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Show J IeJ Q klQ f klf kl Ie- Ie - IeI IeTHE I THE - . GIFT WIFE WIFE000 WIFE000HUGHES 0 0 0 { 1 HUGHESWtSERNCEBy , , By RUPERT HUGHES ' oUO-WNU oUO WNU 0 " RUPERT " " HUGHES-WtSERNCE HUGHES WtSERNCE HUGHES " - - WNU S SERVICE " CE A a r ' CHAPTER1 CILIPTERI CHAPTER CILIPTER 112 \ M -1 1 \I I " - I12 \ -12- 12 - 12To 12To 12"r 12r - " - " To escape the insistent autoblof autoblog autoblographer autoblographer autoblofrapher ! \ [ rapher Jebb flung fiung away with regret regreta regrc regrc'a 'a a ' a . half finished fimshed cigar and saidr saidI said 'i i ' I think I U 11 ll go to dinner now 1 1I ' Good idea said Ludlam andinvited and andInVlted an invited InVlted himself hlmsell along aloDg alongAt . : \ At the table he flaunted fiaunted the odious odioushosp odiousbosp odioubosp hosp bosp tality tahty of the wine opener opener'Got openerGot ' ' ! Got to celebrate this thlS doctor he be he.ald besaid blaid .ald ald said . Don t meet up with a fenow fellow fenowcountryman fellowcountryman fellowi countryman every flay day out here hereWhat hereWhat herewhat [ What U II 11 it be doc doe doc7 doc7Nothing ? * ' -Nothing Nothing 'NOthlDg NOthlDg Nothmg - thanks thanksAw thanksAw thanksJ Aw go on-of on of on - - of course you will wiTWhat . . . What Wbat do you say to a small bot of ofchampagony ofchampagofly cchampagony7 champagony champagofly ? ' ' It began to look as If it Jebb would wouldhae wouldhatie wouliha\e wouliha e ha\e ha e hatie \ to break a plate over the man manhead s shead sbead 8 head bead to escape his IDS despotic hospital hospitalit hospitalfly hospitalIty it fly > ' But at length he persuaded Lud Ludlam Ludlam Ludlam lam to believe him and Ludlam Ludlammore Ludlammore Ludlammore more puzzled than ever endured theordeal the theordeal thiordeal ; ordeal of drinking drmking alone aloneIDs aloneins alonei His IDs ins eye studied studlcd Jebb s face and andgarb andgarb amgarb [ garb as examinmgly examlDlOgly exammingly as his cunosit CUrIosity CUrIositypIled curiositypried : , pried pIled into lDtO his history hlstory But the d.m dm din . d.mner dinner dmner ner was half hall halt over belore before he noticed noticedthe noticedthe noticethe ! I the ring rlDg on Jebb s left little httle fingerHe fingerHe finger fingerHe He looked up quickly qwck1y into Jebb s sface sface , , face then back to the ringHe ringHe ring ringHe He followed Jebb back to the theamoklDg thesmoking thiimoking amoklDg smoking compartment and com corn compelled cornpelled cornpelled pelled him him to accept one of his IDS own ownCigars owidears owncigars ' Cigars CigarsOdd Odd looking 100klDg ring rlDg you got on ondoc ondoe ondoc ondocIsn doc doe docIsn doeIsn Isn t It it7 ' said Jebb JebbCame JebbCame JebbCame Came from Servia Servla didn dldn t it itI ? I don t knowa know doct : j a . , 4 ' ' That 'That s s funny funnyThmk funnyThink tunnyi t Think Thmk so soB ? VIas was -B B - as all Jebb found to tolay tosay t ( lay say ( ay layIts sayIts ayIts Its a Servian Servlan design all rlghtIs rightIs right rlght , Is it ? 1 1Ever 1 Ever been in Belgrade ? ' tr trPassed L I Passed through ( it 1t t today ' , t f fI ' I mean-ever mean ever mean - - ever stop off oft there ? ' ' j l ' lT " I 'I T ' don t think soYou soYou so sor ( r You don t think thlOk solI sotI sol sot I Im m not sure'That surer sure'That ture sure turep p r a ' ' That 'That s tunny funny Don t remember rememberJ remembera rememberwhether rememberwhether remembelwhether whether you ve ye been m in a place lIke lIkeBelgradel likeBelgrade likiBelgrade J Belgradel Belgrade ! ! I can t t imagine imagme a mai man maii { ' i > being belDg m lD in Belgrade without WlthOUt remembering remem 1 benng bermg bering itI it itff ff . I think thlllh Ill I U II go to my berth and andttake andtake anc take a nap napT napn ttake ( n T Before you go doctor would you youmlDd yout youmind yo g gmind t mind mlDd lett ng me look at that rmg ring ring7 ? ' ' :9Does 4Does Does ( it t interest mterest you you7 ? ' ( :9 9 ' : ' 4 Yes Yesl YesThough l Though he wanted to Jab ] ab the mai man manIn manIn maiLl Ll in the tat fat face with it Jebb held IDS his IDShand hishand hi : , hand out meehly'Would meekly'Would meekly meehly meeklyf \f f \ ' "Would Would 'Would " ' you mind mlOd if I took it off ? | said LudlamIs Ludlam \ Is there any reason why you youshould youshould yoi yoishould7 should7 should ? ' 'OJ OJ ' v vIs 1 _ Is there any reason why whyF I Ishouldn Ishouldn F thouldn shouldn t t ? If I ' None whatever said Jebbi Jebb , i Instantly the ring rlDg VI was as slippedfrom sbpped shpped slipped , , from his finger and Ludlam was wasfhOldlDg washolding waspi waspiholding holding it close his p gg sh eyes eyesstar eyesEntar 1 Itar star ng mto lDtO into the inner lOner surfaceUgh surface fhOldlDg ( , ' "Ugh Ugh 'Ugh " hugh he snorted like anangry an } 1 angry boar I thought soYou soYou so > You thought Vlhat nhat what7 ? ' , [ See those in tials bals teals C to J ? I I Well WellWelll WellWell Well19eUl Welll Well 19eUl ! Hew do you come to have haveit havet havett71 * it ! t ? ' My name is JebbBut JebbBut Jebb JebbBut But who does C stand for tori ? 1 f ' That 'That s my affair'I affairT affair 1 'I I T ' m not so sure of that , , youngfellow youngfellow young ; fellow I ve ye been kind klDd of SUSPICIOUS suspiciousof of you all aU along You re so blamed blamedclosemouthed blamedclosemouthed blamedclose-mouthed blamedclose mouthed close-mouthed close mouthed - - - I thought there must mustbe mustbe mustbe , be some reason reasonr r ( ? Your thoughts and susp clonsdon dons donsdon cions clons ; , don t Interest me Giv Glve Give me the rlOg ring rlOgand ringand ringa and keep your opinions opmlons to yours yourselfOh yourself ell ellOh saysfr ? Oh I guess not . . . This Thts ring says saysI saysC saysC C to J My first name is Charheiand Charlieand Charlie Charhe I > and my sister slster s < is Jennie She wasborn was wasborn wasborn born in June and her b rth stone is " 'I I ' 'Ia da isda ? a * moss agate or a mocha stone as ast asthey asthey a * iand t they call ( it t over here hereSo here/ here hereSo / So that s what that is said saidJebb said\J said J \ Jebb < : bti an old riddle arswered justa just justia 11 11a ? a plain plam moss aeatel agatel agate ! I guess I U II B have to have you ar arrested arrested ari rested docArrested docArrested doc , Arrested7 Arrested ' Arrested tor for what ? ? whatI For stealing stealmg this rlDgStealmg ringStealing ring rlDg Stealing Stealmg it-you-oh it you oh it - you - oh I can t evenget evenget even let get mad at such a fathead as you youpMr youjMr youMr pMr [ Mr Ludlam But just to humor humoryou humori couldhave you , , , let me ask you how you couldI could I ) have me arrested ' ? 8 "For For 'For ' " having havmg this thlS ring In your possession pos possession cos } esslon session sessionc essloni sessionIs c i Is it your ring ? ; No but it a s tny my sister slster sIs sIs x s xrf rf Isshe Is she he here1 here ? ' No but-I but I but-1 1 - but - I know Ifs it's its ft's fts ' ' hers ' sellIt How do you know she didn t sell it to me me7 me7She ? ' She wouldn t sell a birthday bltthday pres Ares presHow present Aresant ent ant . . How can you tell tell7 ? She may have haveneeded haveneeded haveneeded needed badlyNonsense tome some money very badly privatetortune privatefortune Nonsense she s got a private fortune of o1 o ( her ownThen own ownThen t ownt 6 Then how do you know she d dn do t tgive tE've tEve 6give give ' it jt to me ? rmgWhy Why should she give you thisring thisd this ring ? d ; Isshe Is the she married7 married married7i ? ' I ofU i Not that I know ofMaYbe of U ; Maybe she exchanged It with meas meas me ; as * an engagement token Wait Walt tillyOU tillyou till tilli i yOU 7 ofmme o1mine u iee see her You may find a ring of o1 . "line line mme mine " fingerThis on oD her finger : This nndom rrndom r odom ihot shot staggered Lud Lud.m lam Ludlam lam .m- .m . . .mkMl - but kMl * I.t It U . I * had I--a I a * - - a - backfire > , j that thath h , bowled Jebb over too tor for the fright- fright frightful frightfill - . ful possibility posslbility suddenly presented it- it itsell it - self sell that the other member of the thefirm thefirm firm V Pierpont Plerpont , , , Esq co eo partne partner partnerin ; in the thc Jebb Pierpont Plerpont soul soul , , , might ac actually actually actually tually have taken a fancy to this thisMISS thisMiss , Miss Jennie Jenme Ludlam and proposed proposedto propose < to her She m ght be some pathetii pathetic patheticold patheticold old spinster spmster who would lump Jump at a aproposal aproposal sproposal proposal from anybodyMeanwhlle anybodyMeanwhile anybody anybodyMeanwhile Meanwhile Meanwhlle the train was pushing pushingon pushinion on through the dark An iron bridge bridgeat bndgiat at Ncusatz carried earned it 1t rumblmg rumbling rumblingacross rumblmgacross rumbhniacross across the Danube and into the theplalDs theplains thiplams plalDs plains of lower HungaryFlDally HungaryFinally Hungary HungaryFinally Finally FlDally Ludlam having tailec failed failedto failedto to invent a next step threw the bur burden burden burden den on his hlS prisoner and demand demanded demanded demanded demandedWell ed edWell edWell Well what are you going gOlDg to do doabout doabout d < about this ring rlDg ? You have it haven t you ? ' 'Yes Yes ' Yes but- but butKeep butKeep but - Keep it and call it squareOh squareOh square squareOh Oh no you don t . t . I want to toknow toknow t ( know how you got it There maa may maybe maybe be some foul play here I haven havenheard t theard theard heard from Jennie tor for a couple of ofmonths ofmonths o : months and-You and You and - - You re comme commg coming witt with withme withme wittme me to MunichMunlCh MunichMunich Munich Munich7 MunlCh Munich ? ' I get off at Budapest . . . If you do I 111 11 II get off and swear swearout swearout sweaout ] out a warrant tor for your arrest , . You hasent ba\ ba baen ha\en ha en \ en t a scintilla sclnblla of evidence evidence evi dence denceThey dence'They ' They 'They 11 ll detain detam you till I get it It ItI . . I ve ye got friends in Budapest . . Jebb was fairly falrly wringing wrmglOg his brain brainfor brainfor brairtor for memory and wisdom wlsdom He was wasf wasIf wa ; f U\Ir U Ir If ! \ Mr Jebb would81t would \ wait \\81t 81t wad m in the therecepbon thereception thereception recepbon reception room , I eager to reach Trieste Trleste yet he had no noassurance noassurance noassurance assurance of finding findlDg the child chtld there thereHe thereHe thereHe He had probably passed through Mu Muwch Musuch Mumch wch such on his fl 11 fi ght south from Co Cologne Cologne Cologne logne Munich m ght be the very veryI veryspot veryspot spot where he had lost CynthlaYou CynthiaYou Cynthia Cynthla CynthiaYou You say your sister slster will meet meetyou meetyou meetyou you in m Munich7 MunlCh Munich Munich7Yes ? ' Yes she lives hves there most of the thebme thetime thetime thetimeWell bme time bmeWell timeWell Well III I U go along with you . . You will ' I 111 Ill 11 go with Wlth you on one condl condi condltlon condition conditlon conditlonWhat tlon tion tlonWhat tionWhat What s that that7 that7That ? ' That you pay my expenses thereand there thereand and back to BudapestPay BudapestPay Budapest BudapestPay Pay your expenses expenses7 ? ' Well I guess guessnot guessnot guessnot not . . Why should I I7 I7I ? ' I never heard of a prisoner prlsoner pay paying paylug paying ing lug his IDS own tare fare did dld you you7 you7All ? ' All right Ludlam growled growledThat growledThat growledThat That night , , in the berth that Lud Ludlam Ludlam Ludlam lam paid tor for Jebb slept uneasily uneasilyfor uneasilyfor uneasilylor for his hlS dreams were a nightmare D1ghtmare of ofwar ofwar olwar war between his Minima Mlmma Miruma and Pler Pier Plerpont Pierpont Pierpont pont 8 s Jennie over the possession oftheir of ofthelt oltheir thelt their Siamese lovers He would have slept so much bet better better better ter had he be known that Ludlam sat up upall upall upall all night to make sure of his IDS not es escaplOg estaping escapmg escapmgBreakfast caplOg taping caplOgBreakfast tapingBreakfast Breakfast time found them at Vienna Vi Vienna VIenna enna and Jebb ordered everythmg everything everythinghe everythmghe he could think of He smoked Lud Ludlam Ludlam Ludlam lam s a expensive invicibles Invlclbles till he hemade hemade hemade made himself hlm.ell hlmell . dizzy and his jailerwas jailer jailerwas jailerwas was be heartily artily glad to tee see Munich MunicharrIve Municharrive Municharrive arrIve in the late afternoon of the thedreariest thedreariest thedreariest dreariest day he had ever spent spentThe . . The finishing blow was the discov discovery discovery discovery ery that sister Jennie never expect expecting . . ing her brother had gone to Vienna Viennafor Viennafor Viennator for a week s visit . The CODclerge concierge CODclergegave conciergegave conciergegave gave her address as the Hotel Brls Bris Brlstola Bristola Bnstol tol-a tol a - a familiar name to JebbAnd Jebb JebbAnd JebbAnd And poor Ludlam was so woe be begone begone begone gone and so sleepy from bis his all allnight allnight allnight night vigil that Jebb felt sorry for forbim forhim torhim bim him . . . Jebb had won the confidence a e epatient apatient apatient patient trusty inspired mspired and Lud Ludlam Ludlam Ludlam lam felt sure ot of keeping him by the theSimple thesimple thesimple Simple device ot of withholding hit his re return return return turn tare fare He engaged adjoining adjoiningrooms adjoiningrooms adjoiningrooms rooms after ass inng JrlOg irfng h m that they theywould theywould theywould would entrain entralD tor for Vienna Vlenna on themorrow the themorrow themorrow morrow and waddled of off ! to bed . . It Itwas Itwas Itwas was not Dot long before hn IDS his snores came cametrumpeting cametrumpeting cametrumpeting trumpeting through the thin UUlI partl parts partltlon partstion partition tlon tion J Jebb ebb fettled settled back in a chair chatr In Inhis inhis inhi his * own room to figure up his ex cx expendltures cxpenditures expenditures pendltures penditures and find how be he stoodwith stood stoodWith stoodwith With the future CHAPTER CBAPTIR : XH Xll XIl XIlWhen XHWhen When he reached tor for a fountain fountainpen fountainpen tountairpen pen he be kept in the inside pocket of ofIDS ofhis olhis IDS his coat coat , , he be found that it had haddropped haddropped bacdropped dropped through a hole and was lost lostin lostIn lostin in the liningHe ImlngHe lining Imlng liningHe He slipped shpped off the coat and emp emptying emptying emptying tying the pocket , , , turned it mside mSlde inside out outto outto outto to examine examlDe what he would have havecalled havecalled havecalled called the lesIOnHls lesionHis lesion lesionHis His Hls eye was caught by the white whitelabel whitelabel whittlabel label of the tailorMAX tailor tailorMAX MAX WANDL WANDLSchnelder WANDLSchneider WANDLSchneider14 Schnelder Schneider 14 Lindenaustrasse Llndenaustrasse Dresden DresdenHerr DresdenHerr DresdenHerr Herr V PierpontThis Pierpont Plerpont PierpontThis This was the plainest plalDest clew Jebbhad Jebb Jebbbad Jebthad bad had found yet He cursed lumsell himself himselffor lumsellfor mmseLfor for having bavmg carried it in m his own in inside inside intide side pocket all this thlS thus while He had hadidled hadidled hacIdled idled about Salomca Salonica and Constanti Constantinople Constantinople Constantinople nople trying trymg to retrace his steps stepswhen stepswhen stepswhen when he might have taken this short shortcut shortcut shortcut cut and picked up the thread far farback farback faiback back near its beginning begummg without WlthOUt the theloss theloss theloss loss ol of so many irretrievable irretrlevable daysA daysA days |