The Washington times., 1916-09-10

lfHE quiet and listen to a man
who is in earnest" said I to
- Jimmy Barton.
He smiled down at me from
tne corner of my desk. where he had
perehed himself with cheerful impu-
dence.
Jimmy Barton who getting almost al
nard to manage as my romantic grand
petheri
The morning before Mr.. Barton had
conyeyed to me by hand and with elab-
crate care note which read a. follows
Dear Miss Fairfax:
am a handsome young man, in love
what shall 1 do about il!
JIMMY"
That note was sufficiently smbarrass-
~ to confuse any young woman.
teit myself paying II the tribute OF a
oIugh and then ! got thoroughly angry
SELF that he could laugh at whatever
passing emotion he felt for me.
And now Jimmy had come In twenty
four hours after date" to suggest that
ne didn't think Miss Fairfax had any
right to treat her mail that way and
mat he might have to speak to the
m,snssins t,n,sS editor II this negligence con-
Dignity did not avail to turn Mr.. Bar
ton aside from the conversational paths
Of light badinase on which he had de-
cided. SO / picked UP letter of the
handed 1t to him. with the previously
recorded request that he listen to q man
who was In earnest.
He took 1t. protesting that he didn't
care about any one else's affairs.
But insisted that ne read the letter.
lndifferently enough he glanced at II.
and then suddenly his attention TO-
cussed: he became at once keen, alert.
the earnest newspaper man.
A Queer Situation.
This is the letter which turned Jimmy
from an Indifferent lover to an inter-
sstsd reporter:
Blue Cove, New York.
Dear Miss Fairfax:
II wa: to be married today: Ny
nAncee did not come to the church.
have phoned her employer. who says
she left this afternoon and he has not
seen her since. What shall dog
Jimmy Barton looked at that letter
hxedly for a moment.
Blue Cove!' he gasped. blue Cove
that's funny! When did you get this
"By this mornings mail. Does Blue
Cove At In with story Of yours. Mr..
II didn't think 1t important then. but
by jove. Miss Beatrice. wonder II
that girl could possibly be--well. l think
I'll tell you the story from the very be-
gtnning. Blue Cove's a little place. and
there can't be many missing girls in It.
Yesterday Barnes called me over to
the city desk and gave me an assign
lnent that ought to lead to something.
He told me to 60 over to the secret serv-
Ice and see Moran about the counterfeit
bills that are circulating round so plen-
tifully..
he showed me crisp new Ave dollar
bill that wasn't bad engraving job at
all. He said they were being sent all
over the country. but that he was sure
they were made somewhere in New
'.That sounded like a good steer. I de-
cided that any game OF that sort being
played in or near New York would lea d
you straight to Forty-second street in
the end
His Search Rewarded.
well, I marched up and down all yes
terday afternoon and the part OF the
world ! was looking for-the under
worid-refused to come to the surface.
Just little while before got round to
losing my self-respect by quitting the
story. along came a taxicab and stopped
"A big. impressive looking woman
stepped out and handed over a bill tc
the chauffeur. I was close enough ia
looked kind of familiar-like a rela.
osiee: - 10. ''e" III MORA"
the new one for soiled one I had
He may have thought / was poor
nut-but he was friendly enough to
Sobilee. for all money looked the same
',"The bill he gave me sure was the
office . :. You don't know much
shout the counterfeiting game do you
Miss Fairfax?
when those counterfeiters have a
bunch OF ,so, spurious tives to pass, this is
marches one Of them. He buys a ten.
cent tooth brush or something like tina,
and pays for II with his phoney bill
He gets the tooth brush and four
ing like that and the more he shops the
more money he has.
II could imagine that the handsome
day OF It,. She seemed a desirable lady
for me to keep my eyes on. So
marched across Grand Central and fol.
lowed her on to a. train: had to trust
Suter on my way home il she she noticeG tH,es
an insignificant little boy like me al
sll. She got of at Blue Cove"
30 that was why Jimmy Barton hat
been so startled by John Miles letter
Just at this moment all roads seemed
to lead to-Blue Cove.
"Blue Cove Is lonesome place. On,
Of those villages the literary artists
describe as the country God forgot "
continued Jimmy Barton. but thinl
maybe you and had better be consider
ing the o'clock train for there II your,
willing to take the rest of my story OF
faith and make q dash for the station.
And we started on a breathless rusl
for the 4 o'clock train.
r. Once We were safely embarked To-
Blue Cove Jimmy told me the rest OF hi
!. story. Here II Is:
When the woman he had seen passin,
the counterfeit bill on Forty-secon,
street got out at Blue Cove. Jimm!
swung OFF the train as nonchalantly a.
possible and followed her with an al
he strove to make casual.
u He kept at a distance behind her anC
was delighted beyond measure wher
she turned into a little building whicl
he found on closer approach was res
taurant.
It was one OF those tiny inns whicl
have sprung up In suburban places
with mushroom like growth since tn
advent OF the automobile.
A detected looking man whom Jimm,
took to be the proprietor was relaxe
across one OF the tables as II asleer