The L'Anse sentinel., 1923-10-12

Manchester was not accidental. Far
from abandoning the case, as julius
supposed. he had by some means Of
his own successfully run the missing
girl to earth. The only thing that
puzzled Tommy was the reason for all
this secrecy.
julius was speaking.
"After dinner" he announced, II
shall go right away and see Jane"
"That will be impossible. fear"
said Sir James. "It is very unlikely
they would allow her to see visitors
at this time of night. / should sug-
gest tomorrow morning about ten
o'clock"
julius flushed. There was some
thing in Sir James which always
stirred him to antagonism.
"All the same, reckon I'll go
round there tonight and see II can't
ginger them up to break through their
silly rules"
1T will be quite useless. Mr.. Her
sheimmer."
The words came out like the crack
of pistol. and Tommy looked up
with start. julius was nervous and
excited. The hand with which he
raised his glass to his lips shook
slightly, but his eyes held Sir James
defiantly. For moment the hostility
between the two seemed likely to
burst into flame. but in the end julius
lowered his eyes, defeated.
hA n -
the boss"
THANK you," said the other. eve
will say ten o'clock then?" With con-
summate ease of manner he turned to
Tommy. "I must confess, Mr.. Beres-
ford, that 1t was something Of sur
prise to me to see you here this
| evening. The last / heard of you was
that your friends were in grave anx-
iety on your behalf. Nothing had been
heard of you for some days, and Miss
Tuppence was inclined to think you
had got into difficulties"
81 had, sirw Tommy grinned remi-
niscently. ~ was never in tighter
place in my life"
Helped out by questions from Sir
James, he gave an abbreviated account
Of his adventures. The lawyer looked
at him with renewed interest as he
brought the tale to close.
"You got yourself out Of a tight
place very WE'LL" he said gravely. 81
congratulate you. You displayed q
great deal of ingenuity and carried
your part through WELL"
Tommy blushed. his face assuming
a prawn-like hue at the praise.
"And since thenf What have yol
been doingY
For a moment, Tommy stared a
him. Then It dawned on him that oi
course the lawyer did not know.
II forgot that you didn't know abou
Tuppence," he said slowly.
The lawyer laid down his knife ant
fork sharply.
"Has anything happened to Mis-.
Tuppence?" His voice was keen
edged.
"She's disappeared" said julius.
"WhenT
"a week ago." y
"HowT'
Sir James questions fairly shot out
Between them Tommy and julius gave
the history Of the last week and theii
futile search.
- Sir James went at once to the root
of the matter.
"a wire signed with your name
They knew enough of you both fol
that. They weren't sure Of how much
you had learnt in that house. Theil
kidnapping Of Miss Tuppence is thu
counter-move to your escape. i
necessary they could seal your lip!
with a threat Of what might happer
to her."
That's just what thought, sir"
Sir James looked at him keenly
"You had worked that out, had you
Not bad-not Mt all bad. The curious
thing is that they certainly did no
know anything about you when the.
first held you prisoner. You are sur
that you did not in any way dlsclos,
your identityT
Tommy shook his head.
"That's so," said Julius with q nod
"Thefefore reckon some one pu
them wise-and not earlier than Sun
day afternoon"
"Yes, but whof'
"That almighty omniscient MI
Brown, Of course''
There was a faint note Of derisiol
in the Americans voice which mad
Sir James look up sharply.
"You don't believe In Mr.. Brown, Mi
HersheimmerT
"No, sir, l do not" returned tn
young American with emphasis. "No
az such, that Is to say. I reckon
out that he's q flgurehead--jus a bog
name to frighten the children win
The real head Of this business IL tina
. Russian chap Kramenin."
II disagree with you," said 81
, James shortly. "Mr. Brown exists.
He turned to Tommy. did you har
pen to notice where that wire wa
! handed Int"
mo, sir, I'm afraid I didn't"
. "H'm. Got II with your
ats upstairs. cir. in my kit"
! "Td like to have Q look at It som,
time. You've wasted o. week. We