Evening star., 1927-10-06
THE BLACK JOKER
RY ISABEL OSTR4NDER.

| Daddy catch the boat at Havre or at
least send her cable?
But the day passed and still there
| Was no news of him. Basil FerrarS re-
| iOined her after a brief interval to an
! nounce that MIR. Padmore had been
! compelled to leave on an urgent busi-
! ness matter and before going he had
/ urged Mrs Madison so solemnly to
. guard her ward that the old lady had
! become alarmed for Janet's safety.
! ITS perfectly ridiculous, of course
he finished with a laugh. Nothing
ran even annoy or disturb you here,
, and Your father would be the last TO
want Mrs. Madison unnecessarily wor-
/ ricd. Padmore's like a fuSSy old Wom-
en- himself.
SO padmore had gone without
! even a last word with her! Janet's
! heart sank, although she could not
| have told why; she felt no slightest
! fear for her safety here at home, sur
rounded by her fathers friends and
/ servants, but she was forced to check
| the impulse to tell Ferrars very short
! lv that the mystery surrounding her
! was enough to annoy and disturb any
/ one. Still, she had almost forced her.
! self into it and it was Daddy's affair;
! she must wait.
At luncheon Mrs. Madison was her
usual. cheerful, gracious self again,
seeming anxious only for the delayed
/ cable message from Richard Dane,
and afterward Janet announced that
she was going to her room TO read and
rest. Once there, however, she put
on a heavy tweed sport suit and felt
hat and slipped down to Il side door
that opened on path leading around
the kitchen gardens and tennis courts.
The treaCherOuS warmth OF early
Spring had vanished with cold east
wind and the sky was overcast and
heavy with a hint of coming rain, but
she wanted to take a long walk by
herself with no one to interrupt her
| thoughts.
The path branched off into another
! that wound back behind the stables
and garage toward the woodland, and
| once under the shade of the great
| trees Janet breathed more freely. She
had at least succeeded in eluding Basil
| Ferrars. and solitude brought peace to
| her bewildcred spirit. Perhaps Daddy
| wouldn't bother to send message, be-
| lieving she would take his silence to
mean that he was on his way back to
| her, No news would be good news in
| that event and her spirits lightened as
she strolled deeper into the gloom.
| The sky was growing darker where
| it showed through the interlaced
| branches overhead and presently a
gentle, steady rain pattered down. but
| Janet kept on, comfortable in her
heavy jacket and stout boots. although
! she had left the. dwindling path long
since and wandered over the thick car
pet of leaves which innumerable dy-
| ing seasons had left underfoot.
| All at once something stirred in
deep copse ahead and she halted. No
| bird or small animal could have caused
that violent rustling. which had ceased
as abruptly as her own footsteps on
| the sodden leaves. Mrs. Madison had
said her father used this tract for his
shooting: could it be stocked with
| bigger game?
Then the dense thicket Of under
growth parted and Janet suppressed a
| little scream as a mans face peered
out at her, and she remembered the
glimpse of Bill skulking near the
| boundaries of Daneholm the day be-
| fore. Why hadn't she brought Philip