Newark leader. ([Newark, Ohio]) 1917-1946, 1925-09-11

leave the matter In his hands. He
won't let you down."
FOR 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. at doesn't matter what hap
gems to us, you've got to think about
Phyllis. Wen get it in the neck-but
there was always that risk"
Il 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 it, Ted" said Hugh.
birmingham picked up the receiver.
"Yes-this is Captain Drummond's
house. No-it's not him speaking
Yes-Ill give him any message you like.
Who are you? Who? Mr.. Longmoor
at the Ritz. see Yes--he told me
you had lunched with him today. Oh !!
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
denihgly indistinct to the three men
crowding round the instrument, broken
only by an occasional mOnoSyllable
from birmingham. Then with a final
y 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
you a most peculiar piece of informa-
tion 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 a 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. "It reduces it
to the old odds of Peterson and me-"
"But youT1 go to the police, old
man." cried Algy you won't pay
any attention to that message. He'll
never know that you haven't come
straight to him"
! DrummOnd laughed shortly
Have you forgotten the rules sc
much, Algy, that you think that? Look
out of the window, man, only don't be
seen. There's a fellow watching The
house now-I couldn't go a yard with
out Peterson knowing. Moreover Tn
open to small bet that he knew
was in the house when he was talking
to Ted, Good heavens! No Peter
san Is not the sort of man to play
those mOnkey-tricks with. He's got
= hn Yrhn &c hi s.F,,,
And If l went to the police, long be
fore they could bring it home to him
or get her back-she'd be-why"
once again the veins stood out on his
forehead Lord knows what the
swine wouldn't have done to her. It's
just barter at the present moment
the diamonds against her. And there's
going to be no haggling. They win the
first round-but there are few more
, on the horizon"
what are you going to do?" said
/ Ted.
Exactly what he suggests" an
sWered Hugh Go round and see him
at the RitZ-noW. at once. Shan't
| take the diamonds with me, but there
will be no worry over the exchange
as far as Pm concerned It's Just like
his dirty method Of fighting to 20 fol
girl" he finished savagely.
He crossed to the door an(
opened it,
I'm case l don't come back by six
the diamonds are in my sponge bag
in the bathrOom-and go straight tC
Scotland Yard. Tell Tum-tum the
whole yarn