The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1920-06-18

| young woman Of charm and Wit lila
this girl"
II tell you 1t won't do" he insisted
III either of those women at the house
Is Raymond Bashford's widow, it's the
n who calls herself Farnsworth
They're playing a game of some kind
and it's no laughing matter. but Il
won't take long to find out wha,
they're up to-"
You'll hardly go the length Of hav-
ing them arrested as imposters, Tor
rence-not without some data to work
on"
Certainly not. You seem to be hit.
ting it off With both Of them, but I ad.
wise you to be on guard. Are you sure
your uncle never sen you his wife's
photograph? That would have been a
perfectly natural thing to do"
IF I'd got a photograph, l should
have headed for Japan. not for
France" l laughed. but I was thinking
deeply. His line of reasoning as to the
incongruity of the marriage was not
so different from my own that l could
e at his suspicious. l shrank from
telling him that l didn't care q hang
whether the widow was a fraud or not.
If the two women who had settled
impOsters. they were extraordinarily
daring and clever.
We were nearing a gateway where
his car waited. and l saw several OF
the guard hanging about at a discreet
distance. Look here, Singleton" he
said angrily, you don't seem to take
this business very seriously. You don't
want to make the mistake of letting q
pretty girl pull the wool over you.
eyes, He lowered his voice and added
tensely: "Those women are under sus.
picion of something more serious than
an attempt to rob an estate. An agent
of the state department called on me
yesterday and asked embarrassing
questions about Mrs. Bashford. Not q
secret service you understand, or
anything Of that kind, but an impor.
tant man in the state department"
"Of course you knew nothing to
tell" | suggested.
II took a chance at lying to him
about her expected arrival. l thought
it only decent to have a look at the
woman first. He told me nothing ex-
cept that the British embassy had
made inquiries and that the matter
was delicate and must be handled
carefully"
Was this inquirer lame-a small
dark man with a black mustache" |
asked. suddenly interested. "Suoh u
person has been hanging about here,
so the boys tell me?"
Not at all! l may as we'll tell you
it was Raynor-yOu probably remem-
Der him. He's a specialist in interna.
tional law, and they took him into the
state department just after the Lusi.
tania business. He's a gentleman and
q good fellow-I've played golf with
him a good deal-and l hated to lie tG
him, but l thought I'd see this woma1
before telling him she had reached
America"
L CVI1lCSS tHu i vas q ltuC AlSt
mayed by this. Raynor l knew slight
IL. professionally and socially he
stood high. and even without the pres.
tige of his official position he was not
a chap to sneeze at but + { didn't want
Terrence to know / had any doubts as
to the perfect authenticity of my I'm
cle's widow.
oh. every transcontinental pilgrim
is probably scrutinized closely these
days." l remarked c~arelessly. MRS
Bashford has lost a brother in the
war. and l haven't heard anyone talk
more bitterly against Germany. AND
her companion certainly has 10 illu'
siOns about the kaiser"
II don't like the business" he de
clared stubbornly.
Lets do nothing foolish" l insisted
IF RaynOr has reason to suspect
either or both of these women, well
hear further from him."
1--WE put myself in a hole" he said
angrily. "Of course I've got to advise
him Immediately that Mrs. Bashford
Is here"
"Just wait a few days; I undertake
to keep them under surveillance; you
can put the whole responsibility or
me. If they attempt to leave, I'll war;
you and Raynor instantly, but they
have settled themselves as though
they expected to spend the rest Of
their lives here"
told him of Mrs. Bashford's adven,
lures In reaching the house with0u,
convincing him that there vas any
thing funny in her experiences, and III
left ON my promise to report to hin
daily at a given hour and instantly II
anything unusual occurred. l vas or
my way back through the grounds
when Antoine arrested me.
Pardon me, but I'd like to ask wha'
you think of 1t, sir?" he asked hoarse
", falling into step.
IF you mean what do I think Of