Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-09-07

! edge.
| tice TO quit" he said. 'and 1 fully expect
MIN to retalate In the way which he thinks
| VIII be most effective. II he does. may
| have to 60"
| You have quarreled with him openlyY"
asked Mary, in tone that suggested sur
prise and some misgivinR.
| We'll, yes, IL amounts TO that / sup
pose said Eustace and then he gave her
| short account of what had taken place.
| She listened attentivey and did not show
the Indignation which he expected when
| she heard about the bride which had been
! offered for his tacit acquiescence in Har-
Veys pursuit OF her. The point, curiously
enough. which interested her most was the
| incident of the man Black and the cock
tail.
| Who is hep she asked. And where did
| you meet himT'
| ''On board the Orinoco Royal Trans-At-
lantic steamer from Buenos Ayres to South
ampton six years ago. He was the ships
doctor, and his name then was Norman
DR.. Angus Norman, l think; but am
not sure about the Christian name. He got
| into trouble for cheating at cards In the
| smoking ROOM and / heard that the COM
pany sacked him at the end OF the trip on
the captains report II was a particularly
bad case, and | remember the details be-
cause / was one of the committee OF pas
sengers who sat In judgment on him when
he was cought in the act"
You are sure you are rightg'
"Oh, yes. He has grown beard, and his
voice is even more saw-like than IL used 70
be; but the cocktail is the same cocktail. 1
had a fancy In those days for collecting
recipes OF the many different forms of the
American national vice, and / remember
that 1t cost some diplomacy to get him TO
part with the prescription. Now the point
is. why is a qualified medical man content
| to occupy the humble position OF gauger at
the Holland Abbey distilleryf How long
has he been there. by the way?
Three or four years, said Mary.
1nnn shosf han +
there's much question that the wage he
gets from the inland revenue Isn't al the
profit he Is making. man of his abliityC
and he is a man OF considerable ability, OF
a crooked kind-could easily find better
work.
But could he, II he was dssracedSa
Mary suggested. isn't II possible that he
has fallen to this. and sticks to II Tor rear
he may fall lower"
II have thought of that" said Eustace
But in the first place, he isn't that sort
of man; and in the second place, II ism
+, the sort OF Job a man would naturally fan
| to- or even drift into. There's an examina-
| ton TO be passed, and other formalitles. He
| must have gone into It deliberately. Now
why?
| Mary answered the question by another
why did Harvey offer you money to go
| away
Eustace turned to her with some surprise.
The change OF subject seemed to him rather
violent; but when he got a glimpse OF the
girls eager face. he realized that perhaps
| there had been no change OF SUBJECT al hi.
! She was merely following his own thought
along different track
Answer me-" she said. Yes, 1 have an
| idea, but I want to hear yours first: :.
| Il understood" said Eustace. mat II
was that he might be free to pay his al.
dresses to you. He thought that L should
| be in his way as."-he added with a laugh
! a certainly mean TO be. as far as you
will allow mel
1T wasn't that at ALL said Mary.
"Oh, / think it was, He spoke OF his
love for you. l took the liberty OF ques-
tioning his right to the word. ana ne
repeated it. l think he really does want
very much to marry you, confound him'
Mary shuddered slightly, and answered:
II know he does, but not enough 10 make
him ready to pay out large sums OF money
for that and nothing else. He Is fond OF
money very fond of money; but ne Is not
the man to spend 1t on'-she CURED her up
sIightly-'luxuriesi He wanted you out OF
the way, yes; but your absence was ne
nessity.
"Why?'
"Recause Won are a clever man, and he Is
afraid of YOU. He offers you money to go.
because he is afraid that If you stay you
will find out something which he Is very
anxious to keep a secret o.,
"A secret between hlmseH ana biaSh.
asked Eustace quickly
Yes"
And that secret is?
..IJow II comes about that he is aple 10
offer to pay heavy blackmail out of the
nrofits of a small Morayshire distiliery.
said Mary ,,-
1T would be blackflaii, theh' e
The girl nodded.
..if Won have the belief which think you
have, and If you took his money ana Wen Wen,
away YOU would be receiving blackmail.
Eustace laughed out loud. The theory
which he had formulated as the result OF
the barmaids chatter was becoming Hoie
plausible. since apparently Mary held IL
.'There is only one thing that puzzles me,
he said IF he is as fond of money as YOU
sav he is why did he offer II to me? IL
would have been simpler to send message
to the admiralty in the beginning
Mary shook her head.
You don't understand him. she said.
Don't YOU know how clannish we are In
this part of the world? He knows quite
we'll that if he did that every one In the
neighborhood would cut him dead TOT De-
raging his own KIN ,,,
And that would be bad for business!"
said Eustace. II see!"
II don't think you do said Mary. smiling.
ut would be bad for business. but II would
be worse for-aol@ He spends more than
half of every day on the links or in the club
house, and if he were cut on from that !
think the blow would be harder for him to
bear than even the loss of all the money he
loves. Harvey is a strange man..
Eustace laughed.
Il am inclined to think he Is, he said.
But what is more important just now 10
the fact that, both to you and me, he Is a.
dangerous man. How are we to fight him?'
Through his secret" said Mary at once.
I'VE must become enthusiastic archaeolo-
gists: and as a beginning will investi-
gate the legend of the Holland Caves. We
will explore them tomorrow"
Eustace turned to her with an exclama-
ton of establishment.
THE caves!' he said, wonderingly. How
on earth did you guess / was thinking OF
them?'
The girl smiled.
"Your theory-which you haven't told me-
but which l guess-depends upon them,
doesn't it?'' she asked.
Eustace's answer was curious, and Guper-
ficiaiiy at least seemed hardly to the point.
You and | ought to go into partnership"
was what he said he drove up the beech
avenue; and he added in low voice. all
most as though he was speaking to himself:
In other things besides this"
He gave her his hand as she jumped from
the car. and he stood for a moment In
thought after she had run into the house.
II wonder whether we shall?" he NUT
tered as he followed her slowly.
(To be continued tomorrow)