Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-01-30


hit it off too WELL The old man was
sometimes a bully and young Godfrey
had too much spirit to stand it. No.
| wasn't satisfied Ind | determined
that / would get to the root of the
matter. 1t happened, however, that
my own affairs needed a lot of
Strengthening out, which is to be eX-
pected after two years absence, and
so it Is only this week that | have
been able to take up Godfrey's case
again. But since l have taken it up
/ mean to drop everything in order to
see it through
Mr.. James NJ. Dodd appeared to be
the sort of person whom it would
be better to have as a friend than
as an enemy. His blue eyes were
stern and his square jaw had set
hard as he spoke. He was desperate
ly in earnest.
'Well, what have you done?" I
asked.
my first move was to get down to
his home, TuXbury Old Park. near
Bedford. and to see for myself how
the ground lay. 1 wrote to the
mother, therefore-and / made a clean
frontal attack: Godfrey was my chum,
L had great deal of interest which l
might tell her of our common ex-
periences, / should be in the neigh
borhood, would there be an objection,
ct cetera? In reply l had quite an
amiable answer from her and an
offer to put me up for the night. That
was what took me down on Monday.
'Tuxbury Old Hall is inaccessible
five miles from anywhere. There
was no trap at the station, so l had
to walk, carrying my suit case, and
it was nearly dark before / arrived.
&c <an,. l. e4fa Itt,rr
in considerable park. with gates,
keepers lodge, drive and all the other
amenities. / should judge it was of
all sorts of ages and styles, starting
on a half-timbered Elizabethan foun-
dation, and ending in Victorian nor
tico. Inside it was all paneling and
tapestry and half-effaced old pictures.
a house of shadows and mystery.
There was butler, old Hugh, who
seemed about the same age as the
house, and there was his wife, who
might have been older. She had been
Godfrey's nurse, and / had heard him
speak of her as second only to his
mother in his affections. SO l was
drawn to her in spite of her queer
The mother / liked also
Ia gentle little white mouse of a
woman. 1t was only the colonel him
self whom I disliked.
1--WE had a bit of barney right
away, and / should have walked back
to the station If / had not felt that
it might be playing his game for me
his study and there / found him,
huge, bowbacked man with a smoky
skin and a struggling gray beard,
seated behind his Uttered desk. A
red-veined nose jutted out like a vul-
lures beak, and two fierce gray eyes
glared at me from under tufted
brows. / could understand now why
Godfrey seldom spoke of his father.
" SWELL, sir he said in rasping
voice L should be interested
to know the real reasons for this
visit
II answered that I had explained
them in my letter to his wife.
Yes. yes, you said that you had
known Godfrey in Africa. We have,
of course, only your word for that
~ have his letters to me in my
pocket
:" Kindly let me see them
"He glanced at the two which I
handed him, and then he tossed them
back.
We'll, what them he asked.
,
sir. Many ties and memories united
us. Is it not natural that l should
wonder at his sudden silence and
should wish to know what has be-
come of him.?
Il have some recollection, sir, that
had already correspondent with you
and had told you what had become of
him. He has gone upon voyage
round the world. His health was
/. LII
periences and both his mother and /
were of opinion that complete rest
and change We're needed. Kindly pass
that explanation on to any other
friends who may be interested in the
matter
Certainly + answered. But per-
haps you would have the goodness to
let me have the name of the steamer
and of the line by which he sailed,
together with the date. / have no
doubt that / should be able to get
letter through to him.
My request seemed both to puzzle
and to irritate my host. His great
eyebrows came down over his eyes
and he tapped his fingers impatiently
on the table. He looked up at last
with the expression of one who has
seen his adversary make a dangerous
move at chess, and has decided how
to meet it.
Many people, Mr.. Dodd.' said he,
would take offense at your internal
pertinacity and would think that this
insistence had reached the point of
damned impertinence.'
You must put it down, sir, to
my real love for your SON.
Exactly. l have already made
every allowance upon that score. /
must ask you, however, to drop these
inquiries. Every family has its own
inner knowledge and its own motives,
which cannot always be made clear
to outsiders, however we'll intentioned.
My wife is anxious to hear something
of GodfreyS past which you are in
a position to tell her. but / would ask
you to let the present and the future
alone. Such inquiries serve no useful
purpose, sir, and place us in a deli
cate and difficult position.
80 / came TO a dead end. Mr.
Holmes. There was no getting past
it. i could only pretend to accept
the situation and register a vow in
wardly that / would never rest until
my friends fate had been cleared up
1t was a dull evening. We dned
quietly, the three of us, in a gloomy
faded old room, with heavy shadows
like brown curtains draping the cor
nerS while the aged butler attended
to our needs. The lady questioned
me eagerly about her son, but the
old man seemed morose and de-
pressed. | was SO bored blythe whole
proceeding that | made an excuse
as soon as l decently could and re-
tired to my bedroom. 1t was a large
bare room on the groufi floor. as
gloomy as the rest OF lighthouse, but
after year of sleepings upon the