The Adair County news. [volume] (Columbia, Ky.) 1897-1987, 1918-10-30

"You'H Excuse .e Ter NJ
he said. you'll excuse me for g mS--
ment, I'm sure"
He drew Colonel Howard aside N
conversation. while Mark twir.ed hds-
fingers and looked out of the Window
into the busy hive of the capital, andz
tried to make himself believe that IL
was all true.
When Kellerman had gone the Colo
mel invited Mark TO sit down. ana
launched into business.
81 must tell you that it's a pretty
stiff job that we're tackling, Mark"
he said. ITO begin with, we're q Sort
of nucleus of the whole Organization
We're in touch with every di, r.
We have to have the whole TIM at
| our fingers ends-and it's mciriy q
matter of ships, animals, anC trans
port. And. to cap the climax, yoG can
| imagine what nest of intri- - and
| espionage Washington has bee .-lc IN
these days. And, as neutrals--,e, , Il
sibly neutrals-we can do not--ng to-
put an end to it,
He stretched out his fingcr and
pointed toward the big safe hatveeHA
| the windows.
ANY one of some two hundred pa
pers there, Mark, would give a VaIu-
| able clue,' he said. Every nigh when
work is finished, your task will be to
| open the safe, take out the inner case
| containing these documents, add those
on which you have been working, in
| Guiding every waste sheet and every
| scrap of the days blotting paper, and.
have the day porter convey them.
under your personal supervision, to-
the strong room, where you and either
the General, myself, or KellCrn.1,s-,
will place them in the safety vault. In.
the morning the same procedure is re-
versed. And that is why / iT5istedi
On our getting you, Mark. kne you,-
! and don't know the hundred o. other
| officers of impeccable characteT whom
we could have secured. We cIn'< run
risks-we simply can't. That's Why
| it has to be just you and KellermaD
and 1. We had our lesson in the ald-
days, you know"
He frowned at the remembrance
and then answered Marks unspokbs2
| question with another.
where are you staying, Waliaee2
"At the Congressional"
swell, 1 want you to come and stay
with US as soon as we're settled. Wsfysr
rented a house in Massachusetts e5ccIe,,
and move in on the first of the month
Eleanor and Mrs. Howard are stfH
New York, but they're coming hers 49,
about ten days time-just as soon as.
/ can get the house ready for them
Eleanor Is dying to see you, and Mrs
Howard has the pleasantest remen-
brances, of course. And now I'm going
to take you to the Brigadier."
The short interview with the herd,
of the department confirmed MaIk'sa
Impressions as to the businessrke E:s--
| ture of the plans of the war ofirs.
Mark went home. He was resolved, al
though he had not told the Colonel
not to become his guest-at LEAST not:
unless he found that he could taka up,
his life again where he had dropped il,
| years before. And then-bus what
was the use of speculating2 He went
home to his hotel.
He was surprised to find how easily
| he seemed to fit into his environment
| when he donned his lOng-negiecteG-
evening clothes and went down To the
| dining room of the Congressional. Al
most the first face he saw was that OF
a man of his class; within few min
utes Mark Wallace was seated at the
dinner table with merry party OF Ole
friends and new acquaintance. And
the years had slipped away from him.
On the next morning, when he took
up his duties, it was with the sense
that he was no longer a stranger.
Washington was ready to extend her
welcome to him. At the Army club
to which he was posted by Colonel
Howard, he found himself, much to his
surprise, often the center Of q respect
full audience, eager to hear of the work
Of the army In the fOrlOrn Outposts OF
| the West. He discovered, too; with
surprise, that he was by no means as
unknown as he had imagined himself
| to be.
Then there were invitations that had
to be accepted, receptions and dinnerss
yet through it all Mark waited for the
charmed day when the house in Massa-
chusetts circle was to be opened, dis
| playing the princess Of his Imagination.
the little child of the hillside thes
schoolgirl, grown into the image OF hiss
dreams.
To be continued next week.