Evening star., 1938-01-09

l found myself, as had rather anti
cipated from what had seen through
the west windows, standing in long,
narrow saloon which must have oc-
cupied the whole of the western front
of the house. 1t was furnished in an
ultra-smart way which bordered upon
vulgarity. There were glass tables and
distorted busts; uncomfortable arm
chairs and unrelieved pale-blue walls.
Set near to the window which we
had first approached was an oval
glass-topped table on which l saw
glasses and bottle of wine. Actually,
all these details presented themselves
to my mind later; because at the
moment when the light sprang up
was concerned only with the man who
was responsible for this illumination.
He stood at the far end of the room
near door beside which saw there
were number of switches; tall. sal
low man. handsome in an unpleasant
way. He had cleaning black, wavy
hair, penciled mustache and we'll
shaped but sensual features.
He was covering us with an auto
matte! Put your hands up!' He
spoke sharply in French.
was tempted to obey. for the man
looked dangerous, but Trevvy, crop
ing for his monocle, raised it and hold
ing it slightly away from his eye sur
veyed the speaker with an air of mild
surprise. Surely" he said, latter I
have made my apology for this intru-
sion. you will permit me to explain
why it took place"
But the man with the gun remained
stationary; his heavylidded eyes were
menacing. Put your hands up"
De Treville dropped his monocle.
IF the behavior of my friend and my
SELF" he said coolly. us unusual.
yours, if may say so, is inexcusable."
l saw the barrel wavering. Trevvy
was staring at that oval table upon
which the bottle of wine stood.
who are you? What have you
come for?
Following the direction of my
friends stare, l noticed something
which l had not noticed at the mo-
ment of my entrance. There was a
woman's handbag on the table.
Ignoring the weapon which still COW
cred him, de Treville walked forward
and touched the handbag II rather
think" he replied. you know. Where
have you hidden her - and why?"
Upon hearing that characteristic
query. l resigned myself. Long ex-
perience of de Treville had never
enabled me to discern when he was
playing poker and when he was acting
upon some piece of concrete evidence
which had come into his possession.
have never known man of more alert
mind
So that now l was asking myself:
has he recognized the monogram on
the handbag? In other words - does
he know what he is talking about? Or
is he angling for exact information?
The man addressed made an odd
grimace and put the automatic in his
pocket. Il still dispute your right to
force a way into my house." he said.
But in the circumstances, if not
legal, suppose must regard the in
trusion as excusablc"
1T was inevitable" de Treville
assured him. you heard me ringing.
Did you suppose l should 60 away
until had seen her?"
"She is not here, Captain du Bartas."
had now stepped up between the
two, for l remained uncertain of the
issue. Glancing at de Trevllle, l de-
tected flicker in his eye which told
me that he was indebted to our host
for the name, Captain du Bartas.
Leisurely he took up the handbag.
fixed his eyeglass in place, and faced
the sallow man. "If that is SC" he said.
"how do you account for the fact that
her handbag lies on this table?"
81 found it in my car when l re-