The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1933-12-29

today-if he is her cousin. I believe
that however the plot was framed orig
inally, when the final settlement is ar
rived at the husband Is to be the
gull"
what do you want me to do?" Stone
asked.
Il want you to so to their address
and ask for him. Either he has gone
away or she has, They can hardly ex-
pect to put this through living In the
same house. There must be at least a
pretense of separation. I fancy it will
prove to be the man who has gone.
With miniature to be copied, ]
scarcely think they will refuse you his
address,
I'll get his address. Is that alp
How good is your French?" Sniff
asked. Gould you pass yourself off
as Frenchman?"
French was my first language"
10 to the house then, pretending to
talk no English. There is no servant,
so Madame Mabeuse is pretty certain
to come to the door. If she speaks
French to you, be sure to ask IL it is
Madame Mabeuse. I'm convinced that
both she and her precious cousin are
or French origin and that her sudden
lack Of understanding Of the language
is part Of the plan"
Am to go to see Mabeuse?"
II don't know exactly how best to
wangle that" Smif knit her brows
1.-THE point is that want to see him,
and soon. ought to surprise him. The
only thing is to say you will call, and
when you do, I'll go with you"
Stone got up. /.
1T oughtn't to take long," he said.
If. it's not too late, I'll come back and
report. If it is, I'll telephone"
"You are a comfortl" Sniff declared
| fervently.
"There should be one in every fam
ily," he assured her gravely as he went
| out.
He returned before she had begun
to expect him.
"a man came to the door," he plunged
into his news without waiting for ques-
lions. II wonder If 1t was the gay
Lothario? He had a tiny waxed mus
| tache."
''No," said Sniff, shat must have
been Pulaski, the lawyer. Mayer was
clean shaver. It was the only differ
ence between them"
| He didn't understand any French.
I made deprecatory gestures. Shout
ders shrugged, palms upturned, head
! on one side; but 1 stood my ground
and demanded Monsieur Mabeuse?
Madame Mabeuse? So finally he
stepped back into the hall and called
up the stairs: Hey, Cert There's
Belgian atrocity here asking for you
At once she came down the stairs.
You wished to see me-? She spoke
English and was disappointed, but
I broke into voluble French explana-
ton. I was sorry to have deranged
Madame It was her husband wished
to consult. That is, If she was Madame
Mabeuse? (She nodded yes.) He was
painter Of portraits, was he not? /
had small miniature Of an ancestor.
My idea, If he thought 1t practical, was
to have life-size copy made"
Sniff clapped her hands.
"Oh, that was clever, Stone"
/. "But first I wanted him to repro
duce the miniature. I desired a rep
lica to send to my sister who lives In
Antwerp. The mention Of Antwerp let
loose a sudden flood of words and the
flood was perfectly good and under
standable French. All, would / not
come in? She, Madame, was Of Ant
werp although her mother was Ger
man, pur sang. did not accept the
invitation to go In. I think / was
foolish there. I might have learned
something of value, but I'm new to
the detective business and I was anx-
ious to get on to Monsieur Mabeuse.
produced the miniature. The man
had stood around while all this was
going on and at last appeared to be
getting fidgety. She turned to him. 1T
is work for Pierre she explained in
English. What do do? He appeared
to consider the point for an instant.
oh, give him the beggar's address, he
said at last, and she turned to me
again, speaking French as a matter of
course, Monsieur Mabeuse Is not here.
He is engaged at Number AIT in the
next street. very occupied with his
work. Probably you will find him
there had no difficulty In finding
the place and the man, who. strangely
enough, had no artists materials at
the house where he was supposed to
be painting. However, he told me that
he was a rapid worker and would
promise to finish the miniature in a
few days. I suggested that / would
call in day or two to see how he
was progressing, an idea to which he
offered no objections. Then l left"