Whereupon--whiles he's lockin' the desk
drawer ag'in, aforesaid uncle slips downstairs an' out. By'm'by,
Thin-lips trots out with an ugly grin on his mug--an' Uncle Hunch,
gettin' soberer an' soberer by the minute, trots after him with his
good lamp workin' overtime."
Carl glanced at the paper.
"Yes?" he encouraged.
"Well," said Hunch with a sheepish grin that was rendered somewhat
sinister by the fixed eye, "I jostled him real rude in a crowd an'
picked his pocket. An' there yuh are!"
There was some slight rustle of greenish paper in the handshake.
"I'm mighty grateful," said Carl. "That paper cost me a couple of
hours of laborious preparation. It's a duplicate, Hunch, for the
purpose of decoy. The original's in safe deposit."
CHAPTER L
THE OTHER CANDLESTICK
The closing of the outer door betokened the departure of Mr. Dorrigan.
Carl swiftly marked the second candlestick where the shallow receptacle
in the other had begun and applied the thin, fine edge of a craftsman's
saw. When at length the candled branches lay upon the table, the light
of the lanterns overhead revealed, as he had hoped, a second paper.
He was to read the faded sheets, with staring, incredulous eyes, and
learn that its contents were utterly unrelated to the contents of the
other.
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