The Washington herald., 1911-02-11
CHAPTER v.
No False Pretcnses.

back. What the devil should ne say 10
the admiral? There was one thing he
knew absolutely nothing about, and this
was the duties of a private secretary to
retired admiral who had riches, yacht,
hobby, and a beautiful, though impul-
sive daughter. His thought became irrel-
evant as is frequent when one faces
crisis, humorous or tragic; here indeed
was the coveted opportunity to study at
close range the habits OF a man who
spent less than his income.
Come. come; draw up your chair. Mr..
Fitzgerald"
Il beg your pardon; THAT is, was
looking at those flags, sir" suffered the
self-made victim of circumstances.
''Oh. those? Good examples of their
kind: early part of the nineteenth CEN
tury. Picked them up one cruise in the
Indies. That faded one belonged to Nor
gan, the bloOdthirsty ruffian. I've al
ways regretted that wasn't born a hun
dred years ago Think of bottling them
UP in a shallow channel and rakfng EN-
fore and aft" With a bang of his INST
on the desk. setting the ink-wells rat
Ting like Old bones, THAT would have
Eeen sport"
The keen. blue. sailors eye seemed to
bore right through Fitzgerald, who
to sit down at once which he did. The
ticket agent had said that the admiral
was Of a quiet pattern. but this start
wasn't much like il. The fire in the blue
eyes suddenly gave way to a twinkle and
the old man laughed.
''Dm ! friEhten you, Mr. Fitzgerald?''
Not exactly"
We'll every secretary I've had has eN-
peCted to see a red-nosed. swearing. peg
L. g,aSlo I Z hF
blow for you Don't worry. Sailor
Not in the technical sense" answered
Fitzgerald warming. Il know a stan
chion from an anchor and rope from
smokestack. But for travel. | believe
that have crossed all the high and mid
die seas"
Sounds good. Australia. East Indies.
China, the Antilles, Gulf. and the South
AtIantic?'
Yes: round the Horn. too. and East
Africa" Fitzgerald remembered his in
structiOns and spoke clearly.
We'll. we'll. YOU are i find In what
capacity have you taken these voyages
Hero was the young man opportunity.
This was a likeablc old sea-dog. and he
determined not to impose upon him an
other moment. Some men. for tho sake
OF the adventure. would have left the
truth to be found out later. to the dsil-
rusion of all concerned. The abrupt man
ner in which Miss kIlIiGrcw had aban-
doned him merited some revenge.
Admiral I'm afraid there has been
A mistake and before we go any further
I'll be glad to explain. I'm not a private
secretary and never have been one
should be less familiar with the work
than a Chinaman. | am a special writer
for the magazines, and have been at odd
times a war correspondent" And then
he went ON to describe the little comedy
of the statuettes. and IL was not without
some charm in the telling.
Plainly the admiral was nonplussed.
That girl, that mink. with her innocent
eyes and placid face! He got UP. and
Fitzgerald awaited the explosion. His
expectancy missed fire. The admiral eX-
plOded, but with laughter.
Il beg pardon, Mr.. Fitzgerald. and l
beg il again on my daughters behalf.
What would you do in my place.?
Show me the door at once and have
done with 1T
I'm hanged if do. You shall have a
toddy for your pains. and. by cracky,
Laura shall mix it" He pushed the but
ler's bell. Tell Miss Laura that I wish
TO see her at once"
Very well, sir
She appeared shortly. II Fitzgerald
admired her beauty, he yet more admired
her perfect poiSe and unConCern. Many
another woman would have evinced some
embarrassment. Not she.
Laura what's the meaning of this
hoax the admiral demanded sternly.
M. Fitzgerald tells me that he had no
idea you were hiring him as my secre-
tary.''
Il am sure he hadn't the slightest
The look she sent Fitzgerald was full of
approval He hadn't any idea at all
save that ! asked him to come here at
this evening And his confession proves
that l haver't made any mistake"
But what IT. thunder
''Fathcr"'
Ny dear. give me credit for resisting
the desire to make the term stronger.
Mr. FftzCeralds joke. take it. bothered
no one. Yours has put him in a peculiar
embarrassment What does it mean?
You went to the city to get me a first
class secretary"
Mr.. Fitzgerald has the making of one,
believe"
But on your word I sent a capable
man away half an hour gone. He could
speak half a dozen languages
Mr.. Fitzgerald is, perhaps, as eff
Gent
Fftzgerald's wonder grew and grew.
But he doesn't want to be a secretary.
He doesn't know anything about the
work And I haven't got the time to
teach him. even If he wanted the place"
Father" began the girl, the fun leav-
ing her eyes and her lips becoming grave,
IT do not like the noises at night have
not suggested the police, because rob Try
is not the motive"
Laura that's all tommyrot This is
an old house and the wood always creaks
with a change of temperature. But this
doesn't seem to touch Mr. Fitzgerald"
The girl shrugged.
well, I'm glad / told that German
chap not to leave till he heard again
from me. I'll hire him He, looks like a
man who wouldn't let noises worry him.
You will find your noises are entirely
those of imagination"
Have it that way" she agreed pa
tiently
But here's MIR. Fitzgerald stin," said
the admiral pointedly.
Not long ago you said to me that If
ever I saw the son OF David Fitzgerald
to bring him home. Till yesterday l
never saw him; only then because Mrs.
CoIdfield pointed him out and wondered
what he was doing with a tray Of statu-
cites around his neck As / could not
invite him to come home with me, 1 did
the next best thing; invited him to call
on me- / was told that he was fond of
adventures, so l gave the invitation as
much color as / could. Do I stand par
doned?"
Indeed you dot' cried Fitzgerald. So
this was the KiIligrew his father had
known?
David Fitzgerald your father? That
makes all the difference in the world"
The admiral thrust out a hand. your
father wasn't a good business man, nor