Show fixl 1 r 0 7 my o 0 service 0 The th bobbs Dobbs CHAPTER VIII continued 10 sniff bowed elaborately formal how do you do she said politely pray be seated I 1 am madame and your names she took out her notebook and poised her pencil miss bliss phelps must have told you bout about us one of the men advanced the statement truculently does miss bliss phelps know you inquired allowing surprise to register W through her voice I 1 am mr gregory pulaski coun at law he said I 1 represent mrs this Is mrs Ma beuse bow bowed ed politely and mrs ma beuse further inclined her already downcast head she was exquisite A tiny white skinned fairy whose eyelashes curled their fabulous length upon her rounded cheeks certainly she was not the blonde german haus frau stuff had an emif allowed her gaze to wander to the males of the party they look as it if they had been pallbearers at the funeral she thought and the tion was as apt since they appeared in black cutaway coats black waistcoats and striped trousers they wore dark neckties their hair was black and lacquered their eyes black and slight iv I 1 bulging their skins yellow rather than olive their noses politely tive of a not too remote semitic origin and the other gentleman she murm ired interrogatively mr henri mayer he ile Is my cousin mrs laid her fingers algi aly tenderly on his coat sleeve and at tf e touch and the bound sound of her soft little voice the ni min in hitched his chair closer to hers cov ering her hand with his own lie ile Is her nearest relative come to support her through this sid in g s fortune mr gregory I 1 lulaks es ex emif raised her eyel rows I 1 mrs Is in trouble she asked madame do not play with us surely miss phelps has explained the circumstances oh yes said emif airily with i cynical twist of her mouth zhe he told me that she hid had been insulted in mon ilon fleur Mahe Mabe uses studio yesterday yest erdly I 1 a ass as s ime line thit Is the circumstance you refer to and hope you arp are conveying convey in his apology I 1 was just abo it to write him a note to siy that M ss phelps would take no more lessons from him but woul I 1 permit him to the ad vance klyment she had made per haps his wife w 11 convey the message and save me that necessity how can you expect such quell a thin thing after what was ras d covered yesterday stuff presented a bewildered espres elon eton to his searching gaze 1 I am rather good at puzzles she gald said but I 1 need some sort of clue to give me a perhaps if you were ere to explain you can cant I 1 put that over on us so you need not try mr M iyer flared out 11 1 pulaski quit stalling and get down to cases or if f 3 ou don t I 1 will I 1 should be grateful emif looked at her my ily time Is all en i and I 1 hive cl el ants waiting Is this s said I 1 I 1 Ls s to see you al zoild have nom her miss phelps and he conversed osten in french a language with which they knew mrs to be unfamiliar in order no doubt to make her take herself away the sooner shortly however the young lady devised an even better plan I 1 re tending that the little eugene was interested in automobiles he a child of five years she sent mother and children on long drives thus insuring privacy for her and her lover permit me an interruption said emif coldly lou are going too fir when you use the word lover NN we e will consider that erased and tute the word teacher madame I 1 dared to say lover be cause I 1 can justify it warned by her natural jealousy mrs M ac compan led by her faithful cousin and myself returned prematurely yester day to the studio in time to bear hear her husband husbands s words of elation at the reciprocation cipro cation of his love and to f and rid miss phelps his favored pupil in his arms murmured mr mayer consolingly to the distressed wife as he patted the shoulder newest nearest to him and to see that pupil devotedly slapping his face sniff commented dryly was she correct in fancying s she h e c caught a gh t a it glimpse of a parl sparl of amusement in mr air pulaski s dull eyes if so it was quickly concealed be neath ile tl e heavy lids yes I 1 heard about that the dirth little rat she called him to me wl ich can hardly be said to be an express on of affee tion and that s all you wish to tell me presents mrs prompted to be sure sa d mr I 1 brisk ly she showered him with presents E expensive e paints and ivories a watch I 1 ie e heard about the watch witch too an de bought for her chaut beur s little son w who ho now h has his is its c cate cite ite emif interjected si e needa t try to make it look less cusp cious by g ving ong a wath to a kid mr mayer sa d venomously her husband has ab aban abin in boned mv my cousin left her cold with three youn children and no means of lipport si aport aga n the ab abandoned one s Q hand nestled in his mr pulaski took up the nent ilent signing to the other for silence and perhaps for circumspection deeply as RS sl e has his loi loed ed him his wife is prep prepared ired to give I 1 im int up tip since he has been beet weaned an a av from her and sl e has not ing to offer in pl place lee of the luxury her rival can lavish on him but it Is only fair the rich sho sheild ild pay for N what bit tt te ei 01 tale e from the poor for their am ise nent mr air Is still a young man min NN we e have capita ae ael I 1 it h s earnings allow allowing ing for a reasonable increase as I 1 s genius bacon es rec and we ine two hundred thousand dollars is not too much to ask for the loss of his ices fees emif rose thank you very much for a masterly exposition of voi r p sl si tion she said ad iress ng n mr P pi laski if you will leave bour our card with my buttons I 1 will let you I 1 now what con clus aclus on w we e arrive at see ee here maer to his feet and faced her truculently w we e w want ant a R decision on this in a hurry harry and there theres s only one decision that s going 9 to be satisfactory see mv cousin and her kids have got to cat eat quite said wild emif it Is P i accepted as a necessity of afi although the amounts re subject of grae grace contro contra self in a recent co haic baie practically don daa rial s ltv prin T woman your case must wait its turn that s not my way of doing bus busl ness henri maer muttered but 3 auve ou ve never had the pleasure pleis sure of doing business with me before mr mayer staff suavely suggested as she rang for buttons to bring fletr hats and usi er them out mr Nesbit shere buttons told her he ile Is she exclaimed joyfully good by mrs you II U ex cuse me but do let me wish you all the luch luck in the world in your net next venture she added as I 1 e left them going through the passage to greet stone CHAPTER IX poor pam waiting in anxious pa tience in madame Geor gettes shop was temporarily forgotten in emif S pleasure at stones stone s return I 1 in truly glad to see you she said but I 1 absolutely haven t a minute to spend with you come tonight to the badminton and shohe have you any miniature except that one of your greit great grandmother ana anything thing ou value less I 1 want you to t tike tile ile one to be copied by an artist who Is not too scrupulous III explain this ene evening ing stone went unwillingly obedient hardly realizing the compliment bild 4 C 11 1 I find it hard to believe that such a th ng could happen to a cirt cirl like me I 1 him by the usually self sufficient stuff while she returned to the lounge and sent for pam I 1 tl it ink fill we ve won the first enga engage e ment abe she sherold told the girl rapidly recount ng all the details of the recent interview the news dews so far Is good you see there Is a serious side to it however in the met that I 1 am certain that mrs Is more than will ing to tike vike ad advantage advant ant ige of this situation to be off with the old love and on with the new in the person of a cousin one henri mayer who accompanied her as her valant val ant defender do don r t worry and don t come to town unless I 1 tele phone you to ask you to lunch with me oh one question before jou go I 1 ve a cousin from virginia in town who would be as silent as the grave do you mind if I 1 enlist him on our side when I 1 need help I 1 trust your judgment absolutely anif only it if you tell anyone please 4 J 1 rn not the moron this I 1 ell ff fl aft ct at least a fl ff going on between her and the cousin who came with her today if he Is her cousin I 1 believe that however the plot was framed anally when the final settlement is ar rived at the husband is to be the bull tt NA hat do you w want ant me to do stone asked I 1 want you to go to their address and ask for him aither he has gone away or she has tl TI ey can hardly ex hect to put tl Is through living in the same bouse house there must be at least a pretense pretence of separation I 1 fancy it will prove to be the man who has gone with a miniature to be copied I 1 scarcely think they will refuse you his address III get his address Is that all t how good Is your french emif asked could you pass yourself off as a frenchman I 1 french was ras my first language go to the house then pretending to talk no english there Is no servant so madame Is pretty certain to come to the door it if she speak brench rench to you be sure to ash ask if it Is madame I 1 in convinced that both she and her precious cousin are of french origin and that her sudden lach lack of understanding of the language Is pirt of the plan am I 1 to go to see Ma beuse I 1 don t know exactly how best to wangle that emif knit her brows ahe point Is that I 1 want to see him and soon I 1 ought to surprise se I 1 jm the aly thing Is to siy say you will call and when you do III go u with fill you stone got up it t to take long he said if it s not too late III come back and report if it Is III telephone I 1 lou ou are a comfort I 1 sniff declared ter fervently vently there should be one in every fam lly fly he assured her gri gravely ely as he went out he ile returned before she had begun to expect it in A man came to the door he plunged into his news without waiting tor for ques alons I 1 wonder if it was ras the gay Lot lothario barlo he ile had a tiny waxed mus tache no emif that must have been lul lulashi iski the lawyer mayor mayer w was as clean shaven it was the only differ ence between them he ile didn dian t understand any french I 1 made deprecatory gestures shout ders shrugged palms upturned head on one side but I 1 stood my ground and demanded monsieur Ma beuse cadime Ma beuse so finally he stepped back into the hall and called up the stiers hey gert I 1 there s a belgian atrocity here asking for you it once she came down the stairs you wished to see me she spoke engl sh and I 1 was disappio anted but I 1 broke into a voluble french tion I 1 v wis vis is sorry to have deranged cadime it was her husband I 1 wished to consult th tint thit it Is if she was madame Ma beuse she nodded yes he ile wis wils a painter of was he be not I 1 had a small miniature of an ancestor my idea if he tho ight it was to have a life size copy made stuff clapped her hinds oh that wis clever stone but first I 1 wanted him to cepro duce the miniature I 1 desired a rep lica ilea to send to my sister who fly lives e s in antwerp the mention of antwerp let loose a sudden flood of words and the flood was ras perfectly good and under ih oh ah ali would I 1 not do and brought me two riddles said first it madame Is preparing to rid herself of her pierre why remain in touch with him to keep him from suspecting it until the time Is ripe for him to learn it automatically possibly second Is pulaski her flame or Is slayer mayer or Is she playing one off against the other I 1 must sleep on it two days later days which had passed slowly since there had been no further development in pam s affairs stuff decided that stone would be justi justl fled in showing some interest in ile tl e copy of his miniature monsieur was within when they reached the shabby house and they were told to mount to the third floor where in a bare room his work was progressing stone fired the first shot immediately I 1 have brought my cousin with me to inspect the miniature monsieur madame he said by way of introduction the two bowed formally and ha ila beuse made no attempt to benj that he be recognized the name but but this Is most irregular 11 il he stammered I 1 cannot submit monsieur has deceived me I 1 must have advice he moved toward the door intent doubtless on getting instructions from I 1 stone without words set his back against it and the artist saw the futility of trying to force his way out why at the sound of her voice he whee ed to find emif smiling bland ly upon him what advice do you need surely miss bliss phelps and you are arrayed on the same side of this case but but ellement h he e nervously only her attitude toward me was so harsh let us sit down stuff suggested it really is important that we reach an understanding that Is it if this plot against you la Is to be frustrated plot against me A plot the man d d not know what to make of her words to be sure she replied and there was always something convincing and reassuring about self you certainly are to be the chief victim now we are friends are we not while puzzled over this they sat down the understanding I 1 take it monsieur Is that yz you are to swear that a passion for miss phelps has to torn r n you from the bosom of your f family amily how can I 1 help it cadime it Is a thing so great that one cannot lie ile about it it if I 1 am put on the witness stand I 1 dare not foreswear my pas sion slon no said emif assuredly not I 1 only wanted to make sure of the fixity of your purpose and your love for miss phelps your wife cannot marry either mr mayer or mr pulaski until she has obtained her divorce from you what Is that you say Mal valieuse ieuse suddenly scarlet in the face turned on stuff with a snarl the poor child chih has no thought of divorce her heart Is broken my wife adores me stuff shrugged her shoulders good humo il r should put that in the past tense monsieur positively I 1 had no doubt that she reciprocated mr layers tender feelings when he sal sat aa m f |