Harry Squires had worked on a New York morning paper in his early days.
His health failing him, he was compelled to abandon what might have become a really brilliant career as a journalist. Lean, sick and disheartened, he came to Bramble County to spend the winter with an old aunt, who lived among the pine-covered hills above the village of Tinkletown. That was twenty years ago. For nineteen years he had filled the high-sounding post of city editor on the _Banner_. He always maintained that the most excruciating thing he had ever written was the line at the top of the first column of the so-called editorial page, which said: "City Editor--Harry Sylvester Squires." Nothing, he claimed, could be more provocative of hilarity than that.
In his capacity as city editor, he wrote advertis.e.m.e.nts, personals, editorials, news-items, death-notices, locals and practically everything else in the paper except the poetry sent in by Miss Sue Becker. He even wrote the cable and telegraph matter, always ascribing it to a "Special Correspondent of the _Banner_." In addition to all this, he "made-up"
the forms, corrected proof, wrote "heads," stood over the boy who ran the press and stood over him when he wasn"t running the press, took all the blame and none of the credit for things that appeared in the paper, and once a week accepted currency to the amount of fifteen dollars as an honorarium.
Regarding himself as permanently buried in this out-of-the-way spot on the earth"s surface, he had the grim humour to write his own "obituary"
and publish it in the columns of the _Banner_. He began it by saying that he was going to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth about the "deceased." He had written hundreds of obituaries during his career as city editor, he said, and not once before had he been at liberty to tell the truth. In view of the fact that he had no relations to stop their subscriptions to the paper, he felt that for once in his life he could take advantage of an opportunity to write exactly as he felt about the deceased.
He left out such phrases as "highly esteemed citizen," "n.o.bility of character," "loss to the community," "soul of integrity" and other stock expressions. At the end he begged to inform his friends that flowers might be deposited at the _Banner_ office or at his room in Mrs. Camp"s boarding-house, as he was buried in both places. b.u.t.tonhole bouquets could be pinned upon him any day by simply stopping his customary funeral procession about town. Such attentions should always be accompanied by gentle words or exclamations of satisfaction, as for example: "How natural you look!" or "You owed me ten dollars, but I forgive you," or "It"s a pity your friends allowed you to to be laid away in a suit of clothes like that," or "I don"t believe half the things people said about you," or "It"s a perfect shame you don"t feel like resting in peace," or "Did you leave anything worth mentioning?" He also suggested that he would rest much easier in his grave if a slight increase in salary attended the obsequies.
From this it may be gathered that Harry Squires was a man who made the most out of a very ordinary situation.
Marshal Crow"s suggestion met with instant response. "On the other hand, Anderson, the lady may be as beautiful as the fabulous houri and as devilish as Delilah. I don"t want to take any steps in the matter without giving you your chance." He spoke darkly.
Mr. Crow p.r.i.c.ked up his ears. "What do you mean by that?"
"As a newspaper man, I am determined to clear up the mystery of the Veiled Lady. If you persist in sitting around twiddling your thumbs and looking like a primeval goat, I shall send to New York and engage a detective to work on the case exclusively for the _Banner_. The _Banner_ is enterprising. We intend to give our subscribers the news, no matter what it costs. If you--"
The Marshal swallowed the bait, hook and all. He arose from his chair and faced Mr. Squires. "I"ll thank you, Harry Squires, to keep out of this. I didn"t mean to say a word about it to you or anybody else until I had gone a little further with my investigations, but now I"ve got to let the cat out of the bag. I"ve been working day and night on her case ever since she came to town. Never mind, Newt--don"t ask me. I"ll announce the result of my investigations at the proper time an" not a minute sooner. Now I guess I"ll be moseyin" along. It"s gettin" purty late, an" I"ve got a lot of work to do before midnight."
He started down the steps. Harry Squires leaned back in his chair and scratched a match on the leg of his trousers. By the time he raised the lighted match to the bowl of his pipe, the smile had left his lips.
An uneventful week pa.s.sed. The Veiled Lady made her daily excursions in the big high-powered car, pursued her now well-known domestic habits, retained her offensive aloofness, played games with the astounding Snooks, suffered no ill effects whatsoever from the inimical glares of the natives; and above all, she continued to set the fashions in Tinkletown.
[Ill.u.s.tration: _The veiled lady made her daily excursions in the big high-powered car_]
Mr. Crow stalked the streets early and late. He lurked behind the corners of buildings; he peered sharply from the off-side of telephone poles as the big limousine swept haughtily by. He patrolled the Nixon neighbourhood by day and haunted it by night. On occasion he might have been observed in the act of scrutinizing the tracks of the automobile over recently sprinkled streets.
One evening, just after dusk,--after a sharp encounter with Harry Squires, who bluntly accused him of loafing on the job,--he sauntered past the Nixon cottage. His soul was full of bitterness. He was baffled.
Harry Squires was right; he had accomplished nothing--and what was worse, he wasn"t likely to accomplish anything. He sauntered back, casting furtive glances into the s.p.a.cious front-yard, and concluded to ease his restless legs by leaning against a tree and crossing them in an att.i.tude of profound nonchalance. The tree happened to be almost directly in front of the Nixon gate. Not to seem actually employed in shadowing the house, he decided to pose with his back to the premises, facing down the street, twisting his whiskers in a most pensive manner.
Suddenly a low, musical voice said:
"Good evening!"
Mr. Crow looked up into the thick foliage of the elm, then to the right and left, and finally in the direction of the cottage, out of the corner of his eye, after a sudden twist of the neck that caused him to wonder whether he had sprained it.
The Veiled Lady was standing at the gate. In the gathering darkness her figure seemed abnormally tall.
The Marshal hastily faced about and stared hard at the mystery.
"Evening," he said, somewhat uncertainly. Then he lifted his hat a couple of inches from his head and replaced it at an entirely new angle, pulling the rim down so far over the left eye that the right eye alone was visible. This shift of the hat instantly transformed him into a figure of speech; he became as "cunning as a fox." People in Tinkletown had come to recognize this as an unfailing symptom of shrewdness on his part. He always wore his hat like that when he was deep in the process of "ferreting something out."
"Have I the honour of addressing Mr. Anderson Crow?" inquired the lady.
"You have," said he succinctly.
"Field Marshal Crow?"
"Ma"am?"
"Or is it Town Marshal? I am quite ignorant about t.i.tles."
"That"s the name I go by, ma"am."
"Your name is very familiar to me. Are you in any way related to the great detective?"
This was unexpected tribute. The only thing he could think up to say was, "I"m him," and then, apologetically: "--unless some one"s been usin" my name without authority."
"Are you actually the great Anderson Crow? Do you know, I have always thought of you as a fict.i.tious character--like _Sherlock Holmes_. Are you really _real_? Do I look upon you in the flesh?"
Mr. Crow was momentarily overwhelmed.
"Oh, I--I guess I"m not much different from other men, ma"am. I"m not half as important as folks make me out to be."
"How nice and modest you are! That is the true sign of greatness, Mr.
Crow. I might have known that you would be simple."
"Simple?" murmured Anderson, to whom the word had but one meaning. He thought of Willie Jones, the village idiot.
""Simplicity, thou art a jewel,"" observed the Veiled Lady. "Will you pardon a somewhat leading question, Mr. Crow?"
"Lead on," said he, still a trifle uncertain of himself.
"Who is that man standing against the tree beside you? Is he a friend of yours?"
"Who is--is my what?"
"Your companion. Now he has moved over behind the tree."
Anderson shot a startled look over his shoulder.
"There ain"t any man behind the tree. I"m all alone."
"Are you trying to make sport of me, Mr. Crow?"
"I should say not. I been standin" here fer some time, an" I guess I"d know if anybody was--"
"Do you think I am blind?" demanded the lady quite sharply.
"Not if you c"n see a man behind this tree," said he, with conviction.
"You got the best eyesight of anybody I ever come across--that"s all I got to say."
"I see him very distinctly."