Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1920-03-03

ten in this new development of af-
fairs. and I told Billy the story. But
when came to my suspicious that 1t
was Claire the man was after Billy
Topped down all in a heap on the
divan.
Good Lord!" he gasped. at might
be" and for some minutes he sat
there, squeezing his hands and glar-
Ing at the floor. Suddenly Mrs. Thing
downstairs began rendering her Men
delssohn's "Spring Song" of a pig on
Ice, and Billy jumped UP in irritation
and paced the floor. / was glad of
her performance-it was a gratuItous
contribution to the safety of conversa-
ton in my own fiat.
Tell me again everything your de-
tective man said" commanded Billy.
And you're sure he's tee. 2"
I'm not sure of anything" / re-
turned. II had nothing to go on but
what he said and what guessed. He
may have been fancy burglar--a lit
erary burglar. after my last novel !;
such things have happened" i saw
Billys lip curl at this frivolous sug-
gestion, but / ran on. HE may be a
gentleman crook-someone on the
steamer whom l didn't know but who
noticed ! had an interest In the girl
and Is using II now to get In here and
map the grounds so he can come back
and rob and murder me-"
"Oh, don't joke" he begged dIscon-
solateiy. "This is awfully serious.
Why couldn't this man-you say you
think he's a foreigner-why couldn't
he be the emperor's follow-up? Now
whyP"
"Re could"
"Say--that's what he isl And mos
500 got wind of him last night and
scooted for the tall timbers! The en-
peror wouldn't lust hand 'mossoo'
box of diamonds like that and tell him
just to take 'em and present 'em with
his complementary don't do things
that way over here. He'd send q
second man to see that the first man
did his Job according to contract. And
why isn't this the MANI"
1t did look possible-though /
couldn't still see why he had begun his
acquaintance with me-telIlng me a lie
about Claire. While / was wondering
over it, Billy remarked, "Poor De
Ravenol has got his troubles all right.
He knows the old mans after him and
he's lost the goods. Say, you can af-
ford tn Dtty him now
A wave of utter despair swept over
me. / know Of nothing more unhing-
ing than the facetlous nonchaIance of
the young male In face of serious sit
uation. l was ready to weep. / was
saved from 1t by the ringing OF the
front bell.
l put up the chain-bolt before l
opened it'll had sense enough for
that--and then cried: "Youf and re-
ceived a sharp. SSH Let me In,
quick"
1t was Mrs. Delario. When l saw
her, YOU could have knocked me down
Yith feather. let her In and
whisked ncr into my. bedroom and shut
the door on sus. My first Thought was
Billy-he had naturally looked down
the hall when l went to the door
and i knew he'd guess Immediately
who 1t was; but though had told her
the part he had already played In our
adventure she hadn't met him and l
had the presence Of mind not to spring
him on her till I'd found out what she
came for. She had caught sight of
him and now spoke in whisper.
"You can't guess what's happened |"
"What next" | gasped, almost In a
whisper.
Monsieur has simply dumped Claire
back on my hands and decamped--
without word of real explanation r.
"Oh, neverl'
ats what he's done And I'm In the
worst picket What does 1t all mean?
He came last evening and told me he'd
just seen you and you told him / had
the diamonds"
"What lie!" 1 burst out invoIun-
tarily.
"And then this neutrality-suspicious. I'm
even out of bed-this comes by a mes
senger." She had drawn out letter
from her bag; she took 1t out of the
envelope and handed 1t to me, remark
ing at the same time. ''There was fifty
dollars in It," The letter read:
Dear Madame Delario:
Il was unable to return according