Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1941-03-12

II, though, under the circumstances
A mean customer
Brinda scarcely knew what Dick
Maiden said, she was so happy to
see him alive.
Dick" she cried "Oh, Dick"
Then, somehow, she was in his
arms.
The squire coughed. Some one
coming" he warned.
1t was the constable. He ap.
preached cautiously.
OH" he said, on viewing the
doorway, you got another"
where's your prisoner" asked
Dick sharply.
IT was 'oping you'd seen im.'
said the constable. "'E got away"
Xxx
With his good hand, Sir John an
grlly crumpled the report he hac
Just finished reading. Against DR.
MacDonald's advice, he had re-
turned TO London on hearing Of
Brinda's adventure. A loose sling
supported his injured arm, and his
face was white with fatigue. But
he sat bolt upright at the desk In
his sturdy, spurning even the sup
port of the chair-arm.
He addressed his orderly, Hunt,
lowering nearby. Tell my niece !
wish to see her-at once"
Yes, sir
During the brief wait, the intel
ligence chief painfully extracted a
legal-looking document from a
drawer, took up pen, and began
to write. He had just laid the pen
down when Brinda arrived.
Sandy! What on earth are you
doing here? Why aren't you In
bed?"
A Surprise for Brinda.
Sir John applied blotter to what
he had just written.
For an excellent reason, my
child, I enjoy depriving Macdonald
of the chance TO dope me with MS
confounded potions. Then, had
something important to attend to
something I'm afraid you may not
like" He handed her the document
Brinda looked at it uncompre-
hendingly for moment or two;
then she exclaimed, why, its a
passport
Exactly" said Sir John. Also,
your visas-one for Portugal, one
for the United States"
But" Brinda Strove to keep
the tremor out of her voice.
don't understand. Honestly, Sandy
Why?"
Sir Johns lean jaws frightened.
sit down. OF course, you don't
understand. III explain"
In short, curt sentences, he told
her. 1t was not his intention to re-
proach her. But she seemed to have
a knack for getting into highly dan
perous and delicate situations.
First. her fatal mistake of giving a
lift to the parachutist spy Then,
Kenley's murder. Finally, the eX-
citing series of events that had be-
gun on the MountWyn terrace and
ended so dramatically at the lonely
Nazi espionage headquarters on the
moor.
But you can't be angry at me
for that. Sandy" interrupted Brln-
da. After all, we caught the spies
Col. Sanderson smiled YEARLY.
killing a spy isn't catching one,
Brinda. Besides, that isn't the
point. What troubles me is that
they might very well have killed
you. And, furthermore, the next
time, they probably will
Sir John Is Aroused.
"I see," said Brinda DULY. Il
thought, perhaps, that I'd helped
YOU this time-that you'd see 1
could be useful. But it seems I'm
Just not the Mata Hari type"
1t was an unfortunate remark.
Sir Johns fist clenched.
"Confound it, grill" he exclaimed.
Don't talk like a fool! And don't
speak that name again!" His voice
rose. You hear?"
Brinda stared at him. A slow
flush mounted to her cheeks. Never
before, in the years since she be-
came his ward, had Sir John spoken
TO her in such tone.
She could think of nothing to say,
nothing to do. There was deep
sense of hurt in her that fingered
even after he had quickly recovered
himself, crisply apologized. Vaguely,
as in a dream, she listened as he
told her what he wished her TO do
She was to take Such-and-such a
ship for Lisbon. There, Aunt Vicky
would Join her and see her aboard
an American ship for New York
BY travelling on an American ship,
she would be safe from submarines
And, in the States, she should be
safe from Nazis, their sinister er-
rand boys. and . Ajax.
1t was in BrindaS mind to pro-
test that she could not possibly
leave England while Britain was at
war. But the memory of Sir John S
unexpected and unprecedented out
burst sealed her lips.
Why his sudden rage at the name
of Mata Hari, the famous woman
spy? His irate reaction seemed
fantastic and irrational. She hao
the sense of treading on the edge
of some fateful mystery, of being
threatened by forces that she coulo
not understand.
Orders Passage.
She barely heard her guardian
as he finished: Sorry that all this
is necessary -. But you'll be better
off Too dangerous d. AS 1 tolC
you repeatedly, I can't have you
getting mixed up in espionage.
She was thinking desperately how
she could avoid leaving England
and Dick.
At the door she paused Shit
wanted to ask Sir John why he hac
told her she was in danger at the
Mountwyns'.
And then Brinda recalled the
conversation she had overheard il
the house on the moor-the plar
by which the stolen list of British
agents was to be struggled to Ger
many. But hurt pride and bewilder'
ment choked back the words.
II think you're making big mis-