Evening star., 1917-10-14
copyright, 1917, By the Mcclure Newspaper
Syndicate.b


>n0 AN entirely at your mercy; you
% can do as you please with me.
But before you do anything
. should like yci- - listen to
what l have to say"
Her beautiful face was pale and trou-
bled. Violet eyes looked sadly into
mine
t'Forf nearly an hour ! have been
waiting for this chance-until l knew
YOU were alone" she continued. "If you
are thinking of giving me up to the
police, at least remember that / came
here Of my own free will. OF course, 1
know you are quite entitled to take ad-
vantage of that; but please let me say
what / came to say
She pleaded so earnestly, with that
musical voice, with her evident help
lessness, most of all with her wonder
full eyes. that I quite abandoned any
secure her arrest. 1 think she OWNED
this masculine weakness. for she said,
with greater confidence:
Your friend. Prof. Deeping. was mur-
deFed by the man called Hassan of
Afeppo. Are you content to remain idle
whIle his murderer escapes?"
God knows / was not My idleness in
the matter was none OF my choosing.
Since poor Deepings murder / had
come to handgrips with the assassins
ed too clever for me. too clever for
Scotland Yard. The sacred slipper
which Deeping had stolen, and for
which he had paid so dearly, was once
more in the hands of it's fanatic guar
dian, who had tourneyed from the east
TO London in order to recover it. What
had become of Hessan of Aleppo and
of his murderous following. the has
hishin, was mystery. The police were
searching for traces of him. but days
passed and no trace was found.
One man there was who might have
helped. the search-Earl Dexter. But
Earl Dexter. called the Sonbrero Man.
Americas cleverest crook, was himself
wanted by Scotland Yard.
Up to the moment when this beautiful
visitor had come to my chambers l had
thought Dexter. as well as Hassan. had
fed secretly from England. But this
girl with the violet eyes was Dexter's
Rccomplice, whom / knew only as Car
meta: and the moment that / saw her
at my door / OWNED that the Sombrero
Man must still be in London.
She sat watching me and awaiting
my answer.
81 cannot avenge my friend unless 1
can find hos murderer" l said.
But If / can find him."
Say what you came to say" I re-
piled slowly. You must know that /
distrust you. Indeed my plain duty is
10 detain you. But / will listen to any
thing you may care to tell me. particu-
larry IL II enables me to trap Hassan
of Aleppo."
Very WELL" she said. and rested her
elbows upon the table before her. Il
have come to you in desperation. l can
help you find the man who murdered
Prof. Deeping. but in return I want
you to help me!''
-I-watched her closely. She was very
plainly. almost poorly. dressed. Her
face was pale and there were dark
marks around her eyes. This but serv-
ed to render their strange beauty more
startling: yet I could see that my visi-
tor was In real trouble. The situation
was an odd one.
."You are possibly about to ask me-
Iosuggested, ito assist Earl Dexter to
escape the police"
That would not have induced me to
run the risk of coming here. / came
because I wanted to find man who
was brave enough to help me. I can
repay you by helping you to trace Has
san"
what is 1t. then. that Dexter asks
me to do
.'tIs asks nothing. ], Cafneta, am aslcng-'
Then you are not coming from him r
At my question all her self possession
left her. She abruptly dropped her face