Evening star., 1921-06-05
(copyright. b. Little. Brown 3 %.

mot appear att tho inquest. He has
|taken no steps tosdiscover his next OF
ha; B Both e: of a.ts ,hs:s
"Mr. wrayson is quite right" the
baroness remarked. Mr.. Bentham
has not behaved a. an honest man. ne
will have to be treated hrDly out
carefully. You are a little excitea
perhaps Mr. Wrayson will go with
YOU"
Barnes turned toward him eagerly.
and Wrayson> nodded.
Yes. I'll co." he said. II know Mr.
Rentham slightly. He once paid me
rather a curious visit. But never nina
was it in connection with this at
fair? the baroness asked h'm'
Wrayson affected not to hear. He
passed his cigarette case to & Barnes. th:
who was stamping up and down inc
room. muttering to himself.
Look here, you'd better have z
smoke and calm down. young man.
he said. Its no use going to see
Bentham in a state like this.
The young man threw himself into
a chair. Suddenly he sat up again.
and addressed the baroness:
.T saw" he exclaimed. how isr It
that you have a key to this nat
What did you come here for TINS
afternoon?
The baroness laughed softly.
'sWeI. I got the-key- from the land
lord a few days 500, rtold MIN that
n might take -theSfiat, And he told me
to come in and ioa5t. at 1t and return
the key-which ya4f see ! haven't
DONE To be QGHe3honest with YOU
though, had anothe1sreason for COM
ing here"
The young man looked at her with
mingled suspicion and admiration:
She had raised her veil now. ana
even Wrayson was aware tnat ne hea "a
scercely realized how beautfui
woman she was. Her taiiof-made
to perfection; she was turned out
with all that delightfui perfection OF
detail which seems to be the French
woman's heritage. Her smile, half
pathetic, half appealing. was certain
iy sufficient to turn the bead OF
dozen young men such. a Sydney
Barnes.
II have told you.s she continued.
that your brother and 4 used to- be
very good friends. + wrote him now
and then some rather, foolish letters
He promised to destroy them. but
times was never quite sure that ne
had kept his word. aand meant to
take this opportunity. of looking Tor
myself that he had. not left them
about. You do not blame me. MIR.
sydney: You are not CROSS: =.
though as ksp. fascinased. has eye: nD0n nef As
no" - he said. ''ae:, mean. of
these letters" shescontinued. you
have not seen them. Mr.: Sydney Ma:
we have not come across any let
ters at all answering ito, that descrip-
tion." Wrayson assured her. '-.-,
The baroness glanced across at
Barnes, who was certainly regarding
her in somewhat peculiar fashion:
like that?" she asked. with a little
shrug of the shoulders. HE does not
think 1 have come here to steal?
Why. Mr.. Sydney" she added. u am
very. very much richer than ever your
brother was" - --'
"Richef-than he w&s. Richer than
two thousand a year." he gaapedsw
!! The baroness laughed softly but
heartily. She stole sideion& glanee
at Wrayson.
why, my dear young man." she
said: ut costs me-oh! quite as much
as that each year to Dress.
Barnes looked at heE as though she
were something ha1x: WheE he spoke.
there was awe inhia aStone. The prob
'demAudsd s1pIsssion.:'.
i mean a friend 81 Norris: You
wrote him letters?
The baroness smiled.
why not?" she exclaimed. women
have queer tastes. you know. We
like ali sorts of men. I think must
ask Mr.. Wrayson to bring you in to
tea one afterneDn Would you like
x, s-onfe %,-- : e. =. -
~ .Yes~ he answered.
She nodded a farewell and turned
to Wrayson.'
CONTINUED in Tomorrow's Star.)