St. Tammany farmer., 1922-09-09

his work He had been engaged to
make report to Bob Maillard's com.
pany, and, he would make It. Then he
would resign his advisory job, and be
free. A smile curled his lips as he
thought Of young Maillard and the
company.
The young gentl leman will be sadly
surprised to discover that I've gotten
out from under-and that his respect
ed father holds my stock ~ he reflect
ed. THAT was good deal; lost a
thousand to old Maillard In order to
| have the balance of thirty thousand r.
A knock at his door interrupted the
thread Of his thought. Gramont
opened, to find the concierge with a
note which had been left at the door
below by a masked Harlequin, who
had then disappeared without await
ing any reply.
Gram0nt recognized the writing on
the envelope, and hastened to the note
inside. His face changed, however, as
he read It.:
"Please call promptly at eleven to-
morrow morning. wish to see you
upon matter Of business.
- 'LUCIE LEDANOIS."
Gramont gazed long at this note. his
brows drawn down into harsh line
1t was not like Lucie In its tone,
somehow; he sensed something amiss,
something vaguely but mostly decided
~ out Of tune. ELEVEN tomorrow
morning, eh7'' he murmured. "That's
queer, too, for she's to be at the Pro-
teus ball tonight Most girls would
not be conducting business affairs at
eleven in the morning, after being up
all night at Proteus! 1t must be
something important. Besides, she's
not In class with anyone else. She's
q rare girl; no nonsense In her-full
Of deep, strong sense Of things"
He forced himself from thoughts Of
Lucie, forced himself from her per-
sonnlity, and returned to his reports
with an effort Of concentration.
When Gramont went to bed that
night 1t was with a startling and auda-
cious scheme well defined In hts brain;
q scheme whose first conception
seemed ludicrous and impossible, yet
which, on second consideration, ap-
peared In very different light. It de-
served serious thought-and Gramont
had made his decision before he went
to sleep.
The following day was Tuesday
Mardi Gras, Shrove Tuesday, the last
day before Lent began, and the final
eliminating day Of carnival. Henry
Gramont however, was destined to
find little In Its beginning of much
personal pleasure.
At eleven in the morning Hammond
drove him to the Ledanois home,
where Gramont was admitted by one
Of the colored servants and shown into
the parlor. A moment later Lucie her
self appeared. At first glance her
smiling greeting removed the half
sensed apprehensions Of Gramont. AL
most Immediately afterward, however,
he noted perceptible change in her
manner, as she led him toWard the
rear Of the room and gestured toward
a mahogany tilt-top table which stood
In corner. -zs%s
'Come over here, please. I have
which I wish to show you.'
She needed to say no more. Gra-
mont. following her, found himself
staring blankly down at the symbol. Of
CONSERVATION which overwhelmed him.
For upon that table lay all those
boxes which he himself had packed
with the loot Of the Midnight Masquer
the Identical boxes, apparently un-
opened, which had been stolen from
his automobile by the supposed thief,
Chacherre!
For moment Gramont found him
self unable to speak. He was thun-
derstruck by the sight Of those unmis-
taxable boxes. A glance at the calm |
features Of the girl showed him that |
there was nothing to be concealed |
from her, even had he wished it. He.
was further stunned by this realiza-
ton. He could not understand how
the packages had come here. Recov
ering his voice with an effort, he man
aged to break the heavy silence.
"Well7 I suppose you know what
Is in those parcels7"
She nodded. Yes. One OF them
was opened, and the note inside was
OF course, 1t gave gem
1ral explanation. Will you sit down,
please7 I think that we. had better
talk It over quietly and calmly
Gramont obeyed, and dropped into
chair.
He was absurdly conscious of. his
)wn confusion. How had Lucie come
INTO the AFFAIR." This staggered hin
above all else. Was she behind a,
heft OF the loot1 It must be. Flow
ong had she suspected him, then? He
had thought Jachin Fell the sole dan
'er pofnt-he had never dreamed that
his gray-eyed Athene could be tracing
lown the Masquer! He tried to vis-
lallze the situation more clearly and
us brain whirled. He knew, Of course,
hat she was fairly intimate with Fell,
'ut ne was not aware of any particu-
ar connection
He glanced up at her suddenly, and
urprised CLINT OF laughter In her
yes Us she watched him. II
You seem to be rather astonished y
he observed,
i am." Gramont drew a deep