The Washington herald., 1914-06-14

4 "Putney Cemetery" the latter reptile
curtly I'VE will let the details Of tha
little business alone. IL you don't mind
| Mr.. Knox. II feel" he went on, tina
my remuneration ought not to depen
upon Mr.. Spendler's matrimonial ar
rangements. You follow me?"
Entirely" Knox agreed. IF you vii
name a sum. / will put the matter fairi!
before Leonard"
The doctor called for another drink
Between you and me, sir" he said, %
should consider myself not overpaid witt
fee OF two hundred pounds"
Nor L. Knox asserted Poor oil
| Len. he'd give a great deal more thai
that never to have had the affair happer
at ALL"
Conscience. eh?"
with sigh. You see, doctor. can tall
to you as a man Of the world. Mr.. Mon
tressor isn't-well. not quite
II understand-I understand" the doc
tor interrupted. with great gravity. e.
suppose your young friend must be very
much in love with Rose?"
The unfortunate part of it is" Kno,
replied. that he isrst''
The doctor was a little startled 81
understand that they were engaged
They are engaged" Knox said blunt
it. It's blackmail, doctor-that's wha,
It is"
'Disgraceful,' the little man declared.
Il felt sure you would agree with me- IS
Knox went on soothingly. Naturally, you
and look at the matter from the same
point Of view. A matter Of a few hun
dred pounds to get out of such q
scrape is nothing to Leonard. but to be
tied down for life to Montressors daugh-
l. Al III
drink"
Certainly" the doctor agreed BY all
means! Most interesting conversation"
He drained his tumbler of whisky
Knox watched him finish 1t. Then he
drew a little closer.
Doctor" he said two hundred pounds
is a good deal of money. but I think
my friend would give twice as much to
find that there was some little mistake
about that night
The doctor stared at him for a mo-
ment. blinking hard. Some mistake -
he repeated.
Let me speak plainly" Knox con-
tinued in an undertone. rs this a true
story of Mr. Montressor's? Was Jules
really taken to the hospital? Come, l
am not asking these things out of curl
osity. It's four hundred instead of two
if you can help us out
The doctor rose slowly to his feet. He
took his hat from the table and jammed
it on his head with trembling fingers.
He struck the table in front of Knox
an angry blow with his shabby UNI
brella. Sir" he said. Il consider your
question an insult, Good morning.
He walked out of the place firmly with
some show even of dignity, banging the
door behind him.
Knox returned 10 his rooms tha: after
noon in a somewhat gloomy frame of
mind. He had called first at the hos
pital. where he discovered that, with
out a doubt, the unidentified body of a
dead man had been brought there. pre-
sumably from the Earl's Court rail-
way accident, every particular of whose
arrival coincided with Mr.. Montressor
statements 1t certainly seemed as
though that gentleman's claims were
founded upon services rendered. He hal
carried his inquiries little further and
had ascertained one more significant
fact-namely, that the man Jules was
an ardent admirer of Miss Montressor
and. before the appearance of Leonard,
had considered himself her fiance. Knox
had scarcely been in his rooms half an
hour before the telephone rang.
Mr.. Spendler to speak to you, SIR
his man announced. Wants to know
IL you can go round
I'll be there in FIVE minutes" Knox
promised.
He found Leonard exceedingly i'll at
ease. doing the honors Of his apartments
to Mr.. Montressor and his daughter.
Rose was stretched in Leonards mos.
easy chair. her legs crossed
with the apparent object of displaying
as much as possible of her silk stock
ings, a cigarette between her, fingers
Leonard's glance at Knox, as he en-
tered. was almost pathetic. Mr.. Mon
tressors greeting was tentative, the
young Iady's trifie naughty.
"Algy,' his friend exclaimed. Il
thought you'd better come round as
you're the only person who knows about
this muddle, Mr.. Montressor has come
up on a little matter. or rather a big
natter
"A very weighty matter" Mr. Mostres-
sor interrupted. "a very weighty matter
indeed, 1t has come to my ears, sir.
he continued. addressing himself to Knox
that for many evenings past my daugh-
ter has been in the habit of supping
with Mr.. Spendler in a public restaurant
and accepting presents from him of con-
siderable value. On charging her with
these things. she denies nothing MIR.
Spenjler's intentions, she assures me, are
/ am here, therefore. to de-
made a formal announcement of their
engagement to be inserted in the Morn
ing Post tomorrow morning."
There was a dead silence. broken at last
by Leonard Il have explained to Mr..
he said-"Rose knew 1t all
the time-that / am already engaged.
want him to give me a little time. ii
want him to give me time to see Lii
Miss HuntiuSton-and break it OH prop
erly."
MY interests are on behalf of my own
laughter only" Mr.. Montressor insisted,
Hearing his throat. II have heard, to
ny deep regret. that she has been made
he subject of unprincipled gossip. An
of the engagement must
appear in tomorrow mornings paper"
There was another silence. Leonard
ooked across at Knox. II must say"