The Washington herald., 1914-06-28
George Hanover, distant connection

Beg you join house party here to-
morrow. Shooting woods Motor down
early, if possible. Two guns short.
Rely on you. Hanover"
Phone through on long distance to
! Corpusty, Harwood," Knox directed, his
man. Tell Sir George Hanover that
Mr.. Knox is delighted to accept"
Knox arose at E o'clock the next
morning. and, after three hours our
ney, arrived at his destination just as
his host was engaged in arranging the
field for the first shoot. He advanced
to greet his early visitor with much sat-
isfaction.
Now this is what 1 call really sport
ing of you, Algy! l only hope you'll get
good sport"
Knox detained his host as he was in
the act of hurrying of. "Can you tell
me the name of my right-hand neigh
Dor, Sir George?" he asked. o.:
Sir George Hanover looked down the
avenue to where, a dozen yards or so
away, a tall, slim man was standing
dark, good looking in way, but with
somewhat peculiar cast OF counte-
nance.
THE Marquis de Brinault," he re-
Piled. He's Emmie's cousin, you know.
A devilish good Shot, they tell me-"
Sir George hustled off, and Knox,
after eating a sandwich and taking a
drink from his flask, fell to stirring the
pools of his memory. 1t was not until
the drive was over, however, that he
suddenly remembered.
They went off to their places. The
drive was a long one, and Knox shot
badly. All the time his brain was at
work. He recognized De Brinault as
French spy. He was staying here in
Sir George Hanover's house, staying
here with a purpose. Why?
Knox was introduced at luncheon
time to the other members of the house
party at Corpusty, some of whom he
had not yet met, as he had only called
at the house in passing. There were
FIVE men, including De Brinault, all of
whom he knew, and only two women.
One was his hostess, Lady Hanover,
fat, fifty, and frivolous The other was
Miss de Hagon. Notwithstanding her
altered attire, her trim, tailor-made
gown, her smart little toque and heavy
veil, he recognized her at once. She
shook hands without the slightest sign
of ever having seen him before. Knox
sat down to lunch more puzzled than
ever. He was on the outskirts of
mystery in which were linked together
De Brinault, the sick man at Charing
Cross, and Miss de Hagon.
They lunched in a great barn attached
to an old-fashioned farmhouse. Knox
found himself placed next Miss de
Hagon and did his best to make himself
agreeable. He found her personally
even more attractive than he had imag-
ined Her pale, oval face, her wonder
ful blue eyes, her masses of brown hair,
and her quantity combed little fringe
gave her a piquant originality which he
found entirely charming. She spoke
with slightly foreign accent, save for
which he would have judged her to be
an American. She treated Knox with
especial favor. De Brinault, on her
other side, although he made frequent
advances, was almost neglected.
"An affair of a challenge, without a
doubt" the latter remarked, little ir-
ritably, as the two men walked out to-
gether. DO you know that you have
monopoIized Miss de Hagon disgrace
fully?"
Think so?" Knox asked.
my friend" De BrinauIt replied, 81
have come to a decision You are
here on account of Miss de Hagon. So
am l. Let US join forces. This time
we are natural allies We can help one
another"
1T is perhaps excusable," Knox re-
marked drily, "if the suggestion re-
minds me somewhat unfortunately of
certain circumstances connected with
our last meeting"
Rubbish De Brinault exclaimed.
"To a man of common sense, all is
clear. On our last meeting you stood
for the secret service of England and
for the secret service of France. There
was a little duel. The odds would GER
tainly seem to have been in my favor.
had experience, and l held the strong
er position. Nevertheless l lost | ad
nit that ] lost. l made the one unpar-
donable mistake underrated my op-
ponent. l am not likely to repeat it"
The whistle sounded, and they Z
stroIled apart to their places. 1t was
not, indeed, until the late afternoon, on
their way back to the house, that they
came together again. The women had
left them almost Immediately after
lunch, owing to a drilling rain. Del
Brinault;, who had been shooting magni-
icently and had seemed in the highest
Of spirits, was now depressed and silent.