Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-09-02
Continued from Yesterdays star
INSTALLMENT xxx.
No News of Martin.

Room. a person of infinite tao
and patience having finally Succeeoe
in obtaining his order Ion dinner, re
tired 10 the further end Of the room II
Wei, we're here" his Difficult
patron exclaimed glcon'ily, looSlni
round at his companions Il oon
see what good we expect to 90. any
thing in the evening papers oefaio'
Nothing at all. sir.
Iauvita and Blanche, stu III tien
travelling clothes. completed the lttl'
party. they had motored up iron
ArtirSnc.nn that m0rning--tbe iourtI
since Martins disappearance.
Il think. If / may say so, you peo'
nile are getting the wind up aoou
nothing. Gerald remarked thought
fulIv as he toyed with the menu
"pelIows are always disappearing tol
q few DAYS and turning up AGAIN alIeR
ward" ......,,,,
But not under the same circum-
stances" Blanche objected Aeon , ~
ing to the papers, Martin cnails ..su,,i iIIS
clothes after ne got up from Arot4iig
fn,, ard simply went out 10 dine. ne
tnnk no luggage and expressly told MS
servant that he should be back before
III That is four days ago. ana hot
hing has been heard OF NM
@Of course he may have got lnto
trouble =" Gerald reflected. "especlaily II
he vas used to carrying a gooo oeaI Oh
money about with him. There lSll
ranch Of that sort of thing IN London,
thoueh. I shouldn't be surprised 10
fud that he has Just gone on JollS
cnnr hat. some one has lent nun Soille
e SN.t.g ar3 he'lf come back all right
,,.he,, he's tired of it. He seemed
SarY,,less enough chap down at Arornlg-
~, hut then he was rather out OF ms
,,,et,er wasn't he2 He probably mao
q few little affairs hanging over from
+he time when he was corlr1efci,al
traveller and played cricket ior the
Bermondsey wanderers. .,,,-
You're a very bad judge Of your
feIlownen If you believe ANYTHING OF
the sort" Blanche said quietly.
he has met with any serious trouole,
I think it is probably due rather 10 MS
new friends than his old,
Gerald finished his cocktail ana stooo
up 70 take his leave.
Sorry can't dine" he apoIoglzeo'
"Tf III had anv idea that you people
vera coming I'D I'd have arranged IT.
T.aurjta made a little grimace. =,
- * not p!easant that you leave us
she complained. ?
1T is very hard luck on me that
have To-" he rejoined, dropping his
voice. Never mind. shall come oacA
and there will be tomorrow. :,
He raised her fingers to his lips ana
departed. Laurita's eyes followed nm
to the door.
Gerald doesn't seem particularly
sympathetic" Blanche remarked orliy.
Laurita sighed.
I'VE is not fond of Martin, ! am
afraid" she said. Men are ike tnat-
Dinner was served and conversation
for the time languished Then the TWO
rnen entered the restaurant u1eXpecT-
edly dramatically. It was Blanche who
saw them first. She recognized them
AT once, though the only time she nao
seen them before was one hasty glimpse
es they had sauntered down the terrace
at Ardrington. She laid her hand upon
her uncle's arm.
"uncle." she whispered, buck up,
there's a dear! They're coming In here
20 dine-Victor Porle and the little
man"
Iord Ardrington's exclamation was al
most a smothered cry Of terror.
Have they seen us?'
"Not vet" Blanche answered. And
when they do. what does it matter?
They can't even annoy us in here.
without a doubt the two men seemed
To have the knack of inspiring conf
6ence and respect among rlalfres
fi,f1oteIs The head waiter himself,
vsnturirg out from his obscurlty,
Isilered them to their table, a corner
Gre. only a few yards away, and II
vzs he who placed the menus In their
they're quite harmless here. :"
Blanche went on reassuringly. on
the whole, I'm rather glad 20 see them
It shows they can't have wniskeo Maj
tin on anywhere.
Her uncle made no reply. He SEEM
ed indeed scarcely capable of speech.
His cheeks were of an ashen Color the
old horror Of Ardrington was upon him
again. Laurita leaned forward and pat
TED MS hand Under her black motoring
vel. her face was strangely pale. al
though -~sr lips and eyes remained Vivid
and alluring.
what could happen which need
siarYn youF" she said smoothly. Il my
self feel safer here in London than IN
the country. They can do us no harm.
Lord AYdrington made great ef-
fort
.tyou are both of YOU right" he con-
fessed-" both you and Blanche. What
! feel about these two men. however, r
1E3E EGfJdS2E VA SAEANaAaSA11A- 49, as
though there moved with them the
shadows Of my old misdeedS-blaek.
grizzly and knocking effgies. They
know it, TOO, and they glory in II"
The head waiter, whose p0rtly per-
son had blocked the intervening space,
departed now 10 hand III his order, and
with his movement the occupants OF
the two tables were in full view Of one
another There was a moments mac
ZION, hen a whispered word or two
from Victor Porte 70 hts companion, fol-
irving upon which the former rose to
lbs feet and deliberately crossed the few
yards which separated them. Blanche
watched his approach with acute yet
disturbed curiosity. Lord Ardrington,
whose self control in moments Of crisis
seemed TO automatically reassert itself,
sat with the face Of a sphinx Laurita' s
eyes were fixed upon her fathers, tense
and fascinated The latter bowed very
lev toward her, but she made no re-
Spouse, neither did she turn away her
gaze.
"Ardr!ngton." the newcomer began,
standing by his side, with the air Of
one very much at his ease, Il venture
10 pay you this, fear undesired visit,
because can offer you news Of mat
ter In which you are doubtless inter-
egtec"
No possible words could have more
completely surprised the little COM
pany.
You mean that you know some
thing about the disappearance Of Mar
tin Barnes?" Blanche demanded.
II know this much" was Victor
Poyle's reply. On Tuesday night my
friend Solomon Graunt and dined al
Alario's Whilst We sat at the bar your
young friend came In He accepted our
Invitation to join US IN a cocktail per
h2ps two, perhaps three IL was our
il1pression--We may have been mis-
Somebody Ought To
Tell Him of