Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-01-06
~HE POURED OUT THE CONTENTS OF

acquired the information which he sought
AS neatly as / could 1 drew him apart
from Erickson.
Strange he should tell me that rumin-
ated Kennedy. II know that there is a lot
of stuff consigned to planters in the island,
some even to himself.
He must be lying, them. ] FASTENED.
Perhaps, these promoters are really plot
tiers. By the way, what I wanted to tell
you was that l saw Sydney and Leontine
together again"
He was about to reply when the sound
of Some one approaching caused us to
draw back farther into the shadow. 1t
proved to be Whitson and Nanette.
Then you do not like st. Thomas?" we
heard Whitson remark. as ii he were re-
peating something she had Just said.
There is nothing there" she replied.
why. there aren't a hundred miles of
good roads and not a dozen automobiles.
St Croix, where we have the plantation,
is just as bad. Part of the time we live
Amalie in st. Thomas. But there Is lit
tie difference. l hope Jorgen is able to
sell. At least should like to live part
of the year in the states"
would he like that, too?"
MANY of US would" she replied,
quickly. For many years things have
been getting worse with us. Just now
1t seems a bit better because of the
high price of sugar. But who knows
how long that Will last? Oh, / wish
we might make enough money to live
as l want to live. Think: here the best
years OF life are slipping away. Unless
we do somthing soon it will be too late!
We must make our money soon.
There was an air of Impotence in her
tone, of restless dissatisfaction. 1 felt
that there was an element of danger.
too in q woman just passing from youth
making a confident of man.
1t was mixed situation with the
quartet whom we were watching. One
thing was sufficiently evident. They
were all desperately en- gagged in the pur-
suit OF wealth. That was a common
bond. Nor had + seen anything to indi-
cate that they were overscrupulous in
that pursuit. Within half an hour had
seen Leontine with Sydney and Nanette
with Whitson. Both Sydney as consular
agent and Whitson through his infiu-
ence with the shipping trust possessed
great influence. Had the party thought
1t out and were they now playing the
game with the main chance In view?
l looked inauiringly at Kennedy as
the voices died way while the couple
walked slowly down the deck He said
nothing, but he was evidently ponder
ing deeply on some problem. perhaps
that which the trend of affairs had
raised in my own mind.
Our delay had not been long. but it
had been sufficient to cause us to miss
finding Leontine and sydney We did,
however, run across Burke, apparently
much troubled.
II don't like this business" he con-
fessed. as we paused to compare ex-
per1ences. I've been thinking of that
Mexican business you limited at, Ken
nedy. You know the islands would be
an ideal, out-of-the-way spot from
to Mexico. don't like this Leontine
and BurIeigh. They want to make
money too bad"
Kennedy smiled. "Burleigh doesn't
seem to approve of everything. though
he remarked.
Perhaps not. That's one reason why
/ think il may be more dangerous for
Sydney than he realizes. / know she's
fascinating girl. All the more reason
to watch out for her. But / can't talk
to Sydney" he sighed.
1t was an enigma and l had not
solved 1t, though felt much as Burke
did, Kennedy seemed to have deter
mined to allow events to take their
course, perhaps in the hope that de-
veiopments would be quicker that way
than by interfering with something
which we did not understand.
In the smoking room after we left
Burke, Kennedy and l came upon
Erickson and Burleigh. They had lust
finished game of poker with some of
the other passengers. in which Bur-
letgh's usual run of luck and skill had
been with him.
Lucky at cards. unlucky in love-"
remarked Eurleigh as we approached.
He said it with an air OF banter, yet
! could not help feeling that there
tom of Ii. Had he known that Leontine
had been with Sydney on the deck? His
very success at poker had its effect on
me: / found myself cycling him as II he
had been one of the transatlantic card
sharps, perhaps an International crook,
yet had nothing on which to base such
"a judgment
Erickson presented a different prob
IN y,,fzl
been perfectly frank with us in regard
to the Improvement of his properties
or he was concealing something much
more sinister. Again and again my
mind reverted to the hints that had
been dropped by Marlowe. and / re-
called the close scrutiny Whitson had
given the four that night So far. ]