Evening star., 1934-03-08

it sent Packy back into his chair as
if he had been hamstrung
Whats the matter?" asked Jane
anxiously,
Nothing" said Packy.
Jane had gone to the door and
was listening Satisfied by the quiet
without, she came back, her face de-
termined. Il was talking to father
i tonight" she said
He told me your friend Mr. Slat-
/ terry had refused TO get that letter
And ne told me you had told him
that Mrs. Gedge's room would be
empty tonight"
Packy nodded sadly That" he
said, lis the bitter thought I worked
ike a dog to that end and now it's
all no use"
You have been wonderful" said
Jane. you've been wonderful all
along. l don't think I've ever ad-
mired anybody so much"
Her eyes were shining and Packy
averted his gaze. In the circum-
stances. he felt, the less he saw of
shining eyes the better. The honor
Of the Franklyns was Just equal to
the task of keeping him from picking
this girl up in his arms and kissing
her. if he looked the other Way. It
was best not 10 put too great q strain
upon it. That blue negligee alone had
been sufficient TO make it wobble.
And ii isn't all no use continued
Jane. because everythings fine"
This remarkable statement succeed
ed in overcoming Packy's resolve not
to look at her She was standing
with her chin up and her ewes
sparkling. and The blue negIgee was
b!uer than ever. He looked away
again.
! Because. I mean, when father told
me that, I had an idea, I thought.
Well, darn it, there vas a burglary
in the house only a couple of nights
ago, so she can't think it funny if
I'm nervous. so I went TO Miss Put
nam and told her l wanted to put
my brooch and things in Mrs. Gedge's
safe. And she said certainly. OF
course. and she took me to Mrs.
Gedge's room and opened the safe
and put the things in. And I
watched her all the time. and what
she did was she sort OF twiddled a
bit and there was a sound like some
tnlng dropping, and then she tWiddled
some more and the door came open.
n sure can remember how it was
done. So what I mean is. why
shouldn't We 90 there now and have
a try.
Packy could not speak The thought
that gil capable of thinking up a
last one like that should be madIy
throwing herself away or Blair Eagles
ton, man who wore side whiskers
and. II the truth were known, was
probably secret beret- -Wearer as vel!
was Infinitely saodening.
And to secure the Senator's letter
would be TO remove al obstacles TO
their union.
He bit the bullet The Queen could
90 no wrong. Il she wished thus to
throw herself away, so be it. And if
Fate in its irony insisted that he must
be the one TO help her to do so. the
thing had to be faced.
He saw now the part he must play
He must stand by her to the end. and
then join her hands to Blair EggleS-
tons and give them his blessing and
/ wander out into the sunset with a
stuffed gulp OF remuneration. And
many years later a white haired
Wanderer would peer through the
hedge Of an Old World garden and
see children playing on the lawn with
their mother-gray now, but still beau
tnul-and would wipe away tear and
pluck rosebud from bush and
place it next his heart and 60 of and
do lot of good somewhere.
But he wished it had been some
one except Blair Eggleston.
Jane misinterpreted his silence.
Don't you think it's worth trying?"
Packy came to himself with a start.
"Ot course. it's worth trying"
Then what are We waiting for?"
We aren't waiting said Packy.
Come on"
Soup Slattery stood gazing at the
dim figure, and it is interesting to
record that his first emotion on be-
holding it was one of almost maudlin
pity. Unable to distinguish anything
for the moment beyond a shapeless
outline, he had leaped to the conclu-
sion that Packy, deprived of his pro-
fessional aid, was trying as a forlorn
hope to accomplish something in his
blundering, amateur way for himself.
He felt like father brooding benev-
olently over his infant SON
Then the figure turned for an in
stant; the light of the torch disclosed
the features of Gordon Carlisle: and
Mr.. Slattery ceased to feel paternal
Mention has already been made of
the dislike Soup Slattery had for trade
rivals. For partners and business as
sociates who suddenly displayed them
selves in that capacity his antipathy
can scarcely be expressed in words.
The discovery that Gordon Carlisle,
whom he had trusted freely, was at
tempting to double-cross him was so