The L'Anse sentinel., 1923-10-05

II
gether very well. I've heard that q
girl always refuses you 0ncs--a sort
Of convention"
Tommy caught his arm.
"Refuse7 Did you say refusef
"Sure thing, Didn't tell you that
She just raped out q mo- without any
kind Of reason to 1t. But she'll come
round right enough. Likely enough,
hustled her some"
But Tommy interrupted regardless
| of decorum.
what did she say In that note~ hl
demanded fercely.
The obliging Julius handed II to him
The note, in Tuppences well-known
schoolboy writing. ran as follows:
Dear julius:
ITS always better to have things In
black and white. 1 don't feel can
be bothered to think of marriage until
Tommy Is found. Let's leave 1t till
then.
"Yours affectlonately,
"TUPPENCE."
Tommy handed II back, his eyes
shining. His feelings had undergone
sharp reaction. He now felt that
Tuppence was all that was noble and
dislnterested. Had she not refused
julius without hesitation7 True, the
note betokened signs Of weakening.
but he could excuse that. 1t read al.
most like a bribe to julius to spur him
In htc off nrfa 30 an httt
he supposed she had not really meant
1t that way. Darling Tuppence, there
was not a girl in the world to touch
her When he saw her-His thoughts
were brought up with sudden jerk.
"As you say" he remarked, pulling
himself together, there's not hint
here as to what she's up to. Hi
Henry"
The small boy came obedlently.
"One thing more. Do you remember
what the young lady did with the
telegram
Henry gasped and spoke.
"She crumpled 1t up into ball and
threw it into the CRATE, and made a
sort of noise like 'Whoop!' sir"
They hurried upstairs. Tuppence
had left the key in her door. The
room was as she had left 1t. In the
A.! fireplace was crumpled ball Of
J orange and white. Tommy disentan.
| gled and smoothed out the telegram.
"Come at once, Moat House, Ebury
Yorkshire, great Developments -
TOMMY"
They looked at each other in stupe
faction. julius spoke first:
IT guess it means the worst. They've
got her."
"What?"
"Sure thing! They signed your
name, and she fell into the trap like
| a lamb"
"Get busy, and go after her Right
now! There's no time to waste. It's
almighty luck that she didn't take the
wire with her. If she had we'd prob
ably never have traced her. But we've
got to hustle. Where's that Brad
shawl"
The energy Of julius was infectious.
Left to himself, Tommy would probab.
ly have sat down to think things out
for a good half hour before he decided
on a plan Of action. But with Julius
Hersheimmer about. hustllng was in
| evitable.
"Here we are. Ebury, Yorks. From
Kings Cross. Or st. Pancras. (Boy
must have made a mistake. It was
Kings Cross, not Charing Crosse IL so
that's the train she went by. 2:10
that's gone. 800 Is the next"
II say, julius, what do they want
her for, anywayw
"Eh7 1 don't get your"
"What I mean Is that don't think
It's their game to do her any harm,
explained Tommy, puckering his brow
with the strain Of his mental proc
esses. "She's hostage, that's what
she is. AS long as they've got her
they've got the whip hand on US. Seer"
"Sure thing" said julius thought.
fully. "That's So"
Besides" added Tommy, as an af-
terthought, "Tve great faith in Tup-
pence"
The journey was wearisome. with
many stops, and crowded carriages.
Ebury was a deserted station with q
solitary porter, to whom Tommy ad-
dressed himself:
"Can you tell me the way to the
Moat houseT
"The Moat housef It's tidy step
from here. The big house near the
sea, you mean"
Tommy assented brazenly. After
listening to the porter's meticulous but
perplexing directions, they prepared to
leave the station. 1t was beginning to
rain, and they turned up the collars Of
their coats as they trudged through the
slush Of the road. Suddenly Tommy