Evening star., 1924-01-02

had been momentarily checked, and
| then he remarked, Splacidly:
'I reckon Mr.. Lane amt got sech
strong pull as he figgered on. I've
| worked here two days since and I'm
still on the job
You won't be. soon as Mis- Cayley
gifts herself fixed up presentable SOS
| "Mr. Lane done call her up not ten
minutes befo' you come just now an
she had to be woke up to go down to
de telefoam. Dat don't put her In
no good temper nohow TO de res O.
| de day, but her voice was like honey
! tricklfn' oveh de wiah. / was passin'
| long. de gallery an + hear her call
| him by name and den she repeats yo'
| sho' dat he amt mistaken. After a
minute mo- she says DAFT o. co'se II SOS
de case you is gwine be dismissed
immediate, an she hangs up de re-
right lively not to git caught where I
Is at Man; You ha' better be fxin'
Ma1eppa ducked precipitately and
disappeared as Letty's. sharp tones
while Geoff proceeded to load his bar.
J row with sand, whistling his monot-
onous, unvarytng refrain. That one
+, OF Two alternatives had occurred was
evident enough to his mind; either
Lane had had Zoe Dawn trafled to
the doctors cottage on the previous
| evening by some one who reported
! also that meeting at the Crossroads
trs 3r s.nefe mad been an encounter be-
| tween tnese two on her return IA
Town. 1t required no great effort Of
sne imagination to picture the woman
naylng Lane for his supposed attempt
to,,I 20 make dupe Of her and defiantiy
i,eIiing MIN that she had gone to the
locai authorities with the truth COW
! cernlng the real purpose of hi, vistt
10 her on the night Of the murder
en- In either event, the fat was in the
! tools when Lefty came for him onS
! ence. ss pres
Mrs. Cayley was seated at her d..L
mourning. and she looked up at him
| with severe frown
Geofrrey. l have been given to un-
1erstand utr az IT., that you are a special dep
began. rs that true?"
No ma'am, it amt" Geoff asserted
dosgedly. You kin call him up and
ASK MN. I'm a carpenter. and stone
mason by trade and don't hold no
office. special nor otherwise"
Then your interference. your In.
ouisitive prying into the AFFAIRS OF
strangers in the vicinity since our
sIdden vnnn N grief r and trouble have come
-.
paused, tapping her desk with her
pen. but Geotf waited. making no
protest. Il can have no one in my
employ in whom / feel that / cannot
place the utmost confidence, least
of all at a time like this. am sorry
for you have been very obliging, very
! thoughtful, and your work Is mos,
satisfactory. but I am compelled to
dispense with your services. / shall
be glad, however. to give you the
highest recomme mmendation-'
THANK you, ma am Geoff respond
ed, stiffiy. II don't need none in this
neighborhood and 1 amt figgerin' or
movin' out o. it,
"Very we'll" Mrs. Cayley opened
her checkbook. Let me see; how
much do l owe your"
| The business was soon transacted
and Geoff went back to the terrace to
gather up his tools and load what
he could on the wheelbarrow. He diG
not know whether to be pleased OF
sorry at this sudden turn of events
1t left him with a free hand, to be
sure, but he had not planned his mex,
imove and he would have liked a word
with old Henry before he left. Little
Miss Millie, too. troubled him in an.
other fashion, and he made up his