He brushed past Mr. Gubb's new visitor as he went out, and Mr. Gubb
arose to greet the newcomer.
This third visitor was a large, red-faced man with an extremely loud
vest. He wore a high hat of gray beaver, and a large but questionable
diamond sparkled on his finger. He walked directly up to Mr. Gubb and
shook hands.
"Sit down," he commanded. "Now, you're Gubb, the detective, ain't you?
Good enough! My name is Stephen Watts, but they mostly call me Steve
for short--Three-Finger Steve," he added, holding up his right hand to
show that one finger was missing. "I'm in the show business. Ever hear
of John, the Educated Horse? Ever hear of Hogo, the Human Trilobite?
Ever hear of Henry, the Educated Pig? Well, them are me! That's my
show. Did you ever hear of a sheriff?"
"Frequently often," said Mr. Gubb with a smile.
"Well, up to Derlingport this here Human Trilobite of mine got loose
from my side-show tent, and when they found him he had eat about half
of the marble cornerstone out from under the Dawkins Building. He's
crazy after white marble. It's like candy to him. So Dawkins attaches
my show and sends the Sheriff with an execution to grab the whole
business unless I pay for a new cornerstone. Said it would cost two
hundred and fifty dollars. I didn't have the money."
"So he took the show," said Philo Gubb.
"_Ex_-act-ly!" said Mr. Three-Finger Steve. "He grabbed the whole
caboodle. _Ex_-cept Henry, the Educated Pig. That's why I'm here. That
Sheriff's attachment is out against that pig; it was a felony to
remove that pig from Derling County while that attachment was out
against it. _And_ the pig was removed."
"You removed it away from there?" asked Philo Gubb.
"Listen," said Three-Finger Steve. "I didn't remove that pig from
Derling County. It was stole from me. Greasy Gus stole it. Augustus P.
Smith, my bally-hoo man, stole Henry, the Educated Pig, and made a
get-away with him. See? See what I want?"
"Not positively exact," said Philo Gubb.
"Well, it's a little bit delicate," said Three-Finger Steve, "and
that's why I come to you instead of to the police. I want that pig.
But if I go to the police and they find the pig they'll send it back
to the Sheriff in Derling County. See?"
"Do you want I should arrest Greasy Augustus P. Smith?" asked Philo
Gubb.
"Not on your life!" said Three-Finger vigorously. "No arrests! You
just get the pig."
"How big is the size of the pig?" asked Philo Gubb.
"It's a big pig," said Mr. Watts. "Henry has been getting almost too
fat, and that's a fact. I've been thinking right along I'd have to
diet Henry, but I never got to it. He's one of these big,
double-chinned pinkish-white pigs--looks like a prize pig in a county
fair. And, listen! He's in this town!"
"Really, indeed?" said Mr. Gubb.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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