Evening star., 1914-08-09

4sit down You heard me say wanted to
talk to you?'
Il did" The man obediently deposited
a lanky figure in L. Carteret's deck chair
next the dragons. @And with surprised de-
light. One SO seldom gets chance to talk
to sensible woman"
you've been sedulously unconscious of
heap of opportunities since Saturday
night, then,' Mrs. Beggarstaf retorted
with asperity. "One seldom gets chance
to talk to sensible manor never. I'm
not SO sure you re half as sensible as you try
to make out, young man. Three mortal
days I've been moping round the saloons
with my tongue hanging out, parched for
bit of scandal-and you never came near
mel"
4But hate to disappoint: I'd nothing on
tap high enough for your seasoned palate.
aDon't be impudent, Quoin. What are
you doing on this boat? If you answer
Crossing the Atlantic I'll forget I'm a
lady
Quoin chuckled am combining bust
ness with pleasure, if you must know.
Nothing pleases me more than to be cooped
up for few days with an unsuspicious sub
ject. In such circumstances your humble
sleuth learns lot about human nature
@Then you're sleuthing! know it, But
on whose trail?"
3Afraid l dassent tell, Mrs. Beggarstaff ;"
"What if | know"
4That wouldn't surprise me: you GER
tainly do contrive to know surprising num-
Der of things that don't concern you"
@I'm not sure whether that's fattery or
impertinence.
"The man who could fatter your ON
niscience, Madam, wouldn't hesitate to
ah-tackle the job of teaching a New York
head waiter the gentle art of being insolent.
Mrs. Beggarstaf laughed aloud. 1But
suppose | do know what game you're stalk
ing and can lend a helping hand?'
charmed to humor your whim. Con-
slider me docile little supposer. And them"
The Dowager Dragon glanced fore and
aft; but there were no other passengers
within earshot, and the ports behind them,
though alight, were shut and sound-tight.
aBetty Merriless, she said. What causes
that guess?"
STRETCHING his long limbs luxuriously,
regarded them studiously if with faint
smile II refuse to commit myself to any
thing that might tend to incrininate or
degrade
ooh! Then I'm on the right track?'
you're warm-as the children say in
hide-and-seek"
3Aha!" the lady cried in triumph. @Well,
them Betty doesn't mean to try to beat the
customs She told me so herself The row
that man Loeb has kicked up about snug
CLING has scared her so that she's made up
her mind to declare every blessed trinket.
You know what they did to that poor Mrs.
Whatshername last spring? Four months
hard labor, wasn't it?'
Il believe SO"
$50 you see, Quoin, the Dowager Dragon
summed up, you're simply wasting time
trailing Betty Merriless.
Quoin smiled vaguely at his interesting
fingertips. 4No, I'm not" he contradicted.
Mrs. Beggarstaff shifted suspiciously.
3Not what?'
@Not wasting time trailing Betty Merri-
less"
4I've guessed wrong2"
"For once in a way. The truth is, l don't
care whether Mrs. Merrilees defrauds the
government or not. It's over year since
l left the Secret Service. l didn't like the
work, too tame,-and having learned all
it could teach me, quietly dropped out and
returned to my old field"
3Private investigation, eh?"
"There's some fun in that" Quoin said
with mild enthusiasm. "Odd jobs-I love
'em. They're generally SO very odd-un-
expected besides. Now this present case"
aH taI