Evening star., 1919-03-09
Valentine West,
Secret Agent.
Continued from Fourth Page.)

DeloW. Dut the glass was smash he6ss%x
falling on the pavement. S.
Some one passing in the street.
shouted excftedIy.
"Police! Police" West called W
the top Of his voice. paused a moment,
then called again. S
For the three men the position
had suddenly become desperate The
Frenchman made q pretenae OF rall-
Ing his hands. but. instead Of doinG
SO. caught the edge Of the table ~
him and to shield himself at the saxII&t
time. 'T'7ss7Nsss
At that same instant the other nn1I
sprang to the attack. He was t6NS
more NOR dangerous aaa n5, OF the two. and We
II he had struck some invisible Will
in his forward rush, stood erect for WS.
moment. and then pitched backwarNs
Get to the wall" West warned th1SI
Frenchman. crouching behind the up-a|
onds" ' Nssss2299
He obeyed.
He had ample evidence that he va
not deaiing with man Of words.
NJ West, you are entirely too pre-
cipitate." he said, as he took his placSSSI
beside the wounded man against tIs6S
wall. We are both deceived as YoUAi
SAID. and word of explanation---sss;; =; ;sss Ss
You can give that later" was the
quiet, that is all I want of you now. MI
A crowd was evidently gathering til
the street below. s8s8s9s
Break open the door now" West
shouted.
A few minutes later two constableSa
with half dozen other men entered
the room Neither Of the constabIoG
knew West, but a whispered word
made them take prompt action, and
twenty minutes later West got into ~
taxi in Oxford street. 4
There were officials to interyfewS
without delay.
Next morning Valentine West walked
to the war Office. and on his way Id
dld an unusual thing; he bought w
flower for his buttonhole--a Carnations.
and he smiled to himself as the girI;
fastened it in place s'-sgsSi@8
The same high official who had been.
rather short with him yesterday was
exceedingly gracious this morning.
You must accept congratulations
and thanks. Mr.. West"
He accepted both modestly. but dk45
not sugget that he had small claim.
to them nor speak Of any chance iMs
the success he had achieved. He ala
not confess that he had been completes
iy deceived by Lauderdale: that he had
walked blindly into a trap, and that
he had only retrieved his mistake a..
the eleventh hour. 1t was not good
for the official mind to be told too
much.
Has Lauderdale come as usual7s hSI
asked
Yes. There was nothing to alarm
him in the papers. AS we arrange6
last night they merely stated that III
man unknown had been found dead
in house off Oxford street. sI
Who he believes is me-" said Woet
with smile. "Perhans you would
send for Mr.. Lauderdale. think he
will have the surprise of his life"
In answer to the summons Lauders;
dale came into the room few Minis
utes later, expecting to receive some
business instructions from his chieks
He did not see West, who had slipped
into recess and was out OF hts
line of vision as he entered. LADDERS
dale said good morning, and his chiefs
not without sense of dramatfcs
pointed to the recess.
Lauderdale turned and then fell
back with cry of consternation.
AYoul Westw
The man with the carnation," VAS
the quiet answer. Il told you to be-S
ware of him. The dead man found
is one of your confederates That IN
a surprise to you, but it may even
surprise YOU more to know that the
your destruction. They were tricked
last night. They handed you money
for nothing. When they opened the
envelope 1t contained only blank
paper"
T." WA
"You can hardly believe 1t, that ii
natural since you had arranged every
detail SO carefully. You forgot one
thing. You are not the only person
who has thought of secret pocket.
l have one. 1t was into that pocket
/ slipped your packet. and when IT,
was demanded from me. took out OF
an ordinary inside pocket the sham
packet which I have carried ever
since the theft was discovered. You
had made up the sham one SO we'll
that you yourself were deceived by
it, Incidentally you have done your
country great service by explains
ing to me some of the activities OF 4
the continental syndicate. 1 dare say
you will be induced to speak of your
other enterprises later"
That evening the papers were full
of the affair in the house or oxford
street, and Valentine West sat I'm his
room in Bruton street and congratu-
lated himself on his escape. He had
expected to play the man with the
carnation, and was thankful he had
been able to do so. But what annoyed
him more than anything which hap<
pened to him for a long time past was
the fact that a man like Lauderdale
should have tricked him SO easily.
amos"
The man paused in the act of res
moving the crumbs from the table.
cloth
amos. next time tell you I am
going out to dinner demand to know
l. n,.1 4. o.