pity, and how I had discovered on awaking in the morning
that he was dead.

That day the body was taken to the morgue. The sum of L100
were found in his pockets, a part of which gave him a decent
burial. But while he had gone to his long rest, he had sown
in my mind the seed of unrest. I went about my work clinging
to the thread of a mystery half told. Whither would it lead
me?

Strange as that messenger had seemed, he was certainly a
good man to carry secrets.



CHAPTER II


The multitude of legs, engaged by the pair in the service of
Valentine, King & Co., were distinguished from each other by
a bit of house slang. I was known as "last legs" among my
companions for some time after my initiation to the
warehouse. At first I was inclined to resent the reduction
of my individuality to such a vulgar formula, but as I
became inured to hard tasks the sharpness of this indignity
wore away.

There was one pair of legs doing service for the firm whose
owner became my most valued friend and confidant. In his
business capacity he was called "long legs," but his proper