"Oh, I knew it! I knew it!" moaned Mrs. Wilmerton. "He threatened it!"
"Threatened what?" asked Philo Gubb.
"That he would find the beer in this house!" cried Mrs. Wilmerton. "He threatened Aunt Martha that if she did not give it to him freely, he would have it found here, and make a scandal! Beer hidden between the quilt and the mattress of Aunt Martha"s bed, and she Secretary of the Ladies" Temperance League! It"s awful! Martha is so headstrong! She"s getting herself in an awful fix! She never should have had a thing to do with that Slippery fellow!"
"With who? With Slippery Williams?" asked Philo Gubb, intensely surprised. "Aunt Martha Turner? What did she have to do with Slippery Williams?"
"Well, she had plenty, and enough, and more than that to do with him,"
said Mrs. Wilmerton angrily. "Getting bottles of beer in her bed, and robbing houses at her time of life, and wanting the Ladies" Temperance League to have a special meeting this morning to approve of burglary and larceny! At her age!"
"Now, Miss Wilmerton," said Philo Gubb, from the top of the ladder, "I"d ought to warn you, before you go any farther, that Snooks Turner has engaged me and my services to detect for him in this burglar case. If Aunt Martha Turner burgled the burglary that Snooks is in jail for, maybe you ought not say anything about it to me. I got to do what I can to free Snooksy, no matter who it gets into trouble."
"Mr. Gubb!" exclaimed Mrs. Wilmerton suddenly--"Mr. Gubb, I"m not authorized so to do, but I"ll warrant I"ll get the other ladies to authorize, or I"ll know why. If I was to give you twenty dollars on behalf of the Ladies" Temperance League to help get Snooksy out of jail,--and land only knows why he is in jail,--would you be so kind as to beg and plead with Snooksy to leave Attorney Mullen alone, in the "Eagle," after this?"
She held four five-dollar bills up to Philo Gubb, and he took them.
"From what I saw of his eye," said Mr. Gubb, "I guess Snooks will be willing to leave Attorney Mullen alone in every shape and form from now on. Now, maybe you can tell me how Snooks got into this business."
"I haven"t the slightest idea in the world!" said Mrs. Wilmerton. "All I know about it is--"
Both Mrs. Wilmerton and Philo Gubb turned their heads toward the door.
The greater duskiness of the kitchen was caused by the large form of City Attorney Mullen. He bowed ceremoniously to Mrs. Wilmerton, who turned bright red with embarra.s.sment, probably because of her part in the efforts of the League to have Mr. Mullen impeached by the City Council. Attorney Mullen was not, however, embarra.s.sed.
"I am glad you are here, Mrs. Wilmerton," he said, "for I wish a witness. I do not wish to have any stigma of bribery rest on me. I came here," he continued, taking a leather purse from the inner pocket of his coat, "to give these twenty-five dollars to Mr. Gubb. Mr. Gubb, I have just visited Snooks--so called--Turner at the jail. I went there with the intention of bailing him out, pending the simple process of his ultimate and speedy release from the charges against him. I am convinced that I was wrong when I made the charge of burglary against him. I am convinced that no burglary was ever committed on my premises--"
"Oh!" exclaimed Mrs. Wilmerton. "Not even seven bottles of beer and a beer-opener, I suppose!"
Attorney Mullen turned on her like a flash.
"What do you know about beer and beer-openers?" he snapped.
"I may not know as much as Detective Gubb, but I know what I know!"
she answered, and Mr. Mullen restrained himself sufficiently to hide the glare of hatred in his eyes by turning to Philo Gubb.
"Exactly!" he said with forced calmness. "And perhaps I know more about them than Mr. Gubb knows. In fact, I do know more about them. I know they are upstairs between a blanket and a mattress. I know, Mrs.
Wilmerton," he almost shouted, turning on her with an accusing forefinger, "that they were stolen from a house in this town by some one representing the Ladies" Temperance League. I know that burglary was committed by, or at the behest of, some one representing the Ladies" Temperance League! I know that, if this matter is carried to the end, a respectable old lady--a leader in the Ladies" Temperance League--will go behind the bars, sentenced as a burglar! That"s what I know!"
"Oh, my!" gasped Mrs. Wilmerton, and sank into a chair.
"Now, then!" said Attorney Mullen, turning to Philo Gubb again, and handing him the twenty-five dollars, "I give you this money as my share of the fund that is to pay you for the work you do for Snooks Turner. I make no request, because of the money. It is yours. But if you love justice, for Heaven"s sake, send word to him to come out of jail!"
"Won"t he come out?" asked Philo Gubb, puzzled.
"No, he won"t!" said Attorney Mullen. "I begged him to, but he said, "No! Not until Philo Gubb gets to the bottom of this case." But should we, as citizens, and as members of the Prohibition Party, permit you, Mr. Gubb, to land Aunt Martha Turner in the calaboose?"
"Well, if what I find out, when I get down from this ladder and start to work, sends her there, I don"t see that I can help it," said Philo Gubb. "Deteckative work is a science, as operated by them that has studied in the Rising Sun Deteckative Agency"s Correspondence School of Deteckating--"
"Snooks says he don"t know anything about any beer," said Nan Kilfillan, entering hastily, and then pausing, as she saw Mr. Mullen.
"Did you tell him it was upstairs, in bed?" asked Philo Gubb.
"In his room? In his bed?" said Attorney Mullen eagerly. "Why, that puts an entirely different aspect on the matter! That gives me, as City Attorney, all the proof I shall need to convict the respectable Miss Martha Turner and her honorable nephew of the "Eagle." And, by the G.o.ds! I _will_ convict them!"
He glared at Mrs. Wilmerton. Nan broke into sobs.
"Unless," he added gently, "this whole matter is dropped."
Philo Gubb took out all the money he had received and counted it, sitting cross-legged on the ladder.
"I guess," he said thoughtfully, "you had better run up to the jail and tell Snooksy I want to see him right away, Miss Kilfillan. Maybe he can stretch the jail that much again. Tell him I"m just going to get down from this ladder and start to work, and I want to ask his advice."
"What do you want to ask him?" inquired Attorney Mullen, as Nan hurried away.
"I want to ask him about those seven bottles of beer and that beer-opener," said Philo Gubb.
"Mr. Gubb," said the City Attorney, "I can tell you about those bottles of beer. If those bottles of beer came from my house Aunt Martha Turner goes to the penitentiary. If she does not go to the penitentiary, there are no bottles of beer and there is no beer-opener. And never were!"
"I told her she had done a foolish, foolish thing!" exclaimed Mrs.
Wilmerton.
"Just so! And it _was_ foolish," said Attorney Mullen, "_If_ it was done. And, if it was done, and Snooks Turner telephoned, and I thought he meant the burglary, I would, naturally, a.s.sault him."
"You hurt him bad," said Philo Gubb.
"And I meant to!" said Attorney Mullen.
All turned toward the door, where Policeman Fogarty entered with Snooksy and Nan.
"I"ve done ivrything I cud t" quiet th" matter up," said Fogarty to Mullen, thus explaining his interest in the affair.
"I like jail," said Snooks cheerfully. "I"m going to stay in jail."
Aunt Martha Turner interrupted him. She came into the kitchen like a gust of wind, scattering the others like leaves, and threw her arms around her nephew Snooksy.
"Oh, my Snooksy! My Snooksy!" she moaned. "Don"t you love your old auntie any more? Won"t you be a good boy for your poor old auntie?
Don"t you love her at all any more?"
"Sure," said Snooks happily. "A fellow can love you in jail, can"t he?"
"But won"t you come out?" she pleaded. "Everybody wants you to come out, dear, dear boy. See--they all want you to come out. Every last one of them. Please come out."
"Oh, I like it in jail," said Snooks. "It gives me time for meditation. Well, good-bye, folks, I"ll be going back."
His aunt grasped him firmly by the arm and wailed. So did Nan.
"But, Snooksy," begged Mrs. Turner, "don"t you know they"ll send me to the penitentiary if you go back to that old jail?"
"Yes, but don"t you care, auntie. They say the penitentiary is nicer than the jail. Better doors. n.o.body can break in and steal things from you."