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Show 15. .rn lVi-.-mh.-r 2. KA. ! ; 1 ik.l 1-Vlril;iry U'-1. ' ; Kum-rnl s.T-i.i. t-VI-ruary C. Service in WiN.'M hmi. ; l!,-v. .lames 1. Taylor in ( char::.- et' rt'irini niy. l.:!st ril.-s hi IVtliU hem : llKlp'd. r...,!v l" nt i" Tyl in mam '. ' ai-ie i'f "huixh nnlil cathedral j ; is im)lclit. ! I ' IY,,pV .!' America asked to I ' j i : join iu'iiati-n-wide .icn...ny at I : 8 funeral )i"ur. f Funeral service N'.-ins ..i I I d'elm-k. Wnsllilll-'lmi U"".- I L I n'eleeU l'li'V.. timet. I The , nan l, , iar,.l,d .1,0 j world's er..;a.-M miliary icr-c- i d,-i,. ti.e w.,ri.l war wnl 1 I $ l.uried Willi. .nt iniMaiy ll..ll.'ls, respect in:.- hi" wishes. I "I p-kesen'ce of jnr. mowx. yes" as Tuppence made a move- nient "not n doubt of It MIL , BIIOWX IS IIEUE. ..." I "In this house?" l "In tills mora. . . . You j don't understand? I AM Mil. CltOWN. ..." Stupefied, unbelieving, they stared ; at liitn. The very lines of his face , had charged. It was a different . man who stood before them. He . smiled a slow cruel smile. j "Neither of you will leave this room alive! Shall I tell you how-it how-it will he? Sooner or later the police po-lice will break in, and they w ill find three victims of Mr. Brown three, not two. you understand, hut for-1 for-1 tunately' the third w ill not be dead, enly wounded, and will be able to describe the attack with a wealth of detail.! The treaty? It Is in the hands of Mr. Brown. So no one "will think of searching the pockets of Sir James I'eel Edyer-ton!" Edyer-ton!" - - There was a faint Sound behind him, but. Intoxicated with success, he did not turnjiis head. - He slipped Ills TiancT Into-Hu pocket. "Checkmate to the Youn? Adven-hirers," Adven-hirers," he said, and slowly raised a big automatic. But, even as he did so, he felt himself seized from behind in a grip of iron. The revolver was wrenched from his hand, and the voice of Julius Hersheimmer said j-nve carte bhinelu an " -millionaire gives earn- blanche b. j usually P'ts it '. , ; The list of quests was small and ( select The American a ml.assai ..l . Mrs. Carter, who had taken the 1. -he said, of l.riuatnS ' 1 friend. Mr. William 1. -re-ford. vv, , him. Arehdeaccon Cowley. li. Hal . I,,,,,, nvo yo.Uhf.ll -ivei, ure s. Miss I'ruden.-e Cowley "" :X ' Thomas liel-esl'ord and list UU. not least, as sliest of Uo-r. -" June I'inn. ,, , To most people the -'.H. , ,m,1.lu,,(U,d -Labor jay h ad passed nnu-h as any oibei u Speeches were made in the I H and Trafalgar square. M nijtu.i pmnieessioiis. minting ' ' ' " .-la-" wandered tliroiuih the slu.t a ore or less aimless manner Newspapers whilic had hinted . a general strike and the niumrm.t-tion niumrm.t-tion of a reiun of terror, v oi. forced to hide their diminishul heads. The bolder and more astute amoiin them s.uiu-ht to prove ha peace had been effected by follow , : their counsels. In the Sum . pers a brief notice of the sudden I ah of Sir James I'eel Edircrton. ,Ue famous K. C had appea , red. Mondays paper dealt lv with the dead matin's career. 1 exact manner of his sudden death was never made public. Tommy had been riilht in hi forecast of the situation. It iwm l.en a one-man show. Deprived o rheir chief, the oriiamzat ion tell l i.- ,.,.iin leul made a pre- thnt photograph In the drawer, after that story of bow It had been , cor from him by Inspector Brown, ! made me suspect Julius. Then I remembered that it was Sir James who had discovered the false Jane i Finn. In the end. I couldn't make up my mind and .lust decided to , take no chances either way. I left a note for Julius, in case be was Mr. Brown, say'n- I was off to the Argentine, and 1 dropped Sir James' letter with the -offer of the joli by the desk so that he would see it was a genuine stunt. Then I wrote my letter to Mr. Cart or and rang up Sir James. And Ihen I got a bogus note from Tuppence and I knew!" "But how?" Tommy took the note in question from his pocket and passed it round the talile. "itrs her handwriting, all right, but I knew t wasn't from her because be-cause of the signature. She'd never spell her name 'Twopence.' but anyone who'd never seen it written might quite easily do so. Julius liar; seen it he showed me a note of hers to lilm once but Sir James hadn't! After that everything every-thing was plain sailing. I sent off Albert post-haste to Mr. Carter. 1 pretended to go away, but doubled back again. When Julius came bursting up In his enr, I felt It wasn't part of Mr. Brown's plan and that there would probably be trouble. Unless Sir James was actually ac-tually caught in the act, so tt nl- 7 knew Mr. Carter woulc lou were jusi u ..u... . . u. . Jane shook her head. "I don't feel wonderful. At heart I'm just tired and lonesome and longing for my own country." "That brings me to something I wanted to say. I beard the ambassador ambas-sador telling you his wile hoped vou would come to them at the embassy em-bassy right away. That's good enough, but I've got another plan. Jane I want you to marry me !" "Oh. Julius!" J "Well, I don't want to hustle vou, Jane, hut there's no sense in waiting about. Don't he scared I shan't expect you to love me all at once." But a small hand was slipped i into bis. i "I b.ve you now, Julius." said 'jane Finn." "I loved you the first ! moment in the en.' when the bullet I grazed your cheek. . . ." In the meantime the Young Adventurers Ad-venturers were sitting bolt upright, very stiff and 111 r.t ease. In a taxi. They sat very straight and fore-bore fore-bore to look at each other. At last Tuppence made a desperate desper-ate effort. "Rather fun, wasn't It?" "Enther." Another silence. "I like Julius," essayed Tup-I Tup-I pence, again. I Tommy was suddenly galvanized ..Into life." "It has been fun, hasn't It, Tom-ilmy? Tom-ilmy? I do hope we shall have lots , ' more adventures." ! ! . "You're insatiable, Tuppence Secret Adversary UT' bAathaChristie '"That wasi an awful' night. I'd made my plan whilst I was waiting (or her. The papers were safe so far, but I couldn't take the risk of leaving them there any longer. They might throw that magazine away any minute. I lay awake waiting until I Judged it must be i about two o'clock in the morning. , logic or racrs. Tnere are" onry two j solutions. -Either the chloral was administered by her own hand, which theory I reject utterly, or else " "Yes?" "Or else It was administered In the brandy you gave her. Only-three Only-three people touched that brandy you, Miss Tuppence, I myself, and one other Mr. Julius itersi.eim-mer itersi.eim-mer I" Jane Finn stirred and sat up, regarding re-garding the speaker with wide, astonished as-tonished eyes. Springing to her feet, she cried out angrily: "What do you mean? What are vou trying to suggest? That Mr. Brown is Julius? Julius my own cousin !" "No, Miss Finn," said Sir James. "Not your cousin. The man who eoti himself Julias Hei'sheiinuier ui a iiii.j . . "I guess ..you're caught redhand- ed with the goods on you." j The blood rushed to the K. C.'s face, but bis self-control was mar- i velous, as he looked from one to the other of his two captors. He ; looked longest at Tommy. j "You," he said beneath his breath, "You! I might have I known." I Seeing that he was disposed to j offer no resistance, their grip slack- Then 1 got up as soiuy iia i toi.ni, i and felt In the dark along the left- j hand wall. Very gently, I iin- ' hooked one of the pictures from Its 1 ualpJ-Marguerite with her casket of j Jewels. I crept over to my coat i and took out the magazine, and an odd envelope or two that I bad shoved In. Then I went to the j w-ashstand, and damped the brown paper at the hack of the picture all j round. Presently I was able to pull it away. I had already torn out j the two stuck-together pages from j the magazine, and now I slipped them with their piecions inclosure between the picture and its brown paper backing. A little gum from the envelopes helped me to stick the latter up again. No one would dream the picture had ever been I tampered with. 1 rehung it on the ' wall, put the magazine back in my coat pocket, and crept back to bed. "They watched me constantly for weeks. Sometimes they'd ask me questions by the hour I guess there was nothing they didn't know about the third degree! but somehow I 1 managed to hold my own. The strain of it was awful, though 1 ... I felt that the horrors In store ito'r me would be too awful once they knew I'd been only hamming. 'It ended in my being sent to a sanatorium at Bournemouth. I couldn't make up my mind at first whether It was a sham affair or genuine. I think I almost hypnotized hypno-tized myself. "One nj-ght I was whisked off to London at a moment's notice. They Hook m back to m House in sono. "They sent me in to wait on Mr. Beresford. (Of course I didn't ' know his name then.) I was suspicious sus-picious I thought It was anothet trap. But he looked so honest, I . could hardly believe It However ,1 was careful in all I said, for i eipitate return from Knssia, leaving j Kngland early on Sunday mornm I The gang fled from Astley 1 rwr i I in a panic, leaving behind, in their j haste, various damaging documents j I which compromised them hopeless- , I lv. With these proofs of conspiracy in iheir hands, aided further by a , small brown dairy taken' from toe j pocket of the dead man which had , contained a full and damning re- sumo of the whole plot, the government gov-ernment had called an elevenlh-hoiir elevenlh-hoiir conference. The labor lea del s i were forced to resognize that the. , had been used as a cat's-paw Cer-, tain eoncesMoiis were made by tnej government, and were eagerly ac- cepted. It was to be Peace, not War I ! But the cabinet knew by how narrow a margin they had escaped utter disaster. And burnt in on , Mr. Carter's brain was the strange ; scene which had taken place in the 1 house In Soho the night betore. i I He had entered the squalid room to find that great man, the friend of a lifetime, dead betrayed out of his own mouth. From the dead man's pocket-book lie had retrieved the Ill-omened draft treaty, and then and there, in the presence of Ithe other three, It had been reduced to ashes. . . . England was saved 1 ' And now, on the evening of the 30th - In a private room at the , Savoy, Mr Julius P. Hersheimmer was receiving his guests. Soon the supper party wasTn full swing, and with one accord Tommy Tom-my was called upon for a full and complete explanation. "Tommy's been the', goods this trip 1 And, instead of sitting there i as dumb as a fish, let him banish I his blushes, and tell us all about I ITT-.n-.l .AQ1 ! never believe It at all on my un- 1 ' supported word " I ."I didn't," interposed Mr. Car-1 ter, ruefully. ! I j "That's why I sent the girls off i to Sir James. I was sure they'd fetch up at the house In Soho soon-1 -' er or later. I threatened Julius ! with the revolver, because I want- j 1 ! ed Tuppence to repeat that to Sir ( James, so that he wouldn't worry ' about us. The moment the girls I were out of sight I told Julius to , drive like h- 11 for London, and as I i w-e went along I told him the whole I ! story. We got to the Soho house; 1 In p'lentv of time and met Mr. Car-i Car-i ter outside. After arranging things j with him we went In and hid be-i be-i i hind the curtain in the recess. Tin policemen had orders to say, If ; they were asked, that no one had i gone Into the house. That's all." I And Tommy came to an abrupt . halt. I I There was silence for a moment . "By the way," said Julius sud- ' denly, "you're all wrong about that I ; photograph of Jane. It was taken 1 j from me, but I found It again." I "Where?" cried Tuppence, t I "In that little safe on the wall In 1 ' Mrs. Vandemeyer's bedroom." 3 I "We all kept back something or I other," said Tuppence, thoughtful-e thoughtful-e j ly. "I suppose secret service work e ! makes you like that!" r Mr. Carter rose to his feet. "I will give you a toast Th 1 Joint Venture w'hlch has so amply i- justified itself by success 1" d It was drunk with acclamation. "There's something more we want Is to hear,!' continued Mr. Carter. He e looked at the American ambassador, h "I -".k for you also, I kiow. I We'll ask Miss Jnne Finn to tell us ..... fioa T-iinnaiiee I've nad quite euouu uu.ll...- for the present." "Well, shopping Is almost as ' good." said Tuppence, dreamily. : 1 "Think of buying old furniture, and bright carpets, and futurist fallk curtains, ami a polished- dining : table, and a divan with lots of cush- ; : ions " "Hold bard." said Tommy. I "What's all this for?" I "Possibly a houses but I think a , flat." ' : "Whose flat?" "You think I mind saying It, but ' f don't In the least ! Ours, so ; 'there!" I ; "You darling!" cried Tommy, his , arms tightly round her. "I was : : I determined to make you say it. I ' : 'owe you something for the relent- j! less way you've squashed m'e when- , i ever I've tried to be sentimental." j I Tuppence raised her face to his. j j The taxi proceeded on a course j I round the north side of Regent's ; ' park. i "You haven't really proposed ' now," pointed out Tuppence. "Not what our grandmothers would call 1 a proposal. But after listening to a rotten one like Julius', I'm in-, in-, dined to let you off." "Yon won't be able to get out of . marrying me, so don't yon think - of It." "What fun It will be, responded Tuppence. "Marriage is called all sorts of things a haven, and a , ' refuge, and a crowning glory, and a , : state of bondage, and lots more. But do yon know what I think It ; Is?"' I t "What?" . "A sportl" : "And a d d good sport, too," said ' Tommy. . THE END.J ..." s i e j Is no relation to you whatsoever." CHAPTER XVII j Mr. Brown. ' j SIR JAMES' words came like a I bombshell. Both girls looked equally puzzled. The lawyer went 1 across to his desk, and returned with a small newspaper cutting, which he handed to Jane. Tup- j pence read it over her shoulder. It I referred- to the mysterious man found dead In New York. j "As I was saying to Miss Tup- ! pence," resumed the lawyer, "I set j to work to prove the impossible possible. The great stumbling-block stumbling-block was the undeniable fact that Julius Hersheimmer was not an assumed as-sumed name. When I came across tills paragraph my problem was solved. Julius Hersheimmer set , out to discover what' had become i of his cousin. He went out West ' where he obtained news of her and , her photograph to aid him In his 1 search. On the eve of his departure from -New York lie was set upon and murdered. His body was dressed In shabby clothes, and the face disfigured to prevent Identification. Identifi-cation. Mr. Brown took his place. ' He sailed Immediately for England. 1 Since then he has been hand and . glove with those sworn to hunt him 1 down. Every secret of theirs has I lrn.n- llm Onlv nnCP A 1 fl Qulok a a FUth His Left Hand, " tha Hand Which Bora the Bifl 8lgnt Ring, Was Raised to His Lip.. . ! ened. Quick as a flash hla left hand, the hand which bore the big signet ring was raised to his lips. . . . "'Ave, Caesar I te mortturl salu tanf" he. said, still looking at Tommy. - Then his face changed, and with a long convulsive shudder he fell forward ' 'ed hean, whilst an odo? of Bitter almonds filled the air. A Suppr Party at the "Savoy." THE supper party given by Mr. Julius Hersheimmer to a few friends on the evening of the 30th irlll long' beyremembered In cater filg circles. Tt took prace In a pri Tat room, and Mr. Hershelmmer'i rdra were brief aud forcible. Hi he come near disaster. Mrs. Vande- i meyer knew his secret. It was no part of his plan that that huge bribe should ever be. offered to her. I But for Miss Tuppence's fortunate change of plan, she would have been far away from the flat when we arrived there. Exposure stared him In the face. He took a desperate desper-ate step, trusting In his assumed character to avert suspicion. He nearly succeeded but not quite. "Now we're ready. I know better bet-ter than even to suggest going without you, Miss Tuppence " " "I should think so Indeed !" Sir James' car drew up at-the corner of the square and they got out. A policeman produced a key. They all'-knewSIr James well. The thre entered tne house, nulling the incrn i iicn . I "There's nothing to tell," sajd Tommy, acutely uncomfortable. "I was an awful mug right up to the time I found that photograph of Annette, and realized that she was Jane Finn. Then I remembered how persistently she had . shouted out that word 'Marguerite' and I thought of the pictures, and well, that's that. Then of course I went over the whole thing to see where I'd made an ass of myself." "Go on," said Mr. Carter, as Tommy showed signs of taking , refuge in silence once. more. . ','That business about Mrs. Van-. Van-. demeyer had worried me when . Julius told me- about It. On the 5 face of ifit seemed that he or Sir . James must -have done. the. trjolj.. tne story mm ouiy i.-i.o has heard so far hut before we do bo we'll drink her health. The I health of one of the bravest of I America's .daughters, to whom Is due the thanks and gratitude of Iwo great countries!". CHAPTER XIX And After. trpHAT was a mighty good i- toast, Jane," said Mr. Hersheimmer, Hers-heimmer, as he and his cousin ware v being drLYen.-..ba'ck: in . the Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce to the Ritz. "The one to the Joint Venture?' . f.Nothe one to you. There isn't another girl In the world who could have carried it .throtiih aajj'o'u did. knew we couiu i w'".vu-"' There's a small hole, high up In the ' wall. "But on the Sunday afternoon a - message was brought to the house. They were all very disturbed. Without With-out their knowing, I listened. Word . had come that he was to be killed. ; 1 needn't tell the next part, because you know It" She paused. "Then the papers," said Sir James slowly, "are still at the back of the picture In that room." "Yes." The girl had sunk back on the sofa exhausted with the strain of the long story. Sir James rose to his feet. He I looked at his watch. "Come," he said, "we must go at ' -once. You have been followed here not a doubt of It. When we leave ' the house we shall be followed ' again, but" not' molested, for It Is . Mr. Brown's plan that we are to . lesd- him. But the Soho house Is under police supervision night and dsy. There are several men watch- Ing It When we enter that house, ' Mr. Brown will not draw back ! he will risk all, on the chance of ' obtaining the spark to fire his mine. And he fancies the risk not great-he great-he will enter in the guise of friend I" Tuppence flushed, then opened door to behind tliem. Slowly they j ...e rickety stairs. At the ,,'as the ragged curtain hiding le recess where Tommy bad Bladen Bla-den that day. Tuppence had heard the story from Jane In her character charac-ter of Annette." She looked at the tattered velvet with Interest Eren now she could almost swear It moved as though someone was i behind it. Supposing Mr. Brown-Julius Brown-Julius was there waiting, , . .( : impossible of course! "She must not give way to this foolish fancy- lng this curious Insistent reeling that Mr. Brown was In the house. . . Hark! What was that? A 'stealthy footstep on the stairs? There was someone In the house! Absurd 1 She was becoming hysterical. hys-terical. , , . . Jane had gone straight to the picture of Marguerite. She unhooked un-hooked It with a steady hand. The dust lay thick upon It, and festoons of cobwebs lay between it and the wall. Sir James handed her a pocket-knife, and she ripped away the brown paper from the back. ' The advertisement page ot a magazine foil out. Jane picked It up. Holding apart the frayed Inner edges, she extracted two thin sheets covered with writing! No dummy this time! The real thing! "We've got It," said Tuppence. "At last. ..." t, , , Sir James took it, and scrutinized It attentively. , . "Yes." In- said quietly, "this Is the Ill-fated draft treaty 1" "We've succeeded," said Tuppence. Tup-pence. There was awe and an almost al-most wondering unbelief In her 1 voice. , Sir James echoed her words as he folded the paper carefully and i put It awav in his pocket-book, then ' he looked curiously round the dingy room. "It was here that our young ' friend was confined for so Ions;. was It not?" he said. "A truly sln- Ister room. You notice the ab-' ab-' 1 sence of windows, and the thlck-J thlck-J ness of the close-fitting door. W hat-" hat-" ever took place here would never be heard bv the outside world. vn fc.1 ;is we. nil feel TUB "Then the Papers," Said Sir Jamei Slowly, "Are Still at the Back of the Picture In That Room." her mouth Impulsively. "You know who Mr. Brown Is, don't you?" "Yes," said Sir James graely "I have been morally certain or his Identity for some time ever sinci the night of Mrs. Vandemeyer'i mysterious death." "Ahl" breathed Tuppence. I 'Tor there we are uj) against tin |