The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1922-10-10
THE BUTTERFLY ORCHID
 
BY ]. ALLAN DUNN

admitted, "has their mail dedbuh sd heah till they-all calls fo' it, but 1 disremembeh that name" She shuf- r fled over the mail with a deftness that sp poke of many games of solitaire be- tween s'cliunts." "No Henry Jack son heah,'' she announced.
 ''I said Paxton,'' said Cairns, spell ing it out.
 .sNo suh, nor Paxton neithuh,'' sne said. Look fo' yo'self." With the dexterity of her profession she had palmed the pink envelope, but the rest she spread for Cairns inspection. At the same time her eyes rolled long ingly to the five dollar bill that she had not touched.
 "I'd like to see him or get in touch with him. said Cairns. 'It might mean a lot to ne-in a legal matter" :"
 "You-aH ain't a detective?" asked Quando. Cairns forced a laugh.
 Do look like one?" he parried.
 -'No, you don't" she answered bluntly; "but you might be- Ennyway I don't know Mistuh Paxton" Cairns hesitated He had won one point. The woman was lying, and had better reason to hide Paxton's connection with her than the seven dollars rep resented. There must be some pow erful motive back of her, though. A4OS guess But he felt there was a. bit of his jig-saw puzzle close to hand. Some mental deduction, leap1ng ahead of his reasoning faculties, an nounced that here, in the faker's par Tor was a clue to the mysJerey ne was trying to unrave1.
 "'You are g. clairvoyant?" he ask eA. You can find hidden thfngs?'
 Nah control is cehtun1y wunner- f,,I -f,~ ain't with me. The power don't al- ways come. This is one of them days.'
 Cairns developed the rest of his money-thirty-o dollars in all.
 EtI ain't rich and ain't poor,' he said.
 And finding MT. Paxton means a lot to me. Maybe you could find out something about him in a trance. IT you could, I might manage to get some more money, if I got trr touch with him.
 Her face worked. They frankly mistrusted each other now. After his display of his paln-he must look more into that abused phase of phys iology, Cairns determined-the wo- man would never think him a be- never in trance-m ediuns, nor imag- inc that he would have chosen her if he did. Her fat fingers, like un- boiled prawns twitched as they near ed the bills, fingered them, drew them toward her, and c1utched them. They did not go beneath the skull. With a move as speedy as a gunman's they disappeared in the bosom of her spotted blouse.
 "I'1l try" she said. 'tWhat-all does he look like. this Mistuh Paxton?"
 Cairns was forced to admit his ig- norance.
 ''Thet shuah makes ut had, even fo' mah controI,'' she said. But I'll do my best''
 Quando went through all the rig marole of her trade for Cairns's ben efit- She moaned and rolled up her eyes, her fat body beginning to shake until presently it's flabbiness trembl- ed like an enormous jelly. She flop ped back in her sofa in a fair inlita- tion of an epileptic fit, only the vel low of her eyes showing and pres ently began to talk in a thin, babyish voice, that came from her fat throat with ventrilouial quality.
 I'm Eva,'' she announced. An I'm awful tiahed. Go mustn't be cross wifi me, white man, cause you make me go, a-ah, so fah off! Bimeby come back, mebbe I know what you all want
 The voice ceased; Quando lay back Tn her senlftrance with beIated flies about her, while Cairns pa -iently awaited the outcome of her 
 T see yo' Mistuh Pax'on," nsped the falsetto voice suddenly, "O-oh, | ae's got a red whiskuh, and o-oh | such lots of red hair! An he's on a | ship wifi a cap an goIlbriad an all l He's captain. I fink. An'-an'-I'm m | tiahed!" walled the voice. "I jes' got stren'th to get back heah. You all l ask Quando bout Pax'on. Goo'by."
 With a snort Quando came back to | herself, swiping at a fly on her cheek and crushing it.
 Well" she asked. panting, "did | you all git what you wanted? Gawd | Suah am! It's hand to summon the | oower"
 Your control said to tell you that | Paxton was a red-headed, tall man." 1 aid Cairns, watching her closely from | behind his lenses. With red beard. | Captain of a ship she thought he l vas"
 'Lawd of Gibeon, That Paxton. No vondeh I done forgot him. 1ain't l 'een him fo' mo than yeah' Yes 'uh, fine, upstanding' man. Six !
 
 He come to me to me | o ask about a drea am-'bout bein' at sea-an' we got real richly A handsome man with an eye fo' the wrenches an they fo' linn. ToP me to hoP enny mail thet | night come along from one of his sels. I thought he was jokin', an I | 'eckon he was, cause I ain't neveh lad no mail fo' him." I
 And all the time the pink envelope vas in her blouse! Cairns drew a mental picture of Paxton, not at all | IS Quando and her control had des- | ,rfbed him. He was very certain I hat the mans hair was neither p1en- ifu1 nor red, nor that he wore Vhiskers. Uuder the average size, tnd bow-legged in all probability
 He had failed. Quando had taken l ais money, but had shielded Pax on, from some strong motive of her ,wn.
 Go farther he could not. The most le could do would be to hire an op-