Evening star., 1925-02-15


fore huge log fire. Mr.. Britton al
once took up a book and became en-
| crossed In its contents. The woman
| neither read nor attempted any sort
| of needlework There was no win.
| dow open in the room, yet occasion
| ally she shivered She sat with her
hands folded in front of her. her eyes
sometimes fixed upon the fire, some.
| times engaged in a steady contem-
| plation of her husbands face. The
latter remained completely absorbed
| There was no attempt at converse
| ton.
THE day was cloudy and twilight,
came early. At o'clock the but
| Ter served tea, which was partaken OF
cups greedily. Then she left the room
again. When she reappeared, she
was wearing a handsome fur coat
! and small becoming hat with a
| veil, behind which her eyes seemed
stranger and more beautiful than
ever. Her husband gripped the sides
| of his chair and looked at her.
You are going out?" he inquired.
| 'I am going to take walk across
| the heath she replied.
| He rose slowly to his feet For
some reason or other the statemen,
seemed to affect him. He walked tc
| the window and looked out. A belt OF
| pine trees loomed like a black smudge
| at the end Of the garden. The single
| trees and shrubs bordering the foot
| path had assumed chaotic shapes
more fanciful than ever by reason OF
| the fantasies of a high wind. The
| footpath across the heath was dimly
| visible. A solitary tradesmans boy
on a bicycle was making his way
| toward one of the large houses on the
| other side.
The woman laughed, strangely but
not unpleasantly.
IT love wind" she said. wind and
the falling darkness"
She left the room. The man re
mained at the window. He watched
| her cross the lawn, step over the
| strands Of wire at the further end
of the garden and pass along the
| footpath. He watched her slim form
as she came into sight on the other
side of the trees, moving with swift
and effortless grace into the bosom
of the darkness and the booming e
wind. Then he turned away, left the
| room and, walking all the time with
a curious mechanical effect, almost
as though in a state Of coma he un-
! locked with key from his chain the
door of a small room behind the
! stairs. For a moment he paused to
listen. Then he entered the room,
closing the door behind him.
y X
DANIEL ROOKIE looked up from
the desk in his newly acquired
| Office and gaZed with some curiosity
| at his unexpected visitor. Miss Ann
Lancaster subsided into the chair to
! which he had instinctively point I'd
and laid her muff on the floor by her
side.
You remember me. Mr. Rooke?''
she began.
Quite we'll" he answered You
were one OF our cipher typists at the
Foreign Office
She nodded.
II am still engaged there" she said.
There was brief pause. Miss
| Lancaster seemed in no hurry to de-
| clare her mission and Daniel Rookie.
without displaying undue curiosity,
was interested in renewing his i'm
| pressions OF her. AT the Foreign
! once she had just been one in a
dozen, a little distinguished from the
! others perhaps, only on account of
her superior intelligence. He had
| certainly never appreciated before
the small, excellently shaped head,
the glints of q richer color in her
deep brown hair, her clear hazel eyes
and delicate eyebrows, her pale com
piexion. creamy rather than pallid.
She was of medium height and slim
figure, distinctly feminine but with
the subtle possession Of poise. In
the long, bare room at the Foreign
Office Rookie would never have
glanced at her twice. Here, in his
Ia ther shabby little apartment at the
top of block of buildings in
Shaftsbury avenue, she was altogeth-
er a different person.
She. too. from her point of view,
| found interest in studying more
closely this person whom she had
come to visit. She remembered him
merely as q man OF about 35 years
of age. Of medium height. pallid-
faced, with somewhat cynical mouth
and the fretful ways of a hypo-
ckondriac. He had the reputation of
extreme cleverness and he had more
than once charmed the whole room
by rare but very delightful smile.
His gracious moments, however, were
very occasional and the chief impress
sion she had formed of him during
their period of more or less close as
sociation was of a man swift in in
tuition, capable but short tempered.
a man with an indomitable capacity
for mastering any obstacle which
came in his way, but impatient Of all
delay or interruption.
X x X X
HNTAY I ask why you left the
AVA foreign office?" she inquired
at last
He raised his eyebrows very slight
ly. The question, coming in tina,
form, surprised him.
you may ask" he replied.
'1mpertinent of me, of course" she
remarked, but l am on serious busi-
ness and my mind is filled with
serious things. The report there was
that since the war, you had only beer
sent abroad four times. and that you
| were tired of doing nothing but de-
coding ciphers"
THE report. for once, was absolute
ly accurate" Rookie admitted.
'It was further reported" the girl
continued, that you We're thinking
of seeking a post in the foreign in
telligence department Of Scotland
Yard"
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