, 1913-01-30

prisoned and break Margery's heart or
reep back the truth. let her marry him
and try to forget hat | had had a
hand in the whole wretched business
Prove wardrop innocent, | reasoned
with myself. get to the bottom of this
think. and then-it would be man and
nan, a fair field and no favor. l sup
pose my proper attitude Economically
taken was to consider Margery's en-
kagement ring an indissoluble barrier.
But this was not man / was fight
Ing for my life happiness. and as to
The ring-weli, l am of the opinion that
n a man really loves a woman and
thinks he can make her happy he will
teli her SO II she is strung with en-
eagement rings to the ends of her I'm
Eers. Dangerous doctrine7 Well. this
Is not propaganda.
Tuesday found us all more normal
Margery went with me along the hall
when I started for the office.
you have not learned anything7"
the asked.
mot much" I evaded. Nothing def
mite. anyhow. Margery. you are not
toing back to the Monmouth avenue
pOuSe dBdln, are youf
"Not Just yet. don't think / could.
suppose later 1t will have to be sold,
but not at once. ! shall 60 to Aunt
Letitia's first"
Every WELL" I said. "'Then you are
going to take a walk with me this aft
rnoon In the park. 1 won't take no;
Sou need the exercise. and ! need-to
talk to you"
When she had agreed I went to the
sf1ce. Burton was there. He had struck
pp an acquaintance with Miss Grant,
the stenographer, and that usually
frlgid person had melted under the
warmth Of his red hair and his smile.
She was telling him about her sisters
baby having the whooping cough.
When we had gone into the inner Of
ice and shut Miss Grant and the
Hhooping cough he was serious in.
Btantly.
We'll" he said, II guess we've got
wardrop for theft, anyhow"
"Theftr l inquired.
well, larceny. If you prefer legal
terms. I found where he sold the pearls
in Plattsburg, to a wholesale jeweler
named. suggestively. Cashdollar."
Then" | said conclusively. eff he
took the pearls and sold them. ms sure
Is l sit here he took the money out of
HAT Russia leather bag"
I'm not 30 darned sure Of it." said
Burton calmly.
If he had n reason he refused I.
give it. l told him, in my turn, Of Car
ter's escape. aided by the police, and
H. u-tIn1 .sUror n .-intI4 a.. oorofnn
q lot of excitement" he remarked.
When I told him the little incident of
the postofice he was much interested.
The old lady's in It somehow" he
maintained. "She may nave been
lending Fleming money. for one thing.
How do you know It wasn't her hun
bred thousand that was stolenT'
There's only one thing to do, and
that is find Miss Jane If she's alive
abe can tell something. II Miss Jane
Is dead-well, somebody killed her, and
It's time It was being found out"
Its easy enough to say find her."
Its easy enough to find her" he Ok
plOded. make a noise about 1t. Send
up no let's. Put n half column ad. in
every paper In town or. better still,
give the story to the reporters and let
them find her for you. Describe her
how she walked. what she liked to eat,
what she wore; in this case what she
didn't wear. In forty-eight hours she
will have been seen in a hundred diff.
ferent places, and n of them will be
right. 1t will be a question Of selec'
tion-that is, If she is alive"
The publicity part of 1t l left to him,
and l sent IA special delivery that morn.
ing to Bellwood asking Miss Letitia to
say nothing and to refer reporters to
me. | had already been besieged with
them since my connection with the
Fleming case. and a FEY more made no
difference.
Burton attended to the matter thor.
ougbly. The ! O'Clock edition of an
afternoon paper contained q short and
vivid scarlet account of Miss James
disappearance. The evening editions
were full and. while vague as to the
manner OF her leaving, were minute
as regarded her personal appearance
and characteristics
To escape the threatened inundatioL
of the morning paper men, l left the
office early, and at 4 O'Clock Margery
and I stepped from a hill car into the
park.
81 wish some one depended on me-"
she said pensively. tits a terrible
thing to feel that 1t doesn't matter to
any one-not vitality, anyhow-whether
one is around or not. To have all my
responsibilities taken away at C
and just to drift around like this-oh,
it's dreadful BESIDES NV father. there
was only one person in the world who
cared about me. I'M | don't know
where she is. Dear Aunt Janer'
The sunlight caught the ring on her
engagement finger, and she flushed