Show B TT U a 1 a acsa za ell R U M M JL the tac adventures of a mobilized demobilized De isy mcneile officer who found peace dull 11 SAPPER copyright by geo n U dorian ceo C CHAPTER if continued 5 compressed air j lall or electric lie he muttered to himself stumbling on and half dragging half carrying tits his dazed companion ite he was not very cry clear in his fits own mind what to to do next but bill the matter was settled for him unexpectedly barely had lie he got into the drawing room when the door opened and the girl rushed in get act jilin him away nt at once site sho cried in your cur car dont waste a second ive started lier her up good girl he cried enthusiastically but what about you she stomped stamped lier her loot foot impatiently tro jim all right absolutely all right get him away nil all that matters matten drummond Dru inmond grinned the limmor W i ODD filing Is that I 1 haunt nn in idea who tho the bird Is except that lie ile A paused with ilia hla eyes fixed on the lie mans left thumb the top toll joint was crushed into a n red shapeless pulp and suddenly tile the menning meaning of the in ment Lakin gion on had produced from his pocket became clear also the he reason ot of that dreadful cry nt at dinner V dy by god bed I 1 ill whispered whimpered drummond hi aalt to himself while lilg ills jaws set I 1 aliko alike a steel vise A thumbscrew the devils the swine ohl oh I 1 quick quick the girl arll urged urged in an n agony they may be hea at M any moment site drugged dragged him to r tile tho door and together they forced the man into the car La lackington kington wout wont said hugh with a grin and it if you see him tomorrow dont ask after tits lila jaw bood phyllis rhyll lg with a quick movement lie he raised her ber hand to lite his lips then lie he slipped r IN r the humorous thing la Is that I 1 on del luct who the bird Is IR except that an in the clutch and the car disappeared down don the drive ife ha felt a sense of elation and of triumph nt at having won the first round ond and as the car whirled back to london through the coot cool night air me hid i heart was waa singing with joy of act action lori I 1 f and andett it was perhaps BB an well tor for lilt lila that hat he did not witness k A an fn the room fit the lima alma ta kington still lay motionless ont on the ibe floor petersons Petera ong car still glowed ate adaly in the darkness it was lial d m W 10 believe that be had ever eer moved t from the table able oy the bullet tin lin 4 1 11 in a tree proved bonit autly riu nilis till re sot of busy of if course it inight chtive lieou been tile girl who wua was just lighting another cigarette from froin tile lio of tile old one at length peterson spoke A 1 young ilian of dash and lie pill genially it will be a pity to lose hill eliy not keep him and lose lite girl irma 1 I think he might me we e have always our dear deal henry to consider answered peterson apparently the girl appeals to heinit vin norald trina hell have to KO go and tit nt once tile the speaker was tapping flipping tits his left L knee nee softly with 1119 land hand save for that lint slight movement lie he sat as if nothing had bopp happened ened and yet ten minutes before a carefully planned coup had bad failed at the instant of success 4 even tits his most fearless accomplices bad been known to confess that petersons reter sons inhuman calmness sent cold shivers down their backs CHAPTER III in which things happen in half moon street ONE blugh drummond folded up tile the piece of paper lie ho was studying and rose to ills his feet na as tile the doctor cattle into ther the room ooin ile iio then pushed it silver allver box of cigarettes across the table anti and wilted waited your friend said the doctor Is in a very peculiar condition captain very ery peculiar can you enlighten me at all as to what lie ho hixa has been doing during the last few days shook ills head I lavent an earthly doctor thero there Is for instance that very unpleasant wound lit in his fits thumb pursued the other oilier the top joint Is crushed to a pulp 1 11 I 1 noticed that last night answered hugh it ugh noncommittally looks ns as if t it tind flail been mixed up between a liviu iner find and nn all anell dont it I 1 but have you no iden idea how flow it oc currell cur redl im full of ideas said tile so sol adler in fact it Ws its any anny help to you in n your diagnosis that wound wourl was waa caused by the jie application of an unpleasant med medieval leval instrument known as n thumbscrew the worthy doctor looked it at him in amazement A thumbscrew I 1 you must lie be joking captain very far from froin it answered hugh briefly if you want to know it was touch and go whether tile the other thumb share tile the same fate lie ile blew out it cloud of smoke and skilled inwardly ns as lie noticed the look of scandalized horror on ills his compan jons oils lace face it its ills thumb that concerns roc me ho he continued continue its his general condition tile matter with him tile the doctor pursed ills his lips and looked wise while drummond wondered that no one had ever passed a law allowing nien men ot of ills his type to be murdered on sight ilia heart seems sound lio lie answered after a weighty and I 1 found nothing wrong with him constitutionally in ill fact act f I 1 inay any captain drummond Dru lie ha is in ever every y respect n most healthy man except er except for title peculiar condition drummond Dru exploded damnation take it invin what tin earth do yon suppose I 1 asked you to come collie round for its of 0 no interest to tile me to hear that his liver Is working property properly mica afteu lie ho f himself 1 I beg your doctor I 1 hit hal air 4 er a trying evening last night gun carl yoa give ino ine any idea as to what has caneil this peculiar condition conditt otil ills ilia companion accept accepted eI tile apology with tin an add bow some ome form of drug lie he mi drummond heaved a sigh of relief now were getting on lie cried have you any ally idea what drug it Is at the lie moment haril hard to say returned the other in a day or two perhaps perlin ps I 1 might be able to er cr arrive tit nt sonic some conclusion 11 nt et present you havo havo not inight now we know where we are ali aa you dont ilor t know what tile the drug Is presumably you dont know cither elthe how long it will toko take for the effect to 1 wear off oar 1 that or er le la within limits correct cen conceded ceded tile doctor what abbat dirt diet oil I 1 light not tob much meat 0 no alcohol 11 ile ho roso rose to tits his feet as hugh opened the door really the war seemed to have produced a disi distressing effect on peoples manners diet was the one question on which lie always let himself go 90 not much meat no alcohol right good morning doctor down the stairs ind and straight on good morn ieng jol the door closed behind him and lie be descended to his batting with cold disapproval on his face excuse me sir mr the doctor paused and eyed a well dressed man who had find spoken to him mI musingly sIngly ant am I 1 right in assuming that you are a doc doctor torl you iou arp aro corr correct 11 sir air in your the ninn inan smiled 1 li loudly a gell geir thought tile lorac tillo a er alth till its ills hand on the file door of lils ills ear its about it great pill pal of mine e captain drummond allu hu lives 1 in n here went on UK file other 1 I hope you wont ilont think tt it unprofessional hut but I 1 thought id bisk sk you privately how you find ailin I 1 tile doctor looked surprised cup cap into drummond so far ns as I 1 nin aware liaa bas never been better I 1 er cr cannot say boy the saine of tits friend lie stepped into ills car why not go BO up and see for yourself the car rolled smoothly into ale plc cad lily but the allowed no signs of availing himself of tile lio doctors suggestion lie turned and walked rapidly away and a few moments later in tin nn exclusive csc lusle west yeat end club a trunk call was put through to a call which caused the recipient to nod ills hla liend hend in satisfaction end and order the aloyce meanwhile unconscious of tills this solicitude for or ills health hugh drummond was once more occupied with the piece of paper lie he had been studying on the doctors entrance beyond establishing the fact that tile the ninn man in the peculiar condition was allram 0 potts the american multimillionaire he could make nothing out of it it if only id managed to get tile the whole of it he muttered to himself for or the twentieth time that dam fellah peterson was too quick the scrap he had torn oft off was waa typewritten save for the americans scrawled signature and hugh knew tile the words worda by heart alete p lete paralysis nde ade of britain months I 1 do the holder of of five million do d 0 desire and earl necklace and the are tit at present chess of lamp lam p k no quest questions ion a AM 0 POTTS at length he replaced the scrap in tits ills pocketbook pocket book and rang the boll bell james he be remarked as bla servant cainia in better know that as far its as I 1 can see were up against plough n proposition indeed sir murmured his servant the gentleman Is coking cpr you 51 sir r 11 mrs dennys voice from the tha door made them took look round hugh walked quickly along the passage to the room where the millionaire lay in bed how tire are you feeling said baid reum mond cheerfully the man stared at him uncomprehendingly hen and shook ills his head do you remember last night hugh continued speaking very slowly and distinctly fly then a sudden idea struck him and lie he pulled pull edthe the scrap of paper out of ills case do you remember signing that for a while tho the man looked at it then with a sudden cry of fear he shrank away no no he muttered not again hugh hurriedly replaced the paper bad break on my part old bean you evidently remember rather too well its quite till all right 1 1 lie he continued reassuringly Is 8 no one will hurt you then after a 11 pause pau seIs your mime hiram 0 potts the man nodded tits his head doubtfully and mutt muttered erett hiram potts once or twice as it the words sounded familiar fat rIllar do you remember driving in rt motor car last persisted hugh nut but what little hash flash of kemem havirco had pierced tile tha drug clouded brain seemed to have passed the man loan only stared attired dazedly at the speak er cr tried him with a few more questions but it was ab nb 6 uso find and after ti t while lie got up tip and moved toward the door dont you worry old son he sald said with a smile well have you yo u jump ing about like a two year old in tj a couple of days then lie ho paused the annn was evidently trying to 0 o say something what Is it you want leant over the bed danger danger faintly the words came and then with a sigh tio lie lay buck back exhausted with willi n grim aville drummond watched the lie motionless figure eguro tin im afraid he said halt half aloud alond that youre rather rathe rIke ike your ill medical edical attendant your only contribution to the sphere of oc pure know knowledge leIge Is something I 1 know al already lie ho went out and quietly closed the lie door and as ho he reentered entered re his sit djoi dooin he found tits lila servant standing motionless behind of the curtains witching watching the street below theres it a map sir mr he remarked without turning around watching the house per for a moment hugh stood still frowning then he gave it a short tough laugh the devil there Is I 1 he remarked the has begun in earnest ei my worthy warrior with the atiat st nine points point to us ua for possession even of a dazed lunatic Is nine points of the IH V Is it not TWO at twelve precisely the bell rang announcing a visitor and drum mend looked up tip as ills his servant cagne into tit alie room yes james he remarked 1 I think mink we tire lire nt at home I 1 want you to remain within call and under no circumstances cum stances let our sick visitor out 0 of f your our sight for more than it minute in fact I 1 think better sit in n ills film room 1 james jnnny with a curt very good sir left tile tie room almost at once lie returned and flinging 9 open tile the door announced mr air peterson drummond looked up quickly ind and rose with lilt a smile good morning be cried title this is a aery pleasant surprise mr peterson ile iio waved his visitor to a chair hope youve juad no more trouble with your car mr air peterson drew off hla his glover 91 smiling jilling amiably none nt at all thank you captain drummond the chauffeur appears to have mastered the defect it was your eye on him that hat did it wonderful thing the human optic ns an I 1 said to your friend mr mr I 1 hope that hes quite well ivell and taking nourishment soft food or said the other gen genially lally mr had bad a roost most unpleasant accident last night roost Il hughs face expressed ills lily illow how very unfortunate I 1 he murmured 1 I trust nothing serious 1 I fear ills lower jaw was fractured in two places peterson helped himself to a cigarette from the box beside jilin him the man who lilt him must have been a boxer mixed up in a brawl hinss he said drummond Dru inmond slinking shaking his lead 1 I should nover never have hava thought from what little ive seen of mr La kington that ho be went in for painting the lite town red id have put him down as a most abstemious roan man but one never can tell can one I 1 once know a fellah who used to get fighting drunk on three whiskies and to look at him yo ud have put him down as a parson wonderful amount of cheap fun that chap gotaut got out ot of life peterson flicked the ash from his fits cigarette into the ghate shall we come to the points point captain drummond he remarked affably hugh looked bewildered the point mr peterson nl er by all manner of means peterson smiled even more affably 1 I felt certain that you were a young 1 9 man of discernment he remarked d ond and I 1 like to keep you sou from your paper a minute longer than 1 necessary 11 not a bit cried hugh my time la yours youra though id very much like to know your real opinion of the juggernaut for the chester cup it seems to me that he be cannot afford to give sumatra seven pounds on their form up to date are you interested lit li gambling asked peterson politely A mild flutter mr peterson every now and then returned drummond Stil strictly etly limited stakes it if you confine y yourself to that mir you will vill col come to no harm said eald peterson pes iles it Is 18 when tile the stakes stake s b become e unlimited that the danger of a crash becomes beco unlimited too that la is what my mother always alway 8 told me remarked blugh she even went further dear good woman that fill she was rover never bet except on oil a ceri maluty mybon my boy was her constant advice land end then put your our shirt onil I 1 can call hear her saying it now mr air peterson diw the golden rays of the setting gotting sun lighting up her sweet face peterson ienna forward in ili hla fils chair young inan roan lie remarked wove weve got cot to understand one another last night you lou butted in ili on my plans plan s and in I 1 do not like people who do that fly an net act which I 1 must appealed to niu me great greatly lyt you ou removed something I 1 require something moreover which I 1 intend friend to have creaking aking the lie electric bulb with a revolver rev oh or shot shows resource reso uric anil and initiative the blow that lied henry jaw in two places shows strength all qualities which I 1 adin admire fre captain drummond admire greatly I 1 should hadj dinv ing to deprive the world of those wes Dru nimond gazed gared at the lie speaker openmouthed open p en mouthed my illy dear sir he protested tested d feebly ft ebly you vou overwhelm me are you ou really me ul if being a sort of ft wild lid west show lie he wag aled it 11 finger at peterson you know youve been to the movies |