Evening star., 1934-03-01
EGH!6TMIEER7!%k| ~! {
&H PY P:GNp9ffERRt{SSE: E, ~

/ Dut MISS fuCnam COulQ see CIldI SAc
was much shaken.
There's no occasion to worry, Mrs.
G. I'm here. When you hire an
employe of the James B. Flaherty
Agency, you're getting something"
But what can you do?"
Listen" said Miss Putnam. You
light a cigaret and smoke it till there's
hardly nothing left, only half an inch
of stub, and I'll guarantee to shoot 1t
out of your mouth at 20 PAGES. That's
what can do"
Mrs. Gedge seemed to recover her
self Il am sure I can rely on you
completely"
THE slogan of the James B. Fla
herty Office is service" said Miss
Putnam devoutly.
leave everything to you. ! must go
and find Wellington and tell him
about the change of rooms. think
I will go to bed at once. I am q
little tired after my journey"
Miss Putnam, watching her till the
door closed, shook her head. Then
she frightened Her Spectacled face
lifted itself, not unlike that of a war
horse shifting the approaching battle.
And stirring happenings were her
dish
During the momentous interview
between Packy and Mrs. Gedge, Mr..
I Gedge had been lowering within easy
distance of the library door; and the
self-enrolled employe Of the London,
Paris & New York Insurance Co. had
hn
upon him.
Packy's report had brought new life
to him. According to Packy, Mrs.
Gedge had swallowed his story hook,
line and sinker 1t made Mr.. Gedge
feel as if he had been reprieved on
the steps of the scaffold.
| The information, conveyed to him
some few minutes later by Mrs. Gedge,
that she proposed to occupy his bed
room and that he was to shift his
belongings to the Venetian suite, did
nothing to diminish his elation. He
could not understand why she wished
to make this odd exchange, but then
she did so many things of which he
was unable to divine the motive. He
put it down to a Woman's idle Whlm
| and went out into the grounds al
most trippingly. AS he rounded the
! corner of the house he was actually
singing.
| AS he sauntered along and drew
near to the back premises OF the cha
teau his eyes, rowing idly to and fro,
suddenly fell upon a sight which
brought him back on his heels as If
fist had smitten him.
What Mr Gedge had seen was
gendarme. A gendarme who had just
slipped back into the bushes outside
the kitchen door, with the sinister
furtiveness of a hunting leopard.
Now we, having had the advantage
of that bird's-eye view to which alluslon
was made earlier, know all about this
gendarme, We are aware that ne was
not a remorseleSS bloodhound on the
trail, but merely likable young man
of the name of Octave, who was wait
ing for pie. We, therefore, are able
to behold him calmly. Our eyes, like
stars, do not start from their spheres
Mr.. Gedge's did. He was mere
jelly of palpitating ganglions. The
frightful realization had come upon
him that, despite all his plans and
caution, the police had tracked him
down.
He wheeled and retraced his steps.
And it was as he once more rounded
the corner of the house that he en-
countered Packy, the one man with
whom he was in a position to discuss
this awful affair.
SAY" he gasped.
Mr.. Gedge's goggle-eyed horror per-
picked Packy. 1t was only few min
utes since he had left him in what
was virtually a state of mental peace.
"Listen!" said Mr.. Gedge tensely.
1.-THE cops are watching the house!
I saw him. With my own eyes"
"You did?"
Eyes, sir"
"Where?"
HE was hiding in the bushes out
side the kitchen door,"
"Just one cop?"
zones plenty"
Packy could make nothing of this.
Every odd" he said.
Mr.. Gedge was not in a frame Of
mind to be flnicky about the mot
juste, but this adjective seemed to
him so extraordinarily inadequate
that he snorted wrathfully.
"Odd!"
"Wait here" said Packy. "I'n 60
and have q look at this fellow"
Packy made his way to a point Of
vantage from which he was able to
observe the kitchen door. He had
-,