Show wree THREE T MEN m EN BY P G U M V I 1 ir A T AND AIN ii A MAID MIC IL JL copyright by george georce H dorm doran co CHAPTER X continued il 11 that la Is the gist of hla his remarks bar air did you tell him I 1 was trying to get ito to sleep yes sir I 1 understood him to reply ithac lie be should worry and get a pain in the neck go down again and say that I 1 insist on his stopping tile the thing its an outrage 1 very good sir or I 1 in a few minutes webster like the I 1 dove doto dispatched from the ark was back again 1 I fear my mission has been fruitless sir mr mortimer appears adamant on the point at issue you yon gave him my message raes sager verbatim sir in reply mr mortimer desired me to tell you that if you lid did not like it you could do the other oilier tiling thing I 1 quote the exact words sir ite ire ill did did he be yes sir very goedl Web webster sterl 1 sir 7 when Is UK the next train to london 1 I will ascertain sir cook I 1 believe has bas a timetable go and see then I 1 want to know and send scud miss bliss to me very good sir somewhat consoled by the thought that lie was taking definite action nir mr bennett lay back and waited for bit ue lie 1 I want you to go to london be said when she appeared to london why ill tell you why said mr bennett vehemently because of that pest mortimer mer I 1 must have legal advice I 1 want you to go and see sir Bl mallaby allaby marlowe heres his address tell him the whole story tell him that this man Is annoying me la in every possible way and ask if it cant be stopped it if you cant see sir mallaby himself see some one else in the firm go up tonight so that you can see him first thing in the morning you can stop the night at the savoy ive sent webster to look out a train theres a splendid train in about an hour ill take that its giving you a lot of trouble said mr bennett with belated consideration 1 i oh no not ill said anne tta an only too glad to bo be able to do something tor for you father dear this noise Is a terrible nuisance it youre a good girl said mr bennett CHAPTER XI right 1 said sir mallaby marlowe SI arlowe work while youre young sam work while youre young lie he regarded his sons bent head with affectionate approval the book today widgery on NISI prius evidence said sam without looking up capital I 1 said sir mallaby highly improving and as interesting as a novel some novels theres a asplen ud imd bit on I 1 think page two hundred and fifty tour four where the hero finds out all about copyhold and customary Us Es tates its a wonderfully powerful sl situation tu it appears but I 1 wont spoil I 1 it t for you mind blind you dont skip to see how it all comes out in the endl end ill sir Ill mallaby allaby suspended conversation while he be addressed an imaginary ball with the lashle which he had taken out of 0 f his big golf bag for this was the day when lie he went down to walton heath I 1 tor his big weekly foursome with ahr three ee old friends ills tubby form was clad till in i tweed of a violent nature with knickerbockers and stockings sam 1 I well beur slim sam a roan man at the club showed me a new grip the other day instead ol of overlapping the little finger of the right hand oll oh by the way sam yes 1 I should lock up the office today I 1 11 I 1 ikeie you or anxious clients will be coming coining in and abling for advice and find yourself la in difficulties 1 hall be gone and peters Is away on OB his holiday bel betow ater lock the outer lutei door jall all right sald md sam absently lie he was finding widgery stiff rea dlug ile he had just got to the bit about idis which as of course you know la 19 a writ for taking away an heir holding In socage sir mallaby looked at his watch well ill have to be going see you later sam goodby good by sir 11 mallaby allaby went out olit and sam placing both elbows on the desk and twining ills his fingers in his hair returned with it a frown of concentration to his big grappling with widgery for perhaps ten minutes the struggle was an even one then gradually widgery got the upper hand sams mind numbed by constant batte rings against the stony ramparts of 0 legal phraseology beology weakened faltered and dropped away and a moment later his thoughts as so often happened when he was alone darted olt and began to circle round the image of bennett since they sad ad last met mel sam had told himself perhaps a nuLl drej times imes that he cared nothing about culle billie that fad bad gone out of his life itle and was dead to win him but unfortunately le he did AW act ewt beleve it A maa takes a deal W ot of convincing on a point like this and I 1 sam had never succeeded in convi convincing lancing himself for more than two minutes at a ume time it was esless to pretend that he be did not still love billie more than ever because he knew he be did and now as the truth swept over him for the hundred and first time he groaned hollowly and gave himself up to the gray despair which Is the almost inseparable companion of young men in his position so engrossed was he in his meditation that he did not hear the light footstep in the outer office and it was only when it was followed by a tap on the door of the inner that he awoke with a start to the act that clients were in its his midst lie ile wished that he had taken his fathers advice and locked up the orlice probably this was some frightful bore who wanted to make ills his infernal Int emiil will or something and sam had bad neither tile the ability nor the inclination to assist him was it too late to escape perhaps if he did not answer the knock the blighter might think there ans nobody at boine but suppose he opened the door and peeped in A spasm of napoleonic pole onic strategy seized sani sam lie he dropped silently to the floor and concealed himself under the desk nil was always doing that sort of thing there was another tap then as he lad had anticipated the door opened sam crouche hd hild like a hare in its form held ills his breath it seemed to him that lie he was going to bring this delicate operation oft off with success ile he felt lie had acted just as napoleon would have done in a similar crisis and so no doubt he had bad to a certain extent only napoleon would have seen to it that ills his boots and about eighteen inches of legs were not sticking out plainly visible to all who entered good morning said a voice sam thrilled from the top of ills his head to the soles of his feet it was the voice which lad had been ran ringing ing in his cars through all his waking hours are you busy mr marlowe Illar lower asked billie addressing the boots sam wrig wriggled ogled out from under the desk deel like a disconcerted tortoise dropped my pen he mumbled as he rose to the surface he pulled himself with an effort that was like a physical exercise ile he stared at billie dumbly then recovering speech he invited her to sit down and seated himself at the desk dropped toy my peal he gurgled again yes said ille Foun fountain tala pen babbled sam with a broad nib yes A broad gold nib went on sam with the painful exactitude which comes only from embarrassment or the early stages of intoxication really said billie and sam blinked and told himself resolutely that tills this would not do he was not appearing to advantage it suddenly occurred to him that his hair was standing on end as the result of his struggle with widgery ile he smoothed it down hastily and felt a trifle more composed the old fl fighting holn spirit of the mallowes Mar lowes now began to assert itself to some extent ile he must make an effort to appear as little of a tool fool as possible in tills this girls ees and what eyes they golly 1 like stars 1 like two bright planets in however that was neither here nor there ile he pulled down his vest and became cold and businesslike the try dry young lawyer er how do you do miss bennett he said with a question in his voice raising his big eyebrows in a professional way he modeled tills oils performance on that of lawyers he had seen on the stage and wished he had sonie some snuff to take or something to tap against his front teeth MISS bennett I 1 believe billie drew herself up stiffly yes she replied how clever of you to remember me 1 I have a good memory how nice nicel t so have baveI I 1 there was a pause during which 1311 ile le allowed her gaze to travel casualty casually about the room sam occupied the intermission ter by staring furtively at her profile ire he was by now in a thoroughly overwrought condition and the thumping of 0 ills his heart sounded to him as it if workmen were mending the street outside how beautiful she looked with that red hair peeping out beneath her hat and however Is there anything I 1 can do for your you lie he asked in the sort ort of voice widgery might have used sam always pictured widgery as a small man with busily bushy eyebrows a thin face and a voice like a rusty file well I 1 really wanted to see sir mallaby allaby SI sly ily father has been called away on important business to walton heath cannot I 1 act as his substitute do you know anything about the law do I 1 know anything about the law I 1 echoed sam amazed do I 1 know I 1 why I 1 was reading my widgery on nisi prins prim evidence when you came la in oh were your said bald billie interested 1 D I you always read on the floor 1 I told you I 1 dropped my pw pen said sara sam coldly and of course you rend read without thail well as a matter of fact this has nothing to do with nisi what you said 1 I have not specialized exclusively on prius evidence I 1 know the law in all its branches then what would you do if a man insisted on playing the when you wanted to get to sleep the yes the eh ah AA hel said sam you still made it quite clear said billie 1 I was thinking chinkin 9 11 oh it if you want to think I 1 tell me the facts said sam well sir bir mortimer and my fattier father have taken a house together in the country and for some reason or other they have quarreled and now mr air mortimer Is doing everything he can to make father uncomfortable yesterday afternoon father wanted to sleep and mr Blo mortimer rilmer started starred this just it to annoy him 1 I thin im not quite sure I 1 think n tort said sam A ft nhat hat hither elther a tort or a misdemeanor why you yon do know something about it after all cried billie startled into a sort of friendliness in spite of herself and at the words and the sight of her quick smile sams sama professional composure reeled on its foundations ile he had half risen with tile the purpose of aprin sprin springing ing up and babbling of the passion that consumed him when the chill reflection cdon came to him that this girl had once said that she considered him ridiculous if he let himself go would slie she not continue to think him ridiculous ridi cu ile he sagged back into his seat eat a and at that moment there came another tap on the door which open opening ing revealed the face of the holiday mak ing peters good morning mr samuel said john peters good morning miss milliken ohl oh I 1 lie ile vanished as aa abruptly as he had appeared he perceived that what he all 1 1 10 good morning said a voice voica lad had taken at first glance for the ate ft e no grapher was a client and that the junior partner was engaged on a business conference he left behind him a momentary silence what a horrible looking man said le breaking it with a little gasp john peters often affected the opposite sex like that at first sight 1 I beg your pardon said sara sam absently what a dreadful looking kanj ue ile quite frightened me for some moments sam sat without speaking it if this hall had not been one 0 of his napoleonic mornings no doubt the sudden arrival of 0 his old friend mr peters whom he had bad imagined at ills his home in putney packing for his trip to america would have suggested nothing to him As it IN was as it suggested a great deal lie he lad had had bad a brain wave and for fully a minute he sat tingling ats impact lie ile was not a young man who often hall had brain waves wales find and when they came they made him rather dizzy who Is he hel asked billie lie he seemed to know you and who she demanded after a slight pause Is miss sam drew IL a deep breath its rather a bad story he said ills name la Is john peters ne ile used to be clerk here cut but he be any longer no sam shook hla his head we had to get rid of him 1 I dont wonder A man looking like that it that so much said sam the thing that annoyed father was waa that he tried to shoot miss milliken billie uttered a cry of horror ile he tried to shoot miss Milli millicent kent 1 ile he did shoot her the third time said sam warming to his work only la in the arm fortunately lie bo dut but my father Is 1 rather a tern stern diss dl and he hod had to go BO I 1 mean mead we keep him alter after tv that good gracious I 1 she used to be my fathers father stenographer and she was thrown a good deal with peters it was quite natural that he should fall in love with her she was a beautiful girl with rather your own shade of hair peters la is a man of volcanic passions and when after she had given him to under understand stanI that his love was returned she informed him ono one day that she was wa engaged to a fellow at ealing baling west ha be went right off his onion I 1 mean he be became completely distraught I 1 must say that he concealed it very effectively at first we had no inkling of his condition till lie he came in with the pistol and after that well as I 1 say we had to dismiss him A great pity for lie he was a good clerk still it do it only that he tried to shoot miss milliken that have mattered so much as she left after he be made his third attempt and got marr married led but the tha thing became an obsession with him and we found that he had a fixed idea that every red haired woman who came into the office was the girl who had deceived him you can see how bow awkward that made it red hair la Is so 0 o fashionable nowadays my bly hair Is redl red I 1 whispered billie yes I 1 noticed it myself I 1 told you it was much the same shade as miss bliss kens its rather fortunate that I 1 harp happened ened to be here with you when he came but he may be lurking out there still 1 1 I expect he Is said sam carelessly yes I 1 suppose he Is would you like me to go and send hira him away all right but but Is it safe sam uttered a 11 light lit laugh 1 I dont mind taking a risk or two for your sake he said and sauntered from the room closing the door behind him billie followed him with worshiping eyes john peters rose politely from the chair in which he had seated himself tor for more comfortable perusal of the copy of home whispers which he be had brought with him to refresh his mind in the event of the firm being too busy to see him im immediately lie ile was particularly ticul arly interested in the series of chats with young mothers brothers nullo hullo peters said sam want anything very sorry to have disturbed yo you mr samuel I 1 just looked in to say sa goodby I 1 sall sail on saturday and m my time will be pretty fully taken up all the week I 1 have to go down to the country to get some final instructions from the whose important papers I 1 am ning N aking ing over im sorry to have missed yur father mr samuel 1 yes oin Is his golf day ill te tell him you loosed looked in 1 1 gordol Is there ere anything I 1 can do before I 1 go do well john peters coughed tactfully 1 I see that you are engaged with a client mr samuel and was wag wondering it if any little point of law had arisen with which you did not feel yourself quite capable of coping in which case I 1 might perhaps be of assistance si oh that lady said sam that was miss bliss millikens sister indeed I 1 know miss bliss milli ken had a sister no said sam she Is not very like her in appearance no this one Is the beauty of the family I 1 believe A very bright intelligent tell igent lent girl I 1 was telling her |