- . pectcd to lien ft After thit wat accomplished the affair would be gin to move, swiftly, no doubt; and sooner or later tome edge of the motive would come into view. lie 'considered thit psychology reasonably tound. So it wat, for 24. But there it a truth, estab lished since man began to think, that the older of two men it alwayt the tuperior, if they happen to be intellectually matched, because he hat a large account fn experience to draw against, whereat the younger ' hat little or none. Having formed the opinion thit in all thete mar.ifettationt there wat a hidden menace, Bancroft tet about immediately to uncover it. lie decided to Pay hit visit . lo Bellman that afternoon, but at Jeremiah Collingtwood. He out lined a plan of attack that prom ised to afford him tome amusement. Primed to deal wit'.i C J. Ban croft, .and in all probability recognizing Collingtwood at Ban croft, Bellman ttood in for con siderable confusion. Thut Ban cro't taw himself at ease and Bell man at an awkward disadvantage. He would not be able to extol the merit! of the Great Adventure com- , pany, he would not dare bring it into the conversation. Alwayt supposing hit, Bancroft't, tuppoti tiona were correct, that battle, mur der and sudden death were nearby, in ambush. Bancroft't wat what it called the tingle track mind; but he did not start out on that tingle track of thought until he had tried all the twitchet in the yard. So then noth ing would twerve him from bring ing the man Stewart' motive into the open, to prove it menacing or ridiculous. Bellman wat under ordert to re main in the hotel afternoons. It bored him exceedingly and filled him with marling irritability, though he vented thit temper upon inanimate object, particularly the hassock. He wat no bookman; it it doubtful if he had ever read a novel of distinction. The daily newspaperi and the theatrical weekliet tatisfied hit intellectual needt; but there weren't enough to keep him going; there were hourt when hit principal pastime wat staring out of the windowt.' He had to move circumspectly at night, too, when he longed for the old fa miliar rounds. Once thit hick Ban croft waa regularly ttuffed, Bell man proposed to board the first ship out for Mediterranean waters: Monte Carlo, wTiere he could drink and gamble to his heart's content. At 2 Bancroft called by telephone to ascertain if Mr. Bellman was in his room. Mr. Bellman was. Very good. Would Mr. Bellman give a little of his time tay half an hour to Mr. Jeremiah Collingswood? Mr. Bellman would give Mr. Col lingswood exactly half an hour if Mr. Collingswood would state his business. "Real estate." ' "Beg pardon?" "Real estate." Bellman frowned into the trans mitter. Real estate? He did not quite get that. What kind of a game was this heaven born hick purposing? Bellman thoupht rap idly and suddenly smiled. The boy wanted a look-see, first. A little suspicious, eh? If George Bell man acquitted himself favorably Bancroft would admit of the mas querade and open up on the Great Adventure company, No mistak ing it; the professor was a magi cian. He had said Bancroft would come, and here he was. "Come up," he said into the transmitter. Now, Bellman had the gift. He could make friends anywhere; he possessed personality, misdirected, no doubt, out none the less vital. He had the air and the manner of a gentleman born. He smiled af fably as he opened the door for hit victim. He took the proffered card J. Collingswood, real estate and smiled inwardly at the ink blurred under hit thumb; hadn't been off the preit more than a cou ple of hours. "Take chair. What gave you the idea that I might want to rent or buy?" "Accidentally heard your name mentioned and that you were short ly to be marrifd." Ilellman nodded, not at thit tlutrruertt. but at the recollection of The Shadow' earnest entreat irt not to underestimate thit young Bancroft. The boy wore hit doilies well, moved hi body easily and appeared to know exactly what to do with hi land and fret. The point did not dovetail nicely with the loy' history. Pedigreed. Bell man had bren forced by necrssity to develop one talent beyond oth er, and that wa to dittinguith the natural grutlenian from the artifi cial. Here was a diamond, and not even in the rouuh. "That't true," he taid. "Brat all how thiniia get around. Well, what have you got in the way of houcs? I had an apartiicnt in mind; but, after all, a houne is a house." "What I have is all below Twenty-third street." "No; that would never do. Too far south for me. Beside, I don't know. After the wedding I may take it into my head to travel again. You can tublrt an apartment, but it's hard work to sublet a house." To thit Bancroft agreed with a nod; knowing absolutely nothing about the matter. It was in Bellman's mind lo lay a trap; but he recognized in time the boomerang characteristic of any trap that would discover Ban croft'! ignorance regarding real es tate. But what the devil wat it all about? To be in the dark, the same at thit boy, wat infuriating. Thit darkness did not disturb hit tente of pertonal tecurity. It wat hit cupidity, groping about blindly for something to grip, and finding nothing. There wat, totnewhere behind the tcenrs, seven millions or there about!. For the professor was go ing to rook thit boy, pick him dry. That wat at evidential at the boy himself. But the professor wat go ing to do the rooking alone; he wasn't going to whack up with any one. All this treasure, and Friend George not to have hit cut I He had not admitted it to the Shadow, but Bellman wat alto afraid of his employer, with hit toft, cold voice and hit burning eye. He determined to make no questionable move. The old timer must ahow hit hand first. The professor had a notch in his gun, ao to speak. But would the boy sign that dam fool adventure contract? If the boy put hit John Hancock to that, why, the professor wat the greatest ma gician of his time. But even then how would he get hit handt into Bancroft't money bagt? "I note you have traveled a good deal," Bancroft observed, with a gesture toward the trunks and grips . and'kit bags, covered with thip and hotel labels. "Woodland's Branch Hotel, Darjccling; that anust be in the Himalayas." "Yet. I have what they call the wandering foot. How about you?" "Never had the time nor the money." Bellman tmiled sympathetically. Here was unadorned truth, but ut tered at parrots utter phrases; in consequently. This boy waa clever; he was clever out of ordinary. "What do you think of Yale's chances against Princeton?" asked. Bellman. "Not interested in football. What's it cost to jog around the world?" "Generally what you are willing to pay. Firjst class these days is about three times what it used to be." "I imagine you must have had some adventures. Shanghai, Yoko hama, Singapore." "No, thank you, Jeremiah!" said Bellman inwardly. Aloud: "Every move a man makes is an adven ture; when you get up in the morning, when you go to bed. A walk from Forty-second street to the Circle at night offers a hun - dred adventures. IVe seen a lot of the world, but, let me tell you, this town has more pretty women to one block than all the other capitals put together. Yes, sir; Broadway, after the matinee, Is a revelation to any proper male eye." He glanced at his watch. "Sorry to hurry you." "I'm sorry, too. I expect to make a tour some day, and wanted to quiz you a bit." "Haven't the time, sir." "Then you wouldn't consider what I have to offer in the way of apartments and houses?" "No. Too far out of the way. Will you have a cigar or a ciga ret?" . "Thanks, no. Sorry to have bothered you." "O, you haven't bothered me in the least," Bellman declared, smil ing, at he opened the door. At he closed it he remained staring at the panel and twitted the end of hit blond mustache. On the other side of the door Bancroft alto tared at the panel; and at he had no mustache to twil he rubbed hit chin. This little tableau wat actually batd upon mutual admiration. Bancroft wa certain that Bell man had recosiiited him, but had Ignored all lead. He had also cut the promised half hour down to a quarter, and had fairly hustled hi visitor into the hall. What did they want of him? What were they really after? Bellman had traveled. It wa not the array of label that led Ban croft to thi deduction. He had particularly quirked the ex-tecret service man, who had informed him that one could buy label, but it would be extremely difficult to obtain United Si ales ruMoms stamps, and riiMoma stamps were visible on Bellman' luggage. All thi mrticiiloti rare; what did it signify? What did Colling wood Jeremiah Bancroft posssri that Daniel Stewart wanted to badly? If he wat after money, why hadn't he offered tomething that had tense and reason in iit makeup? The Great Adventure rompany. Very well; in a few dayt he would call upon Daniel Stewart and buy an emerald I The most remarkable attribute of the mind is not that it absorbs facts, but rather that thete facta can be summoned or drnised will. There it no exertion; it hap pens at eatily at the thifting of the camera shutter. And so it wat with Bancroft't mind. The mo ment he reached the ttrret the Great Adventure company and itt ramifications, the tense of pre monitory evil, vanished wholly. He wat to have tea with Nancy Bow man at 4 o'clock. He remembered now, with a pleasurable shock, the kimono with the white blossoms. It wat the firtt kimono he had ever teen, or ever noticed, outside of motion. and still picturei . . . The tlreve falling away from the round, white arm at it nestled the dog. And there wat a dog. Nancy Bowman I It did not term possible that there wat tuch luck; right across the hall I And there was that tlangy girl, too. Of what did the remind him? Some Olympian goddess who had lost both her language and the way bark? He hurried down into the tub way. In the tix dayt he had tested all modet of transportation and had learned the folly of trying to make distances by surface cart or taxis. On the way down he studied the advertisements, hoping that he might see Nancy't picture tome-' where, and not finding any, he con jured her up as he had first teen her, drenched, disheveled, but smil ing. There wat stuff in a girl who would so willingly go through what the had a dead benefactor at one end and a lonely puppy at the other. Seven millions! The power of it; the wall he could at any time sum mon to back him should necetsity force him! But he would become Nancy't friend by hit natural tal ents and not by the glamour of hit wealth. She wat at the theater. Or was she? Wat she of the theater in the sense that she would be merci less toward poverty and affable to ward wealth? A gold digger, at he had heard someone call these girts of the musical comedy. No. No gold digger would have made that trip into the country to arrange for an old man's funeral; no gold dig ger would have made that desper ate return for the sake of a dog; or gone home alone after the perform ances, or lived modestly within her means. He knew now that Nancy was beautiful, for he could at this time draw upon thousands of feminine faces for comparison. It was a neb ulous kind of possessive sense that . he remembered he had seen many variations of emotion on her face, such as few if any other men had seen. He had seen her at her worst physically and at her best spirit ually. Nancy was friendly, but guarded; Jenny was also friendly, but with a friendliness as wide as the door. Nancy was reserving her decision. Jenny had no decision to make; she had already made it to like this fresh skinned boy from the coun try. She had met him twice in the hall since that laughable first en counter, and she had found him a good verbal sparrer, ready with a comeback that had no jazz in it; one moment like a professor and the next like a regular. Nobody but a he-man would have laughed at her threat to call in the police. "Jenny kissed me" was continually poping into her thoughts, but she could recall nothing else. He baf fled her; she couldn't ticket him and place him in her gallery. "How many tump! of sugar?" asked Nancy. "Whatever you think best" Thit waa too much for Jenny. "Whatta you think this it medi cine y "Did you ever drink tea before T Nancy wanted to know. "Not at thit hour or so close to Olvinpus." "Savyf erk-d Jenny, ker atwi akimbo; "are you guvin' tit? Are you jttt out o' tli' sticks or are you aome gay Weisenhejiner tryin' new Hunt?" Bancroft appealed bewilderedly to Nancy, who acted at interpreter. "She meant are you honestly from the country or are you just pretending to be?" "I am honestly from the coun try." "Sticks," said Jenny. "Doct that mean tree?" "Sure; alfalfa, oats, cabLage. Are there any more like you up tbere or down there?" Bancroft thought it over. "May be not." "Are you goin' back there I live?" "Not if I ran help it." "Hal" cried Jenny. "Now we're down t' brast tackt. Ile't goin' t' be president tome day, Nancy, an then he't goin' home an' let 'em all shake hands with him. Ain't that lovely I" Bancroft laughed. He was grateful for thit banter. "How many lumpt?" asked Nancy again, rather amused by the abstraction in hit eyet. "What? Oh two, if you pleate, and a little milk." "What do you think o th' thow?" Inquired Jenny, tilting be tide him. "Delightful!" looking at Nancy. "How'd you like my part?" prerted Jenny, with tudden malice; for the truth not teen nor heard anybdy but Nancy. The malice wat energized by the wish to trap him in a lie if the could. But he threw a bomb at her feet. "Why, are you in it?" "Am I in it?" Jenny threw up her handt. "Am I in it? Get that. Nancy? You mean t tit there an' tell me t' my face that you never taw me? Why, one o' my linet it th' hit o' th thow. I'm th' girl who tay! t' th' duke 'Yet, your high nete, they drink water now at well at wash in. Don't you remember that?" "I'm ashamed to tay I don't" Hit embarrainient wat to pat ently genuine that Jenny began to laugh. "An not ashamed t' tell 111' truth, either. But, young man, aome lies get you a long wayt in thit burg. Don't forget that." "I'm green," he confessed. So Jenny wat on the stage? To which type did she belong? Certainly not Nancy't, which wat Woffington's, tant reproche. He wished he could do something for her. He was go ing .to like Jenny. "I have lived nearly all my life in the open and among books. Of course, I'm get ting about all right; I havenX bought a gold brick yet. But ' there's no telling. It't all like a new people and a new language. You two wilt laugh, but thit it the first time I ever drank tea with women, between meals." "Have you got any money?" asked Jenny, seriously. Thit surprised him, "Why , , a little." , ' "Well, I'll lend you a ttockin' an I'll show you how t tie a knot in it." "Jenny!" said Nancy. "An how t' hide, it in your trunk," went on the incorrigible Jenny. "But he says he's green, Nancy; an hit clothes show it, an' hit tie an' collar an 'shoes!" "Aren't they all right?" he asked, fingering the tie. "Jeremiah, either you're the big gest liar I ever saw, or you're a new kind of hick. Come across now; give us th' family history We gotta know." (Copyright. !. (Ontlnv-il Noxt SnDj.jr.) The Babylonians preserved the bones of their dead in coffin shaped jars. Mining dumps of South Africa are being worked by improved machinery to recover metals dis carded when the gold was being recovered. Gold is to be reduced from the smoke leaving the United States assay office in New York City. During the process of reduction much gold dust if lost through the chimney. Air transportation from England to the continent it growing so rap idly that it it possible the proposed tunnel under the English channel may not be built. The Wakikuyn tribe of East Africa believe that dtath is "catching" and. therefore, that no one should touch dead person. If one of live tribe it about to die, he it ran ied out of the village by hit relatives and it left to die in the open. ' One of the oddest rargoet on record wat probably that carried lately by a British steamer bound for Morocco. It confuted of :.(0.(W gallons of purified drink irg water for the use of the Span Uh troopt fighting the rebels in Morocco.