The Mellette County pioneer. [volume] (Wood, Mellette County, S.D.) 19??-1971, 1923-08-03
By AGATHA CHRISTIE
Mr.. Beresford obliged.

lunch-oh !"
The same thought sprang to the
minds of each. Tommy voiced it first.
Julius z. Hersheimmer!'
1--WE never told Mr.. Carter about
hearing from him."
"Well, there wasn't much to tell
not till we've seen him. Come on"
On inqulring for Mr.. Hersheimmer,
they were at one taken up TO his
suite. An impatient voice cried Come
in" in answer to the page-boy's knock,
and the lad stood aside to let them
pass in.
Mr.. Julius r. Hersheimmer was a
good deal younger than either Tommy
or Tuppence had pictured him. The
girl put him down as thlrty-fve. He
was Of middle height, and squarely
built to match his Jaw. His face was
pugnaclous but pleasant. No n
could have mistaken him for anything
but an American, though he spoke
with very little accent.
sect my note? Sit down and tell
me right away all you know about my
cousin"
"Your cousin?'
"Sure thing. Jane Finn"
"Is she your couslnr"
"My father and her mother were
brother and sister" explained Mr..
Hersheimmer meticulously.
"Ohw cried Tuppence. "Then you
know where she is?'
"NO!" Mr.. IFershelmmer brought
down his fist with a bang on the table.
I'm darned If / do! Don't your
"We advertised to receive informa-
ton, not to give It," said Tuppence
severely.
But Mr.. Hersheimmer seemed to
grow suddenly suspicious.
"See here" he declared. "This isn't
Sicily! No demanding ransom or
threatening to crop her ears If I re-
fuse. These are the British isles, so
quit the funny business, or I'll just
sing out for that beautiful big British
policeman / see out there in Picca-
dilly."
Tommy fastened to explain.
1--WE haven't kidnapped your cousin.
On the contrary, we're trying to find
her. We're employed to do so.'
Mr.. Hersheimmer leant back in his
chair.
"Put me WISE" he said succinctly.
Tommy fell In with this demand in
so far as he gave him a guarded ver-
sion Of the disappearance Of Jane
Finn. and Of the possibility Of her
having been mixed up in
'some political show" He alluded to
Tuppence and himself as private in
quiry agents. commissioned to find
her, and added that they would there
fore be glad of any details Mr.. Hers
heimmer could give them.
That gentleman nodded approval.
~ guess that's all right. I was
just a mite hasty. Just trot out your
questions and I'll answer"
For the moment this paralyzed the
Young Adventures, but Tuppence, re-
covering herself, plunged boldly into
the breach with n Renaissance culled
from detective fiction.
"When did you last see the dece-
your cousin, / mean?"
"Never seen her." responded Mr..
Hersheimmer.
"WhatT demanded Tommy, aston
ished.
"No, sir. AS I said before, my IA
ther and her mother were brother and
sister, just as you might be'--Tommy
did not correct this view of their re-
lationship-"but they didn't always
get on together. And when my aunt
made up her mind to marry Amos
Finn, who was a poor schoolteacher
out west. my father was just mad!
Said II he made his pile, as he seemed
In a fair way to do. she'd never see
a cent Of 1t. Well, the upshot was
that Aunt Jane went out west and we
never heard from her again.
1.-THE old man did pile 1t up. He
went into oil, and he went into steel,
and he played a bit with railroads,
and I a tell you he made Wall Street
sit up" He paused. "Then he died
last fall-and / got the dollars.
Well, would you believe It, my con-
science got busyl Kept knocking me
up and saying: What about your
Aunt Jane, way out west? It wor-
ried me some. You see, I figured It
out that Amos Finn would never make
good. He wasn't that sort. End of II
was, l hired a man to hunt her down.
Result, she was dead, and Amos Finn
was dead, but they'd left a daughter
Jane-who'd been t%orpedoed In the
Lusitania ON her way to Paris. She
was saved all right, but they didn't
seem able to hear Of her ever this
side. / guessed they weren't hustiing
any. SO I thought I'd come along over,
and speed things up. I phoned Scot
land Yard and the Admiralty first
thing. The Admiralty rather choked
me of, but Scotland Yard were very
civil-said they would make Inquiries,
even sent a man round this morning
to get her photograph. Tn of to Paris
tomorrow, just to e what the Pre-
lecture Is doing. ! guess II I 60 to
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