Methods and Luck of a Lucky ManBy Wm. H. Osborne
r 111 Tn
11
(Copyright, 1904, by William Hamilton Os
horne.) CIlArTKa IV. Continued.
1 01 IX LORIMER had found It wo.
He was poor. Tb lUtt building
tint served him as an oflloe and
a shop, served Mm as a bome
also. Few knew this and fewer
cared. Yet tie bad aomt reputation In
Monroe. Many people knew Mm ma aa In
dividual and as a chemist, and respected
him; but few bad occasion to patronise
blm. This is an ago of norraoui output,
and of output which Is claimed to be chem
ically pure and chemically exact Great
food companies, asphalt concern, mining
or po rations are constantly employing
chemists of ability. Lrincr was a chem
ist of ability. Ha bad made tbe attempt,
not onco, but many times, to swing him
self Into tomethlng that was worth while;
that would not only pay him, but would
advance blm. But though he still telod, he
bad been beaten every time be had made
the attempt. He was without Influence.
But be was yormg and he had bis career
before him, and ho was not discouraged,
lie worked hard and to the purpose.
Xiorlmer was not a rolling stone. He had
stabllmhcd himnelf a few years before In
the place where he was now. and he had
stayed there through thick and thin. He
could not assure himself that his business
bad materially Incrensed; but ho kept his
spirits up. Ho hoped against hope; he
worked nway and squared his square Jaw
tineompromlBlngly at fate.
Constitutional Smith had onoo entered
the shop of John I,ortmer, the chemist.
That was upon the day preceding the night
when nilllngton O'Koefe met his fate In
the dark street. Constitutional had worn
bo chain, but Lorlmer had mistaken him,
nevertheless frr Billlngton O'Keefe. Smith
bad counted upon this, and he had pur
chased; without any Inquiries on the part
of Txtrlmer, a few Ingredients1 with which
be bad saturated that little rag a few
hours later. Constitutional never used
plnln chloroform there- was too much ten-
dency In the victim to gag and strangle.
He bad a little recipe of his own which
made the dose an easier one, and which
for his own delectation be was wont to
call by the name of "Constitutional's done.
Iorlmer lHtle knew to what task his chem
icals were to be devoted. If be bad, It
Is a question, as subsequent events will
how, whether he would have been glad
or sorry.
Xiorimer possessed one quality -that few
men today pobspks. He had a beautiful
baritone voice no( the church or concert
voice, but a voice which was untrained
and bad In tt all the tones of the free
!r nnd the bills. And he bad an old
fashioned habit when he was alone he
ang at bis work. And he aang
old-fashioned songs; and' they were
mostly songs of sentiment. And there
was a reason for all this. For
within a small box within his room tn the,
rear of the little shop, John liorimer kept
bis private correspondence And If the
casual observer bad had an opportunity
to examine this correspondence he would
bave found that much of It was signed
with tbe name of a girt who wrote
In a large feminine band. And the name
was ""Margaret Robeson." forsooth. And
by that token the song that he most often
ang was an old aong that ran about like
this:
WVd I flrst ww wweet Peggy
'Twm on a market day,
A low-harked oar slie .drove.
And sat upon a trust of l.ay;
And When thut hay was blooming grass.
And Uvkd with flowers of spring.
No flow'r was there that coukl compare
With the Charming laaa I sing.
As she sat In the low-backed car.
The man at the turnpike bar
Never asked for his toll.
Hut just rubbed his poll
Ar,il looked alter the low-backed car.
I'd rwther own tbat ear. ir, -
With lvrgy by ny side.
Than a cixxh and four and gold galore
And a lady fr my trkl;
Por the ImlT wmiH sit fornlnst me
On a -4Uiluv made wMb tante,
Jjot Pvtftry would sit healde me.
With my arm around Iter waist.
A she aat In tbe low-tuu-ked car, .
'J he man at the turnpike bar
Never naked for bis toTl,
fiat junt rubfawd klm jmU
Jtod lvukt-d after the low-backed car.
It mi a aoaff that aaoUiera muag to their
atSeejiy ciUiJrvw. Ibat nurses crouwvd to
babies, ttiat old grannies warbled er a,
tilt of mending or a jpot f tea.
But John liorimer aang It when be was
alone and It became bis song.
And be waa singing It on a certain, day
when, his back was to the door, and for
an Instant be had forgotten his surround
ings. Unknown to Mm, a man' bad cn
t rrexJ and stood silently waiting, nodding
his bead to the tune as Loiimer sang It.
"1 don't know" began thU Individual.
Xjortmor cwung about la astonishment, and
tben fluBhd to the roots of his hair, half
In anger and half la embarrassment.
J don't know," went on the visitor, 'cx-
oonsldrr tt a bit of impertinence i r him
to ask.
Bo he made them up in the shortest pos
sible time and banded them over, as he
thought, to Blltngton O'Keefe.
"Much obliged," said Liilllngtan O'Keefe.
"for these and for the the t'Jng about
Bweet Pettgy.
Ills vWtur retired and strode down the
street. He was not BHlington O'Keefe. He
was Constitutional Smith. And he left tbe
shop with enough "dope" to stupefy a half
dozen men, and enough of bis own partico-
At the corner be stooped for a moment
and looked back at the quaint little chop
and nodded his bead approvingly.
"An all right sort of shop It 4a," he re
marked to himself, "and an all right sort of
fellow In It, too." Then the man Smith
turned the corner and, as Smith, disap
peared completely from the face of the
earth.
CHAPTER VL
Fatrirl. Jell life Hebeeow-A Match.
akin Mother.
No. 17 goutherton avenue waa situated
mminM
mm- -2
' W: ft ?
FOR THE LAST TIMK, TOU YOU MUST KISS ME.'
actly who 'Sweet I'egy' Is, but I'll bet
dollars to doughnuts that she's sweet
enough to be sung ohoit In that way."
Lorimer saw that the man was I-illing-Vm
O'Keefe lillllngton O'Ket-Je, but with
out the golden chain.
Irlmor assumed a short, sharp maimer.
"What can I do for you?" he asked
shortly.
The vUltor plunged immediately Into tha
preaent business. He hud a small lut of
things that he wanted. Lorimer lifted bis
eyelirtins as ho looked tnera over. Ho bud
half a notion to axk this man for vhat
purpcaa be w&nted thuaa chemicals. Then
he changed h!s mind. He knew O'Keefe
waa constantl engaged In experiments,
and be kuew Juitber that CTKecfe would
lar explosive to blow up half a dosen jsafcB.
It Is always safer, so Constitutional thought
to himself, to have too much than too little.
This was the day, as has been said, prior
to the evening upon which Ellllngton
O'Keefo, in a supine condition, boarded the
"Sarah Margaret" for parts unknown.
This waa the first time that Constitu
tional Smith ever came Into contact with
John Lorimer, the chemist.
Smith waa not an appreciative man, and
his success tn life had been largely due to
bis rarely falling Judgment of men in gen
eral, from their manner and appearance at
first blush; and be appreciated John T-o ri
mer, the chemist, as a young man at once
'businesslike" and correct, and artlutiu and
unusual la the bargain.
in a highly respectable portion of Monroe;
but notMrf a decidedly prosperous neighbor
hood. It had been at one time a wealthy
neighborhood, but It had fallen Into de
cadence, and was now the home of good
and fairly high-priced boarding houses.
Here and there an old family clung to
a house with bull dog tenacity. In the
miJat of a number of old homes stood tha
bome of the Bobesons. They did not own
it; never had. In fact. It was large, and
rambling and ramshackle, inside and out
and It was cheap. A family of wo and a
mythical servant, to boot would have been
much better satisfied in a smaller place
at the same rent. Miss Margaret Robeson
would have preferred It. But Mrs. Patricia
JeUttTe nobeaon, widow, waa CifBerauUy