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Show The Secret Adversary i u n S i By AGATHA CHRISTIE (Copyriht Dodd. Uead & Company) Ja "A GIRLI" BYNOPfilS-rteallzIng- that aho haa a possible chance of being saved, aa the Lusttanla la slnklnK. atranffer glvea a young American girl a package which he aaka her to deliver to the American ambassador ambas-sador In Inaiand. She la eaved. In Ixindon, former Lieut. "Tommy" "Tom-my" Heresford and Mlna Prudence Cowley "Tuppence" dta'-hartfed army nurse, form an organization, "The Young Adventurers, Ltd." They are both broke and consequently conse-quently ready for unorthodox methods. meth-ods. They write out an advertisement. advertise-ment. Tuppence makea a business appointment with a man, Edward WhlttlriKton, who offers her easy employment, but on giving her name as "Jane Finn," which she .'ad heard on the street, Whlttlng-ton Whlttlng-ton disappears. In answer to an advertlaoment signed "Jane Finn" the two receive notes from "Mr. Carter" and "Julius P. Hershelm-mer." Hershelm-mer." Carter, a high government official, speaks of a mysterious "Mr. Brown" ns head of the Elol-Bhevlkl Elol-Bhevlkl In Kngland, and engages the pair to find Jane Finn, whom he Is seeking for Important reasons of state. Next day the pair visits Ilershelmmer, American millionaire. million-aire. Ke Is looking for his cousin, Jane Finn, who had disappeared after landing from the Lusltanla's boata, and employs them to search for hor. They discover a Mrs. Van-demeyer Van-demeyer Is a Lusltanla survivor. Tuppence recognizes Whlttlngton In a caller on Mrs. Vandemeyer. Tommy trails him. Whlttlngton leaves for Franco. Hershelmmer follows him. Tommy trails Boris, Whtttlngton's companion, to a house In Soho. lie overhears details de-tails of a Bolshevik and labor plot to overturn the government. CHAPTER IV Continued. 6 After listening Intently for a minute min-ute or two, 1 to put Ms head round the -tirtai. The passage was deserted. Tommy bent down nnd removed his shoes, then, leaving them behind the rnrtitln, lie walked gingerly out on his stockinged feet, nnd kneeling down by the closed door, lie laid his ear cautiously to the crack. To his Intense In-tense annoyance lie could distinguish little more; Just n chance word here end there If a voice was raised, which merely served to whet his curiosity still farther. He eyed the handle of the door tentatively. ten-tatively. Could he turn It by degrees to gently nnd Imperceptibly that those Jn the room would notice nothing? He decided that with great care it could be done. Very slowly, n fraction of n Inch at a time, he moved it round, tiolding Ms breath in his excessive enrf-. A little more a little more still would It never be finished? Ah I st Inst It would turn no farther. He stayed so for a minute or two, fhen drew a deep breath, and pressed It ever so slightly inward. The door did not budge. Tommy was annoyed. If lie had to use too much force, It would almost certainly creak. He waited ontll the voices rose a little, then he tried again. Still nothing happened. He Increased the pressure. Had the henstly thing stuck? Finally, In desperation, des-peration, he mished with nil his might. But the door remained firm, and nt last the truth dawned upon Mm. It was locked or bolted on the fhslde. For a moment or two Tommy's Indignation In-dignation got the better of him. "Well, I'm d d!" he said. "What dirty trick I" As his indignation cooled, he prepared pre-pared to face the situation. Clearly the first thing to be done was to restore re-store the handle to Its original posl-lon. posl-lon. It he let It go suddenly, the Bien Inside would be almost certain to notice It, so, with the same infinite pains, he reversed his former tactics. All went well, and with a sigh of relief re-lief the young man rose to his feet. There was a certain bulldog tenacity bout Tommy that made him slow to admit defeat. Checkmated for the moment, he was far from abandoning the conflict. He still intended to tiear what was going on In the locked room. As one plan had failed, he must hunt about for another. He looked round him. A little farther far-ther along the passage on the left was a second door. He slipped silently long to It. He listened for a moment r two, then tried the handle. It yielded, and he slipped Inside. The room, which was untenanted, was furnished as a bedroom. Like rverythlng else in the house, the furniture fur-niture was falling to pieces, and the dirt was. If anything, more abundant. But what interested Tommy was the thing he had hoped to find, a communicating com-municating door between the two rooms, upon the left by the window. Carefully closing the door into the passage behind him, he stepped across to the other and examined It closely. The bolt was shot across It. It was Tery rusty, and had clearly not been used for some ttme. By gently wrig-tding wrig-tding It to and fro, Tommy managed to draw It back without making too much noise. Then he repeated his j former maneuvers with the handle 1 this time with complete success. The door swung open a crack, a mere fraction, but enough for Tommy to lrear what went on. There was a vel-' ret vortiere on the Inside of this door which prevented him from seeing, but was able to rejeognlze the vol'" with a reasonable amount of accuracy. The Sinn Felner was speaking. His rich Irish voice was unmistakable: "That's all very well. But more money is essential. No money no results !" Another voice, which Tommy rather thought was that of Boris replied : "Will you guarantee that there are results?" "In a month from now sooner or later as you wish I will guarantee you such a reign of terror in Ireland as shall shake the British empire to its foundations." There was a pause, and then came the soft, sibilant accents of Number One: "Good ! Tou shall have the money. Boris, you will see to that." Boris asked a question: "Via the Irish Americans, and Mr. Potter, as usual?" "I guess that'll be all right!" said a new voice, with a transatlantic Intonation, Into-nation, "though I'd like to point out, here and now, that things are getting a mite difficult. There's not the sympathy sym-pathy there was, and a growing disposition dis-position to let the Irish settle their own affairs without Interference from America." Tommy felt that Boris had shrugged his shoulders as he answered: "Does that matter, since the money only nominally comes from the States?" "The chief difficulty Is the landing of the ammunition," said the Sinn Feiner. "The money Is conveyed In easily enough thanks to our colleague col-league here." "That Is settled, then," said the sibilant sibi-lant tones. "Now, In the matter of the loan to an English newspaper, you have arranged the details satisfactorily, satisfacto-rily, Boris?" "I think so?" "That is good. An official denial from Moscow will be forthcoming If necessary." There was a pause, and then the clear voice of the German broke the silence : "I am directed by Mr. Brown, to place the summaries of the reports from the different unions before you. That of the miners is most satisfactory. satisfac-tory. We must hold back the railways. rail-ways. There may be trouble with the A. S. E." For a long time there was a silence, broken only by the rustle of papers and an occasional word of explanation explana-tion from the German. Then Tommy heard the light tap-tap of fingers, drumming on the table. "And the date, my friend?" said Number One. "Tbe 29th." The Russian seemed to consider. "That Is rather soon." "I know. But It was settled by the principal Labor leaders, and we cannot can-not seem to Interfere too much. They must believe It to be entirely their ow-n show." The Russian laughed softly, as though amused. "Tes, yes," he said. "That Is true. They must have no Inkling that we art; uaiug iiitriu lui uui uhii cuua. They are honest men and that is their value to us. It is curious but you cannot make a revolution without with-out honest men. The Instinct of the populace Is Infallible." He paused, and then repeated, as though the phrase pleased him: "Every revolution revolu-tion has had its honest men. They are soon disposed of afterward." There was a sinister note In his voice. The German resumed : "Clymes must go. He Is too far-seeing. Number Fourteen will see to that." There was a hoarse murmur. "That's all right, guv'nor." And then after a moment or two: "Suppose I'm nabbed." "Tou will have the best legal talent to defend you," replied the German quietly. "But In any case you will wear gloves fitted with the fingerprints finger-prints of a notorious housebreaker. Tou have little to fear." "Oh. I ain't afraid, guv'nor. All for the good of the cause. The streets Is going to run with blood, so they say." He spoke with a grim relish. rel-ish. "Dreams of it, sometimes, I does. And diamonds and pearls rolling roll-ing about In the gutter for anyone to pick up!" Tommy heard a chair shifted. Then Number One spoke: "Then all is arranged. ar-ranged. We are assured of success?" "I think so." But the German spoke with less than his usual confidence. confi-dence. Number One's voice held suddenly a dangerous quality: "What has gone wrong?" "Nothing; but" "But what?" "The Labor leaders. Without them, as you say, we can do nothing. If they do not declare a general strike on the 20th" "Why should they not?" "As you've said, they're honest. And. In spite of everything we've done to discredit the government In their eyes, I'm not sure that they haven't got a sneaking faith and belief in it." "But" "I know. They abuse it unceasingly. unceas-ingly. But, on the whole, public opinion swings to the side of the government. gov-ernment. They will not go against it." Again the Russian's fingers drummed on the table. "To the point, my friend. I was given to understand that there was a certain document In existence which assured success." "That Is so. If that document were placed before the leaders, the result would be Immediate. They would publish It broadcast throughout England, Eng-land, and declare for the revolution without a moment's hesitation. The government would be broken finally and completely." "Then what more do you want?" "The document Itself," said the German Ger-man bluntly. "Ah I It is not In your possession? But you know where It Is?" "No." "Does anyone know where it Is?" "One person perhaps. And we are not sure of that even." "Who Is that person?" "A girl." Tommy held his breath. "A girl?" The Russian's voice rose contemptuously. "And you have not made her speak? In Russia we have ways of making a girl talk." "Tills case Is different," said the German sullenly. "How different?" He paused a moment, then went on: "Where Is the girl now?" "The girl?" "Tes." "She is" But Tommy heard no more. A But Tommy Heard No More. A Crashing Crash-ing Blow Descended on His Head and All Was Darkness. crashing blow descended on his head, and all was darkness. CHAPTER V Tuppence Enters Domestic Service. When Tommy set forth on the trail of the two men, It took all Tuppence s self-command to refrain from accompanying accom-panying him. However, she contained herself as best she might, consoled by the reflection that her reasoning had been justified by events. The two men had undoubtedly come from the second floor flat, and that one slender thread of the name "Rita" had set the Toung Adventurers once more upon the track of the abductors of Jane Finn. The question was what to do next? She retraced her steps to the entrance hall of the mansions. It was now tenanted by a small lift-boy, who was polishing brass fittings, and whistling the latest air with a good deal of vigor and a reasonable amount of accuracy. ac-curacy. He glanced round at Tuppence's entry. There was a certain amount of the gamin element in the girl ; at all events, she Invariably got on well with small boys. "Well, William," she remarked cheerfully, In the best approved hospital-early-morning style, "getting a good shine up?" The boy grinned responsively. "Albert, miss," he corrected. "Albert be It," said Tuppence. She glanced mysteriously round the hall. The effect was purposely a broad one In case Albert should miss it. She leaned toward the boy and dropped her oice: "I want a word with you, Albert." Albert ceased operations on the fittings fit-tings and opened his mouth slightly: "Look 1 Do you know what this is?" With a dramatic gesture she flung back the left side of her coat and exposed a small enameled badge. It was extremely unlikely that Albert would have any knowledge of it indeed, it would have been fatal for Tuppence's plans, since the badge In question was the device of a local corps originated by the archdeacon in the early days of the war. Its presence pres-ence in Tuppence's coat was due to the fact that she had used It for pinning pin-ning in some flowers a day or two before. But Tuppence had sharp eyes, and had noted the corner of a three-penny detective novel protruding protrud-ing from Albert's pocket, and the Immediate Im-mediate enlargement of his eyes told her 'hat her tactics wen good, and that the fish would rise to the bait. "American detective force I" h hissed. Albert fell for it "Lord I" he murmured ecstatically. Tuppence nodded at him with the air of one who has established a thorough understanding. "Know who I'm after?" she inquired genially. Albert, still round-eyed, demanded breathlessly: "One of the flats?" Tuppence nodded and Jerked i thumb up the stairs. "No. 20. Calls herself Vandemeyer. Vandemeyer ! Ha I ha !" Albert's hand stole to his pocket. "A crook?" he queried eagerly. "A crook I I should say so. Ready Rita, they call her In the States." "Ready Rita," repeated Albert deliriously. de-liriously. "Oh, ain't It Just like the pictures! Annie always said as how she was a bad lot." "Who's Annie?" Inquired Tuppence idly. " 'Ouse parlormaid. She's leaving today. Many's the time Annie's said to me: 'Mark my words, Albert, I wouldn't wonder If the police was to come after her one of these days.' Just like that. But she's a stunner to look at, ain't she?" "She's some peach," allowed Tuppence Tup-pence carelessly. "Finds It useful in her layout, you bet. Has she been wearing any of the emeralds, by the way?" "Emeralds? Them's the green stones, ain't they?" Tuppence nodded. "That's what we're after her for. Tou know old man Rysdale, the oil king?' "It seems sort o familiar to me." "The sparklers belonged to him. Finest collection of emeralds in the world. Worth a million dollars!" "Lumme!" came ecstatically from Albert. "It sounds more like the pictures pic-tures every minute." Tuppence smiled, gratified at the success of her efforts. "We haven't exactly proved It yet But we're after her. And" she produced pro-duced a long-drawn-out wink "I guess she won't get away with the goods this time." Albert uttered another ejaculation indicative of delight. "Mind you, sonny, not a word of this," said Tuppence suddenly. "I guess t oughtn't to have put you wise, but in the States we know a real smart lad when we see one. What's this about the girl you say Is leaving?" leav-ing?" "Annie? Regular turn-up, they 'ad." An Idea was dawning In Tuppence's Tup-pence's brain. She thought a minute or two, then tapped Albert on the shoulder. "See here, son, my brain's got busy. How would It be If you mentioned that you'd got a young cousin, or a friend of yours had, that might suit the place. Tou get me?" "I'm there," .said Albert Instantly. "Tou leave It to me, miss, and I'll fix the whole thing up in two ticks." "Some lad I" commented Tuppence, with a nod of approval. "Tou let me know, and If it's O. K. I'll be round tomorrow at eleven o'clock." "Where am I to let you know to?" "Ritz," replied Tuppence laconically. "Name of Cowley." Albert eyed her enviously. "It must be a good job, this tec business." "It sure is," drawled Tuppence, "especially when old man Rysdale backs the bill. But don't fret, son. .If this goes well, you shall come In on the ground floor." With which promise she took leave of her new ally, and walked briskly away from South Audley mansions, well pleased with her morning's work. She went straight back to the Ritz and -wrote a few brief words to Mr. Carter. Having dispatched this, and Tommy not having yet returned which did not surprise her she started start-ed off on a shopping expedition. Starting Start-ing with a cheap clothing store, and passing through one or two secondhand second-hand establishments, she had finished the day at a well-known hairdresser's. Now, in the seclusion of her bedroom, she unwrapped that final purchase. Five minutes later she smiled contentedly content-edly at her reflection in the glass. With an actress' pencil she had slightly slight-ly altered the line of her eyebrows, and that, taken In conjunction with the new luxuriant growth of fair hair above, so changed her appearance that she felt confident that even If she came face to face with Whittington he would not recognize her. From hospital experience she knew only too well that a nurse out of uniform Is frequently unrecognized by her patients. pa-tients. "For the first time Tuppice felt afraid." (TO BE CONTINUED.) |