e game?"
"I sure have quit the road," Leary answered. "The old girl has got a few
thousands tucked away and I'm goin' to pick her up and buy a motion
picture joint or a candy and soda shop somewhere in the big lakes--one
of those places that freeze up all winter, so I can have a chance to
rest. The old girl has a place in mind. The climate will be good for my
asthma. She knows how to run a fizz shop and I'll be the scenery and
just set round."
"On the whole it doesn't sound exciting," the Governor commented,
inspecting a clean shirt. "Did your admirable wife get rid of those
pearls she pinched last winter? They were a handsome string, as I
remember, too handsome to market readily. Mrs. Leary has a passion for
precious baubles, Archie," the Governor explained. "A brilliant career
in picking up such trifles; a star performer, Red, if you don't mind my
bragging of your wife."
Leary seemed not at all disturbed by this revelation of his wife's
larcenous affection for pearls. That a train robber's wife should be a
thief seemed perfectly natural; indeed it seemed quite fitting that
thieves should mate with thieves. Archie further gathered that Mrs.
Leary operated in Chicago, under the guise of a confectionery shop, one
of the stations of the underground railroad, and assisted the
brotherhood in disposing of their ill-gotten wares. A recent reform wave
in Chicago had caused a shake-up in the police department, most
disturbing to the preying powers.
"They're clean off me, I reckon," said Leary a little pathetically, the
reference being presumably to the pestiferous police. "That was a good
idea of yours for me to go up into Canada and work at a real job for a
while. Must a worked hard enough to change my finger prints. Some bloke
died in Kansas awhile back and got all the credit for being the old
original Red Leary."
This error of the press in recording Leary's death tickled the Governor
mightily, and Leary laughed until he was obliged to wipe the tears from
his eyes.
"I'm going to pull my freight after supper," he said. "Walker's goin' to
take me into town and I'll slip out to Detroit where the old girl's
waitin' for me."
The Governor mused upon this a moment, drew a small note-book from his
pocket and verified his recollection of the address of one of the
outposts of the underground which Leary mentioned.
"Avoid icy pavements!" he admonished. "There's danger in all those
border towns."
Walker called them
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