The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1923-06-10

to carry him to his room. After be-
ing undressed and put to bed, he at
once dropped off in a deep sleep, and
Reilly was able to go through the
criminals pockets at his leisure, and
soon had copy of the message. Later
on, in my room, he handed the copy
to me, and Solvinsky was none the
wiser
All Plans Seem Doomed.
CONSERVATION seized us when we
found out what that message con-
tanned, for in it we could read the
end to all our carefully laid plans.
The telegram was signed by a man
whose name l at once recognized as
the sergeant at the hospital at
Bassens. 1t read:
Have learned you are in Henday
Need more medicine, so will be il
Henday in two days for some
And it was signed: "Marshall.'
If this Marshall was the man
1 supposed he came from the Bassen'
camp and the chances were that he
might know me by sight. If he did
and found me in such close personal
touch with Ferez and SolvinskY. he
would soon spoil it all. Then again
If | suddenly left Henday, Solvinsky
would himself smell mouse. l could
not leave, and l surely could not stay
and meet Marshall. What under the
sun could l do? 1t certainly had me
puzzled when, to my great relief,
Reilly solved the difficulty for me:
Say. major" volunteered Reilly, 81
have it! You have suddenly been
taken sick with the flu ! will get
French secret service man to act
as your doctor. He can put you in
quarantine. and I will be your nurse
and the go-between for you and Sci
whisky. Thus you will be on the spot
and yet secluded, so that neither Sol
whisky nor Marshall will see you"
| agreed to this clever scheme.
Reilly hurried away to arrange for
the doctor, while l took to my bed,
prepared to have a high fever. if
necessary, to fool them. The ruse
worked like a charm. Solvinsky,
learning that my sickness was con-
tagious and afraid of his worthless
life, steered clear of my room; while
supply of cocaine and returning to
his duties, learned nothing Of my
presence.
We had hoped that Marshall would
get his drugs and return to Bassens,
but no such lucki They decided that
he, too, should go up in the noun
tains for his supply. AS Marshall
had been the cause of the delay and
now no further delay was
no longer necessary Solvinsky was
anxious to get the deal over with and
hurry back to his beloved Paris; 50
he arranged for the transfer t. be on
the very next night after Marshall
arrived Still afraid of being recog
nized ] had to remain In my room,
delegating Rich to complete the
transaction in my stead, with Reilly
along as company. Lieutenant
Greene was tipped off" as to when
the start was to be made. He re-
ported that he had made all the ar
rangements and a good strong force
of French police would be in hiding
around the hut by the time the others
arrived.
The night arrived, just the right
kind of a night for such crooks.
The devil. they say takes care of his
own. If he does, he surely was on
duty that night, for it was as dis
agreeable a night for human beings
to he out in IS ever ! saw. In the
lowlands a heavy mist seeped down,
that soon penetrated 70 the skin,
while a cold wind added to the dis
comforts of the whole party-a per-
feet night for dark deeds. No honest
men but ourselves were abroad,
Even the local French police were in
under cover
Allowing the crowd a fifteen min
ute start. I followed along with a
hut in the mountains. Greene was on
the lookout for ME and met me a
short distance down the path. He
told me the whole gang. except the
Spaniard, were in the hut, II was
a cold session for us who had to
wait outside for the arrival of that
Spaniard. We did not dare to move
around to keep warm for fear. either
OF frightening off the Spaniard OF
that those inside the hut would hear
us and run. All We could do was tc
curse an unkind fate that kept the
honest men outside in the cold and
rain, while within were the crook S
warmly housed. We promised that
crew in the hut a much warmer time
If they would only give us the OPP
portunity, when we started in tc
round them up.
Rounding Up The smugglers.
The tardy Spaniard eventually ar
rived, and passing through the line
of crouching men on watch in the
darkness, entered the hut. Then We
were ready to close the trap. Each
man knew exactly what he was to do
and each man did it with commend
able promptne SIS, the French making
the arrests. All wanted to set into
the fire.
How Solvinsky cursed me when he
discovered who l really was! Strain
ing at his bonds, and with foam
flecked lips, he cried: Damn YOU
Why didn't l pull that trigger that