The Rice belt journal. (Welsh, Calcasieu Parish, La.) 1900-19??, 1917-07-27
SECOND EPISODE
The Maid PhiIippa.

found himself filed him with deter
minatiOn not only to find the strange
girl in No. 7 who had so mysteriouSly
appeared while he was reading his
fathers will but also to probe the iden-
tity Of the masked stranger who had
delivered so incOmprehensible a warn
ing.
He was deep in thought when his
attention was attracted by the sound
of voices in an adjoining apartment.
He moved to the door that separated
the two suites and listened. The more
he heard the more interested he be-
came. And he had reason to be both
interested and surprised, for in the
next room sat one Of the clevereSt
sharpers in the country retailing to
his Cronies an adventure which was
to have more bearing on Peter Hale's
future than he dreamed ut that mo-
ment.
Mr.. Bridgey Bentley belonged to
that class of social marauders known
Us social pirates-not that he would
have resOrted to anything like ordi-
nary vulgar pllfering-nO, indeed, he
played for high stakes and dealt in
thousands as the ordinary thief dealt
In hundreds.
Mr.. Bentley, with the greatest guSto,
was retailing an experience Of which
he seemed extremely proud and as
Peter gathered the details he could not
represS q smile.
In a word Mr.. Bentley had played
the role of eaveSdropper first and thug
next, as he himself admitted. His
voice sounded distinctly.
II happened to be one of the guests
at the Inglis ball, and as / had bi'
of headache, l went to an alcOve
screened by some palms and sat down
81 had been there only a few mo
ments when saw a lady you all would
know if / mentioned her name, sup
porting an elderly man, who seemed
to be i'll. She got him to a settee
where could see without being seen
where she bent over him to ask wha
she could do-he deity unfastened tn
pearl necklace from her throat ant
concealed it in the palm of his hand
Then he began to feel better and pres
emily the two went out"
| Mr.. Bentley's friends laughed lou
and long-this was gossip with tan
to it. Bentley cut them short, and Il
most effective manner he pulled tn
necklace from his pocket and held
before them.
"And here's the necklace" he sal
triumphantIy. "How did get 1t!
put several of her assistants on tn
lob and one blow on the head 500
settled our gentleman for ten-minut
lapse in Sunderland"
"Of course, we went through h
pockets and what found ther: is I'll
reason asked you to meet me hel
today"
Peter stood closer to the door
miss no word Of what was to folloN
He could almost see Mr.. Bentley tai
n memorandum from his poke
snow" said the social pirate to his a
tentive pals, 'Listen to this:
II "'Hubert Brewster is shrewd o
man hut / doubt If he knows the vail
! of the oil on the lands where ne lives.
. Bridgey paused. "Get the idea' v
\ motor up and get an option on tn
: lind before this fellow can act. Is
clear? Doesn't that beat the neckla
} game? Sure thing Wen all be rlcf
! Peter did not wait to hear the col
4 mendations nor the plans Of Bridg
= md his cronies. He moved swift
} nyay from the door to the teiepho
\ on his table and calling up his laWy
( asked If by any chance ne knew \
I Hubert Brewster. The reply was nc
} than satisfactory. It appeared tn
) Brewster had been a friend OF
{ fathers and the lawyer agreed
Z telephone out an introduction.
, For Peter had determined that
y the oil land was worth buying by
: marty next door 1t was worth his VIII
( to buy 1t himself, and selecting tn
, rs faster than a motor he hurried
, TO reach the Brewster place before
3 rival could get there.
< With only a light handbag ne s
v ceeled In making a good connectl
, md almost before he knew 1t '
4 standing on the platform of the III
e town where the Brewsters lived.
y decided to walk, and securing Oil
- ton from one of the hangers-on at
= station, he started off filed with
X spirit of the wonderful October Ola!
" It was not a long way, perhap
- couple Of miles, and Peter felt the
# hllaration that comes from besting
{ opponent in q business deal-in the
! element of this thought he almost
T got the girl Of No. Z and the mas
7 stranger.
+ But both were recalled in the n
i unexpected way. for while ne
! crossing the fork of a road a viSiol
i loneliness came tripping toward