The Wilmington morning star., 1943-09-26

highest paid legal Jimmy Valen
tine. This is the true story of his
many adventures unlocking safes
around the earth and under the
sea.
CHAPTER XIII
Having spent two weeks sight
seeing in Moscow, I went to Len
ingrad.
In the Winter Palace which, il
spite of being a museum, was one
of the most livable palaces that
had seen, 1 met a member of the
museum staff, the authority on oil
paintings, who had been a count
ess and the daughter of a lady
in waiting to the czarina. From
what 1 had read of Communism,
it surprised me that she was well
TODD and held an enviable job.
ut isn't because 1 am in sym
pathy with the government" she
explained, ''but l have the posi-
ton because 1 know languages
and art. My income is in foreign
bonds and I do not need to work
but have to hold job if 1 want
an apartment. They are only for
the workers. That's the reason all
my friends, even those with large
incomes, are working"
The countess invited me to a
dinner party at her apartment, in
which I noticed that her bedroom
furniture was priceless mahogany
inlaid with gold. The lady and her
friends grumbled about a 12-hou1
day, but I discovered that they
worked IL hours one day and had
a holiday the next, and also thai
in Russia Sunday comes every
sixt hday instead of every sew
enth.
Before I returned to Moscow,
my Russian friends asked me tC
drive with them to an abandoned
| country place not far from the
city. The countess told me that
during the revolution she had
buried a safe under certain tree
and it had stayed there since 1917.
One bright evening we drove into
the country, found the house and
the tree, and set to work. The
countess friends were muscular
aristocrats but unused to spade
work, and it took long time to
reach the old hand-hammered iron
chest. 1t was buried so deep, near
ly eight feet, that we could never
get it up. so I went down on a
rope and opened it in the hole.
After I had opened the lock. l
packed the contents in a basket
tied to rope-laces, jewels. in
laid boXes-a woman's keepsakes.
When we returned to the count
ess' apartment with them, she
gave me a piece of lace that had
belonged to the czarina and ner
pearl opera glasses. She paid me
5000 paper rubles.
All night. or what was left Ct
it, l dreamed of the presents that
1 would buy my wife and daughte.
with the rubles. However, in Tie
shops the next morning, / found
that I could buy anything in Rus
STA with the rubles, but to get
my purchases out of the country
was another matter. The articles
that were to be taken out had t.
be receipted. and one could get a
receipt only for valuta or foreign
exchange.
Since I had only few days iii
which to spend the rubles, I invit-
ed some attractive young Ameri-
can tourists to see the night life
of Leningrad. Their trip had been
paid for in the United States and
they had very little actual MONEY
with them. 1t was gay evening
We dined on caviar and cham
payne, listened to gypsy orcnes-
tras, and watched the other guests,
who were more fascinating than
the entertainment. The bill was
$50 rubles. When 1 gave the
waiter another 500, he nearly col
lapsed before us.
The following day 1 returned to
Moscow. There were only two
days left and the rubles were on
INV mind ca rounded In fhf