Evening star., 1929-06-27

been rescued from starvation, or from
| borrowing from his friends-which Is
o trifie worse-isnt very particular
what he does, so long as It's on the
level When this scrap came along.
was only too thankful to be OF any
assistance"
The inspector nodded sympathet-
icaliy.
very natural-very natural indeed.
6til," he went on, "it seems unreason-
able, Major, that you shouldn't have
is this I'm taking on? What am !
"Under ordinary conditions, ] dare
say you're right" I agreed. 'but YOU
must remember that flrst of all was
too grateful to get any sort of job at all
to worry much about what my duties
would be, and secondly this scrap has
disorganized the whole household and
driven everything else out of my
thoughts I imagine that presently Mr..
Hews will take me q little further into
his confidence. Then shall have a
clearer idea Of what he expects from
me-"
quite reasonable" my questioner
admitted. quite reasonable. You
were never In the intelligence depart
msnt yourself. were you. during the
"Never," I told him. ST never had
any stan appointment Of any sort. My
soldering was nearly all regimental
work"
Nevertheless" the inspector con-
tinued, capt. Joyce always spoke Of
you-your name cropped up often In
our conversation-as person Of COM
mon sense. put 1t to you, as they say
in the law courts, that you must have
been struck by certain mysterious things
concerning this household"
"In q sense, Of course, that Is true"
agreed. "On the other hand, @
soldier gets into the habit of ninding
them"
"This--er-network of secret pas
sages. doors that only open by electricity,
and searchlights that are played
around the countrywide"
shrugged my shoulders.
"Afr. Martin Hews himself" I
pointed out, els O very exceptional
person. He Is q cripple, and he has
here an Immensely valuable collection
Of curios. I should take 1t for granted
that he was justified in any means he
adopted 10 protect himself"
But all these contriyances." my
pleasant voice, ARE really not so much
use, after all, as means Of protection.
They failed him, for instance, the
other night"
THAT was because the whole show
was given away by member OF the
household who was in league with the
burglars," ] pointed out-"Miles, the
butler, the fellow who got shot,"
"Quite true. Nevertheless, under
stand that the whole system is being
Teinstailed, and successor to the un-
fortunate electrician who was murdered
already appointed. Now I should like
to ask you this question, major. Re-
member that ! am speaking on be-
half OF the custodians of the law of
this country, and that you too are one
Of the kings servants. ask you, has
1t never occurred to you that there Is
something mysterious about this whole
house? suggest that there might be
something going on here that may be
II am speaking quite frankly-of a
criminal nature?"
"There are possibilities of every sort,
Of eouse," acknowledged. "I am not
OF an imaginative turn of mind, how
ever, and so far as have thought
about the matter at all, I have re-
haembefed that Mr.. Hews, like a great
many reformed people, is probably of a
1re&kiEh turn OF MIND. These devices
appeal to him and he is rich enough
In connection with them that has come
under my notice could In any way be
considered an offensA against the law"
"Five footmen," my visitor muir
INJURED.
81 don't see anything in that at all"
declared. There Is surely no reason
why wealthy man, who can perfectly
well afford 1t, shouldn't keep few
extra servants TO help him guard his
treasures"
The inspector listened to me with
Gs s cnanse ts s ot nay was tel ;ee.
whether he believed me or not.
There II Q young lady, at present
an inmate Of the household, who was
mentioned 90 being one Of the causes of
the attack. Why does Mr.. HeWs pro-