The Lee County journal. (Leesburg, Ga.) 1904-19??, 1921-06-10

lhimS ~, T.. Tho
= mo, by Jupiter-it isn't all! In the
lpast six months you've mace Sas
EHenckel and me lose cold nail-liil-
lion. Norcross. For less prOyocauoh
! than that, many q man In TINS hseA
Of woods has been sent back east Al
the baggage-car, wearing q WOODEN
overcoat. You climb down. ana 10 II
\ while you can stay alive|
H For some time after the three ineu
went away the boss sat staring at 'iie
I slip Of paper on the desk Slide Az
1 Inst he got up, sort OF treullHe
1 thought, and said to me- JIM
mie, you 90 down and see II you can
4 find a taxi, and we'll drive oat "
| Major Hendricks. / promised hln
I I'd go out to the house, you remem'
ber."
When our taxi stopped at the ma
TORS gate, somebody was coming OUT
Just as were getting ready TO go IN.
J The man had the visor Of his big hat
/ golf cap pulled down well over his
eyes. but knew him just the same
1T was Collingwood!
| This looked like more trouble What
was the presidents nephew dom!
here? wondered about that, ana
also, If the boss had recognized COL
| ,llngwood. If he had, he made no
| sign and moment later had pusheo
the bell-push and Maisie Ann was
opening the door for US.
'Both of you? oh, how NIGEL she
said. with smile for the boss and a
queer little grimace for me. come
in. This is our evening for callers.
Cousin Basil is out, but he'll be back
pretty soon, and he left word for you
TO wait If you got here before he dld.'
That message was for the boss, ana
1 Jagged behind in the dimly lighted
hall while she was showing him into
the back parlor. / had dropped down
on the hall settee, in the end OF II
next TO the coat-rack, and when MIS-.
| Sheila came downstairs and went
through the hall, she didn't see me.
A. second later / heard the boss jump
up and say, "At last 1t seems as
If you had been gone year rather
than fortnight" and then Maisie
Ann came lodging out and plunked
herself down on the settee beside me.
You needn't tell me that we had no
right to sit there listening; | know
| it well enough. On the other hand,
l was just shirl1y enough to shift the
responsibility to Maisie Ann. She
didn't make any move to duck, SO
l didn't.
"YOu came out to see Cousin BasilT'
Mrs. Sheila was saying to the boss.
| And then: "He had a telephone call
from the Billiard, and he asked me to
1 tell you to wait" After that guess
she sat down to help him wait, for
| pretty soon we heard her say: cousin
4 Basil has told me a little about the
I new trouble have you been having
| another bad quarter Of an hour?"
"The worst of the lot" the boss said
1 grayely, and from that he went on
| to tell her about the Hatch visit and
what had come Of it; how the graft
! ers had a new claw hold on him, now,
I made possible by an unwarranted piece
of meddling on the part of the New
| York people in the political game.
It was while he was talking about
l this that Maisie Ann grabbed me by
the wrist and dragged me bodily into
the darkened front parlor, the door to
\ which was just on the other side OF
| the coat rack. 1 thought she had
come to her right senses, at last, and
was making the shift to break off the
eavesdropping. That being the case,
l was simply Mortified when 1 found
that she was merely fixing it so that
we could both see and hear. The slid
ing doors between the two parlors
\. were cracked open about an inch, and
before l realized what she was do
ing she had pulled me down on the
floor beside her, right in front of that
crack.
"If you move or make O noise, I'll
4 scream and they'll come in here and
find us both!' she Kissed in my ear;
and because l didn't know what else
\ to do with such kiddish little terma-
CANT, sat still. 1t was dastardly, l
know: but what was to do?
When the boss finished telling her
about the Hatch talk, Mrs. Sheila
said You mean that Mr.. Dunton
and his associates sent somebody Out
here to influence the election"
Eyes that is it, precisely. But how
did you know?"
you made the inference perfectly
plain" she countered. Il have a rea-
soning mind, Graham; haven't you
discovered it before this?"
The boss nodded soberly. II have
discovered a good many things about
you during the past six months: one
of them is that there was never an
other woman like you since the world
began"
knowing, as l did, that she had
husband alive and kicking around
somewhere, it seemed as if 1 just
couldn't stay there and listen to what
break Of that kind on the boss part
was likely to lead up TO, But Maisie
Ann gripped my wrist until she hurt
You must listenl" she whispered
fercely. You're taking care of him.