| Show tenta M rt arm asiro I One Wonderful Week by byc byC C S Forester Service Copyright by bT Dobbs Bobbe Merrill Men Co TH THE E STORY Harold Norman dge an or- or orphan orphan or orphan phan ltv lives s with his treat br at aunt who reared him At Al tier Lu death hp h finds ands himself penniless At the close of the war he gets work In a bank blink Taking a message mes mea sage age to Marjorie Clarence he finds ands her father In the throes of delirium tremens Harold prom promIses promIses promIses to lo tike t Marjone Into the country next day They have an excitIng day They miss mica ml 8 the last train back to London On hiss his s vay ay to his lodgings Harold sees a shooting hooting affray during v shish one ot of the particIpants participant tosses a aleather aleather leather case to him It contains letters lettera In French written by KIng Raphael of Lesser Loser Avaria CHAPTER Continued V-Continued V Continued 15 15 The first thing that caught Harold s 0 seye eye as he be entered the room was Iud Pud s hands were werl tied behind his back Rh Ith a heave and a n wriggle he rose roce to his knees on the bed III Eli held head was lost In a green baize big bag Part pirt of ot s property which n was ns tied round his neck Just about where s mouth could be he a white handkerchief was fastened tightly about his head giving 1 the effect of a vast mirthless grin ex extending extending tending ill 11 the way wiy about Pudding tate faces s green baize head had s feet w n were ere tied as well wel as his hlo hands and after poising bal balance anted ance on his knees for a few v wild slid sec cec seconds seconds he pitched forn forward ar onto his nose again If if Indeed there was a nose within that green baize big bag By this time Harold began bc be in to realize that Is was sus Incumbent upon him to release face from his bis bonds lIe drew out his penknife and cut the cor cords s which shish n were sere ere round his hid ankles and ond untied the handkerchief and the string of the green reen baize bag Pud red and wrathful countenance ante emerged as he sat up on the bed It was a n minute or two before he could speak during the Interval hI he was engaged In spitting out shreds of green baize ind even eren when he was ahle to speak his or words s were not at first wholly Intelligible The bl blink ink inky bl-inky blank blank blant blank ers he said ho are asked Harold Danvers Dancers and Marks of coure toure I came up ilI here after dinner and as I walked Into the room tho those e two blighters jumped on me an and tied me up and put my head In a n bag and threw me onto the be bed Then they undid all nil my clothes and threw me backward ward and ind forward and turned me upside don down n an and nearly turned me In Inside inside Inside side out They think the re jolly fun funny funny funny ny the silly swine Then they tIley went round the room room-I room 1 heard them and them threw e even en thins about Just look loot tt at atthe the mess me s they've made They certainly certain v had Every Csery r cry drawer and cupboard In the room had been emptied and the contents strewn about the room There was sus as a n certain tern and order In the disorder which started an Idea In s mind n chichi In turn started st- st a n n whole hole series of cold shivers ere down don do n his spine Are Arc you sure It was wac Dancers aD and Marks he asked qua Ot Of course It wis said saltI Pudding face who shin ho would could It be If It It wasn t them Mrs Irs Pound and antI all he r o bald Harold That was said but he thought ht the more Why nothing would be easier thin than for a couple of ot evil people to enter the house hou e while chile all aU Scie Fell rell dew lew avenue was In the throes of ot do- do de devouring souring or digesting dinner And the sort of person who oho n would could do this sas as the sort of ot person who went round shooting people on Morley common and n who Clio lao would make no bones bonea at nil all about tying up and to In Inv estl estimating rating his sacred person Pud tace did lid not realize that hit he was lucky not to hive e had his head clubbed open or a bullet sent through the mid la dc of ot the apple pie pip of oC which shish he had just eaten too much let ct et Pudding face tace Ignorant of ot his luck indulged at atI it that I moment In a n further torrent of blasphemy Ill III Ill I'll get el even en with Ith the sn swine spine Ine see It if ItI I dont don't blared D D ou knows bno If It they're the In Afraid I dont don't said Harold We could go 0 and muck their room up the same fame as this If It they were ere out said the we In that speech was as disturbing to Harold s spence spence pence of mind I 1 ets et's clear this mess up first first for tor goodness sake he lie sold desperately anxious to postpone the Issue and u agreed red sulkily Of Ot cour course e It n was sits 9 1 Harold who lie up the mess was wasn III Inn bl bus standing about saying things T FT took look a turl e glance out of ofIn II he sure enough the foreign 1111 mm vv s is Iq at the Hie corner of the theMire Mire pI el talking to 10 his hll friend l If r twenty h away array from them m here ere standing I two wo more foreign foreign- looking looking foreign men He lie felt suddenly elc sick and ducked hurriedly away from thE th window hat hat on earth can I 1 doT dor Harold asked himself pitifully fur for the time that week end Give GRe the letters back bach But nut hiss v and to whom was the rightful tul on owner ner of ot the holly thinks things Y an ny That writer or orthe orthe orthe the the recipient recipient the king or the lady lally And If It he tried to give gise e them had t the other side heir him a which they would uld do their best to repay As Ao fur for as he could see the only thing tiling he could do was to hang on for a Ittle while and find out n shat would be best hest if If hp he burned the things s nH neither her side would e hp he had done so Police runt Hint was possible but shrink shrank from the Idea or of walking into i q police with this fantastic story of princes and pistol shots There would certainly he be a 8 dreadful s sandal and the murder on the common would solid have hase to he be In with him as the principal witness and there would he headlines In papers and photographs and all sorts of ot And the bank would of course disapprove every very strongly lIe He might lose loce his jobi job I That Th clinched the mutter matter for Harold lie He rat rather hr he murderously v than risk dismissal Then the tea PI hell ran rang downstairs and face made malle n a prompt exit edt Harold toll followed owed him only two t seconds sec seconds seconds later The two too seconds n were sere ere the time It took tool him to bolt boH and lock loch the bedroom he windows lie was wis taking no chances Then he scuttled after Purl Pud most emphatically did not want to he alone nione At teatime f Ice with a for him elicited from Mrs Irs Pound the Information that Dancers Dam ers and larks hid hd gone out soon after fter lunch and n would could not be he birk baek till late that hit night As 11 1 Mis s Pound said this loot 1001 e cd ed across at Harold and favored ored him with Ith a n wink and a grin went sent on shivering Ing all nil do down n his spine Matters were growing In far too Yet he did not see cee what hat he the could do when after tea him by the elbow an and said In a hoarse whisper Comp Come on no now nos s our chance 0 Dancers ers and Marks Marls shared the first floor front Immediately under liar IJar Harold old s room drar dragged Harold In and shut the door and then he exploded Into action In is a simply astonishing fashion Cashion I II show v em cm what ragging Is said cald with Ith the memory of an hour n with sith Ith his held head In a bag hag and the rest of him exposed e to the ele elements elements elements ments rankling like poison polson Harold helped him un unwillingly um and ineffectively and as v was wis evident from the energy displayed un unnecessarIly unnecessarily unnecessarily necessarIly begin by emptyIng all dra drawers ers and cupboards piling tho contents In a heap on the floor and I thoI dancIn dancing on them He took tool the sheets and pillows sand and blankets from both beds made mide them Into n a bundle I tied the corners together w with Ith at least fifteen knots He tool razors and andI combs nn and brushes and bId hid them nil all I roun round the room on room on top of ot cupboards and up the chimney and In vases ases lie He took down all the pictures and placed them between the mattresses and the springs of the beds H He squeezed toothpaste Into slippers and shaving cream Into pajama pockets finally he tied a long string In succession to toe e ery china article In the room each ot of which he lie poised precariously on corners and shelve sheh es and he ma made e the end of the string fast to the leg of ot a abell abed abed bell bed so 00 that the bight hung a n foot toot from the floor across the door In such a fashion that hit n a hasty step Into the room would bring do down n every article In do turn with a crash do no now nos whispered Pud That ought to show em cm It certainly would decided Harold appall appalled ell ellI I Whit are you going to do donov donow donow now v he asked anxiously Me Ie I m Coin out for tor a n bit Coin to see what girls there are on Morley common Going out repeated Harold help helplessly helplessly helplessly lessly Tint That meant that It if he staved sta In he would be alone In the house honse sa sane e for Mrs Pound He lIe could not possibly heir bear that Out In the streets or on the crowded he would be safe So would he lie be at the club The club No Heral Herald decided ed he hedl dl did not want to go to the club TO DB DE COTI CONTINUED |
