Detective Bob Bridger — page 55: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

J 48 ~~ +‘DETECTIVE BOB BRIDGER. _ vailed little lady get off the train at the busy town of Cory- Le, .~- . -“—_— + + : < 7 vay ° ~ ‘ ~ a Se ee os P ‘ Z i <4 te * Sy (a . o ; “ * don. By his description I did not doubt it was Annette. I~ instructed him, did he observe her again, to follow her and find out where she went. A week later he informed me that he had seen her again, and had found that she had entered a music teacher’s dwelling, whither she came weekly to take lessons upon the piano. “Now it so happens that I play well upon the piano my- self, and possess also the mechanical skill to tune pianos. “So, soon as my duties ended upon the railway, I repaired to Corydon, and took rooms at the best hotel in the role of music agent and piano-tuner. “My entire appearance and manner were much more those of a gay deceiver, I will admit, than of a poorly paid dabbler in music. “T had provided myself with an armful of new music, the tools needed for tuning purposes, and had succeeded in obtaining the right to sell for several piano and music — firms. “T was cautious about entering the dwelling where An- nette (for it proved to be she) received instruction. “T made many attempts to sell elsewhere, and some re- spectable sales, ere I ventured to do so. “Meanwhile I learned that the teacher was Mrs. Bibby, a young and fascinating widow, and that she had heard that I was about. “ At length I called upon her in the way of business. “As a rule, I have always been well received by the ladies, and got along remarkably well with the widow, who was a sprightly little: woman, plump in form, possessed of snappish brown eyes, and a wealth of red hair, “Tn fact, after an hour’s stay I left the fair lady’s door on almost as good terms as if I had known her for years, and received a very pressing invitation to call again. “During several subsequent visits our acquaintanceship rapidly ripened, and, in truth, I soon knew pretty nearly everything the fair widow did. “T did not question her regarding Annette, but permitted her to first refer to her in her description of her several pupils. “*She is a pretty, blue-eyed girl about whom there seems a mystery,’ she one day remarked, meaning Annette. “Her father and mother are coarse, but wealthy, they say, and dwell at Garson, a small station twelve miles eastward. They are new-comers, and keep a hotel and livery stable, — and have purchased a number of farms near by.’ ComIcbooks.