The Washington times., 1911-03-23

W
with more than passing in
terest. He was certainly uncommon
" good looking: but for the present
this was of small concern to Jimmy,
whose eyes travelled on to a pair OF
broad. assertive shoulders indicative
OF great strength. The mans chest
too, was of a depth and width, MS
hands. which for the instant he was
resting easily upon his hips, with
arms akimbo. were small and shapely
and very white, yet strong and self
reliant. His lounging posture against
the door gave an impression of alert
ness. as did a lazy. impertur bable
smile and the suave, dangerous humor
of his eyes. Plainly, he was not a
fellow to be despised as an opponent.
Curtice acknowledged as much by his
glance. at which the man laughed
confidently.
"You are right" he observed In eX-
Cellent Spanish. though with a touch
of brogue. You are right. senior; the
door will remain locked until 1t
pleases me to open IT.
Still without replying. Jimmy con-
sidered his ancient enemy, Lazard,
with an eye, too. toward whatever
afford or the two men, Lazard might
have been conceded the more danger
Gus, although puny in stature when
compared with his companion. 1t was
the malignant intelligence that direct
ed his actions, no less than the
weapon which he was never without
which rendered him an important fac
tor in a possible melee; and Jimmy
,ra
himself that the man still held him
in deepest hate.
Curtices eye fickered about the
studio without missing a single point
The whole place was in an extreme of
disorder, as were the adjoining rooms.
which Haigh had used as a store
room and a bed room. A desk had
been forced and its contents strewn
upon the floor, while drawers had
been removed bodily from the tables
and chiffoniers and thoroughly ran
sacked; a box couch yawned open;
even small refrigerator had not
been overlooked in this conscientious
searching. its door standing wide and
showing a varied assortment of bot
ties and siphons.
HaiEh was man of taste and Of
means sufficient to crafty his desires
for the beautiful IL costly He would
have wept could he have seen the
havoc which the two confederates had
wrought with his expensive tapes
tries. his cushions and pillows. The
wall-hanEings had been ruthlesslY
torn down, while the floor was white
with the down of disembowled pill
lows.
Seeing which. Curtice marveled that
his friend had proved of so great in
terest to LaZard as to cause this
wreck Of his apartments. Evidently
he was a person of no small import
fn ha
was al a loss to understand.
Another thing nightly puzzling to
Jimmy was the fact that his own
coming had undoubtedly been expect
action OF the stranger In locking the
door was surely premeditated, while
further proof was adduced by the
fact that heavy bookcase had been
ing upon q fire-escape, to cut off his
eEress in that direction. One other
thing he did not fail to notice and
that was a small red box upon the
wall He smiled, drew up chair. and
sat down, facing the General LaZard.
"Wen?" he inquired at last.
II repeat" said Lazard politely, that
il was good of YOU to come. We were
81 don't know why I rather thought
you'd avoid me after our last encoun-
ter. senior"
And for what reasonr"
ooh. made you a small promise. I
have not forgotten It, Lazard. I shall
keep it,
The general dismissed the subject
airily. with a wave. of his hand.
'Pouf" he said. LET 1t pass: it does
not interest me"
"It will in time. But. for the pres
ent. let US get down to business Per
haps yoU'll explain why YOU are here
why you expected me. and what in
fhunder YOU want now that you have
me"
"That shouldn't be necessary" the
stranger put in. I'VE have no desire
These questions are a waste OF time
since you know the answers better
than even We"
Jimmy addressed himself to the
man. "You have quite the advantage
of me- but you have the hall-marks of
a gentleman and q reasonable man. l
had rather talk to you than to this
hound. Believe me. sir. he went on,
"if have I'm any way done anything
touching your interests, L am unaware
Lazard flushed beneath his saIIow
skin. but a sign from the stranger
held his rage in leash.
"why quIbbIe?" demanded the man
impatiently. You are not telling the
truth. You merely make our task
the harder. waste our time. Let us
.Bv ali means. am all attention.
Fire away with your explanation.
proposition. or whatever 1t is you
But Lazard could no longer hold
himself in check. .,
what" he cried. do YOU deny
at denv nothing. affirm nothing
I am very curious TO know what this
extraordinary affair means, and L
think you'll tell me-
''But II YOU are so wonderfully in
nocent sir" the stranger asked win
more irritation. why are you watch
inE us?'' .-.-
'T am not. I was unaware or your
existence. senior. until ten minutes
ago As for the general here, he Is
almost a forgotten episode in my past
life"
Then YOU do DENY seeing me in
the tunnel--up there?" Lazard indi-
Gated the north hazily: IL was plain
that in New York he worked on
strange ground.
Not in the least: I saw you. YES
for half q minute. / have not seen
you since" 4.