The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, July 2, 1905, Page 3

How 3 al ases of life ad tx off beside his chair, the horse trader came forward and spoke to him. “J klin, ain’t it about time you were rid of. that old sorrél? - I don’t know. He hasn't done articular harm.” ; 1s he done you any particular good The t-to open its session. e -1s _failtog,” sald the left eve is all right,’” re- 1. “And with one eye he can if of a-load, be'dece nt and in"consequence -will pull he is threatenéd with-a spavi ed ‘the trader. May bé .But when 3 spavined over the re a.fenewal But he’s . losin® persisted the He. was gettin’_too fat, the . trouble with Him? SROLSLIISN LSRN SI SIS 'RAFFLES’ ADVENTU SN S0 site & ss treasure I turp goh to get him n. He ten posses- ad just men-~ him off. With he of a mag who has rged into his darling and I looked past him at the clock. It was only & quarter to 10. ; ,mrhon decency I could not go yet. So vhere I sat (We were & t port) and e what had originally fired my host’s at_he was plea e, twin-screWw, dou -bottomed . Old Mas-, 8o better” than one some rival legislator of pictorial proclivi-, But even an epitome of his moo- e would be so much weariness} suf- t that ended inevitably in the in- dreaded all the evening. was* . his hands. TRESR “But you must sce it. Next réom. THis way “Isn't it'packed up?” “Lock and key. That's all."* Pray don't trouble,” I urged. £ ““Frouble be hanged,” said he. ‘‘Come along.” 2 5 And 1 fnquired ha: stily. all at ohce'T saw that to resist him’ further’ would :be to heap. suspicion : upon myself against the moément of im- penging discovery.. 1 therefore followed him' into bedroom witholft further and suffered him first to show me iron map-case, which stood in one he took a.crafty pride in this recéptacie, and I thought be would never cease descanting on its innocént appear- ance and its Chubbs lock.. It seemed an interminable age beforé the key was be latter. “Then-the ward clicked, amd my pulse stood ‘still. ¢ % “By Jove!" F cried next instant. " The: canvas was in its place’ athong the the Thought Tt wquld knock ' yo u,” sald Craggs, drawing it out and unrolling it>" for my benefit. “Grahd thing, ain’t-.it? wouldn't think it had been “painted- 230 years? It has, though, my word! Old Johnson's face will be a treat when he sees it; won't go bragging about his pic- tures much moré. Why, this one’s worth all the pictures in colorty o' Queensland put together. *° Worth ‘60,000 pounds, &y boy—and 1 got it for five!” Rty He dug me in the ribs, and seemed_ in the mood for further confidencés. My appearance checked him, and he Tubbed 2% A “ 0% is hat and placed it on the ground' old-timers. gathered about. the two ¢ The clearing-house of wisdom was 1k he is’ afficted .with bad - amine his mané and see il the witches hgven’t been ridin’ him. But him. “But why do ybu.want a horse that’s .80 out of fix as ‘mine is?. Jim,” he added,. s thinkin' of.you as I rode ‘into was_wonderin’ if you ‘would trade .your way into_the mid- ernity and-then be driven out on TN g E v roeEreE wemE [CoZz SHUT YouuE that ‘self-interest takes,” Limuel repljed. “But if you were perfectly honest and ‘gave the other feller as much of the bar- .gain_as you get, you'd never have.- more “than you started in with. You must have, the other Your life has been a-.con- tintous. w tin' of yourself ' to make" elf sharper. You are -a fox can say I'm.a liar, Uncle _“Oh, ‘mo. But the worst lie is not.the direct lic, but the one that leads man on 16 one of his own findin,’ for then he is doubly deceived. .You let a man set a trap. for himself: With apparent open- ness you warn him against- yourself, but oy don’t warn him against himself. The worst deceiver in this world is the-one that puts a man in‘a position to deceive himself.” A half-fruth.is worse tham a whole lie. It catches more people.” 5 “You-are too hard on ‘me, Uncle Lim. Horse trading'is my "business, and under the law it is an honest callin' “Hold on, you would make me out h. claréd the horse trader. “I. swopped I liv “Honést encugh ftom the point of view thief.” Eae 3 several times with my uncle and—" NSO LRSI RODOSTOSEORRNNRG000% “If you take it liké thaf,” he chuckled, “how will. old Johnson take it? * Go out .and hang hmiself to his pwn picture rods, I hope!” . : Heavens kriows what I contrived to say at last. §truck speeehless. first by my re- “lief, T continued silerit from a very dif- ferent cause. A new tangle of emotions tied -my, tongue. Raffles had failed—Raf- “fies- had failed! Could I not succeed? ‘Was it too late? Was there no' way? “'So long” he said, taking a last look at the canvas before he rolled it up—so long till we get to Brisbane.” . e The flutter 1 was in as he closed the casel* i B For the last- timé,” he-went on, as his keys jingled back into his pocket. *It goes straight into the s(ong-room .on béare,” ° . For the last time! If I could but send him out to Australia with only its legiti- mate contents in his precious.map case! If I-could but succeed where Raffies had failed! 2 . We retuined to the.other room. I have no wotion how long he talked, or what about. Whisky and.soda water became the order of the hour. I'scarcely touched it, but fhie drank copiously, and before 11 1 left him incoherent. And the-last train for Esher was the 11550 out of Waterloo. 1 took a Nansom to my roums. - I was back at the hotel in thirtéen minutes. [ walked upstairs. The corridor was emp- ty: I-stood an instant .on the sitting- room threshold, heard a snore withip, and admitted myself softly with my ‘gen- tleman’s own key, which it had been a ‘among . E NO.5= a shade the bést of it.” ~But isn't that true of all Business?”. “Pretty much,” the old man admitted. ut. thé man that lives by his wits. lives on the lack-of wit in other men. He is a -hawk sailin’ ‘round the barnyard of life. In swoppin’ horses you first make it a point to find objections in the other horse. Yoyr aim is to make the owner .dissatisfied with him. Gradually you show the strong .points in your own - horse. . You are’so persuasive thdt the victim Mears and thinks he sees. Virtues drummed into the ears become virtues in the fmagined sight. Then you've got him. The limp in your. own .horse is turned into a sort ‘of grace. It is. the main fea- ture.in your horse. A cast in the eye is not'a forerunner of comin’ blndness, but the promise of better sight. You couldn't keep from deceivin’ your best friend. It 4sn’t gain you are after so much as it is the thrill of beatin' some one. With.you it is an "appetite—just the same as a man's thirst for drink.” % very simple matter to take away with me. Craggs never moved; he was stretched on the sofa fast asleep. But not fast enpugh for me. I saturated my handker- chief with the.chloroform I had brought and I laid it gently over his moith. Twp or three stertorous breaths and the man was a log. - 2 I removed the handkerchief; I extiacted the keys from his pocket. In less than five minutes I put them back, after :winding the.picture about my body be- neath my Inverness cape. “The train was easily caught—so easily that I treinbled for ten minutes in my Afirst-class smoking cariiage—im terror of every footstep on the platform, in unrea- sonable terfor till the end. Then at last I sat back and lit - cigarette,.and-the lights of Waterloo reeled out behind. 1 _pictured Raffles, his -surpzise, his de- light. He would think a little more of me.in fututé. And that future, it should be different. We had £2000 apiece—sure- 1y enough.to start afresh as honest men —and all through' me! 4 “In a glow I sprang out at Eshen, and took.the one belated cab that was wait- ing under the bridge. In a perfect’ fever I beheld Broom Hall, with the lower story still lit up; and saw the front door open _as I climbed the steps. % “Thought /it was yor said Raffles cheerily. “It's ajl.right. "There's a.bed for you. Sir Bernard’s sitting up to shake your hand.” A His good spirits disappoirited me. But I knew the man; he was one, of those who wear ‘their brightest. smile in' the ORSTE~TIRADIER -- “No, but a man that wants to intoxi- cate himself. It's politics applied to horses. To mislead a man is to a¢quire @ sort of—majority. If you owned all the horses "in the - community you wouidn't be satisfied. Then you'd start out with cows. And ownin’ all the cows, : you'd take doms: There'd be no. such thing as satistyin’ you. You know the ofher feller is always tryin' to get the best of you, and ‘this soothes your con- science. It is much easier to .soothe a conscience than a stone bruise.” “But you know I wouldn’t cheat you,” “Oh, you wouldn’t cheat any one," Limuel replied. “But the very fact that you want to swop your horse for mine proves that vou want to do somethin’, and it's natural to suppose that you . don’t want the worst of it. Now, we'll take tue:Circuit Judge, for. instance. He is your undle, I believe. You think well of ‘him. - You know that a horse is a part of his life, for he has to ride horseback from one courthouse to an- other. But you swapped horses with +him’ until he was seen walkin’, carryin’ - his saddle, ‘And now you want to see me walk.” A e “That’s where. you de me wrong.” de- Nine Points of the Law | blackest hour. 1 knew him too well by this time.to be deceived. " *“I've got it!” I cried in his ear. got it! s “Got what?” he asked me, stepping back. “The picture!” “What?" “The picture. He showed it to me. You had to go without it; I saw that. So I'detérmined to have it. And here it is.” “Let’s see,” sdid Raffles grimly. I threw off my cape and unwound the canvas from about’ my body. While I was doing so an untidy old gentleman* made his appearance in the hall and stood looking on with raised eyebrows. “Looks pretty fresh for an Old Master, dpesn’t she?” said Raffles, _ His tone was strange. I tould only sup- . pose that he was jealous of my success. “So Craggs said. I hardly looked at it myself. “Well, look now—look closely. By Jove, T must have faked her.better than I thought!"” L1t's a cop: I cried. “It's the copy,” "he answered. “It's the ‘copy I've been tearing all over the country to procure. It is the copy I faked back and front, so that, on your owrn showing, it Imposed upon Craggs, and might have made him happy for life. And you go and rob him of that!” . 1 could not speak. “How did you manage it?" inquired Sir Bernard Debenham. “Have you Kkilled him?" asked Raffles sardonically. “I've “well, mounted. “Yes, .angd shortly afterward he walke ed into town, didn't he?" “Well, I don’t insure a horse’s health. I'm hot a horse praphet. I can't tell how long a horse may live. ¥ swopped with Uncle Dan three times and - “And he walked:.just ag I say,” Lim- uel broke in. “And is it that you want to see whether or not I can beat him walkin’? We might settle it by walk round and rotind the.courthouse square.” “That's all right, Uncle Lim, but I traded with'the Judge three days ago apd he rede into town this mornin'. He says he never had a better saddle horse in his life. And the horse I got from him I'm willin’ to let you have. I don't want to see you walk—want to ses you Now you, go and ask the Judge what sort of a horse I let him ‘have the other. day.” . Just at this moment the Jdidge eame walking-into the stable. Jim,” sald he, speaking to the trader, “I wish there were some law under which I could shut-vou up in the penitentiary. I went around to the barn just now to look at my horse; and—and the thing is dead.” Old Lim. looked at the trader. “Don't believe 1 want to swop with you, Jim- mie. . It's ten miles from here to where nd I'don’t carpg to walk.", " 195, by Opie Read.) Ol {Copyrighted, I did not look at him: I turned.to Sir Bernard Debenham, and t¢ him I told my story, hoarsely, excitedly, for it was all that I could do to keep from breaking down. But as I spoke I became calmer, and I finished in mere bitterness, with the remark that another time Raffles might tell me’ what he meant to do. “Another time!™ he crxzi instahtly. “My dear Bunny., you speak las though we iwem going to turn burglars for a liv- ng . “I trust you won't,” said Sir Bernard, smiling, “for you are certaigly two very daring young men. Let us hope our friend from Queensiand will do as he sald, and no# open his map-case till he gets back there. He will find my check #waiting him, and I shall be very much surpriged if he troubles any of us again."”, Raffles anil I did not speak till I was in the room which had- bean prepared for me. Nor was I anxious to do so then. But he followed me and took my hand. “Bunny,” said he, “don’t you be hard on a fellow! I was in the deuce of & hurry, and didn’t know that I shouldever get what I wanted in time, and tHafs a fact. But, it serves me right that you should have gone and undone one of the best things I ever did. As for your handi- ‘work, old chap, you won't mind my say- ing that I didn’t think you had it in you. In future—" 3 “Don’'t talk to me about the future!™ T cried. “T hate the wiole thing! I'm golag to’ chuck it up!” & /*“So am 1 sald Raffles, “when I've