Evening star., 1924-08-31

as / remember the story, he DOred my
late father SO exquisitely that my late
father, at the age of nineteen. walked
out of the house and never came back
again. / contend, Mr. Witherspoon"
and her voice was tinged with a
legal roll-"I contend that the de-
ceased, nearing the end of a misspent
life, and desiring to make amends to
his son, did latterly institute inquiries,
and heard that he was dead, that his
wife was dead, but that he had left
twins-us. in short. No one who
hadn't seen our birth certificates, or
been told otherwise. frankly and
honestly, as we told you, Mr.. Wither-
spoon-'
Because you had to, o candid
child" murmured the lawyer.
mo one would believe that We
were not twins" finished Terry.
and that's why my grandfather
identified us as twins. in his direc-
tions about-our-legacy firmly ac-
centuating the last three words.
There was quite a natural error in
the report received of us as we lived
so much abroad until lately. You're
satisfied. aren't you, Mr.. Wither-
spoon, that we are the Leigh Stan =
ton lost grandchildren?'
"Oh, quite, quite! And he was
tolerably satisfied. too, that here
were the uHhHo" IL I" IiiS' Ioi " hoii
his eccentric old client had intend
ed his special bequest.
Well. then"-with sweet impa-
tience-"produce it."
Mr. Witherspoon smiled. I've got
your address? Ah, yes. Well. the
firm will think it over, and if We
decide to consider your claim favor
ably''-he had already decided
then your legacy will reach you to-
- to,
tional one. by the way, and may
astonish you. od-bye-delighted to
have met you; if l can be of an serv-
ice, pray consult me-"
\ X x =
TT was a Chinese lacquer cabinet,
L eiaborately carved and painted
and it looked peculiarly exotic and
out of place in the prim cretonne
sitting room rented by Thyme and
Terry. 1t had arrived an hour ago
in the charge of Mr.. Witherspoon's
clerk. who had rigidly put the for
tunate legatees through many for
malities and signings before leaving
them alone with their inheritance.
They eyed it in considerable awe.
This surely can't be all the leg
acy." Terry argued IT'S simply the
surface of it. These things always
have secret drawer. and in the Sc
cret drawer will be the legacy proper.
Probably a map of the Sacred Tenn
Pile of Mazawatee. Under the Altar.
and three-and- a-half PAGES to the
right. are hidden the jewels of the
late Mandarin LiTu. Guided by this
map, We shall easily discover their
wherea bouts, and -
I'VE haven't discovered the where
abouts of the secret drawer yet"
a young lady and gentleman to
see you, miss" said their landladyS
voice at the door.
How do you do?" babbled Terry,
sunnily: events had been sufficiently
fantastic of late to kill her sense of
surprise. Were so pleased to see
you: perhaps. if you've ever travelled
in China. you can help US with this.
BY the way, we don't know you, do
we?"
Not yet" said the young lady and
gentleman. And the former added
casually: But you soon will. We're
the Leigh Stanton twins"
lawfully sorry" apologized the
young gentleman" with his eyes on
I'Thyme's face of charming consterna-
ton.
"Do you mean Terry began.
"Fraid we do. I'm Jane. This is
Dudley. Not a bit alike, are We?
But facts are on our side. We showed
old Witherspoon our birth certificates
and a few other discriminating odd
ments this morning"
You're talking too much. Jane
Dudley Leigh Stanton 'rebuked her.
He was goodlooking young giant,
whereas she was an elfish creature,
small and thin, with screwed-up blue
eyes.
'Are you quite sure you're not the
false heirs" suggested Terry, with
perfect amiability. Because if you're
not we are. and that's rather a pain
full thought
Were poor and you're fairly rich,'
said Jane bluntly. $50 the legacy
matters more to US. Here's a letter
from old Witherspoon, explaining. He
said the best thing for us to do would
be to dash down here in a hurry.
Our father was the old mans favorite
son. you see. They both walked out
of the house at an early age, and he
never bothered as to where Guy
went-that's your father-or what
became of him. But / suppose he re-