The Little Nugget

e-yard had been brief. I suppose a boy inOgden's position, with his record of narrow escapes from thekidnapper, comes to take things as a matter of course which wouldstartle the ordinary boy. He assumed, I imagine, that I was theaccredited agent of his mother, and that the mon

ernoon, go to my rooms, where he would findSmith, and with Smith travel to his moth

hOgden had complicated it a little by gratuitously luring awayAugus

on had arisen. My onedesire now was to und

of the anxiety in her eyes. If I had struck her, I could nothave felt mor

ken, and turned to fi

ould like to

pe. The tension of the situatio

ds,' said my employer

aordinary cobbudicatiod to me. It seebs he is inreality a detective, an

d himself. On the whol

rvous, was removed. An inrush of Red Indians with tomahawkscould hard

d, I suppose?' I said.

of hisactiod--dispatched White to apply for the post of butler atthis--ah--house, his predecessor having left at a bobedt

t the reas

ich he had been sniffing with the tenseconcentration of a dog at a rabbit-hole, 'is b

Wha

accompany me, mychance of bringing Ogden back was gone. It had been my intentionto go straight to my r

r Abney,' I protested. 'I am sureI

aid the invalid sententiously,buryin

If the conversationwas to consist of copybook

the intellectual le

nother. I had seldom heard him speak sosharply. White's revelation had evidently impres

any you, Bister Burd

well,'

ould get an opportunity of givingh

cab arrived, and White and

with my thoughtsto volunteer remarks, and White, a

d that he found speech. I had provided myselfwith a book as a barrier against conversa

ting book,

ry,'

e interesting

his profound observation

after the silence had

'Y

pell. These train-jou

the hall. I glanced up and met his eye. He waslooking at me in a way that struck me as curious. There wassomething in those bright brown eyes o

re than that book, even ifit's the darn

'O

t a cig

t me around on th

ifferently. 'Still, perhaps two heads are better than one, asMr

ard and tapped

a label on a bottle, sonny,' hes

do you

the effect of a guiltyconscience, to m

ess you gave the Ford kid thism

osed that mine hadactually done so. The illusion of some solid object blocking up mythroat was extraordinarily vivid, and there certainly seemed to bea vacuum in the spot where m

ntly prepared to continue th

nd he was to take it and break for London,and go to the address on this card, and your pal Smith would lookafter him. I guess there had been some talk bef

oice, as if it were some ordinary commonplace. To me it seemed t

place like astable yard, however apparently empty. I mi

ed me when I heard yo

never occurred to me for amoment that you could be playing that game. It only shows,' headded philosophica

reduce my mind to working order,to

n the tightest corner of mylife, I se

sumed his

g,' he admitted. 'I c

ht be working in with, it wasn't Buck. Andnow I've placed you. You're not in with any one. You're justplaying it by yourself. I shouldn't mind betting this

irritating in the action. As one who hashad experience, I can state that, while to be

, 'we must get togeth

ame words in the mouthof Buck MacGinnis that

team,' he said, still

can't get away with him without yourhelp, and you can't get away with him unless you square m

ittakes to select a cigarette and light a match. Then, blowin

missed the cold truth by about a mile. But you caught me shooti

ed it dreamily till it melted in

th Sam Fish

elief. If I had been atliberty to be astonished, my companion's information would nodoubt have astonished me. Bu

elfwhen they've cleared the way. It saves trouble and expense. Idon't travel with a gang, like that bone-headed Buck. What's the

ed me. I objected to beinglooked upon as a

you--what

at me in m

you, sonny, and take my

Do

l, don

half-affectionate mannerof the kind old

lled boob? Do you imagine for one instant, sonny,that I'm not next to every move in this game? Are you deludingyourself with the idea that this thin

don't like you, and I don't like your way ofearning your living. Buck MacGinnis wa

y righteous this p.m., ar

d not

mere professi

s too muc

r a moment that I'm

s I wrong? Do you kidnap the sons

That iswhy I gave him the money to go to London. And that is

ws spoke, his said,'My dear sir, really!' I cou

e simple tru

who would say, 'Have it your own

ave taken". Have you

to take the boy ba

olling laugh. His doubl

id, shaking his head w

won'

on't bel

kly, I

said, and began

kled, 'you must dobetter than that. I can se

, if you wa

address was that you

I shall s

ce. The train rolled o

was not f

e event of yourquitting this fool game and doing the square thing by me. Let meput it plainly. We are either partne

d!' I said

u think youcan manage without my assistance, it will then be my melancholyduty to beat you to the kid, and collect him a

e of my book and

a modest estimate, about ten times as muchsense. Yet, in your overweening self-confide

id. 'Do, whi

his head

self, I fear. And later on, when myautomobile splashes you with mud in Piccadilly, you w

nd rosy and complacent,puffing at his cigar

nd hate him as arepresentative--and a leading representative--of one of the mostcontemptible trades on earth

with a bang and b

a wonder

ence that I was coming roundto the fri

bserve that I do not ask you togive it to me. Let there be not so much as the faintest odour ofthe double-cross about this business. All I ask is that you allowme

experience has b

erably--quit

rry you the anxiety a

both. And then, look

gets to invite mother to her freak-dinner. What happens? Mothertakes it out of William. They love him, maybe, but they are tooused to him. They do not realize all he is to them. And then, oneafternoon, he disappears. The agony! The remorse! "How could Iever have told our lost angel to stop his darned noise!" moansfather. "I struck him!" sobs mother. "With this jewelled hand Ispanked our vanished darling!" "We were not worthy to have him,"they w

with altrui

but you must have made your pile by this time. Igather that you have been practisi

sig

y instincts are thoroughly domestic. When I havethe leisure to weave day-dreams,

hether I was worthy ofthese confidences. Th

om himself to someone, for he proceededto open his heart to me. A man in his particular line o

a moment, thencontinued, and--to my mind--somewhat spoiled the impressiveness ofhis opening words. 'The love of a

rette fell on his hand.

sumed, having recoveredfrom this interlud

. Ah! ... Just the same when we grewup. Still pals. And that was twenty years ago ... The arrange

l haven't you done i

hook h

ogether a sort of pile andstart out for the old town, when some smooth stranger would comealong and steer me up against some skin-game, and back I'd have togo to work. That happened a few times, and when I did manage atlast to get home w

at-Home Henry now?' I

a hydrophobia skunk, so I'm informed. Ibelieve he was a good man. Outside of lick

only I canconnect with the mazuma. And she don't wan

ou happines

n that. You can take me

ded the

y to your way of ma

aman has got to tell his wife every little thing in his past. Sh

ways was. That's why I'm going to quit afterI've won out over this thing of the Litt

ook my

ou w

You must look aroundfor some other home into w

he said, sadly, but withoutany appare

'N

ou will regretthis, sonny. I may say you will regr

ned your auto

! So

sently it began to move forwardhesitatingly, as if saying to itself, 'Now, am I really wantedhe

. I was aboard a taxi, bowlingout of t

as unable to see Sam. Myadroit move, I took

ting for the Continental boat-traintonight with his companion; and, working out the distances,I saw that, by the time I could arrive, he might already have leftmy rooms. Sam's supervision at Sanstead Station had made iti

n up the stairs and opene

th!' I

or and a door opened at the end

have not started. I th

e is t

e boy

I wrote to

not arri

t arr

o, s

ed at hi

g have you

l day

ave not

e the hour

understand

ntleman changed his min

ow he s

further sugge

entleman's arrival, si

e spoke at the

Hasn't he

beaming and benevol

t in the telephonedirectory,' he explaine

or of the sitting-room. Idid not want to

about the ro

prettywell, young man. So I understand that the Nugget has

't under

ve him a certain

o get him to--wh

und other usesfor it. He's whooping it up in London,

got

is now outof the question. I wish you well, but I have no further use foryou. Somewhere in this great city the Little N