The Forged Note: A Romance of the Darker RacesMicheaux, Oscar
General
The Forged Note: A Romance of the Darker Races
Micheaux, Oscar
African Americans -- Fiction
This robbery occurred one night when he was away, and did not return
until the following morning, which was in itself singular, for Griffin
was rarely away. It was, like the other, mysterious. Griffin was a
miner, and since he would not--so 'twas said--pay twenty-five cents a
week for warm water and a towel to clean himself at the mines, he
preferred to sleep in the kitchen, because he was unfit to occupy any
other portion of the house, unless it was the attic. And since there was
none to this house, we leave him in the kitchen, where he slept in a
dirty, but warm bed, and kept his clothes--he had some pride--in the
strongest trunk Wyeth thought he had ever seen. On the outside, he kept
it locked with the strongest Yale spring. With all the high-priced
advertising done in regard to the safety of such locks, this robber
didn't seem to give a hang, but, with a steel poker, he had twisted and
twisted, until Mr. Yale had resigned himself to the inevitable, and
permitted ingress. Within were four nice, clean suits, awaiting
Griffin's subtle occasions.
Legs, Wyeth and Glenview, who were very agreeable roomers, didn't hear
of it until the second morning. And they might not have known then, if
it had not happened that they were together in the adjoining room, and
overheard Griffin crying over the loss. That happened to be Friday. Legs
had become something of a hero, with his successful running down of the
murderer, and now played, very successfully, the part of a man. Legs did
not positively condone the light fingered method. When they had been
led, by their curiosity, to investigate, and had returned to the room,
he remarked:
"It beats Hell the way this place continues to be robbed!"
"It is indeed singular," commented Glenview, whose English was always
the most careful. And he never swore.
"Yes," said Legs again, "it _is_ strange. So strange that I'm getting
suspicious," and he closed an eye meaningly. "There's a man in the house
who has not worked this summer.... He cannot _seem_ to get the kind of
work he follows, true; but the fact to be considered, is that he _has_
not worked this summer. He likes to gamble, and is particularly fond of
liquah...."
There was a pause, and he closed that eye again, and looked across at
Glenview. Glenview closed an eye and looked at Wyeth. Wyeth held his
open, but did some rapid thinking. He now recalled that, upon entering,
the robber had cut the screen, it was shown to them; but now as he
remembered it, the ends of the wires where the screen had been cut
pointed outward.... Also, it was reported to have been cut with a
hatchet; and the hatchet was on the ground near the window, which was
logical.... It was very strange indeed, this robbery.... Legs was
speaking again:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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