Show Oie Wonderful Wonder V i Week I by byc byC c S Forester Sen Service Ice Copyright by b Bobbs Bobba Merrill Co THE STORY Ha lla old Norman an or orphan orphan orphan phan l luca h tes with his rent aunt who ho ho reared him At AI her death he finds himself lt At the clone cloe clo e or ot the thear star ar ar he lie gets eta Ret work worl In a bank bink 1 n mt sage bage to Marjorie Clarence he finds ands her In the llie throes of dell n tremens Ha Harold prom promIses promises promIses to lake into the country next neat dav They have an exciting c day 1 they hey miss the he hat train back Jack to 1 ondon london I On his ii 1 to his ht Harold sees seel see seea a shooting affray nITia rICHI during which one of o the llie tiel I ants tosses toses a aleather aleather aleather leather case to 10 him him CHAPTER Continued IV-Continued IV Continued 13 13 It vis lS a e liht II irold tin the true ni Ire 1 lIon of tr In to run from Crum j a blood l pursuer s idle lille app 1 handicapped h wills legs us as limp a n stings S of sau nes and Ith a 3 cannon cannon l ill tied to etch e Tint ms was that It felt like but the fact of the matter was js that Harold made surprisingly goof time across aros Morley common lie emerged think th fully on OD a road roid and doubled blindly to the right All the lie time dote he lie he m bE behind behind hind him the flot ft of uncounted pursuers three In all o 1 more shots hots ere ere fired either because they were ere ft ere of lion or else ele el e because e c did not oral mal e a mil m ilk h amid those tho e bulky bull bulk fur fume l bushes pounded along half i 1 mile of toad lOad he firing IrIng all nil the time lime the pad patI pod pidpid pad of his pur pursuers feet i 1 hundred yards 3 away iwa ot Not once in all that Rge long ni lit did he lie see ee a policeman or ora ora ora a friendly civilian 1 The llie he streets sere ere as tIe deserted as they might be expected e to be In a n re respectable suburb at two t t oin In the morning lie He nn ran anc and rin I ping and stumbling Then it lt last he staggered under the r 19 arch archand archand and f emer cd ed Into homely 1 a lIe Ue spurted purled don do do n the road ills litch key hey came cime lv to hind and ind he lie had the door open he pissed ed lIn and he lie shut It g gIn In before his Ills pursuers arrived ed lie heard them stop outside and he lie heard heird one or two e exchanged changed In i 1 i for foreign foreign eign tongue lie leaned against the thedoor thedoor door chokin for breath ind then he heard the footsteps fn fade e away 3 awa agaIn down n the street lie hind hid escaped escaped- escaped from hat and with lint he was nas as too utterly exhausted ted to care lIe He bolted and the door with muddled precaution and took Ills his weary wa upstairs rold H sit on the side of his hell bed still gasping for breath breith Ills clothes were ere wet Ith sweat and his limits were shaking with fatigue lie He sat huddled together for or son SOli e a minutes minute until at list he could rouse himself to pull off hIs Ills shoes As for the leather Cl case e resting on his lap that vas as be be- beneath be beneath neath all notice at prose prese e tAfter tAfter t tAfter After a while howe er he e perl a momentary curiosity about the case and turned It o cr 0 er In his hinds It a was just a n small mall flat Hat purse of soft bro brown bron n morocco Ie leather les than six Inches square and from the broken straps which dangled led from It deduced tint that It tins IMS lS intended to be worn orn fashion oser mer o er the shoulder L the bearded and M w ho hose e corpse layout lay out onI on I orle common hind hid torn orn ornI ornIt ornIt It bene beneath th his lils waistcoat al whence R hence It I hod bf been n torn bv bs those who ho him He lie m must st h hire ln e snatched It back I I and tried to escape just before he h hewis sans shot opened It II ind nd drew forth the contents a little picket of letters a doyen donn or so written n In 1 i sprawling pra linK masculine hand In a n foreIgn Ian Harold yawned pawned prodigious lous loush h and und stuffed them bark back again 1 They hey could wait nit until tomorrow ensil ensile easily AllI All J I he wanted n anted at the moment nas ae as to go goi I to sleep lie He tugged off oft his cloth clothes and left them In an untidy heap on t the e floor Then he switched off ofT the light and fell Into bed bedIth IS Ith ith a n last glimmer of consciousness he pulled the morocco ca case e for safety Into bed with him he ho seemed to fall ten en million feet Into a drift of soft worm warn elO down elOn n Corpses and acel letters and pistol shots cars ars and caresses carcases and losses ki ses Harold did not gh ghe e another thought to any an of these theR CHAPTER V Sunday 1 At t Intervals Internals of l a million years ears or orso orho so 0 some one persisted In w on the head with a n red reel hot bot hammer ery C time the ill intentioned Honed person did this thus Harold mut muttered muttered something and turned over l some Rome one tired fired off n a pl pistol tol lu side his held head and and assoLo a with witha a start He tie clutched the sheets andI andI and I ral raised ed his held head gazing stiffly around aroundhim aroundhim II I him A jumble of ot dreams and mem odes orivs revolved re In his brain Ills His etes e cs es were ere ue gummy and mid wears wean mid there then there MS was IS n a taste in his Ills mouth is If he tie hid been In copper coins colli sill ill nl lIS us eves eres traveled rat round the thc room until In the tar far corner they met the lie little pl pig en eves of ot Purl Pur face who nho ho is w-is 1 sluing sitting up In bed starin at him umu tIly 1 ou oil on e se e hid 1114 i i hood good nl night ht I should said ald humph Urn Um sold 1111 Harold and writhed The action I ht he tween t Ins his toots toes lie He felt down In the bed hed It urns wis a leather her strip hed to a leather cn case c and instantly v he be he- beun began gan un to remember the events e of esterday es Some one had been heen shot hot out mgt outon outon on the common lost lisl night from front hint some ome one hash Ind talen tal en Ihl tills this case 1 e hilt a n doyen en other oilier people had hOlI ch chi ul him all round Merit v I Pirk irk firing Iring pi pis pistols tots 1011 a him Tint MS 1 late Inte at al Goodne Goodness c r clous I Before P B fore thin thu he hart harl hen been out slit In the ii Ii jorie and helmed hehl c dl disgustingly u do 0 hid hd she he II l irold s boppe I 1 from one t subject to mother like liken n a c cit tt on nn hint ot ol bricks 11 h Ii it In the world hid been beNI going on on In the lie corn om cornmon cornmon mon as mOle moie thin tinn I e e could coull pos under It could not nol lime ho been heen heena beena a hue dream here wis the Cn case e to 10 prose the ry or Nor could COlli It tune into been something acted for the tHins flints he- he he 1 the het do tIo not do rIo r In the lie middle of the Ih lip nl lit nor do 0 the themo mo most 1 re tlc t lot actors fire loide ol l I re oher ers at nl perfect A l fur further further ther e of the letters might he illuminating He rte hunched himself eIf or tr o r on hit hll hl boulder so 0 is lS partly partir to conceal from flom fice t h tt he lie VMS 11 loin doin and ande ande e e the letters under r corer er 0 er of the and begin to rend them Two fo faLl facts ob lous The Thies were in rr trench French ind the were e lore lIne letters rs Harold l up his half hll forgotten i I reach rench and begun begin to read them He lie merle slow for far the i wis slovenly Io c and there were numerous words Id I'd die not know V 1 I rom ram thE conte t ho e lio er er It slow 10 I Is h became lip p parent tint the lies ere were nords unlit ely clyto to appear In my any in n fact the letters here cre ere 10 lose lo e letters of the grossest and mo most t besotted kind hInd Im a peered at the lie sag signatures natures Thc They y were cre and enmeshed In i 1 web eb eb of flourishes Io Most t of the liter Inter one ones were merely words orth of just endearment endearment just t 1 is ns a min sign himself el f your our 0 n t duel ducks If he were ere fool enough h thought l but Iroll-but irold but others rs were signed with Ith a name Thu Th Tint tt 11 n ime lIar Harold old decided prolonged e a mIlia MS lS H then Ihen 1 hen lame came the turn of the ad addres addresses addresses dres dresses es rue e early ul letters letter here ere ere written ten on printed pap paper r from some hotel or othel In to Purls to Harold one ParIs farts hotel meant the some sime as ns any other hotel but hotel but the others were were- were Goodness gracious oll J saki d Harold to himself for the lie second time that morn mornIng mug lug e a addi addicted e eased sed from 1 Ie e du nol Hoi Harold plunged ed Into whit i he lie knew of po post postwar t war ar geography and to grasp p pa a fleeting memory by the lie tail Les es t was wis the ot of the lie kingdom of I esser Ara Am Avaria rIa sometimes known Mi n as the kingdom of the Huns and AMIS lIS And es And ies goodness gracious the goodness goodness pres king of the Huns andrs and irs A rs was Raphael Met itch Ith 1 explained a good dell deal although not note eri e eer er tiling of course It e explained explained h why people were willing IllIng to risk theIr es hires 11 es In re revolver 01 er battles hattle for the flue let letters tern for they would ob loush lou h be north orth millions in ill hUe their would mein at lel least leista leasta t ta a rc re and maybe a aar tsar ar ar or two 11 ell a II be hi late Ie for dinner If It were ere not careful said ald ice c I 13 In ing a leg out pf gf the bedclothes Dinner Dinners said Harold larold He lIe looked at hi his lilb watch atch but for the second tune In three days da s lie he bad had forgotten to ton n Ind it rist anyway said Iud reaching for his hb trousers TO DE CO |