Evening star., 1921-08-28
HR DOULTON, sir. Very
MI important"
Taking the last piece OF
toaSt from the rack NAL

tanned. uoa
rnoment later the door opened
to admit a clean-ahaven ht''s ""
of about fifty. prosperous In ouilu ."1
annearance; but obviously iaoor'nS
under some great excitement.
Hes sone-disappeared he burst
out. as Rogers closed the door penny
him. Malcolm sage r9Ss' 9Se table. and
resumed his own seat. .,,.d
auaeso e:aoa God, man. exploded Mr.;
Douiton. almost hystericaily: "pon,t Don't
YOU understand. Burns has oisap-
peared"
Tell me- lilo
In short staccatoed sen.enn NJ nnmIs
bursts from a machine gun, Mr.. Doui-
ton proceeded to tell his story.
That morning at o'clock, when
ALI Pond, Burns trainer, NAG en
tered his room to warn him tnat II
was time to get up. he found 1t 9n.
occupied. At first he thought that
Burns had gone down before MN
but Immediately his eye fell on tne
he'd. and he saw that it had not been
slept in, he became alarmed.
Going to the bedroom door. he haa
shouted to the sparrihg partners, ana
soon the champions room was niled
with men in various stages OF d'sha-
billie.
they remained inactive. Al All
Ponds word Of command they had
spread helter-skelter over the mousse
and grounds causing the early morn
ing air to echo with their snouts lot
When at length he became assured
that Burns had disappeared. All Pond
telephoned first to Mr. noulten and
Il told Pond to do nothing and tell
no one" said Mr.. Doulton, In con-
clusion, land when I left my rooms
my man was trying to get through
TO Papwith to ask him to keep the
story to himself. Now, what's to be
done?"
breakfast. shave, then. Wen
motor down to Stanton. said NAL
By the time Mr.. Doulton had break
tasted and shaved. the car was at the
door.
They're sure to say it's a yellow
streak Mr.. Doulton burst out on
one occasion.
Burns training quarters were sit
uated at Stanton, near Gutldford;
Here, under the vigtlant eye OF All
Pond. and with the help OF q large
retinue of sparring partners. he was
getting himself into what had come
to be called BURNS condition." which
meant that he would enter the ring
trained to the minute. Never did
an athlete work more conscientiousiy
As the car turned into a side road.
hanl<ed on either hand by eirns, Mr
Doulton tapped on the wind-screen. ana
Tins pulled up. Malcolm Sage had re-
uuested that the car be stopped hum
dred yards before it reached The
Grove" where the training quarters
were situated.
''Wait for me here" he said. as he
"It:s the first gate on the right" said
Mr.. Doulton.
walking slowly away from the car,
Malcolm Sage examined with great care
the road itself. Presently he stopped
and, taking from his pocket a steel
spring measure, he proceeded to meas
ure portion Of the surface OF the dusty |
roadway, Having made several entries i
in a note book. he then turned back to ]
the car, his eyes still on the road
This way" said Malcolm Sage, lead |
ing Mr.. Doulton to the extreme left
hand side Of the road. Turning into the
gates Of "The Grove" they walked up
the drive toward the house. In front
stood q group Of men in various cos
tunes.
The preliminary greetings over. All
Pond led the way round to q large
coach-house In the rear. which had been
be seen all the appliances necessary to
the training of a boxer for q great con-
test. including q roped ring at one end.
He was here only Yesterday There
All Ponds tone.
'Tt's a bad business. Pond" said Mr.
Doulton. who found the mute despair
of these hard-living. hitting men
whole matter in Mr.. Sage's hands. He'll
find him., II any one can
Slowly and methodically Malcolm Sage
drew the story Of Burns disappear
ance from ALI Pond, the sparring part
ners occasionally acting as chorus.
You were confident he would win?"
Confident" There was incredulity
with sudden inspiration. Look at
Kid.' he cried. "look at him."
MALCOLM SAGE looked.
A The mans face showed the
stress and strain of battle. His nose
had taken on something Of the quality
Of cuhism. his right eye was out Of COM
mission. and there was an ugly purple
patch on his left cheek, and his right
ear looked az if wasp had stung it.
He did that In one round. and him
the third. Kid asked for 1t, and he got
it. same as JEFF would" explained ALI
Pond proudly.
DO you know Of any reason why
Burns should have left his room
other interrogatingly. "Did he re-
ceive any letters or kilograms yester-
day?"
donically Shoals Of 'em. He'd turn
'em all over to Sandy Lane" indieat-
ing a red-headed man on the right.
'Did he turn over to you the whole
of his correspondence asked NAL
colin Sage. turning to Sandy Lane.
Sometimes he'd keep letter.
broke in ALI Pond. but not often.
Sort of personal" he added.
HE was quite himself. quite nat
"Quite himself" repeated ALI Pond
deliberately: then. once more indi-
eating Kid. he added. Look at Kid:
that's what he done in one round.
How many people know of the dis
appearance?" inquired Malcolm Sage.
"Outside of US here. only Mr.. Pap
WITH" was the response.
For fully a minute Malcolm Sage
did not reply. At length he turned
to Mr.. Doulton.
Can you arrange to remain here
to meet Mr.. Papwith?" he inquired.
II propose doing so." was the reply.
pose" Malcolm Sage asked of ALI
Pond, in low, level tones.
You barmy?' demanded the train
er. putting into words the looks of
the others.
You will continue with the days
work as If nothing had happened,
continued Malcolm Sage. mo one out
side must know that
But how are we going to do that
with Charley gomez" broke in ALI
fOHu- =, ,,,,