Evening star., 1940-01-04

ilsison ofhcer. has been DELAYED;
Claire knfw I she She can't rashes esurp TO hQmf Sef
aeA BAGS to CIV which 10 are sfsxed automatic
Ssss bsss in whsn his taxi Ghsueass he eH there
are nve One is an exact duplicate Of
her overnight bag. Pierre Bornet OF the
psnin epenng fee' the fifth AFT bag finds only a
carton containing chemical capable
Cameron he'd written per frst. name
caled nenOai his q privats secretary nan Msnythins
but Miss Dutton. Back in her own own
nns ns finds 20 mee her pyen1 Sroess Sas
II u"'naHS' he nav share ARE her taxi. He says
sns Ser KantT Us tive ease snd wheh had bee
in the stolen bag In IT. is q caro-
on which is printed only Y. Y
CHAPTER 5.
Claire smiled up at Danny Brooks
and extended her hand in greeting.
She liked Danny and she thought
again as she met him how perfectly
he fitted into the picture she always
had had of what a foreign cor
respondent should look like.
Suave in manner, handsome, al
though bit forid of face, his we'll
tailored figure was one that would
attract attention any place.
"Claire!" he exclaimed. How
nice to see you. I thought by now
you'd be we'll headed for home"
so did l." she answered, with a
little laugh. But I lost my boss
some place and I couldn't very well
go home and leave him here, could
II"
Brooks piloted her toward the bar
at the side of the room and before
she had a chance to explain what
had happened to Cameron he was
introducing her to several people
she had never seen before.
IT want you to meet some friends
Of mine, Claire" he said. This is
Maria Herczek-and Julie Roland"
Claire nodded and smiled and
glanced quickly at the women, but
before she could make up her mind
about them Danny was presenting
her to George Roland and Capt.
Rene Martin. Roland inclosed her
hand in a hearty clasp and mur-
INJURED. pleased to meetcha," and
the Frenchman, when his turn
came, bowed from the waist and
brushed the back of her hand with
his lips.
Claire Goes Cautiously.
Capt. Martin was in uniform and
Claire noted the gold wings pinned
to the left breast of his coat, which
indicated he was an aviator.
There was a murmur of polite
conversation for several minutes
while Danny ordered drinks all
around. Claire declined anything
stronger than limeade and tried to
size up her companions as she
slowly slipped the cooling mixture.
Maria Herczek was striking
looking girl, smartly gowned and
wearing her natural blond hair in
chic coiffure that bore the stamp OF
Antoine as clearly as though 1t were
labeled.
With high cheek bones and wide
set greenish eyes, she hardly needed
her name to reveal her Slavic origin.
Exotic" was the descriptive word
Claire found clinging, unuttered, to
her lips Charming" was another
that flashed into her mind.
Julie Roland very definitely was
American although Claire could see
the signs of hours spent in beauty
salons and expensive dressmaklng
establishments reflected in her ap-
pearance. Her beauty was OF
fresher variety than that OF Maria,
q naturalness shown through the
expert manipulations OF an artlste
who specialized in makeup.
Impressed by Martin.
Her husband presented a curious
contradiction of Midwestern farm
background and cosmopolitan polish.
His accent, if anything, she thought,
was a trifle too broad for Middle
West and somehow Claire got an
idea that perhaps it was bit forced.
He looked like any one of a thou
sand Americans she had known
PROSPEROUS business men in their
late 3Os, growing thicker through
the middle as their hair grew
thinner. She was amazed and
scarcely believing when she was
told later that he had been in busl-
ness in Paris for IS years. An I'M
porter, who handled goods from all
countries, but particularly known
for his excellent stock of delicate
Dresdens.
AS the waves of conversation
rolled up and about her, Claire
dropped in an occasional word and
devoted herself to her innocuous
drink. Capt. Martin reminded her
somewhat of Maurice Chevalier, al
though he was smaller in stature
and not quite so exaggerated in fea-
ture. He had the same wide mouth,
inclined to curl a bit as he smiled,
and small eyes that could dance
merrily one moment and be deadly
serious, with a steellike quality, the
next. AS friend, he would be
charming, but Claire shivered
slightly when she thought of him as
an enemy. He could be merciless,
deadly.
Friends or Enemies?
She examined her new acquaint-
ances with different eyes than she
might have, did she not remember
the warning her mysterious COM
panion ~. Y" had voiced in the
taxicab.
"You will meet several people
tonight" he had said. Some will
be friends-some enemies"
Were these the people he had
meant? How could he have known
she was going to meet any one, even
Danny? Who was he? How had
he come into possession of the van
ity case which had been in her
vanished bag?
She shook her head despondently.
1t was too much of puzzle for her.
u