Show THE LIFE OF T THE HE PARTY PA BY iia rev ELIZA BIT EffI aca JORDAN service 0 D appleton conturo co SYNOPSIS young friend rex sale father calls in on new casper york kneeland and successful but to strangely finds him proudly his tie tells hale of preoccupied sey death while insane invites him for the long summer camp his home on to halcyon island as his and secretary there him 1 he hale hopt will is bel joined useful col at lunch s by fred ainsworth an unpopular leaves who lege mate also at halcyon f eang mystery mm him with a of pa unpleasant nash he H Is ie met at t the train by mrs airs wilbur and whom he questions ons about the menage the ion disturbing premo experiences a le premonition tion Is barely eased cased by bythe the com fordable for table hospitality of hosanna Ho kuth keriack Keri Kne elands acs elderly sister and her friend ruth forties forbes I 1 middle aged sophisticate in hh V room hale 81 plase finds a soiled paper printed this hale meets the rest of the dan lerus Jerus I 1 strange group dr craig psychiatrist i friend of 0 bert ancel kneeland ind nervous young son of casper and beautiful but moody joan kneeland niece of the house ainsworth A drops in at his room questions him about his his reactions reaction I 1 and tells him of 0 berts hopeless love tor for his heiress cousin and that mrs forbes Is down and out the whole kro erojo u 0 sern sem s ern em to get on each others nerves lat later er kate hale sees hosanna furtively iury ely meeting nf a shabby man in the woods the maid tells of the recent poisoning of a cat and dog mrs nash suggests that ainsworth has 4 some hold bold on them returning from a swim hale finds in his room a clever sketch of 0 iskula skull and crossbones kneeland arrives for or I 1 ahe the weekend week end also curious about hales reactions and asks him to be his substitute host a life iffe of the party and meanwhile try to solve the mystery of the behavior of I 1 them ithem au all bert confides in hale his growing annoyance at craigs nightly visits and endless talks of ca davers parts 0 ot I 1 1 which I 1 aich he P preserves r deserves in his locked laboratory bor y taken e care are of only by himself and hale advises the boy to discourage the visits he finds another sketch of a cobra coiled to strike with the caption why wate for this he writes to two famous psychiatrists collects fingerprints from the notes and sketches and leaves tor for new york CHAPTER IV continued 11 rex left kneeland at his office and added the roadster to the impressive collection in the factory fac torys s parking space apparently every employee empl ayee of the kneeland company rode luxuriously urious ly to work in his own automobile and many of the cars were more expensive than the presidents rex was now free to follow his own plans he hustled to the nearest telephone booth what he wanted was the name and address of a fingerprint expert not associated with police activities he had no idea how to get it he finally called up the editor of an engineering magazine to which he subscribed the editor had not the information he wanted and explained that it was not in his line but he referred the questioner to someone who could give it rex called up this authority and got an experts address without leaving the booth he called up the batters lat telephone number it was not yet ten the fingerprint man was in his office hale got him on the wire and asked for an appointment yes he could have one almost at once say at half past ten the factory was downtown near the east river by the subway it would take rex fifteen minutes to get to the fingerprint bureau his next step must be to get in touch with some friends or acquaintances who knew ainsworth a lot better than he himself did he racked his brains for names of associates socia tes in ithaca who had later settled in new york he f finally had a list of three one of these was not in the telephone b book ook the second whose new york office he promptly reached by telephone was in south america gloomily he put in a call for the third man a man he really knew well and had liked a lot in ithaca he had a bit of luck he did not expect to find george stuyvesant in town at this season but yes a clerk said mr stuyvesant was in town though not yet in his office As he rode uptown i in n the subway express rex considered his problems he has discovered that frederick ainsworth had an office on east forty second street he would visit it but where would woul d that get him ainsworth was devoting little or no time to his professional interests these days even if he had a any ny his office might be closed hale could find out about that at least then what would he do start an effort to learn something about craigs intimate affairs that effort might be even more futile ainsworth was at least in hales own line of work sooner or later he could find out a good deal about the fellows standing and achievements if any but craig was surrounded by the ethical wall that protects a doctor hale already knew from herbert kneeland whre where the young psychiatrist had got his training lie he hd had a good sa record d hale i had s secured introductions from the chicago psychiatrist to two ne new york men high in the profession he could ask some searching questions but he thought lie he knew pretty much what results he would get geas tory and cautious answers A bright briehl fellow craigo craig well trained train ed and am bilious bit ious giving most ot of his time to research too absorbed m in as his joe job to about go much not a good mix er yes hale hal es knew all these an in advance ainsworth knew a lot about craig and ainsworth would talk till the bell rang ram but bul 4 SS how one believe much that ainsworth 0 sai d could hale entered the bureau with a brow corrugated by care he was on his way his fortnight had beer been a fair preparation for the rest of the journey but he had to have the real background of those fellows before lie he could hope to understand their present activities how was lie he to get it the bureau was a mere hole in in the wall a nine by eleven office in the rear of a photographers studio it had a private entrance A phlegmatic young man seated at a battered table desk took hales envelope extracted the cards sheets and sketches from it with a pair of pincers and regarded the exhibit without interest when do you want these he asked in five minutes the young mans phlegmatic features t ures did not relax you can have ern em tomorrow morning we have other customers too im glad to hear that ive marked those exhibits by numbers only all right it yep do I 1 have to leave my own name and address no this is private business you wont have any trouble with the police hale laughed and the young mans man s face softened a trifle he must have been in his thirties but his eyes looked as old as the eternal hills he restored the exhibits to the envelope threw the envelope into a long drawer under the battered table top and dropped the customer from his mind ill call for the prints about ten tomorrow morning hale said as he departed 40 0 K there was a public telephone in the main hall of the building hale called stuyvesant again just for luck and got a heart warming response yes mr stuyvesant was now at his desk the next minute he ha heard eard his former classmates pleasant voice rex hale why hello old man three rousing cheers 1 I 1 thought you were in europe im just back im in town for a day or two can you lunch with me this noon there was only an instants hesitation at the other end of the instrument then Stuyvesan ts pleasant voice again ill make it though the calendars pretty full what time and where at maxims any time you say one then Is that au all right fine ill be there a bit ahead and reserve a table look for fr or me in the main room AU ali right it will be great to see you again Stuyvesan ts voice was warm and buoyantly friendly stuyvesant had been one of hales chums at college it was ungrateful of him rex reflected ted to have forgotten that he made two more telephone appointments pm point ments and killed an hour by vis visiting biting the building that housed A Ain office when he reached the office itself he could only look at it respectfully from the outside it was obviously a single room in the rear of the fourth floor ainsworth was still in possession of it his name was on the door and on the list of tenants printed on oil the bulletin board in the main hall but as hale had expected the office itself seemed deserted the door was locked he discovered that by trying it there was as no light visible through the keyhole the location suggested that it would be a dark office dependent on electricity hale got the information he needed from the colored elevator operator a no mr ainsworth in in he come to his office very often this summer when he gasn wasn t there the office was closed last winter he had been there a good deal and had a girl secretary three days a week that stopped in april the operator thought things must be pretty dull with mr ainsworth rex gave the man half a dollar and left the elevator feeling romfo uncomfortable arta this business of prying into an others affairs he went to a library where he got a m medical edical directory and looked up craigs record as well as the records of the men to whom he had letters it was a good one exactly as auyoung young kneel kneeland and had given it the girt girl at t the he loan desk was not busy and hale asked her what men she considered the leading psychiatrists in new york he was curious to know whether the two men he was to see that afternoon would be on her list also h he e might have to consult others it if these men proved too cl closemouthed close ose mouthed she was rather vague ab about out psychiatrists she consulted s someone else in the library and gave hale the names of three men one of them doctor gordon dewar was pleasantly familiar hale ale was to see him at half past three he reflected wit with a gr grin in that in these inquiries he himself was leaving a trail behind him as sharply defined as that of a tractor across a field that was au all right however no one was trailing him it was at precisely this point that he turned and saw ainsworth read ing quietly at a table behind him he stiffened and stared this seemed more than coincidence ainsworth might have followed him perhaps he had come in on the train had hurried to the factory knowing that kneeland must be dropped there and had subsequently and cleverly followed hales progress to the telephone booths the fingerprint ger print bureau and to his own office but had he how had he managed to keep out of sight easily enough perhaps he get anything at the fingerprint bureau except the suspicion that fingerprints were being made but it would be a simple matter for him to enter his own office building after hale had left it and to learn from the elevator operator what questions if any the redheaded red headed young man in the gray suit had asked hale set his teeth he sure of any of these things but he would find out he strode over to Ain table and greeted him with bree breezy ZY cordiality ai ainsworth oth looked up w with ith a start the start was well done the fellow actually flushed a little hale remembered the old and unexpected trick ainsworth had of flushing when taken unawares it was part of the personal sensitiveness that was so out of keeping with his brutal frankness toward other men hello I 1 expect to find you here hale said he had been relieved by that flush he was further relieved by Ain obvious annoyance over the encounter nor I 1 you ainsworth said curtly 1 I thought you were a gentleman of leisure this surn summer mer s 4 like yourself oh im just a poor wretch trying to patch himself up after a tussle with the undertaker f 1 you look it ainsworth scoffed but his manner softened hale was more friendly this morning than he had yet shown himself and ainsworth had his moments of loneliness in an unappreciative world it the day ivol id choose for an excursion int into 0 town he grumbled 1 I had a hurry call this morning from a miserly old ass who gave me a two hundred dollar job last spring and seems to think it bought my time for a year ive been spending the morning with him hes dallying now with the thought of giving me a hundred dollar job but I 1 dont dare to hope heu hell work himself up to it ainsworth spoke with a gloom that was too genuine to be questioned hale dropped into a chair facing him 1 I take it business booming he commented you dont know anything yet ainsworth confirmed bitterly wait till youve observed your native land a few months however one must eat how about lunching together sorry but I 1 im m booked what im in town for ar are e you staying in town a day or two we might dine tonight or lunch tomorrow hale was almost regretting his luncheon engagement ainsworth in this black mood would be worth studying and listening to but probably it was merely a temporary mood no im taking the four thirty youre staying over then yes hale decided tin till tomorrow anyway will you tell miss hosanna ill be there for dinner yep so long ainsworth even turn his head as hale left him he had a pile of medical books on the table before him and was glancing over one of them without interest hale bustled to maxims to meet stuyvesant he engaged his table and waited for his guest fifteen minutes he was not surprised when that engaging young man finally appeared to see that he had put on ten or fifteen pounds stuyvesant had always been fond of the flesh pots there was a look in blue eyes that was not in i harmony with his plump and admirably tailored appearance it was a look hale was already learning to recognize as the characteristic expression the average new york business and professional man was turning toward the wor world id a look made up in equal parts of anxiety inar incredulity sedulity edu lity and confusion even stuyvesant with the family fortune back of him seemed to have no sense of permanent security CHAPTER V over their cocktails they exchanged the inevitable questions and answers of their reunion then hale said casually as their luncheon began ive run into ainsworth since I 1 came back a coincidence it there arent so many ithaca men of our day in new york that I 1 expect to meet them bustling about here have you been seeing anything of ainsworth stuyvesant grimaced at the introduction of Ain name that slight curve of his full lips was eloquent testimony of what he thought of his former associate but he followed his hosts conver conversational national sat ional lead 1 I certainly dont see much of ainsworth and I 1 dont want to I 1 never liked him I 1 hear of him occasionally casio nally and I 1 meet him from time to time during the winter he seems to go about a lot then socially you mean yes hes a born new yorker you know he comes of a good family hes about the last limb left on his tree N not ot much money now but hes always had a f first rate position re rex x suddenly remembered th that at stuyvesant himself was also a born new yorker of a good old family that had never seemed important when they were at ithaca it was important now stuyvesant was in a position to tell him things he needed to know 1 I know that hale said slowly in fact I 1 know anything about him in the old days except that he was rather malicious and very unpopular you say he h as nt much money only a few hundred a year left lef t they say enough I 1 gather to pay his bare expenses he has the re reputation p now of living largely on his friends but why are we wa wasting sting our time talking about him Ain visiting at a long island camp where im stopping rn myself Y self hale explained 1 I w wanted ant to see his bridge between ithaca and today tb thanks anks a lot well drop him now TO BE CONTINUED |