"I mean Mrs. Mack, the old lady who lives in St. Mark's place."
"I don't know anything about--'bout Mrs. Mack," answered Minton with a cunning look. "What sh'd I know of Miss--Mrs. Mack?"
"She used to be, but she's a bad old woman. I don't want to see her again."
"She would be very glad to hear that," thought Mark.
"I d'n'ow, do you? Don't ask me any more of your fool questions," answered Jack with uncontrollable irritation. "Did I pay you for the drinks?" he asked, turning to the barkeeper.
As he spoke, Jack Minton's head fell forward on the table, and he closed his eyes. The last potation was too much for him.
"You'd better take your friend away," said the barkeeper, eying Jack without much favor. "I don't want him to go to sleep here!"
"Didn't you come in with him? Didn't he treat you?"
"Yes, but I only accepted because he looked quarrelsome, and I was afraid he might take offense if I refused."
"If I let him stay here I shall charge him extra."
"Do as you like! I never saw him but once before, and I don't care to have anything to do with him. I wish you would let me pay for that sarsaparilla I had. I don't want to feel that he treated me."
"He has paid, and I can't take pay twice."
"Then take the money and return it to him."
Mark without waiting to see if his proposal was accepted put a dime on the counter, and left the saloon. He met a newsboy with copies of a morning Buffalo paper. He bought one, and turning to New York news, his eyes fell upon a paragraph which surprised and excited him.
This was the paragraph that attracted Mark's attention:
"This morning Mrs. Rachel Mack, an old woman over seventy years of age, living in an upper room at No. 174 St. Mark's Place, was found insensible in her room, as the result of an attack made by some person unknown. When found she seemed very much frightened and was unable to give a coherent account of what had happened.
"From marks upon her throat it was clear that her assailant had nearly strangled her. His intention was obvious. Though living in a poor room amid squalid surroundings, neighbors testified that Mrs. Mack is comparatively rich, being in fact a female miser, and this was doubtless known to her assailant. The old woman testified that she kept one hundred dollars in bills in the bureau drawer. This sum was missing, having evidently been taken by the person who attacked her.