CHAPTER XIII
A MATTER OF BUSINESS
Isa Blagg was in no haste to state the nature of the business which hadbrought him upon so long a journey in search of Kiddie; and Kiddie didnot press him for an explanation of his unexpected visit.
"Rube an' I, we ain't gettin' anyways tired of each other's company,"Kiddie remarked when the meal was over and Isa was taking out his pipe."All the same, Sheriff, we're main glad ter see you. Got any news?"
"News?" Isa was lighting his pipe. "No, thar ain't a whole lot.Things is kinder quiet along the trail, an' you ain't missin' a greatdeal of excitement. I'm told as Broken Feather's bin seen about again.Seems he's bin laid up f'r a while back with the bullet wound you gavehim. But he ain't bin interferin' none, an' in any case, he don't comewithin my jurisdiction. Nick Undrell's different."
"What about Nick Undrell?" Kiddie asked.
"That fetches me up against the point," returned Isa. "That's thebusiness brought me on your trail. But before we drag in Nick, I'llstart at the beginnin'. I don't doubt you remember the name of SansonT. Wrangler."
"Yes," Kiddie affirmed, "he kept a prosperous general store in Laramie.Used to sell very good candy an' a variety of temperance drinks,includin' a special brew of lemon squash, of which delectable beverageI've consumed some quarts."
"That's the man," resumed Isa. "But 'tain't just c'rrect ter callSanson prosperous. Thar's a heap of competition in the temp'rancedrink line, an' the retailin' of candy don't represent a gold mine.Sanson T. Wrangler's store hasn't flourished since the time he was inLeavenworth hospital for an operation. His speculations wasunfortunate. He lost a heap of dollars an' got inter debt. His chiefcreditor threatened law proceedings against him if he didn't shell outslick. Ter meet his liabilities he sold out a quantity of his stock.He borrowed where he could, an' one way with another, he accumulatedenough capital ter pay that debt on the stipulated date, which was lastMonday. Are you listenin', Kiddie? You're gazin' up inter them cloudsas if you was composin' a poem to 'em, 'stead of cipherin' out theproblem I'm puttin' in front of you."
"I assure you I'm all attention, Isa," Kiddie averred. "I expectyou're going to tell me now that Sanson T. Wrangler got foolin' aroundin some low down gamblin' saloon and lost that pile of dollars over agame of poker. What?"
"No," continued Isa, "that wasn't the way of it; though I allow he wasin Brierley's saloon Saturday night, boastin' to his friends about howhe'd rounded up the cash, and had locked it away in his iron safe backof the store. On Sunday he didn't show up at meetin': nobody saw himall day. Next mornin' his store wasn't opened as usual. The matterwas put inter my hands, an' I entered the premises t' investigate.First thing I see was Sanson T. Wrangler's iron safe standin' open an'empty, th' account books an' papers bein' flung around in disorder.Second thing was Sanson T. Wrangler hisself lyin' huddled up in acorner 'f th' room, gagged an' apparently unconscious."
"Why 'apparently'?" questioned Kiddie.
"Didn't move, didn't make no sound," explained the sheriff. "When Iturned him over he was kinder mazy, didn't know where he was or whathad occurred, an' was like as he was sick. Afterward, however, he wasable t' give a circumstantial account of the robbery. His wife an'daughter'd gone away to St. Louis. He was livin' alone in th'emporium. Sunday evenin' he was on the point of goin' out ter meetin'when, on openin' the door, he caught sight of two maskedmen--strangers, so far's he c'n tell, though he'd an idea as to theidentity of one of 'em. They dropped on him instanter; a pair of armswas flung around him, and a cloth that had a sickly sweet smell, likethe stuff given him in hospital t' send him asleep, was clapped overhis head. He struggled, but was soon overpowered, dragged across thefloor, and deposited unconscious in the darkest corner of the room. Itwas while I was present that he first come ter know that histhief-proof safe had been opened and that his pile of greenbacks hadbeen stolen. The safe had been opened with the key hidden back of thetobacco jar on his writin' desk."
Isa Blagg broke off, looking to Kiddie for comment.
"Well?" said Kiddie. "Go on. What's your theory? You mentioned thename of Nick Undrell a while back. Have you arrested him?"
"Nick's vamoosed," resumed the sheriff; "an' that goes against him. Hewas sure in Laramie Saturday night--even in Brierley's saloon. He knewabout Sanson T. Wrangler's pile o' money bein' fixed up in the safe.He wasn't anyways friendly disposed to Sanson T. neither. Thar's aheap of evidence pointin' straight to Nick Undrell. It's in Nick'smethods ter wear a black face-mask an' leave his victim helplesslygagged. I allow as Jim Thurston declares he met Nick at ThreeCrossings Sunday evenin'; but Jim's a pard of Nick's, an' hisunsupported word ain't worth a whole lot, anyway."
Rube Carter leant forward. He was deeply interested in this case ofburglary with violence.
"Say, now, sheriff," he interposed, "didn't you look for footprints andfinger-marks?"
Isa shook his head.
"Never knew a clean boot make a print on a soft pile carpet," heanswered. "As fer finger-marks--Sanson T. Wrangler's ready ter swearin court as the criminals both wore gloves, fully provin' that theywasn't novices in the burglary business."
He turned again to Kiddie.
"Knowin' as you're kinder int'rested in the moral regeneration of NickUndrell, Kiddie," he went on, "I've hesitated ter issue a warrant forthe man's arrest. I concluded that before goin' to extreme measures Ishould be wise ter take your advice. I'm here now for that purpose."
Kiddie smiled.
"My personal interest in him would be no excuse for your allowin' aguilty man to go free and unpunished," he observed judicially. "If youbelieve that Nick Undrell committed this burglary, then by all meansissue your warrant and have him arrested. There are circumstances inthe case, however, which do not seem to me to support your suspicions.Let us examine them. You suspect Nick because he knew of the money andwhere it was kept. He wasn't the only one who knew. Sanson T.Wrangler had publicly boasted of his readiness to meet his liabilities,and every man in the crowded saloon must have known just as much asNick. I allow that Nick's an old offender; but it ain't fair tocondemn him on mere supposition, simply because the victim in this caseis alleged to have been gagged by a man wearing a mask. I'm not sayingthat Nick didn't do it, mind you; but you've got to prove that JimThurston was lying when he said he saw Nick along at Three Crossings onSunday evening--a good seventy miles away from the scene of the crime."
Kiddie paused for a moment.
"Were Sanson's shirt-sleeves buttoned at the wrist, or were they rolledup?" he asked abruptly.
"Rolled up t' the elbow," Isa answered quickly. "His arms was bare."
"And the bag or cloth, with the chloroform in it, was drawn down overhis hat, I suppose?" pursued Kiddie.
"No. His hat was hangin' up, back of the door. But you're right aboutthe bag. It was like a big nightcap. He'd pulled it off."
"You smelt the sickly sweet smell about the room when you entered, didyou, Isa?"
"Can't say as I did. Guess it had evaporated by then."
"Dare say," nodded Kiddie. "Y'see it was at least twelve hoursafterwards, and--say, now, don't you reckon twelve hours a preciouslong time for a man to lie insensible after only one dose ofchloroform?"
"Dunno," said the sheriff, "I'm ignorant of the effects an' uses ofthem outlandish drugs."
"And yet you imagine that Nick Undrell knew how to use it, or get holdof a dose of it, even if he knew! Why, I don't figure that Nick everheard the name of the stuff--not havin' been in hospital, like SansonT. Wrangler. If you ask me, Isa, I don't believe there was anychloroform within a day's ride of Laramie on Sunday evening. Just putyour wits to work, my friend. To begin with, Sanson T.'s wife anddaughter were away in St. Louis. That was real convenient. Then themoney disappeared from the thief-proof safe just at the time when itwas to have been paid up to clear off the debt--that was equallyconvenient. I'm told that the thieves attacked him when Sanson openedthe door to go out to meeting
. But did any one ever know a respectablecitizen go out to meeting with his sleeves rolled up to the elbow, andwithout his hat? Or would he go out leaving the key of the safe on theopen desk table? Then the stupefying effects of chloroform would notcertainly last more than an hour, although the sickly smell of the drugwould linger about the closed room for quite twelve."
"Say, Kiddie," Rube interrupted, "you've gotten on this yer crimeproblem the same's you'd track a wild critter in the woods. Seems terme, you've run that critter right into its lair. All you've beensayin's as clear's the water in the lake. I c'n see the bottom plain,an' I figure it up as thar wasn't no burglary at all, thar wasn't nomasked men or chloroform. Sanson T. Wrangler made the whole thing upter cover his own tracks, an' the only thief in the case was Sanson T.Wrangler hisself."
"Exactly," nodded Kiddie.
"Shake!" cried Isa Blagg, thrusting out his hand. "You're sure right,Kiddie; plumb right, you are. You've gotten straight's a die to thevery innards of the problem. The hull evidence supports your theory.Here's me, a perfessional lawyer, so ter speak, bin puzzlin' my headover that alleged crime f'r days on end, an' never c'd make top nortail of it; an' you, settin' idle at this yer camp fire, have solved itas easy an' as slick 's you might cipher out a sum in simplearithmetic."
Kiddie shrugged his shoulders.
"It's merely the application of common sense to a very ordinaryproposition," he said.
"Kiddie don't jump at no rash conclusions," observed Rube Carter."Trainin' in scout-craft has sharpened his wits at ev'ry point. Hefollers th' evidence of a crime same 's he'd foller on the tracks of awild critter of the woods."
"Exactly," Kiddie nodded. "There's no difference."
"He looks at a thing all round an' through an' through 'fore he fixesup his mind about it," Rube went on, addressing the sheriff. "You an'me, Isa, we ain't built the same 's Kiddie. We ain't so slick or soclever at analysin'. Because a galoot like this yer Sanson T. Wranglerhappens along an' says he's bin robbed, you never waits t' inquire ifhe's tellin' the truth. You dash off on a false trail t' arrest ainnercent man. Kiddie has a way o' workin' that's all his own, an' ifhe don't allus hit the bull's-eye fust shot, at least he never missesthe target."
"I allow Kiddie's cute," acknowledged Isa. "He's got the sagacity of aInjun combined with the trained intelligence of a civilized human. IfKiddie wasn't so all-fired scrupulous about truth an' justice, he'dmake a passable magistrate. But I reckon his ambitions don't lie inthat direction."
The sheriff stood up and glanced towards his canoe.
"Guess it's 'bout time for me ter think of quittin'," he remarked.
"But you'll stop in camp with us to-night?" said Kiddie. "Now thatyou're through with that robbery problem, there's no occasion forhustle, an' I guess Rube c'n make you as comfortable 's if you werestayin' in a high-class Cincinnati hotel."
"Nothing would please me better'n to be your lordship's guest for anight," returned Isa. "I'm goin' ter stay. Th' experience of sleepin'on a island 'll be suthin' of a novelty. Thar's a spice of adventureabout it that I appreciate. Gideon Birkenshaw 'll conclude I'velocated your camp. He won't worry any on my account. When shall Itell Gid you'll be home?"
"The time is not limited," returned Kiddie. "Rube and I are a long wayfrom bein' tired of campin' out, and we've got 'most all we want. Weain't worryin' about letters or newspapers or any engagements orduties. We're havin' a real good holiday, an' it's goin' ter last aslong as the fine weather holds. But I'll tell you what you c'n do forus, sheriff. You've got plenty of cargo space in that canoe, an' we'vesome green pelts--the skins of critters we've trapped--that you c'ntake back with you. Abe Harum knows what to do with 'em."
"Figurin' ter make this yer island your headquarters, I guess?"observed Isa.
"No," Kiddie answered, glancing aside at Rube. "We've exhausted theinterests of the island. Rube has an idea he'd like t' explore some ofthose dark an' dismal canyons on the far side of the lake. We're onlywaitin' until he makes up his mind which one to choose."
"Then we've no need ter hang around much longer," said Rube, "for I'vefixed on Lone Wolf Canyon. There's a strong appeal in the name of LoneWolf."
"Gives promise of romantic solitood, don't it?" mused the sheriff."I'm not hankerin' after solitoods, myself. For real enjoyment, giveme Brierley's saloon in Laramie on a Saturday night."
"Ah," rejoined Rube, "you never learnt the meanin' of campin' out. Youain't got the instincts of a scout, the same as Kiddie an' me. Don'tsuppose you even knows the name of the bird that's bin warblin' sosweet for the past half-hour in the tree over your head."
Isa turned and looked up into the tree.
"No," he said, "until you mentioned it, I wasn't aware that there wasany warblin' in the programme."
"Don't you pay any heed to Rube, sheriff," Kiddie interposed. "It's aspecial hobby of his to know a bird by its notes. The songster you'relistenin' to now is just a whip-poor-will. It starts every eveningprecisely at sunset. When it quits singing, we reckon it's time tocrawl into our sleepin' bags."
Isa Blagg was in no hurry for the bird to cease its singing. Indeed,it was long after the usual bed-time when at length he consented toleave the bivouac fire.
On the following morning he awoke with alarm to find himself alone onthe island. He searched for Kiddie and Rube, and was beginning to fearthat they had marooned him, when at last he discovered them swimmingfar out in the lake, where he had never thought of looking for them.They were so far away that he supposed he would have ample time toprepare breakfast for them; but on going to the fire he found thekettle boiling, the clean plates set ready, and the cut bacon waitingin the frying-pan. He strode to the creek and saw that his canoe wasalready loaded with the neatly-packed pelts that he was to take withhim to Birkenshaw's.
"Gee!" he said to himself. "Never seen such a pair as them two in allmy days. I ain't in it. They gets in front o' me every time!"
"We didn't ask you to come out and have a swim with us, Isa," greetedKiddie as he stepped ashore.
"No use if you had done, Kiddie," returned Isa. "I never been in deepwater in my life. None the less, I've gotten a healthy appetite forthat bacon. Sleepin' on a island suits me. I'm real glad I came."
He paddled off in his canoe immediately after breakfast, when alsoKiddie and Rube prepared to break camp.