Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-07-07
By
E. PHILLIPS
I OPPENHEIM
] Copyrisht, 1879, by North Amer:
lean Newspaper Alnance enc
Ice.

haps you had better explain to me once
more, In as few words as possible, ex-
actly what happened"
recounted everything. Hews nodded
resignedly and held up his hand, as
soon as mentioned Leopolds name.
"You needn't tell me what happened"
he groaned. You remembered, OF course,
that you were q British ofncer, and
that, instead Of brain, you had been
endowed with the muscles Of an OK.
Leopold is, presume, in the hospital.
Another police court case tomorrow
eh?"
mot at ALL" assured him coolly. II
tried my best to make friends with Mr..
Leopold"
He looked at me sharply. could see
that he was suspending Judgment.
IF you will read the account OF my
appearance before the magistrate"
went on, you will see that I contra
dicted nothing that Mr.. Leopold SAID:
IT allowed him to pay my fne. DID
not appeal. only went 50 far as TO
deny that was drunk, and that, take
1t, any man In my position would have
said as a matter Of course, whether ne
was or wasn't"
But when you went to Leopold In
the lounge of Claridge's--surely you
PLAYED the muscular hero then?"
II apologiZed for the trouble had
given him, thanked him for having
seen Miss Essiter to the taxicab, l
confided to him the story OF her dis
appearance. I accepted his suggestion
that we should do nothing about 1t for
some hours, and I agreed to leave 1t
In him to make the subsequent in
ouiries. I am to see him again at half
past eight this evening In his rooms:
Very slowly, indeed, wrinkle stole
into Martin Hews' protruding fore
rs It possible" he murmured in
credulously, that you are not quite
a foolp Why did you adopt that at
titude?"
perfectly certain that the obvious one
would be a mistake. preferred Mr..
Leopold to believe that ] accepted his
story and did not connect him with
Miss Essiter's disappearance. thought
that. by keeping in touch with him,
I might learn something.
And you are seeing him again to-
"That Is 30, sir. We shook hands at
parting, and while he went, at my
suggestion, to the hotel ONCE to make
inquiries for himself, stole a letter
from Ills OVCfCOdb pOChSbs
You are beginning to interest me
curiously," by employer confded, with
a little curl Of the lips. II cannot
make UP my mind whether it is a de-
velopment on your part, or whether you
are, indeed. q singular mixture Of i'm
becility and common sense. Show me
1 laid ii. upon the writing table 1t
consisted Of two lines only, written
upon perfectly plain paper. Martin
Hews read out:
"2-39-21-20-1S-37-1S-S-1-l-
1e-s,"
"a communication in cipherl" he
nurrured. We'll, have you been able
to make anything of 1t, Major"
"I am afraid not, STR" admitted.
IT thought you might be able to do
that"
"You fatter me-" was the cynical re-
joinder Cant you see that this is
not q code that lends itself to any OF
the ordinary methods OF decipher1ng?
Did Leopold seem disturbed at having
lost it?"
HE certainly did,
We'll, there's only one thing for
you to do" he pointed out, handing 1t
back to me. Leopold must have the
KEY. You are seeing him this evening.
Possess yourself of it,"
"Thank you for the idea, SIR" I re-
piled. IT will see what can do
He chuckled almost like a human
Upon my word, Major, you are i'm
proving" he declared; you certainly
are improving. II had the time to
spare, / dare say. after all, should
be able to make something Of you. AS
it is, I shall probably be weak enough
to give you another chance. You are
responsible for my niece's disappear
ance. You must get her back"
1T should have set to work at that,
sir, whether you had sent me away or
not" assured him.
LAS a matter Of interest" he pro-
posed, tell me just how you were going
to set about it The methods Of others
are always appealing"
Inspector Bloor will be coming to
see me some time this evening" I an
nounced. IT should have gone down to
Scotland Yard myself, but I have an
idea that I am being watched"
What, that horrible man" Martin
Hews exclaimed irritably. Don't you
know that object to the police inter-
fering In my concerns, except In case
of absolute necessity? I won't nave
them about here, asking questions all
the time. Do you hear, DIVISIONS"
Perhaps you could suggest some
thing. sir?" I ventured.
He moved his chair around the table,
across the room to far stretch OF the
bookcases. There he scanned the
volumes.
Number seven," he said, pointing to
it. Get it down, will you? think the
frontispiece is what want.
I obeyed him. It was mighty vol
urne and of staggering weight. the
title, noticed, was Savage Animals OF
the west African Interior"
"Lay it upon that table" he d.
rected. open out the frontispiece.
We looked at it together great u
Mstration four times doubled. In the
far left-hand corner of 1t, stealing
along through tropical grasses, dense
shrubs, and In the shadow Of enormous
trees, was a strange, f1erce-looking AMI
NAL like some sort OF huge cat. !Cs
head was close to the ground, Its eyes
we're set in an almost terrifying stare.
In the background, following 1t closely,
was a man in bush clothes, with poised
rife creeping along.
"He wants the male" Martin Hews
conf1ded. See here"
He leaned over, and traced the way
through more shrubs, around the huge
trunks of trees, past punches OF nau-
SeouS-looklng 1ungl, anu WnoIS OH W.
berry of exquisite flowers, through dense
masses of underground to slight cieaf-
in0. Here were two more animals lying
at ease, a male and a female, the re-
mains Of a consumed animal be-
tween them. The head Of the male
WAS raised, as though he were listen
ing. Martin Hews looked up at me
with smile.
"A little lesson, my dear Owston, for
YOU amateur detectives, and great one
for Scotland Yard, who are far too me-
chanical-so mechanical that they 1g.
more psychology and sentiment ana
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