Evening star., 1921-05-07
BULLDOG Drum1n0nd
BY CYRIL McElE ("Sapper')
A Novel Of Mystery, Love and Adventure.
tooureht - H psas o.

in the brazier. II you do they will
disappear-never to return. Watch.
but do not touch!"
SLOWLY he backed toward the win
dow. unperceived in the general ex-
citement; and Hugh lodged rapidly
toward the car 1t struck him that
the seance was over. and he just had
time to see Lakington snatch some
thing which appeared to nave oeeh
let down by a string from above De-
fore turning into the bushes ana rae
only a second or two in front OF the
other, and the last vision he had
through break in the trees. before
they were spinning smoothly down
the deserted road. was an open window
in Laidley Towers from which dense
OF the house party behind. waiting
for the light to burn low in the bra
zier, he could see no sign through the
Opaque wall Of green fog.
1t took five minutes. so he gathered
afterward from a member or the
house party. before the light had
burned sufficiently low for the duchess
to consider it safe to touch the pearls.
In various stages of asphyxiation the
assembled guests had peered at the
box, while the cynical comments or
the men were rightly treated by the
served. Was the necklace not there.
wrapped in it's gold and silver tissue.
where a few minutes before there had
been nothing?
Some trick of that beastly light"
remarked the duke peevishly. For
heavens sake throw the dam thing
out of the window.
Don't be fool. Jim retorted his
spouse. IF you could do this sort OF
thing, the house of lords might be
some use to somebody"
And when two minutes later they
stared horror-struck at row OF ordi-
nary marbles laboriously unwrapped
from a piece Of gold and silver tis-
sue. the dukes pungent agreement
with his wife's sentiment passed un-
contradicted. In fact. it is to be un-
derstood that over the scene which
followed it was best to draw decent
veil.
Drummond. hunched low over the
wheel. in his endeavor to conceal his
identity from the man behind. knew
nothing Of that at the time. Every
nerve was centered on eluding the
pursuit he thought was a certainty;
for the thought of Lakington. when
everything was prepared for his re-
ception, being snatchcd from his
clutches even by the majesty Of the
law was more than he could bear.
And for much the same reason he did
not want to have to deal with him
untilthe Elms was reached: the
staging there was SO much more ef-
fective.
But Lakington was far too busy to
bother with the chauffeur.
One snarling curse as they had
Left pf nd hn mo he
had been told. was the total of their
conversation during the trip. During
the rest OF the time the transforma-
tion to the normal kept Lakington
busy, and Hugh could see him reflected
in the wind-screen removing the
his clothes.
Even now he was not quite clear
how the trick had been worked. That
there had been two cabinets. that
was clear-one false. the other the
real one. That they had been changed
Ir-ra was also obvious. But how had
the pearls disappeared in the first
| case. and then apparently reappeared
again? For one thing he was quite
certain. Whatever was inside the
parcel Of gold and silver tissue which.
staring at, it was not the historic
necklace.
And he was still puzzling it over
in his mind when the car swung into
| the drive at the Elms
Change the wheels as usual"
snapped Lakington as he got out. and
, Hugh bent forward to conceal his
face. Then report to me in the CEN
trail room"
And out of the corner Of his eye
Hugh watched him enter the house
with one of the Chinese cabinets
| clasped in his hand.
| Toby" he remarked to that worthy.
| whom he found mournfully eating q
ham sandwich in the garage. II feel
| sort of sorry for our Henry. He's
just had the whole complete ducal
| outfit guessing. dressed up, as an In
dian: he's come back here with q
box containing the duchess pearls or
TIL eat my hat, and feeling real good
with himself: and now instead Of en-
joying life he's got to have a little
| chat with me-"
Did you drive him back?" demand
cd Sinclair. producing . bottle Of
/ bass.
lowing to the sudden decease Of his
| chauffeur I had to-" murmured Hugh.
And he's very angry over something.
Let's go on the roof"