The Dugdale Millions — page 105: what you’re looking at

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

4 PLAN OF CAMPAIGN. 95 ark, showed he had arrived at precisely the same end the detectives employed by Dick had. “‘The affair,’’ he said in concluding, ‘‘is in bad shape. If we could find where the Powers family had gone to, we could base some action on the knowledge. But here we are with our heads against a stone wall. So long as we know nothing about it, we can’t makea stir, because we don’t know at what moment the old woman may pop up, and not only upset our plans, but put us into trouble.”’ ‘The old woman is dead,’’ said Ransom in his soft voice. ‘“‘Ah!’’ responded Moore argumentatively, “‘you don’t know that fora fact. If you did it would be all right.”’ “But I do know it,’’ persisted Ransom, ‘‘She is dead.’’ Moore and Bob looked at him inquiringly, aston- ishment in their glances. “‘I have got a piece of news,’’ he continued. “This aftegnoon I fell in with a party over in Broad- way, and one of them happened to remark that he had followed the trade of a morocco-finisher all his life. I asked if he knew a James Powers in the same line. it turned out that he had learned his trade from him, but he said he was dead, and he went on to say that he left a widow and two daughters, but that the widow only lived a year after his death and died here in New York, and that he had been at her funeral. He said both daughters were married, but he didn’t know their names or where they lived.”’ ‘‘Ah!’’ said Moore, ‘‘that helps somewhat.”’ ‘*It helps a good deal,”’ insisted Ransom. ““Not much,’’ persisted Moore. ‘“‘You see you are m the same position as to the daughters. You don’t know where they are.” ‘*They don’t count in this game,’’ was the positive Comicloo S C@ 3