Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1922-01-08
? T was a glorious day Of autumn

have rejotced thereaI instead,
i mornings mail on PauPs office
desk was crying for attention and not
getting 1t, and Paul himself was as
glum as though he were going to be
hanged at 10 o'clock sharp.
Paul was thinking Of the dinner
that he had gone to the night before
at Mrs George Parsons. Paul didn't
like to go to Mrs. Parsons dinners,
and wouldn't have gone to that one
II Miss Polly Wesson had not been
going.
Mrs. Farson was undoubtedly beau
tfful, a woman of the world, chic and
ambitious. Taking her by herself
Paul would have smiled and been In
different; taken with her son, George,
tr., he disliked her. The real trouble,
of course. was the son. George.
George Farson, IT,. was stock
broker, He lived with the market.
had profound economic views. knew
many men in high places intimately
"a little bit too intimately when
they were not about. Paul thought
smoked many cigarettes in fancy
holders and drank many cocktails. He
dressed with great care. had a weak
ness for flashy automobiles. and was
handsome as the devil.
But, whatever he was. he wasn't
Paul Waters sort, and Paul disliked
him and his type profoundly. He
hadn't liked him to begin with, and
when George had suddenly begun to
make fast and furious love to Polly
Wesson, that moderate and unen-
thusiastic dislike had become a good,
substantial hatred.
X X y X
THE trouble was that Polly Wesson
L not only seemed to like George
Farson, but seemed to like him much
better than she liked Paul. which
was, of course. all wrong. If he lost
Polly to one of a dozen men he knew.
Paul would have died of a broken
heart, but he would have died know
ing that Polly would be happy with a
man worthy of her. To have her
marry George Farson would be a hor-
rible tragedy.
He had considered the matter of
money. He was Junior member of a
firm of insurance brokers and earned
an honest living. but no such living
as George Farson INDUCED in. For
one short instant he had. within him.
self. accused Polly of thinking of the
money and not Of the man. and had
immediately blushed furiously and
been ashamed of himself.
NO" he muttered, "Polly'd never
do that. She thinks he's a better man
than I am, that's all, and-and he's
a bounder"
And that is why Paul, sitting in his
office on that beautiful autumn morn
ing, didn't care whether school kept
or not.
Paurs telephone rang and reused
him from his melancholy reverie. Mrs.
George Farson was speaking. and the
moment Paul heard her voice he sus-
pected something was wrong. There
was. and Mrs. Farson was so excited
that she found difficulty In explain
ing II clearly.
Paul finally got the facts straight.
Tho Farson house had been entered
and all of Mrs. Parsons rings. pins.
necklaces, tiaras, and so on had been
taken in the Silly night. She herself
was at the moment Frustrated in her
silken negligee. the loss having just
been discovered by her maid. who had
come in to remove Mrs. Parsons
breakfast tray. 1t was, perhaps,
mere luck that she called Paul Wat
ers instead of the police on the tele-
phone. For some reason or other she
looked upon Paul as a dear friend,
and undoubtedly forgot completely
that he had taken out for her fifty
thousand dollars burglary insurance.
and that when she got over the first
shock she would expect Paul to see
that she was reimbursed for the value
of her jewelry, if 1t was not recov-
cred.
Paul sympathized greatly with Mrs.
Farson. said nothing Of his or his
company's need of sympathy, and
promised prompt action. thus recall
ing the matter of the insurance to
her mind.
He telephoned the home office Of
the company which had issued the
burglary policy and then telephoned
Mr.. Thomas Higgins, head of the de-
tective agency which handled all of
the company's business in Alden.
The investigation made by Thomas
AAAS anu " AhopSSSol IiOu oG LILO
Alden police revealed but one I'M
portant fact; the sash Of the bath
room window. which room adjoined
Mrs. Parsons bedroom, bore the I'M
mistakably marks Of jimmy. This
had not been noticed by Mrs. Farson
or her maid, or any Of the household.
The maid was. however. sure that the
window was not latched Thursday
morning. Questioned further, she
said that that window. like all the
other second-story windows, was Of
ten not fastened. No one could re-
member whether or not it was fast
ened Wednesday night, as 1t was
quite natural they should not. Access
to this window from the outside was
easily possible to an agile man.
MRS. larson explained about the
4sl Jewels. They were kept in a
safe, not a particularly elaborate or
strong continuance. built into the
wall. It was locked by a key and not
with bolts and combination. as many
Of them are. Mrs. Farson said that
she had taken three or four rings, a
string Of pearls, and a diamond pin
from the safe and worn them at din
ner, and had. on returning to her
room, placed them on her dressing
table; after being comfortably I'M
dressed she sent her maid away, say
ing that she would not forget to put
away the ornaments. and lay down on
a couch to read for a few minutes.
She admitted, with tears in her eyes,
that she had later started to open the