Evening star., 1925-10-23
The Double Cross
BY A. E. THOMAS
Mystery Story Of Dramatic Power


Il
Browning picked him up and carried
him to the curbstone in front Of the
| Hotel Barclay he was suffering. His
| nike had been twisted. Ii continued
| to be painful while he travelled home
! ward in the taxi. Before he reached
his apartment. however, he knew per
fectly well that the injury was not
serious. but he had m de up his mind
to use it for his own purposes. He
desired to see as little as possible OF
Stanley before the latter's departure
He was not averse. either, to tenn
| porary separation from his tiancee.
| He knew that as often as he saw her
| she would revert to the subject of
| Nina Morgan-a matter which he
| had no desire to reopen unless driven
TO it. Consequently, after he had
! sent for his doctor, who diagnosed a
simple strain, he took to his bed and
announced that one of the small bones
| of h foot had been broken.
| He could not entirely avoid Stanley,
| Of course-the latter came to see him
| twice before his departure. But on
! one occasion all the time was con
! surLed by details of the transfer of
| the firms ownership, and upon the
| other Waterman appeared to be In
! such pain that Stanley mercifully cut
! his visit short.
/
: tiancee. In the four or five days in
| which he thought it necessary To keep
! 20 his apartment she came to see
| him twice,-once with her father and
| once with a girl fr enc. Naturalll
| he name of Nina Morgan was not
| mentioned on either Of these visits.
| No sooner had Jim Stanley sailed
| from San Francisco, however, than
| Waterman's recovery was rapid.
He could not, of course, indefinitely
! postpone the disagreeable subject, ana
prompted by repeated requests from
! Doris he presently informed her that
Nina Morgan had left the office, re-
moved from her former address, and
| that the private detectives whom he
| called in had been unable to trace her.
The Waterman-Colby wedding was
| what Is called a Society event. That
Is to say, it took place in st. Bar
| .holomew's Church under the auspices
of the bishop of the diocese and the
| rector of the parish, harmoniZed by
| the boy choir, beautif1ed by the ritual
Of the church, and witnessed by an
| assembly of persons whose names
| We're prominent in the social and
| business life of the city.
1t was witnessed also by Nina Nor
| gan. She insisted on having a card
| Of admittance, and though her pre-
| Sence was not noted by any other of
the hundreds who We're in the church.
! she was to the bridegroom the most
| conspicuous person there. Despite all
his poise. as he stood at the altar
with Doris at his side. he felt like
| man who rather expects to be shot
| in the back at any moment. But
| though Nina's presence was noted
| by no one inside the church. with the
distinguished exception Of the bride
| groom. it was distinctly observed by
| one of the numerous individuals who
| crowded the sidewalk outside the door
! to watch the wedding party as 1t came
! from the church.
Frank Wilson was not invited to the
| wedding, but he went, none the less,
| as far as he could go without q card
| of admission. and he was. to say the
| least, interested when he saw Nina
come out. He had noted with sur
! prise the withdrawal Of that young
woman from the office, but its exact
significance he could not fathom. This
event had occurred before the publica-
ton Of the WatermanColby engage
| ment. That announcement had inter-
eSted Wilson even more keenly In view
of the continued absence of Miss Nor
gan. so that he made bold one day,
! shortly after. to speak to Waterman
about 1t.
"Oh. yes" said Waterman. shes
gone for good"
May I ask if you dismissed her?"
| inquired Wilson.
"Oh. no." responded Waterman
got another job somewhere, l be-
lieve. Glad she's gone. Been getting
| a little careless lately"
Now Wilson reflected to himself
| that Wall Street business men are
seldom seen dining in an obscure up
| town hotel with secretaries who have
been getting careless lately" and
whom they are glad to see leave the
Office. And now, as he stood on the
| edge Of the crowd that gathered about
! the striped awning that led from the
| portals of st. Bartholomew's to the
| curbtng. and noted the exit of Nina
amid the throng of wedding guests
knowing that the entrance to the
church had been strictly by card
he reflected again that the weddings
of Wall Street busines men are not
commonly attended by secretaries who
have been getting careless lately"
and whose employers are glad to see
them leave the office.
He regretted more deeply than ever
that he had not followed his original
impulse to let Stanley know what he
had seen at the Hotel Barclay. In
fact, all his protective instincts to-
ward the man who had done so much
for him were reused. But he could
only wait and watch.
The wedding journey was brief, be-
ing limited to six weeks at Palm
Beach on account, said the society
paragraphs, of the extensive business
interests of the bridegroom. These
business interests were practically in
the hands Of Wilson during these SIX
weeks; that is to say, they were man
aged precisely as Stanley would have
managed them had he been there
Upon Waterman's return he tried to
replace Wilson as promptly as possible.
but the men whom he tried out as
Wilson's successors turned out to be
somewhat unsatisfactory, even by
Waterman's not altogether elevated
standards. Consequently Wilson hel,
on.
Now that his word was law In
| the business, Waterman began to al
low his instincts free play. At heart
a gambler, 1t was not long before
he had pretty thoroughly identified
the interests of the business with hi
| own personal commitments in the
Street. a thing which had been i'm
| possible as long as Stanley had re
| mained at the helm. 1t is true in
those days Waterman had managed
| to involve himself in various specu
lative enterprises which turned ou
| badly, but they remained his own.
| The position of the firm was in no
| way affected by them Now It was
different.
Wilson had ventured to file vari-
| GUS respectful protests from time to
time as he noted the course which
| events were taking. His objections
| had been waved aside-pleasantlv at
first. but finally in a way which
! Silenced him.
Wilson" said Waterman, on the