"Mawrnin'!" he said, removing his hat and wiping the sweat-band with
his red handkerchief. "Don't ye get down, Misther Gubb, sor. I want
but a wurrd with ye. I seen Snooksy Tur-rner here but a sicond ago, me
lookin' in at the windy, an' you an' him conversin'. Mayhap he was
speakin' t' ye iv his arrist?"
"He was conversing with me of that occurrence," said Philo Gubb. "He
was consulting me in my professional capacity."
"An' a fine young lad he is!" said Policeman Fogarty, reaching into
his pocket. "I got th' divvil for arristin' him. 'Twas that dark, ye
see, Misther Gubb, I cud not see who I was arristin'. Maybe he was
consultin' ye about gettin' clear iv th' charge ag'inst him?"
"He retained my deteckative services," said Philo Gubb.
"Poor young man!" said Fogarty. "I'll warrant he has none too much
money. Me hear-rt bleeds for him. Ye'll have no ind iv trailin' an'
shadowin' an' other detective wurrk to do awn th' case, no doubt. 'Tis
ixpinsive wurrk, that! I was thinkin' maybe ye'd permit me t'
contribute a five-dollar bill t' th' wurrk, for I'm that sad t' have
had a hand in arristin' him."
Fogarty held up the bill and Philo Gubb took it.
"Contingent expenses are always numerously present in deteckative
operations," he said.
"Right ye ar-re!" said Fogarty. "An' ye'll remimber, if anny wan asks
ye, that I ixprissed me contrition for arristin' Snooksy. Whist!" he
said, putting his hand alongside his mouth and whispering: "Some wan
wanted me t' search th' house here t' see did Snooksy have sivin
bottles iv beer an' a silver beer-opener in his room."
Philo Gubb sat on the ladder and contemplated the five-dollar bill
until he heard Fogarty returning.
"Hist!" Fogarty said. "I did not see him, mind ye!"
Fogarty slipped out of the back door and was gone, and Philo Gubb,
after a thoughtful moment, decided that the five-dollar bill was
rightfully his, and slipped it into his pocket. To earn it, however,
he must get to work on the case. He raised the pasted strip of paper,
but before he could place the loose end on the ceiling, some one
tapped at the kitchen door.
"Come in!" he called, and the door opened.
"Slippery" Williams glided into the room. His crafty eyes sought Philo
Gubb.
"'Lo, Gubby! Watcha doin' up there? Where's Miss Turner?" he asked.
"Miss Turner is out on business, I presume," said the Correspondence
School detective coldly, "and I am pursuing my professional duties in
the deteckating line."
"Yar, hey?" said Slippery. "Who you detectin' for now?"
"Snooks Turner," said Philo Gubb. "I'm solving a case for him."
Instantly Slippery's manner changed. From rough he became smooth. From
bold he became cringing.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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