The Yale expositor., 1922-12-21


and 1t would seem plausible. But,
fortunately, 1 was cut of 1t In time.
Were we merely characters In a
standardized detective story, suppose
I'd be arrested and deluged with sus-
pense and clues and so forth"
"Your escape was too narrow to
joke over, Henry" she reproved him,
gravely.
I'm not joking, my dear Lucie.
learned nothing about the tragedy nm
til late last night. From what / can
find in the papers, II seems agreed that
Bob was not the real MasQuer, but
had assumed that guise for joke. 4
tragic joke! Since he was undoubt'
edly drunk at the time his story can't
be relied upon as very convincing.
And yet, it's .frightfully hard 20 believe
that, even by accident, son should
have shot down his own father"
"Dcn't" Lucie WINGED a little. "In
spite OF all the evidence against him,
in spite of the way he was found with
that aviation uniform, it's still awful
to believe. l can't realize that it haH
actually happened"
according TO the papers, poor Mrs.
Maillard has gone TO pieces. No Won
der"
"Yes. | was there with her all day
yesterday, and shall go again today.
They say Bob is terribly broken up.
lie sent for HIS mother, and she re.
fused 10 see him. | don't know how ii
is all going to end! DO you think his
story might be true-that somebody
else might have acted as the Masquer
that night?'
GramOnt shook his head.
Its possible" he said, reluctantly,
"yet it hardly seems very probable
And now, Lucie, I'm very sorry indeed
TO say it-but you must prepare yOrr-
self against another shock IN the near
future"
"What do you mean7 About The
oil"
INC. IT'S too long story to ttll
you now; here we are at the MaisOh
Blanche. Just remember my word1
please. It's something that l can't &C
into now"
every well, Henry Do you thilB
that it's possible your chauffeur, Ham
mond. could have learned about the
drinking party. and could have"
Gramont started. Hammond? No
I'll answer for aim beyond any ques-
tlon Lucie. By the way, does Fell
know anything sbout Hammond hav-
ing been the arst NIasquerH'
Not from me-" saia the GIL, watch
ing him.
"Very well. Hammond got INTO a BIT
Of trouble at Houms, and ! had To
! leave him there. II was note Of hiH
fault, and he'll get out of it all right.
Well, come along up to our oil meet
! ing! Forget your troubles, and don't
let my croakings about q rev shock
cause you any worry just yet"
He was thinking " Jachir Fell, and
the girls closeness TO Fell. Had he
not known that Eel! was responsible
for Hammond's being in jail, he might
have felt differently. AS 1t was, he
was now forewarnet and fOreauneG
although he could not see what anf
mus Fell could possibly have against
Hammond.
1t was lucky, he reflected grimiy
that he had never bIeathed to a soul
except Lucie the fact that Hammond
had been the first MaSquer Had Eel
known this fact, his desire to lay Ham
mond by the heels might have beer
| f,,IG11aA-anH HornDnnnd xuntIlf
probably have found himself charged
with Maillard's murder.
They found Jachin Fell debating t
a stenographer. He greeted then
warmly, ushering them at once int
his private Office.
vince himself that his experiences o
the previous afternoon had been real
1t was almost impossible to believ'
that this shy, apologetic little man il
gray was in reality the "man highe
upl" Yet he knew IL to be the case
knew it beyond any escape.
"By the way" and Fell turned L
Gramont, "if you'll dictate brie
statement concerning that oil seepage
I'd be obliged Merely give the facts
may have need of such statemcn
from you"
Gramont nodded and Joined tn,
stenographer in the outer office, wher,
he dictated brief statement. It dit
not occur to him that there might b,
danger in this; at the moment, he wa
rather off his guard. He was thinkini
so much about his future assault ol
Fell that he quite ignored the posi-
bility of being placed on the de
fensive.
Within five minutes he had returned
to Lucie and Jachin Fell, who wer
discussing the condition of Mrs Mail
lard. Gramont signed the statemen
and handed it to Fell, who laid it witt
other papers at his elbow.
81 suppose we may proceed to bust
| oil