CHAPTER XI.

  BILL WILY REPENTS.

  McGlory motioned Wily to take a seat on the floor, near Dhondaram, andthen turned toward Twomley.

  "So you put the kibosh on our brown friend all by yourself, did you?"he asked.

  "It wasn't much," was the diffident answer. "I know these Hindoossomewhat."

  "You're the clear quill," said McGlory, "and I've got a differentestimate of you. What do you think?" he added to Burton. "They had mypard down in the spud cellar, covered with ropes and gagged."

  "Nice how-d'ye-do!" growled Burton. "What sort of a way is that to act,Bill Wily?" and he flashed a look of anger and contempt at the "barker."

  "I've made a holy show of myself," mumbled Bill Wily. "That comes ofgettin' confidential with these here chocolate-colored crooks. They'reno good."

  "What do you think of yourself, hey?"

  "Not much, Burton, an' that's a fact. I'm down and out, and justbecause I wanted to shake your show an' not have any trouble. What alot of excitement over nothin' at all!"

  "Fancy that!" remarked Twomley, mildly surprised. "I guess the mandoesn't know the true state of affairs."

  "He'll know everything before we're done with him," snapped Burton.

  "You're not goin' to bear down too hard on me, are you, Burton?"pleaded Wily.

  "Why shouldn't I?"

  "What've I done?"

  "I can't tell that till I hear what happened to Motor Matt. If thesedisgraceful proceedings get out, it will be a black eye for the show."

  Boss Burton was a queer fish. He had always a high regard for carryingout every promise he made in his show "paper," and was also solicitousabout the good name of the Big Consolidated; at the same time, he haddone a number of things which gave Matt a poor opinion of his character.

  Matt, taking advantage of the opening afforded him, told what hadhappened after he had left Burton on the motor cycle. The roughtreatment he had received brought scowls to the faces of McGlory andBurton.

  "That Hindoo might have knifed you, and all on account of Wily there!"breathed the showman.

  "But he didn't," returned Matt, "and that was on account of Wily, too.Keep that in mind, Burton."

  "Your head, pard," said the cowboy solicitously. "You've had a coupleof good hard raps, and I'll bet that block of yours feels as big as abarrel."

  "I'm like Twomley," smiled Matt, "and couldn't expect to come throughsuch a tussle without a few marks. But it's nothing serious. Anotherthing, Burton," he added, turning to the showman, "just recollect that,if Wily wanted to, he could have used that thing Joe has in his hand.But he wouldn't, and he fought with Dhondaram rather than let him useit."

  "Wily hadn't the nerve," commented Burton. "He's in the parlor classwhen it comes to strong-arm work. He's more of a shell worker and aconfidence man."

  "Don't be rough, Burton," begged Wily Bill.

  "What've you got to say for yourself?"

  "I'm blamed sorry things turned out like they did. That's all."

  "Just how sorry are you? Sorry enough to make a clean breast ofeverything?"

  "That depends on what'll happen to me. You let the ticket man off whenhe and Dhondaram tried to loot the Jackson proceeds. I didn't do halfas much as him."

  "Tell me what you've done, and then I'll tell you what I'm goin' todo," said Burton.

  "I knew Ben Ali pretty well when he was with the show," returned Wily,"but he didn't put it up with _me_ to help steal the ticket-wagonmoney. I'm not makin' such a terrible sight as spieler for thatside-show outfit, and when I get a letter in Kalamazoo, inclosin'another in Hindoostanee and askin' me to deliver same, what am I goin'to do? That letter contained a money order for ten dollars."

  "And it was from Ben Ali?" asked Motor Matt.

  Wily nodded.

  "We got into Kalamazoo about three in the morning," proceeded WilyBill, "and when I dropped off the train, Dhondaram stepped out frombetween a couple o' box cars----"

  "It was the night we left Jackson that we had Dhondaram lashed andlying in the aisle of the sleeper on section two of the show train,"interrupted Burton. "He got loose and skipped. I fired a shot at him,but he jumped off the train. How could he have done that and then shownup in Kalamazoo the morning we got there?"

  The showman was trying to pick flaws in Wily's narrative, but the"barker" was equal to the emergency.

  "For the reason, Burton, that he didn't jump off the train. Dhondaramrode the platform, and now and then he dodged down on the bumpers whenthe train men came too close. As I say, he met me as I dropped off, andwe had a bit of a chin together."

  "Why didn't you grab him," demanded Burton, "and turn him over to me?"

  "That's where I was lame, I expect, but you forget I was a friend ofBen Ali's, and Dhondaram was also a friend. That made a sort of hitchbetween us. Then, too, Dhondaram told me he was expecting word fromBen Ali in my care. I hadn't received any word, and I told him so.Dhondaram said that I would get a letter, sooner or later, and thathe'd like to meet me somewhere near Grand Rapids. That's when I toldhim about this house and gave him one of my keys to it."

  "What have you got to do with this house?" queried Burton.

  "I happen to own it," was the surprising answer. "It ain't worth much,an' it's been condemned by a railroad that intends runnin' a line ofrails and ties right over the place where it stands. For that reasonit's closed up. I'm to get twelve hundred dollars for the property anyday now. Why," and Wily Bill looked around, "when I was a kid I used tolive here. When the folks died I rented the house an' took to roamin'around. It was a good place to meet Dhondaram and give him a letter ifthere was any come from Ben Ali. I wasn't expectin', though, to callhere before night. The letter from Ben Ali reached me in Kalamazoo inthe afternoon, at a time when Dhondaram must have been travelin' north."

  "What did you do with your part of the letter?"

  Wily's profession of repentance seemed to be sincere, and Burton andMatt were doing their utmost to find out everything he was able totell. Dhondaram, sitting on the floor with his back against the wall,glared at Wily fixedly while he talked. The savage menace of theHindoo's look, however, seemed to make not the slightest impression onthe "barker."

  "I tore up my part o' the letter, Burton," replied Wily. "Didn't thinkit best to carry it around. If I'd torn up Dhondaram's part, too, Iguess I'd have been a whole lot better off."

  "I guess you would," agreed the showman dryly. "What had Ben Ali to sayto you?"

  "He told me where he wanted Dhondaram to meet him. You see, Ben Ali'sbeen busy, an' hasn't been payin' much attention to what's been goin'on in the show."

  "By Jove," put in Twomley, "I should say he had been busy."

  "Ben Ali didn't know Dhondaram had cooked his goose, so far as the showwas concerned, in Jackson, the same day he joined on."

  "Where did Ben Ali send his letter from?" inquired Matt.

  "Lafayette."

  "And where does he want to meet Dhondaram?"

  "Five miles west of the Rapids, on the wagon road to Elgin. There's anopenin' in the woods, somewhere there, and Ben Ali wants Dhondaram tojoin him at the place to-morrow morning. I don't know what's up, but Iguess it's somethin' mighty important for the Hindoos."

  "Does Ben Ali know about this house of yours?"

  "Not a thing. I never told him. I guess I was foolish to jump off thecar and run over here, but the ruction in the side show and the losso' that Hindoostanee letter sure got me on the run. I thought mebby,if I couldn't dodge Motor Matt in the woods, I could get him somewhereand have a talk with him that would let me out. But things didn't comeout as I wanted. I couldn't shake him in the timber, so I rushed forthe house. Dhondaram was here, ahead o' schedule, an' he complicatedmatters a-considerable."

  "Do you think," asked Matt, "that we could go to that place on theElgin road and meet Ben Ali instead of letting Dhondaram do it?"

  Twomley started, for he instantly caught Matt's idea. Dhondaramlikewise showed much concern, and undoubtedly he surmis
ed what was atthe back of the young motorist's head.

  "I don't think you could," replied Wily. "Ben Ali ain't nobody's fool,and he'll have the road watched to see that only the right party comes.If the wrong party comes, then Ben Ali, more'n likely, 'll fade out ofthe oak openin'. You can't get there any way by road without Ben Alifindin' out just who's after him. That's my notion."

  "Suppose we should come in on him from both sides at once?" suggestedBurton.

  "Then he'd slide out between you. Oh, he's a slippery proposition, thatboy!"

  Twomley nodded affirmatively.

  "He speaks the truth," he averred. "A man who can do what Ben Ali hasdone is a rogue of the first water."

  "There's a way to get at him," said Matt confidently. "Here, in athickly populated country, that scoundrel can't have things his ownway."

  "He's takin' chances," put in Wily, "but that's his stock intrade--takin' chances an' throwin' in a little hypnotism now an' then.Why he's so particular about meetin' Dhondaram is what gets me."

  "He needs money," said Burton sarcastically, "and he has to run a fewrisks to get it."

  "I've got a plan," said Matt, starting toward the door.

  "What is it?" asked Burton and McGlory.

  Matt turned around in the doorway and cast a suggestive glance at Wilyand Dhondaram.

  "I'll not go into it now," said he, "but it all depends on thetruthfulness of Bill Wily. If Wily has given us a straight story,then the plan will work. If it does, then I shall insist that Wily beallowed to go free, without any punishment for what he has done. Ifthe plan doesn't succeed, and Ben Ali is not out on the Elgin roadto-morrow morning, I think Wily can be put through for the work he hasdone here in this old house."

  "I'm willin' to leave it that way," said Wily, "providin' you'recareful how you come onto Ben Ali, so as not to scare him away, an'providin' Boss Burton gives me his word to back up Motor Matt's."

  "I'm in on the deal," declared Burton.

  "Both Wily and Dhondaram will have to be left here under suitable guarduntil after the plan is executed," continued Matt.

  "Count me in as one of the guard," spoke up Twomley, lighting acigarette, "but send over some food and something to sit on. And," hefinished, pointing to the weapon in the cowboy's hand, "Mr. McGlorymight lend me that."

  "McGlory will stay and help you with your guard duty," said Matt. "I'llhave to hurry off now. I suppose Ping and Carl are at the show groundsand are looking after the a?roplane?"

  "Ping!" exclaimed McGlory, looking around. "Why, where the nation ishe? He was the one who brought us here, and I haven't thought of himuntil this minute. But Carl's at the grounds, Matt. Anyhow, one of thecanvasmen is on duty at the a?roplane's berth."

  "Don't fret about the machine," reassured Burton. "I'm going right backto the grounds and I'll look after it personally."

  "Just a minute, gents," called Wily. "How did you fellows know we wereunder the floor."

  "You walked in the soot," laughed Burton derisively. "McGlory can tellyou all about that."

  Thereupon he and Motor Matt left the room. They passed the trap in thehall floor, and Matt observed that it was flush with the boards anddifficult to locate for any one who did not know it was there.

  "I guess the trouble I had here, Burton," remarked Matt, as he and theshowman passed through the front door, "will turn out to be a prettygood thing, after all."

  "Not for Ben Ali," returned Burton, "if he is caught and turned over toTwomley."

  "I was thinking of Margaret Manners," said Matt.

 
Stanley R. Matthews's Novels