Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1907-08-10
CHAPTER III.

v;sit on the part of thevillage policeman.
Che knew Ieffcock well; she had stood
oodmother to one of his children, and
was always sure of an eager welcome
from his pretty, delicate young wife. 1t
occurred to her as she turned the door
handle that he must have come as
noouthpiece on behalf of some village
subscription, but her first glance at the
evident embarrassment and discomfort
visible on his rosy, good natured face
dispelled such an idea. His errand, what
ever it might be, was evidently the re-
verse of agreeable. His companion,
keen faced, closely shaven man, some
Years his senior, was evidently his SUI
nerior in rank; he rose from his chair
as the girl entered, and Jeffcock made
an awkward attempt at salutation.
Evening. miss" he mumbled. Mr.
Norman. sir, this is Miss Havant." Mr..
Norman bowed, and his sharp dark
ewes took quick note of the faint sur
Prise on Sage's countenance.
Good evening, Miss Havant!'" he said.
AZ must apologize for this intrusion, but
The fact is, / am here on business, and
perhaps It will he best to come straight
to the point"
Certainly" Sage responded quietly.
81 am very busy this evening. If it is
anything about subscription"
"Oh, no. miss-nothing of the kind"
JelIcock interrupted eagerly. This gen.
tleman, Mr.. Norman, looked in on me
'arf an hour or so ago and asked me to
bring him here"
Il am detective from London" Mr..
Norman interrupted. He watched Sage
closely as he spoke, but her face was
expressive of nothing except very nat
ural surprise. you have "a gentle
man staying here,' said Mr.. Norman.
"He arrived this afternoon"
MY cousin, Mr.. Milward? Yes, he is
here"
Jeffcock shuff1ed uneasily, and the de-
tective looked nonplussed.
"Your-cousinY" the detective repeat
ed. Excuse me, Miss Havant, you must
really prepared to assure me that the
gentleman who arrived here this after
noon is-your cousin, Mr.. Milward?"
"NIost certainly ann Sage's color
deepened, and her eyebrows contracted.
This is very extraordinary, Jeffcock"
she said, turning to the unfortunate
young SOASbdDlO' WIN AOOAS0 ouPASA4Niy
uncomfortable.
It's bit awkward, miss" he admit
ted. Fact is, MIR. Norman's on the track
of young fellow as gave him the slip,
and-and-"
And one of my assistants, who was
watching the platform at Winchester this
afternoon, saw two young ladfes joined
by an individual who bore a strong re-
n 4ka Tn 20 ~
said Nh Norman, ''the resemblance was
so remarkable that Taylor had just made
up his mind to accost him on the
strength of it, when he was thrown off
the scent by the appearance of the young
ladies. He mentioned the episode to me
when I arrived at Winchester half an
hour later; and, as we are completely at
a loss again how to proceed, l thought
that l might as well follow up what
might prove to be a clue. l identified
the young ladies-your sisters-withOut
any difficulty, and / find4from your local
Winchester this afternoon in the COM
partnership of a gentleman-a stranger
"a stranger to Hodgkins, but our
cousin nevertheless Sage interrupted,
you have had all your trouble for moth
ing You may perhaps have heard of
Aubrey Milward, the Chicago millionaire.
1t is his sonny cousin-who is paying
us a visit Why, Jeffcock, / wonder your
wife didn't tell you that we were eX-
pecting our cousin she added, laughing
{, an spite of herself at the detectives
chapfallen expression. "You see, Mr..
Ia
in our little village!"
The missus did mention it, miss,
numbled Jeffcock, but l was taken by
surprise-I quite forgot"
You would do well to pay a little
more attention to the cultivation of a
memory for trifes," observed Mr.. Nor
man, venting some of his evident disgust
upon his defenseless companion. Never
theless, he forced himself to add
Perhaps we might see Mr.. Milward
himself.'
Il wish you could" said Sage. But,
most unfortunately, my cousin arrived
with such a bad headache that he was
obliged to go straight to bed. We have
sent for the doctor She broke off,
puzzled, and more than half angry at the
irrepressble flicker of amusement that
nance. She did not know that Hodg
kins, the station master, had stated his
conviction that 9Th young fellow as the
little ladies had brought back wi 'em
was bit more nor half seas over" and
that the detective was mentally pictur
ing the doctors dilemma when called
upon to diagnose the complaint for the
benefit of Mr.. Nilward's anxious rela-
tives.
Jeffcock took off his helmet with an
audible sigh of relief, and, after apologiz-
ing for any inconvenience that bis visit
might have caused, Mr.. Norman accepted
the hint, and a moment later Elizabeth
had the felicity of closing the door upon
the visitors.
Sage, what was it? What on earth
did they wantf"
1t was Gatty who poke. but both lit
Tie girls were lowering in the passage in
state of incipient excitement which
their sister promptly proceeded to quell.
che was trying to satisfy them without
telling them ANYTHING, when Dr. Mas