The Washington herald., 1914-06-21

I
and gave little cry. His hands and
feet were tied He was conscious of
intolerable thirst.
Suddenly his eyes fell upon the tele-
phone which stood upon a side table.
He rolled over on the floor, saving him
self from the fall as much as possible.
Then he dragged himself to the table
on which the telephone stood All his
attempts to reach the instrument, how
ever, were futile. As a last resource,
he upset the table. The instrument fell
on the floor, but remained undamaged.
With great difficulty he managed to get
the receiver to his ear.
"I3s2 Mayfair" he said. surprised at
the weakness of his own voice.
Presently there came an answer. II
was his uncle's secretary. Then, after
brief silence. Lord Tamworth HIM
self was heard at the other end.
who is it?" he demanded.
@Algernon Knox was the faint re.
ply. Come at once to u Old Burling-
ton street. You'll probably have to
break in. l am tied up"
Knox dropped the receiver and Law
still From the sounds in the street he
could tell that the morning now was
well advanced. Presently he heard a
car stop outside. There were the sound
of voices, the trying of latch keys, and
finally the opening OF the door and foot
steps in the hall. Lord Tamworth, fol-
lowed by Sir Henry and a couple of
strangers, entered the room hurriedly.
One of the men, who behaved as though
he were used to the task, rapidly cut the
cords which bound Knox. The latter
staggered weakly to his feet On the
table before them lay his empty note
book, his dispatch box turned inside
out Lord Tamworth looked at them
and bit his lip.
Il must confess" he said, that l had
my doubts about you, Algernon, from
the first. but l certainly thought you
might have got little nearer to Paris
than Old Burlington street,
They didn't give me much of a
chance, did they?" Knox remarked fee
bly,. Hadn't We better look for poor
old Neville?"
They hurried upstairs. Knox tried
to follow, but gave it up. Presently
they came down again One Of their
number went to the telephone and rang
up doctor.
you were right so far as Neville
was concerned" Lord Tamworth de-
clared grudgingly. "He is upstairs in
bed, CHASTITY weak, but all right in other
respects, should say. He has been
drugged or something"
Lord Tamworth sighed. He began
to talk on one side with Sir Henry.
Their faces were very grave. By the
BY" Knox inquired presently, is there
a telegram for me?"
Lord Tamworth drew one from his ,
pocket and threw it upon the table.
Sorry opened il" he explained. "As
it was addressed to you at Grosvenor
Square, l thought it might have some
thing to do with our present business"
Hasn't it," Knox asked simply.
Lord Tamworth frowned. He with
drew the thin sheet from the envelope
and read the message aloud with poig-
nant sarcasm: Many thanks for golf
balls duly received"
1T is a pity" he remarked grimIy,
that you were not so successful with
your mission as you were in sending
golf balls to Percival."
Knox smiled weakly. "You don't
really suppose, do YOU" he demanded.
you and Sir Henry, that those fellows
have actually got the cipher?"
Sir Henry turned suddenly around. A
curious silence seemed to have fallen
upon them. They all looked at Knox.
Not got the cipher?" Sir Henry
gasped.
of course they haven't" Knox re-
Piled. DO you suppose l didn't know
that l was going to be robbed. The
twelve pages OF cipher were raped
around those golf balls. NY man took
hem over last night. That's the telegram
told Perciyal to send directly he re-
;eived them"
Again the silence was almost phe-
lomenal. Lord Tamworth tried to
speak, but remained inarticulate. II
vas Sir Henry who first found words.
What about these golf balls on the
able, them" he asked.
Il bought two boxes in case / was
watched, Knox explained. The box
With the cipher sheets wrapped around
he balls has got through to Paris. o.
These | carried under my arm, in case
hey'd seen me go into the shop and
lad tumbled to the idea"
Sir Henry held out his hand. "Mr.
Knox, he said, Il congratulate you. l
zee that we have gained a worthy and
iseful recruit in times of need"
Lord Tamworth was still speechlesS.
Golf balls" he muttered.
Knox sat up little farther in his
hair. "You see," he continued, they
won't find out for hours that they
laven't got the proper key to the cipher.
rhe dummy sheets are rubbish, of
curse, but they look all right"
Sir Henry's eyes were lit with humor.
ItSe one on US this time, young man,
hanks to youp' he exclaimed, patting