The Washington times., 1911-03-24
CHAPTER VII.
T THE corner CurtIce stopped.
n struck with a sudden thought.
- Haigh, his acquaintance, had


n struck with a sudden thought.
~ Haigh, his acquaintance, had
mixed himself up in this affair
in some way; so much was evident from
what Lazard had said. Presumably, he
had done so unconscious of danger.
Probably that girl had been used as Il
bait to draw him on, DaZard suspectinS
Haigh TO be Curtice's friend and conf
dant. So 1t appeared that Haigh was
in the power of the mercenary, his
prisoner in some lonely spot, unable to
communicate with his friends, too well
guarded-if Curtice knew Lizards ways
to permit of escape.
New, this was shrewd deduction, Cur
tice plumed himself. II there were any
ground for it. he felt that 1t was his
part to go to the aid of the unfortunate
gentleman. The difficulty lay in the
fact that he did not know where to go.
'Brookside" had been mentioned as a
place in Connecticut, but If II were not
The name of q toWn-well, a gazetteer
would settle that. So Jimmy purchased
an evening paper and took the elevated
train downtown, bound for the Dial Of
ice, where he would have every con-
venience at his hand. On the way down
he scanned the sheet carefully. but
found nothing to aid him in his search: /:
no mysterious disappearances' were
therein chronicled.
He hastened into the office, intent
upon his errand, and bitterly blam-
ing himself for allowing Lazard and his
confederate to depart before learning
something definite from them. His
search OF the gazetteer, however yield
ed him no results; so far as he could
learn, there was no town, city, or vii
lage Of Brookside in the State of Con-
necticut. AS he puzzled over this, OBJ
livious TO all external matters. an office
boy halted beside him.
Say. Mr.. Curtice." he observed de
old mans lookin fer youse."
"All right Jimmy answered absent
ly. Tell him I'll be along in min
And he promptly forgot all about it.
A moment later he arose and strolled
over to the news desk, where Darby
was editing the 'fiimsy" that came in
from the Associated Press.
Hello, Darby" he said. Anything
good tonight"
big fire in Brooklyn" replied the
news editor. Nothing else of any
Importance. Why? Thought this was
your day off"
1T is, but I'm looking for a story,
ell the same. Heard of any one drop
ping out of sight-turning up miss
ing reCently?"
Moo; but say, Curtice, you needn't
look far If you're hankering for a
story; the old man has been raising
heaven and earth to get you today.
Must have some sort of hen on for
"Um-m, yes, I hear So" Curtice
was hardly aware of what he was
saying, so absorbed was he. Sure
about that, are you? No one miss
''Yes-no. hold on! There was an
item of that sort from Rhode Island,
think-just a stick or SO. But we're
pushed for space, and killed it
Fouu find the flimsy in that basket"
Curtice dropped into a chair and
plowed into the mass of crumpled
yellow tissue paper so appropriately
nick-named by the newspaper world
out and glancing over Ehe bunch of
rejected news, but near the bottom
of the basket he found a little ball
which. being unrolled and deciphered,
read something like this:
Greenwich, Aug. 5.-Daniel Haigh,
wealthy young man, reported missing
since Saturday. Automobile found Mon
day overturned in shallow creek. Sus-
picions foul play, great excitement
Searching party being organized"
Pasted on the bottom of this was a
sheet of copy paper with the follow
ing office memoranda in reporters
writing:
"Haigh is a young society painter,
with the reputation of being some
what eccentric. Has country place in
Greenwich township, Fairfield county,
Conn. where he was staying when he
disappeared. In city resided at Studio
building, 81 West Thirty-fourth street
Said to be devoted to automobiling,
frequently taking long solitary rides
enough for Curtice He arose, pushed
his hat back on his head, and, whist
ling as was his custom when thinking
haTd, started out of the office. Darby
Look here, you'd better not forget
about McCabe-"
"Oh. confound McCabe!" McCabe
was the managing editor.
That's all right, but your lob won't
be worth much if he finds out that
you've been here and gone away again
without seeing him"
"Oh, we'll"
At this moment McCabe himself
standing at the city EDITORS desk. at
the other end of the office caught
sight of Curtice and raised his voice
in command. CurtiCe grumbled hut
true-that to disobey was TO be dis
charged-he gave in.
AS it was, the managing editors ex-
preston was not encouraging; a black
scowI furrOwed his forehead and he
vociferated shrilly, which the force
had learned to take for sign OF his
anger. /
Good evening. MIR. Curtice,' he said
with mock politeness. Step right into
my private office: I'll see you there in
a momept."
Curtice did as he was bid, mentally
puzzled as to what he might have done. |
He could not recall having written any
thing calculated to involve the paper
in a libel suit, and he was quite sure |
that McCabe himself had suggested |
that raise I'm salary.
In the midst of this bewilderment |
McCabe entered and threw himself into |
his office chair, spuea king with annoy
ance. He was a small, stout man, |
whose unpleasant temper would never |
have been countenanCed had he not |
been the best newspaper man in the |
city, with an ability to handle men
which would have won him a generals
eagles in time of war.
Now, Mr. Curtice," he yapped ner-
vously, uuerulously, you have got TO
understand that the Dial is being run
10 get the news, and that when issue
an order Il is to be obeyed. have sent
You five telegrams since noon, and YOU
have paid no attention to them. What
d'you mean by it sir? What d'you
mean?'
But. MIR. Mccabe. this is my day of,
and" A