The Pensacola journal., 1917-08-16

+ Or moment OF Two IAey CndLIeQ
of inconsequential things.
who was your friend?" asked Con-
stance at length.
! The woman caught her breath and
flushed bit. evidently wondering
just how much Constance really
/ knew.
The young lady" added Constance,
who had put the question in this
why do you ask?' Mrs. Douglas
! inquired in a tone that betrayed con-
siderable relief
Because I can tell you something
Of her. I think"
"A friend of mine-a Mrs. Murray.
Iwhy?"
! Aren't you just little bit afraid
! of-er-friends that you may chance
to make in the city, queried Con-
stance.
Afraid" repeated the other
| Yes" said Constance, coming grad
ually to the point"
: Mrs. Douglas laughed half nervous
! ly. "Oh. I've been shadowed." she
replied confidently. Il know how to
shake them off, If you can't do any
thing else. ysu can always take a
| taxi Besides. think I can uncover
almost any shadow. All you have to
do. if you think you're being shadow
/ ed, is to turn corner and stop. That
I
comes up to the corner, and after that
he is useless. You know him"
That's all right" nodded Con-
stance; but you don't know these
crooked detectives nowadays as 1 do.
They can fake up evidence to order.
That is their business, you know, to
manufacture II. You may uncover a
dollar operative. Mrs. Douglas. but
are you the equal of a twenty-dollar-a
day investigator"
The woman looked genuinely scared.
Evidently Constance knew some things
she didn't know, at least about de-
| tectives.
''You-you don't think there is any
thing like that, do you?" she asked
anxiously.
well" replied Constance slowly to
| impress her. Il saw your friend. Mrs
Murray, after you had left the Van
derveer, talking to a detective whom
! I have every reason to fear as one of
the most unscrupulous in the game"
oh. that is impossible!" persisted
Mrs. Douglas.
Not a bit of it," pursued Constance.
Think it over for a moment. Who
/ would be the last person a man or
woman would suspect of being a de-
tective? Why. just such an attrac-
| tive young woman. of course. You
see. it Is just this way. They rea-
son that if they can only get ac-
quainted with people the rest is easy.
/ For people. under the right Circum-
stances. will tell everything they
! know"
The woman was staring at Con-
stance.
For example" urged Constance.
I'm talking to you now as If I had
known you for years. Why. Mrs.
Douglas. men tell their most important
/ business secrets to chance luncheon
and dinner companions whom they
think have no direct or indirect in
terest in them. over tea-tables women
! tell their most intimate personal af-
fairs. In fact, all you have to do is
TO keep your ears open"
Mrs. Douglas had risen and was
nervously watching Constance, who
saw that she had made an impression
d. and that all that was necessary was
to follow it up.
/ Now, for instance" added Constance
quickly. you say she Is a friend Of
yours. How did you meet herr"
Mrs. Douglas did not raise her eyes
/ to COnstanCes now. Yet she seemed
/ to feel that Constance was different
from other chance acquaintances. to
/ feel sort of confidence. and to want
to meet frankness with frankness.
One day I was with friend Of
mine at the new Palais de Maxixe. -
she answered in a low voice ss II
making confession. "A woman in
the dressing-room borrowed a cigar
cite. You know they often do that.
We got talking, and Il seemed that
We had much in common in our lives.
Before I went back to him"
She bit her lip. She had evidently
not intended to admit that she knew
any other men, Constance. however,
cd
i had arranged 10 meet her at
luncheon the next day" she contin-
ued hastily. We have been friends
ever since"
You went to luncheon with her.
and" Constance prompted.
( oh, she told me her story. II was
very much like my own-a husband
who was a perfect bear. and .u tbnu
gossip about him that so many people.
besides his own wife, seemed to know,
. and"
Constance shook her head. Really. !"
she observed thougntruIly. IT'S q
wonder to me how any one stavs
married these days. Somebody is al
ways mixing in. getting o~o or the
other so wrought up that thev get -
thinking there is no possibility OF
happiness. That's where the crook
detective comes in"
Anita Douglas. confidence estab-
lished now. poured out her stdSy un-
reservedly, as there was little reason
why she should not. a story Of the
refined brutality and neglect and in
! humanity OF her husband
She told of her own first suspicious
of him, OF girl who had been his
Fstenographer. a Miss Helen Brett.
But he was careful. There had
never been any direct. positive evil
dence against him. StIl. there was
enough to warrant a separation and
the payment to her of an allowance.
They had lived she said in pretty
little house in the suburb Of Glen
clair, near New York Now that thev
We're separated, she had taken a little
kitchenette apartment at the new
Melcombe. Her husband was living in
the house. she believed. when he was
not in the city at his club" or else
where" she added bitterly
But" she contided as she finished
1T is very lonely here in a big city
all alone"
Il know it is" agreed Constance
sympathetiCally as they parted. Il