The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1925-09-25

It's Ill r1gnL, Jenny, ne Sdll
hoarsely. Its not your fault; you
couldn't have known. But-what d
fool I've beenl And this time wasted,
when I might have been doing some-
thing"
"But what on earth's happenedg'
cried Algy.
"She never turned up at the Ritz,
Algy: Phyllis never turned I'D for
lunch. At first thought she was late,
and we waited. Then thought she'd
run into some pal and had gone to feed
somewhere else. And then, what with
talking to Peterson, and later that
hunchback, forgot all about her."
"But, good heavens, Hugh, what do
you mean?" said Ted. "You don't
think that"
"Of course l think 1t. know it.
They've got her: they've kidnapped her.
Right under my nose" He rose and
began to pace up and down the room
with long, uneven strides, while the
others watched him anxiously.
'.That id girl heard me say that
she was coming to lunch, and just
after that she went upstairs. And
Peterson, being Peterson, took chance
land he's pulled it off.
Algy Longworth stood up, serious for
once in way.
There's no time now to beat about
the bush, Hugh. If they've got Phyllis
there's only one possible thing that you
can do. Go straight to Bryan John
stone and put all the your cards on the
table. Tell him the whole thing from
A to Z-conceal nothing. And then
leave the matter in his hands. He
won't let you down."
Fer a moment or two Hugh faced
them undecided. The sudden danger
to Phyllis seemed to have robbed him
temporarily Of his power of initiative;
for the time he had ceased to be the
leader.
"Algy's right" said birmingham
quietly. ut doesn't matter what hap
pens to US, you've got to think about
Phyllis. Wen get it in the neck--but
there was always that risk"
II believe you're right" muttered
Hugh, looking round for his hat. my
brains all buzzing, can't think"
And at that moment the telephone
bell rang on his desk.
Answer 1t, Ted" said Hugh.
birmingham picked up the receiver.
"Yes--this is Captain Drummond's
house. No--it's not him speaking.
Yes-I'll give him any message you like
Who are you? Who? Mr.. Longmoor
at the Ritz. / see. Yes-he told me
4 you had lunched with him today. Obi
yes. certainly"
For a while Ted birmingham stood
holding the receiver to his ear, and
only the thin, metallic voice of the
speaker at the other end broke the
silence OF the room. 1t went on, mad
deningly indistinct to the three men
crOwding round the instrument, broken
only by an occasional monosyllable
from birmingham. Then with final
IL will certainly tell him. Ted laid
down the instrument.
''What did he say, Ted?" demanded
Hugh agitatedly.
He sent message to you, old man.
1t was approximately to this effect
that he was feeling very uneasy be-
cause your wife had not turned up at
lunch, and that he hoped there had
been no accident. He further went on
to say that since he had parted from
q you most peculiar piece of informa-
ton had come to his knowledge. which,
Incredible though it might appear,
seemed to bear on her failure to turn
up at the Ritz. He most earnestly
begged that you should go round and
see him at once-because If his infor-
nation was correct any delay might
prove most dangerous for her. And
lastly, on no account were you to go
to the police until you had seen him."
For while there was silence in the
room. Drummond, frowning heavily,
was staring out Of the window; the
others, not knowing what to say, were
waiting for him to speak. And after
while he swung round, and they saw
that the air of indecision had gone.
"That simplifies matters consider
ably" he said quietly. ut reduces it
to the old odds of Peterson and me-"
"But you'll go to the police, old
man." cried Algy. you won't pay
amy attention to that message. He'll
never know that you haven't come
straight to him."
Drummond laughed shortly.
Have you forgotten the rules so
much. Algy, that you think that? Look
out of the window, man, only don't be
seen. There's fellow watching the
house now-I couldn't go yard with
out Peterson knowing. Moreover I'm
open to small bet that he knew
was in the house when he was talking
to Ted. Good heavens! No. Peter
son is not the sort of man to play
those monkey-tricks with. He's got
Phyllis. the whole thing is his show.
And If went to the police, long be-
fore they could bring II home tn him