Worcester Democrat and the ledger-enterprise., 1938-04-15
CHAPTER Il

Inere Is no uOuDI III my Hliilu VIZ"
they were the work of Axel Svendrup
Oh. we'll, my fine fellow, we will soor
have you where you cannot terrorize
the passengers any more!
spend most of my spare time keep
ing an eye on Svendrup. AS l sit in
the bar over my whiskey and soda, III
my role of a testy old major of the
British India Army, follow his every
move. / am sure he is not suspicious
of me.
Today was a red letter day for the
thief. Disguised as the Captain, he
went to Lady Auckland's cabin and
walked off with her jewels. Right
under the eyes of eight gentlemen, he
robbed the cash drawer in the bar. He
certainly has a colossal nerve, but Sc
cretly l admire his cleverness. He is
a very devil.
Here the diary of the Major ends.
and now l must erase AXel Svendrup
from my life and become the Major.
I smear my hair with the same liquid
that the Major himself had used, [
make my mustache look martial, slip
a knot of ribbon in my button-hole,
and then 1 am ready to pass muster,
off parade at least.
1 rap on the door of No. Is.
"Come I'M"
Good morning, Miss Traer."
A young lady, attired in pajamas,
sat drinking her coffee at a small
table. She raised her beautiful eyes
to mine.
81 thought that you were dead,
Major"
"My sense of chivalry has brought
me back from the dead so l can pro-
tect a damsel in distress"
"When l need protector E. this
is my guardian" she smiled while
holding up a small revolver.
eyes, that is true but :. the other
night it was not of much help to you,"
I reminded her.
81 could not shoot first remem-
Der he is my father" Her voice sound
ed full of feeling.
$50 you do need me, because the
Consul killer will not miss you third
time. l do not understand how he
could have missed you because he is
a marvellous shot"
"Only sixteenth of an inch fur
ther and l would not be here" she
conceded.
81 know that he can shoot a dol
lar bill from ones fingers" l added.
But l am not dollar bill"
'No, but you represent a million to
him."
"Only when l am dead"
THAT is what he wishes and what
we are here to hinder" l answered
and pressed her hand between mine.
Our whole expression of affection
was confirmed to glances-it was not
yet time to speak or even think of
love.
"What did he do to you?"
"He locked me in the ships wine
cellar" I told her.
81 have something to confess to
you; l have had someone arrested" !"
faltered Miss Traer.
"Svendrup?" 1 queried.
Eyes, when you did not come back,
the whole evening and the next morn
ming you were not in your cabin l
was alarmed. Then on deck l came
face to face with Svendrup
thought that, il l had him arrested
we would have one less enemy. But
now that he has escaped, realize
that it was stupid of me to give him
such warning.
81 am sorry - that was not oul
agreement; you should not have done
that"
'I am sorry, too; forgive mel" anC
she held out her hand to me.
We spoke few minutes and thel
1 excused myself. 1 wanted to go OF
deck and find out what had happene'
during my absence. 1 was informe'
that Detective Young was really sicl
sick from the great excitement an
the terrible strain on his nerves. HI
had summoned medical aid and Dl
Jeffers, the ships physician, in hi
great hurry to go to Young, had slip
ped and broken his leg.
It seems that there is another doc
tor, DIR. Rifkamp, on board. | won
der what sort of mask that is;
am most suspicious of this individual
And now have theory. The ship
doctor is sick and someone has assum
ed the mask of doctor.
ran back to Miss Traer's cabi