The Washington times., 1938-02-04

passport ana repeated the Sdlu
tation: Mecca" The three mer
bowed and one of them took the
piece of bristol from me; he pro
duced the corresponding bit from
a wallet. fitted the two together
nodded and made a sign for me
to sit down.
Il cannot stop" I turned tc
Hadji Ali" give me the papers
and I must CO.
NEW AIR GUN
Each of the men in turn pro
duced several thin sheets folded
small. Hadja Ali took them and
one by one, handed them to me.
The new air gun-the plans OF
the new bombing plane-the spec
|ifications of the long range
bomb thrower-the new Amerl'
can machine-gun," he said.
I showed him the secret
compartment in my handbag and
he put the papers there himself
The three men watched me like
hawks.
My informer had handed me
with the credentials, a fat en-
velope which 1 was to give Hadjj
Ali when the papers were safely
in my possession.
What about the news of Ara
bia ." I asked at random.
His eyes narrowed, then he
smiled wolfishly: "Ah - that
comes later-when the plans fol
the jihad are ready :"
Jihad-Holy war-eh? Wei
it was good to know that it waE
being planned anyway. I rost
and bowed round. "Now
go
The three men rose together
1--WE foIlow-cloSe-in case ;
The leader volunteered. A con
tingency the Chief and I hao
foreseen, however
FOLLOWED BY THREE
I walked out of the house
boldly, but 1 knew that a few
yards behind, three silent Ori
entails followed, watching my
every movement. We turned the
corner of the mean little street
1 cast watchful glances around
opposite Hadji Ais house, in the
doorway of another shop a loater
was busy lighting a fag end; an
other loitered by the marchand
de wins next to the Hadji's dwell
ling. Others were undoubtedly
concealed in the dark doorWayi
and passages of the street.
1 glanced up at the steps OF the
Hotel Lutetia as I passed and
caught the eye of a smart young
man who stood there, swinging
his stick and humming little
tune. Instantly, he ran down the
steps, Knocked against me
snatched at my bag, wrenched II
out of my hand and Sprinted ur
the Boulevard. stop thief-stor
thief" 1 yelled and ran after him
Several people joined in the chase
and 1 heard my three shadows
padding after me. The thief rar
until he arrived plumb into the
arms of two gendarmes rushing
from the opposite side OF the
street to intercept him.
There we're more gendarmes be
hind, and a middle-aged, painting
gentleman in a bowler hat and
pale yellow gloves, who seemed tc
direct the chase. The bowler
hated gentleman h d taken
charge of the proceedings. He had
his hand on the shoulder OF the
smartly dressed young man and
my bag was dangling by its strap
from his finger: This yours
Madame? I'm afraid I'll have tc
ask you to accompany us to the
police station to charge the thief
Here, this taxi will do," he pushed
the young man in and helped me
Take the other witnesses in the
police car" he ordered. The
"other witnesses" we're my three
sallow-faced friends, who were
struggling and Squirming in the
grip of a half-dozen gendarmeS
and plain-clothes men, who hac
materialized from nowhere.
WAS GETTING NERVOUS
1 lay back on the cushions, as
the taxi bounced forward, with
that jerky motion peculiar to the
Paris taxis, and patted the Chief
hand.
That is nice" I said, II was
getting nervous. I expected tc
feel a knife in my back at any
moment"
THE Street of the Dead Tree
eh?" the Chief growled. 1T will
be the Street of the Dead Men,
for these four, or I am much mis-
taken. Yes, I presume you are
right: 1t would have been natural
for these scoundrels to pocket the
money, then try to retrieve the
loot as we'll"
We did not go to any police sta
ton, but to rs, Rue de l'Universite
headquarters of the Second Bureau
Presently, the police car arrived
with its freight, to which the stat
uesque Hadji Ali had been added
I did not see them.
After the papers I had secured
had been examined and gloated
over, rang up the nursing. home
and asked after my patient.
was informed that she had died,
without repaininp consciousness