Evening star., 1921-04-29

SIS. dShGu DFUnliHCLu S:a!S-y.
Mais oul. msie..:' Il cine here
always Il = is in ta.':s--ioes le Comte
de Guy. On: Moa D.eu: C">st terri;
ble.''
Wringing his hands. the waiter
went back into the restaurant. and
Hugh shook silently.
Dear old Ted he murmured
wiping the tears from his eyes. 4
| knew he'd Keep his erd up Then
he stood up. What about little
dinner at Maxim's: I'm thinking
! we've. found out all we're likely to
find. until we c.,n get to that ledger.
And THANKS 20 your knowing those
birds. Mr.. Green, our trip to Paris
has been o. considerable value"
The american nodded.
Il guess I'm on" he remarked
; slowly: but. if you take my advice
Captain. you'll look nippy tonight. |
wouldn't linger around corners ad-
mring the mud. Things kind .
| happen at corners.
But on this particular evening the
detective proved wrong. They reach
| ed Maxim's without ishap. they en-
joyed an excellent dinner. during
which the American showed himself TO
! be born alist, as well as
, Shrewd man of the world. And over
the coffee. and liqueurs Hugh gave
him brief outline OF what had taken
place since he first got mixed up in
the affair. The American listened in
silence. though amaZement shone Oh
his face as the story proceeded. The
episode of the disappearing body
especially seemed to tickle his fancy.
but even over that he made no re-
mark. Only when Hugh had finished.
and early arrivals for supper were
beginning to fill the restaurant. did
he sum up the matter as he saw 1t.
"A tough proposition. Captain
damned tough. Potts is our biggest
shipping man. but where he comes on
the picture at that moment has me
beat. AS for the old girls jewels.
they don't seem to fit in at all: All
we can do is TO put our noses inside
that ledger. and see the book OF the
| words. It'il sure help some.
And. as Hugh switched off the
electric light in his bedroom, having
first seen that his torch was ready to
hand in case of emergency. he was
thinking Of the detectives words.
Getting hold of the ledger was not
going to be easy-far from it: but
the excitement Of the chase had fair
ly obscessed him by now. He lay IN
bed. turning over in his mind every
possible and impossible scheme oy
which he could get into the secret
the ledger was kept in: but safes
are awkward propositions for the or.
binary mortal to tackle. Anyway. 1t
wasn't a thing which could pc dohe
in a minutes visit; he would have 10
manage at, least quarter or half an
hours undisturbed search, tne
thought of which. with his knowledge
of the habits of the household. al
most made him laugh out aloud. And,
! at that moment, a fly pinged past
! his head.
J I, Ia ho art Mt n r
! 70 go to sleep. The new developme mt
which had come to light that even
ing was uppermost in his thoughts:
and as he lay there. covered only
with a sheet. for the night was not;
the whole vile scheme unfolded itself
before his imagination. The Amer.
! lean was right in his main idea-of
that he had no doubt; and in ms
minds eye he saw the. great crowds
: Of idle. foolish men led by few
hot-headed visionaries ano pa.o
: blackguards to their so-called Utopia
I Starvation. misery, ruin, utter ano
r complete, lurked in his mental pic
r ture; specters disguised as srea'
: ideals. but grinning sardonically un.
| der their mas:s. And once again ne
seemed to hear the toc-toc OF macnine
: guns, as he had heard them might
] after night during the years gone by
But this time they were mounted or
: | the pavement of the towns OF Ens'
: land. and the swish OF the oulIe,s
: which swept like swarms ,, Oh n.his uI
son.J;d bouses And once
again a fly pinged past his head.
With a gesture Of annoyance ne
ably hot. and he was beginning to re-
rret that he had followed the earnes
! advice Of the American 10 sleep WIZ
his windows shut and bolted. W ma
ttcn earth could Peterson do TO MIN II
a room at the Ritz? But he had prom
J., icurtains drawn. window bolted. 900
-, Hooked. Moreover, and he smilet
. erimly to himself as he remenberet
II it. he had even gone so far as to emu
. late the hysterical maiden lazy OF nc
n tion and peer under the bed.
The next moment the smile ceased
abruptly. and he lay rigid. with ever
e nerve alert. Something had moved II
It had only been tiny movement
more like the sudden creak OF a piec'
e Of furniture than anything else-bu
lit was not quite like it. gentle
: slithering sound had preceded tn
n creak; the sound such as man woul'
make who. with infinite precautior
against making a noise. was moving
in a dark room: a stealthy, uhcann!
4 noise. Hugh peered into the ,blacknes!
tensely After the first moment o
surprise his brain was quite cool HI
had looked under the bed, he hat
hung his coat in the cupboard. ant
save for those two obvious place!
there was no cover for a cat. Ant
vet, with the sort of sixth sense tha
four years Of war had given him. n
knew that noise had been made b!
some human agency. Human! Th
thought Of the cobra at The Elm
flashed into his mind. and his moutl
set more grimly. What il Peterson
had introduced some of his abomin
able, menagerie into the room?
Then. once more. the thing like a n.
sounded loud in his ear. And, was /
his imagination, or had he heard ;
faint sibilant hiss just before?
Suddenly it struck him that he wa
at terrible disadvantage. The thing
whatever ii was. knew. at any rate
approximately. his position. He hat
not the slightest notion where it was
And blind man boxing man whs
could see, would have felt just abou
as safe. With Hugh. such a conclu
sion meant instant action: 1t Nigh
be dangerous on the floor; it most GER
itainly was far more so in bed. HI
felt for his torch, and then. with one
convulsive bound, he was standing by
the door. with his hand on the cleo
Then he paused a ed listened intent
ly. Not sound c6uld he hear; the
: thing. whatever il was. had become
motionless at his sudden movement
For an appreciable time he stood