The Waterbury Democrat., 1938-02-18
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outcast child.
 Now Miss Greeley looked se- verely at Philip Hendry.
 Just what did you want to learn about Joan Barrett?" she demanded again.
 Philip squirmed under her piercing gaze.
 Something about her charac- ter, I should say," he replied, be- slowing, with an effort, one of his most gracious smiles upon her. My uncle has taken a great fancy to her, and naturally we are a little interested in her back ground"
 "Why?"
 Philip tok out a cigaret, pro- ceeded to light it.
 My uncle," he said, "is very wealthy man. We thought - in the event" He waved the cigaret expressively in the air, apropos of nothing.
 Miss Greeley's severity increased. She did not like young men who smoked without first asking her per- mission.
 You thought?" she prompted.
 "Well - in the event that he might wish to remember Miss Barrett in his will - he would, of course, want to know more about her"
 Your uncle sent you here to make these inquiries?"
 Philip flushed uneasily.
 "Yes," he replied, 8 little hesi- tantly. That is -- in way, my uncle sent me-
 q do not understand you, young man. Did your uncle send you or not?"
 Well - not exactly -"
 T see. Suppose then, you leave your uncles name and address with me and I will mail him a formal report within few days.
 Philip fidgeted in his chair. This was becoming an ordeal. Curse Sybil and her silly sus- picions, anyway.
 My uncle would prefer" he replied, brightening as he sud- denly thought of plausible answer, If I brought him the re- port personally. Miss Barrett, as I explained, is his confidential secretary. Any report coming through the mails would natural ly fall into her hands first. He does not wish to embarass her, of course"
 of course"
 Miss Greeley pressed a buzzer on her desk. A moment later a young woman stepped into her office.
 Miss Baldwin, will you bring me the record card of Joan Barrett, class of 1927?"
 "Yes, Miss Greeley"
 Philip looked after Miss Bald win aprovingly. Why the devil hadn't he asked for Miss Greeley's secretary instead of the old Anna zon herself? He waited in un- comfortable silence until Miss Baldwin returned. He scanned Miss Greeley's desk for some sort of ash receiver; seeing none, he pinched his cigaret butt and threw it into the waste-basket She watched him coldly, offering no solution to his dilemma, and her eyes followed the flight of the cigaret into her basket with ob- vious disapproval.
 To Philip it seemed an age before Miss Baldwin returned with the de- sired information.
 Thank you, Miss Baldwin. l shall return this to you later. Miss Greeley took the card and studied it carefully for a moment.
 Miss Barrett" she told Philip presently, seems to have been one of our best students. Her de- pertinent record is perfect. Schol- astically she was very much above the average, particularly in history, literature and foreign languages. I can give you her marks in each subject, should you desire specific details. There is no indication of any laxity either in punctuality or attendance. She was a member of the French club and played on the basketball team Is there anything else you would like to know, young mann"
 Anything else? You old witch, Philip thought, you haven't told me blessed thing.
 "One more detail" he suggested, after moment. How long was Miss Barrett a student here?"
 Two years"
 And where did she attend school prior to that?"
 Miss Greeley looked at the card again. Our records do not indi- cate that" she lied. It. would bt