Evening star., 1922-04-06

Only deliver the goods;
! NO" answered Kennedy, rather
piqued. 'it isn't money that I am
after. after L merely wanted to be sure
you past that door as il 1t were
made of green baize."
1t was O'Connor's turn to look in
| credulous. but as Kennedy appar-
entity meant exactly what he said he
simply asked, And will your"
Il will do it tonight ii you saw SO. !"
replied Kennedy. quietly. Are you
For answer OConnor simply crashed
Craig's hand. as il to seal the com
pact.
"AH right. then" continued Ken.
those closed vans that the storage
warehouses use. up to my laboratory
any time before o'clock. How many
| me men VIII you need in the raid?
we've! VIII a van hold mat many
apparatus in 1t, but that won't take
| much ROOM"
Why, yes, I think So" answered
! OCcnner. "l'li get a well padded van
sd sd bv ,na5 a.. thsy risy won't be badly jolt.
Kennedy. l see you know more Of
that side Of police strategy than 7
gave you credit for.
| Then have the men drop into my
! laboratory singly about the same
not look suspicious so far uptown.
IT Will be dark. anyhow. Perhaps,
OConnor. you can make up as the
driver yourself-anyhow, get one
| you can trust absolutely. Then have
| broadway below the club, driving
| slowly along about the time the thea
ter crowd is out. Leave the rest to
me / will give you or the driver
orders when the time comes"
| AS O'Conner thanked Craig he re-
marked without a shade Of insincer-
| ity, Kennedy. talk about being COM
missioner, You ought to be commits
! sioner."
.,. wait wal % TN I deliver the goods" an;
swered Craig simply. II may fall
down and bring you nothing but a
lawsuit for damages for unlawful en-
try or unjust persecution. or what
ever they call it,"
back O'Conner as he jumped into his
car and directed. HEADQUARTERS. quick "
AS the car disappeared Kennedy
filled his lungs with air as II reluctant
to leave the drive. "Our constitu-
tional." he remarked. sis abruptly at an
end. Walter"
Then he laughed. as he looked
about him.
| What a place in which to plot a
raid on Danfield's Vesper Club! why,
/
children all in for supper and bed It's
| incongruous. Well / must go over
to the laboratory and get some things
ready to put in that van with the
men: Meet me about half-past seven.
Matter; up in the room, all logged up.
Wen dine at the Cafe Riviera tonight
in style. And. by the way, you're
quite a man about town-you must
know some one who can introduce us
into the Vesper Club"
| But Craig" demurred ";f tbora
is any rough work as a result. it
might queer me with them. They
might object to being used"
"oh, that will be all right. l just
lose few chips in good cause. No.
won't queer any of your star. con-
nections. Wen be on the outside
when the time comes for anything to
happen. In fact, shouldn't wonder
if your story would make you ali the
more solid with the sports. l take all
the responsibility: you can have the
glory. You know they like to hear
the inside gossip Of such things after
the event Try it; Remember. at
dinner. but never mind; it, will be early
| enough for the club"
Left to my own devices-I deter
mined to do a.little detective work on
\ my own account. and not only did I
! succeed in finding an acquaintance
who agreed to introduce us at the
Vesper Club, that night about nine
o'clock, but 1 also learned that Perci-
that night, too. 1 was necessarily
| vague about Kennedy. for fear nv
| friend might have heard of some Of
his exploits. but fortunately he did
not prove inquisitive.
I hurried back to our apartment
| and was in the process of transform
ing myself into a full-hedged boule-
warbler, when Kennedy arrived in an
extremely cheerful frame of mind So
far his preparations had progress
ed very favorably. I guessed, and was
quite elated when he complimented
| me on what I had accomplished in
the meantime.
Pretty tough for fellows who are
condemned to ride around in that van
for -four. moral hours. though" he
said as he hurried into his evening
clothes. "but they won't be riding ali
the time. The driver will make fire.
quent stops"
was SO busy that I paid little at
tention to him until he had nearly
| completed his toilet. 1 gave a gasp
why. whatever are you doing?"
exclaimed as I glanced into his
| room.
There stood Kennedy arrayed in all
the glory of sharp-pointed mus
! tach and a goatee. He had put on
evening clothes of decidedly Partisan
cut. clothes which he had used abroad
and had brought back with him,
but which I had never known him
to wear since he came back. On a
chair reposed chimney-pot hat that
would have been pronounced fault-
less on the continent" but was un-
| known. except among impresarios,
on Broadway.
Kennedy shrugged his shoulderS-he
| even had the shrug.
Figure to yourself. monsieur" he
said. 'Ze great Kennedy. ze detectif
| Americaine-to put it tersely in our
own vernacular. wouldn't it be q fool
per Club where I should surely be
recognized by some one IL went in
my ordinary clothes and features!
I'm faux pas. at the start. Jamais!"
and was glad that 1 had been dis
creetly reticent about my companion
| in talking with the friend who was to
gain us entrance to the Avernus be-
yond the steel door.
We met my friend at the Riviera
and dined sumptuously. Fortunately
he seemed decidedly impressed with
my friend NJ. Kay-I could do no bet
| ter on the spur of the moment than
to take Kennedy's initial, which
amicably from oysters and soup down
to coffee, cigars and liquors, and I
succeeded in swallowing Kennedy's
tales Of Monte Carlo and Ostend and
Ascot without even a smile. He must
have heard them somewhere and
, treasured them up for just such an
occasion, but he told them in a man
ner that was verisimilitude itself, US
ing perfect English with Just the
trace of an accent at the right places.
At last it was time to saunter around
| to the vesper/ Club without seeming
to be too indecently early. My friend
said play was just beginning at the
club and would soon be in full swing.
I had keen sense of wickedness as