Show the handsome man by CHAPTER VI continued 13 the other man cooled at him grave h and shook his head 1 I don t want this spread about and I 1 d just as soon the girl dlan t know it either look I 1 ge pointed to his coat which he had left so placed in the car eliat it looked is though some one was still sitting in it and then indicated his hat with which he lad crowned the colar of the coat from a distance it would look like g man slumped down in the seat with Us diat over his eyes browne bent over and saw to his astonishment that there were several holes in the hat and when he lifted the coat some emall shot rattled to the floor of the car he looked at his companion in consternation no wonder he made tuch a quick getaway the fellow oust have thought he had t man oh absolutely I 1 they walked without speaking toward the shack where the girl was roberta was ready to go find anything only the shell sir george said with a warning glance at browne 1 I have it in my pocket do you want to see it roberta shook her head with a little shudder 1 I can still drive he announced absolutely not I 1 can manage that car I 1 m sure your father expects me to drive this road tomorrow or next day so I 1 might as well have a little practice BOW roberta made a gesture to stop him but he was out of the doorway end striding toward the machine be afore she could speak he took the car down and around the narrow turn and came driving up to the shack his eyes alight with pleasure jolly good arl goes like a bird giop in miss macbeth Ua cBeth and barring a few mistakes about left and right hand drive well have no trouble at all but you will have to call off the tea party browne browne nodded roberta opened her lips to protest again took one look at the bright head as he sat hatless before her and climbed into the car isar george held out his hand to t see iou again soon sure you come up any time ace glad to show you about the place whenever you feel like it 1 I m keen about it he declared and somehow both browne and roberta eved it roberta gave browne her hand and a few murmured words of thanks and farewell but few as they were they were cut short by the driver starting the car t roberta and her companion went silently toward the island whatever sir george thought about this latest development in their excursion he nothing to the girl giving him up wholly to alio driving ct the magnificent engine he had under bis control it was not until he topped the car at the terrace and turned to her as though expecting tome praise for his driving that roberta spoke nave iou an enemy here she asked and then as he stared at her amazed she stammered among the foreign workmen I 1 mean or was it an pure and simple that the shot went through your hat oh accident pure and simple sir ceorge assured her nobody about lere knows me well enough to hate me that much he helped her out of the car and watched her go up he steps then he whistled and he said to himself then the man who fired the shot was a foreigner at least he as a dark man tl e girl had given that much away even it she wis as sir george suspected trying to screen the man who fid the shot and why she did that he was tremendously curious to know ue was wrong roberta did not know I 1 a suspicion had for a mo ent entered her mind she had driven forth st antly it was ame impossible to imagine that there i been something familiar about the ban who had moved away so swiftly through the thicket she wanted sir ceorge s assurance that she was rong yet somehow his very decision at it was an accident left her still faintly troubled sir george heard his stepmother ex dalming aud robert MacBet bs voice sed in wrath and knew that oberta had told them he called gust to take the car in and went to answer the questions that re in store for him robert macbeth wanted the police hufled at once and stormed for a onienta at both browne and sir borge for having omitted to do this roberta pointed out to her father at their construction camp was just a small town which was likely have about three superannuated ns tables the only men who could nt any good would bo alie state police a there was still time to notify them beeth ailed roberta one or two 8 fact that th e aad not seen anyone clearly had m 1 been aw are after the shot of i ne moving oft over the little kill rocks add abash screened by ril and ainan arces at the CD rutih 06 10 the instruction road for ely the had not lost her head 1 ad instantly put her foot on the e driven with her right hand denied having plainly illustrations by copyright by margaret turnbull W N U service seen the man who had alred the shot but she had heird a car start afeei she had gone some distance blie wain too much pain and too frightened to stop and look for it her imbres slon that the man was a foreigner slit could not deny but neither could 01 would she say why she thought so A he hat hid not moved and she did not think that he knew there wa no head under it so quickly had she driven away then lady San pounced on them have you no mercy think shame to yourself sir you two keeping the lass here when she should be taking a rest and having her hand dressed I 1 ve telephoned the doctor so that it 11 be done as it should be come away my girl and get tidied up before he comes she had taken roberta away and left the to men together im not going to have my girl run into any more danger ou can bet your life on that so much as I 1 hate roberta he said impulsively do you know any reason why sir george should be made a target calling in the police at stage of the game well give them the facts macbeth said as he put out his hand to the receiver ills secretary nodded but it gasn wasn t the girl they were after sir he said softly it was my hat they made a hole in why macbeth regarded him with a little grin think a lot of yourself don t QU ill remind you that robertas my daughter and consequently am por tant if my theory a correct why should they single you out who knows anything about you the younger man smiled back at him I 1 m your secretary and they call me an englishman at the office since youe been sending me back and forth lie looked at macbeth coolly quite a few people there call me beauty Sand lson I 1 may look important to an outsider macbeth laughed you knew they called you beauty then oh yes I 1 really can t help my unfortunate face sir I 1 let it handicap me as little as possible macbeth forgot his troubles in a roar of laughter you ungrateful young bogl with a face and figure that make nine tenths of us sour from sheer envy you talk about handicaps 1 well I 1 leave it to you the young man argued would you like fo be as much of a beanpole bean pole as I 1 am would I 1 like macbeth roared again man I 1 have just prayed the almighty ever since I 1 wis seventeen to give me one more inch I 1 ve con soled myself often enough that it s the runts that do the work and get there but I 1 would like just to be one inch taller I 1 m not asking for your grand height but just one little inch and as for the rest of you I 1 man do you not fairly smirk at yourself when you look in the glass ills secretary looked at him in slow amazement when I 1 look n the glass I 1 suppose I 1 see what every one else sees my defects have you ever noticed sir and be bent nearer mac beth in all seriousness that I 1 have one eyebrow a trine than the other and my nose its a little too long dont you think I 1 think I 1 d like to give you a black eye declared robert macbeth just to show how jour face does make me feel occasionally but on the whole I 1 think not III just sit back and thank god for sending you at this particular time I 1 never had so much in all my life little money fun for so sir george looked at him bucs I 1 don t just exactly mean that you are funn his employer began ita just sour whole your looks and speech are part of it but mostly sir george I 1 its yourself aeed the younger man oe ed to I 1 beaded I 1 might little stiffly eald it n as a requirements t nort of your but I 1 nave really tried sir tall short 1 my G dl Sand lson I 1 think you re perfect perfect do you get me 1 hae an inch of you changed I 1 ve got sort of an affection for you I 1 e fought it down I 1 dont mind telling you say ing to myself it was fair foolishness to get drawn into caring about anyone belonging to your generation fool Ish its ruinous I 1 look at roberta t J ve cared for her more than any human being I 1 have ever known and she grudges a few hours out of her round of pleasure to help out her old dad lie stopped abruptly ills secretary was looking at him so oddly 1 I think you are quite wrong sir he declared im very sure iou are why if you will think of it she might have given her life in just those few hours ou asked 1 really dont think you realized that good G dl exclaimed robertas father 1 I she made so light of it her fathers daughter said the younger man with a smile which made macbeth s heart warm to him again ue looked at his secretary keenly and yet you dont like roberta overly much sir george flushed she doean doesn t like me you mean I 1 think her most attractive macbeth meditated a few moments in silence then apparently dismissed everything but the business in hand from his mind and said what about the police ills secretary hesitated 1 I think your daughter would rather not have them called in said he macbeth frowned W hy should she not want the police called in sir george waited a moment and then said slowly I 1 don t know may be you could find out leave you to question her he went through the window as roberta entered the room her father touched the bandaged hand lightly doctor seen it yet he asked roberta shook her head he s corn ing soon she hesitated and looked at her father imploringly I 1 think I 1 d like to see him here where you are I 1 thought that you could keep him from telling anybody about how I 1 got my hand hurt I 1 d rather not have people know I 1 think it was just some poor frightened boy who had been shooting at a rabbit or a hawk it s funny then her father said that he should shoot the top of sir georges hat so neatly roberta turned white oh no she said he dlan t mean to do that it was an accident that it happened so it looks like intention to me her father retorted 1 I think my girl speak to the police myself not especially about this but about keeping an eye on the construction camp I 1 can say I 1 m afraid of bootlegging among the workmen if you like roberta nodded that might do she paused and went toward the window of course rather I 1 don t want to make things harder or more dangerous tor sir george but I 1 think hes all excited about american gunmen and things like that and is liable to imagine any little accident Is part of a big plot to get him you re not going to send him up with that money are you here comes the doctor and your aunt robert macbeth warned her then in answer to her question As to that my lass I 1 ve got to send somebody W hy not my secretary roberta shrugged her shoulders her father looked at her sternly wondering did she as his secretary had hinted know more than she told he could hardly credit that roberta he said impulsively do you know any reison why sir george should be made a target she shook her bead 1 I cant understand der stand it at all her father felt the sincerity in her voice well he admitted its a puzzle sir george strolled back and forth back and forth trying to puzzle out whether roberta had or had not seen the man who fired the shot his mind continually rejected the thought that the girl with all her bid manners and temper could play such a part and yet unable to decide he finally determined to stop thinking about it time would tell it seemed imps sable that robert macbeth s daughter could be in league with her fathers enemies and yet what else did her silence mean sir george was positive despite her carefully worded answers that she had seen enough of the man who fired the shot to know or suspect mu more than she had cared to tell TO BE CONTINUED |