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Show Xhe Secret Adversary . CHAPTER XI-Continued. ,,. , meine.U." He ran hack to 1 tiu-WUM tho pone,- t Here do '''"ll"'r " L' , ,v Wlu. arrived by an earlier H-"' ' from London? She'd : t'vou tlit' way to lll M'"t ..mM' a ' L.rlhed Tupi'i'tu-o as "ell s 'j Imt tl"1 porter shook his "sovcral people had urried by Jii liniu'sll""- lll lVuM 111,1 'ii.uul one young lady l lrtlou- ,...,f relolued J""11. X"11 ,x r'"'j'" jyprossion was sottlltt down ''','like'a lout.M weight. Ho f.-lt '''"'.'.'vJ that t tolr uu.'st was going l.'",niKVO-fi.l. The enemy lui.l :'' 'Vive hours' st:,rt- 'r,m' 1"n"'S '"".',. tlKin OM.Hij;ti for Mr. ltrown. f''ij ,,, Ignore tlio possibility of '"l-'-rmi h:vliS boon found. seemed endless. It was ',vvon o'clock when a small hoy "'t.,.:,, that "f Moat house" was ' " Mt the next corner. .;.Xv Iron gate swinging illsnuilly shinies! An overgrown drive f .fwitV'leavs. There was some-SMt some-SMt tho r'aoe that struck a v: wo both their hearts, "''-n of the drive brought them In of the house. That. too. seeme.l ,m deserted. Was it Indeed '""Vs" desolate spot that Tuppence ;,'"vn decoyed? It scorned l.arJ to r"ev? that a human footstep had -! this w:l.v for months. Julius i'.j he" rusty bell handle. A Jan-.'-.-V'-il ran? discordantly, echoliis '-'.-a the emptiness within. No one V They tans again and asaln Z... ore was no sign of life. Then -e'v ns'.'.ed completely round the v'"se. Everywhere sileuoe, and shtit-iyi shtit-iyi window. -y doIr.s."-sald Julius. Tiev retraced their steps slowly to i? cste. -Tiow must he a village handy." :;v.ed the young American. "We'd -e: rake inquiries there. They'll j-.T 5,i"-t;hi!i; about the place, and i';i:her there's been any one there JV'T." -Yes. that's not a bad Idea." Precedes up the road, they xm re to a little hamlet. On the out-iL-:sof it. thev met a workman sw in;- '- his ha? of tixi's. and Tommy s;-:d bin with a question. 'The Moat house? It's empty. Been c:rr for years. Mrs. Sweeny's pot ii iey If you want to go over It next s the post oSoe." thanked him. They son the post office, and kmx-ked at tie doer of the cottage next to It. A tiria. whoiesome-looklns woman tjsiM It She readily p!"oduceI the iey of the Moat house. "Though I doubt If It's the kind of :ii to rait yon. sir. In a terrible E;te of repair. Ceilings leaking and il Twodd need, a lot of money tr?it on It." That's all right. We'll have a look irratd this evening, any-way. By the : WTO T u. : bave a Sudden Cry, and Stooping, icktd Something Up From Among Leaves. nl rou've not had a voung lady here i for this key today?" 1M woman shook her liead. - o one's been over the place for a l,-'t? time." i ' "Thanks very much." :!, rttraced their steps to the la'!? e' As the front door swung 0B 1,8 hinges, protesting louilly. ' thf A StrUCk a mutcl1 and examined I k nwt carefully. Then he shook his h!i SW8ar 00 one's Passed this way. k."St- TWCk- X0t,8l8n k.Jr pandere(1 round the deserted 'ck erywllere the same tale. ;irberS f dust TParently un- 6'-j," g0 over " again tomorrow," itheyifKhtTerl,ai's we'" e more (-Ivh' morrow H'ey took up the '? fwrP. e m0re, and uere reiuctant-t.,-,H hu to tl conclusion that the "Wii""1 '"'en inv;i'1ed for some " e tituo They might have ''" h e aIt"-'-ttu-r hut for a ; -7 iV(." flls"oveO' of Tommy's. A.S re,:'at'!,'S their steps to the r,;,.kSVe a s'"h!en cry. mid stoop-!'-!i-.v '""lething up from among :'s 1 n"'1 Q,J'1 U 0,11 t JullUS. It "-aH Eo'd hrooch By Agatha Chiustie .'', yrUhl lVvlO. MJ A Conn,.,,, "That .h Tuppence's I" "Are ou sui'i'V" "Absolutely. l'v0 often seen her wear It." Julius ihvw a deep hieath." "1 fcucss that settles It. She eanie as far as here, anyway. Well make that pub our headquarters, and raise h It round hci-e man r lim ll(,r Soineliody must have seen her." l'onhw Itli tho campaign hegan. Julius wired to town tor his car, and they scoured the neighborhood daily with unflagging real. Julius was like a hound on the leash. He followed up tho slenderest clue, hut, aa day succeeded suc-ceeded day, they were no nearer to discovering dis-covering Tuppence's w hereabouts. So well had the abduction been planned that the girt seemed literally to have vanished Into thin air. And another preoccupation was weighing on Tommy's mind. "lo you know how long we've boon here?" lie asked one morning as they sat facing each other at breakfast. "A week! We're no nearer to finding Tuppence, and next Sunday Is the Jl'th! Today's the 2;!rd, and time's getting get-ting short. If we're ever going to get h(,'d of her at all, we must do it before the 'J'.ith her life won't be worth an hour's purchase afterward. The hostage host-age game will played out by then. We've wasted time mid we're no forrader." for-rader." "I'm with you there. We've been a couple of mutts, who've bitten off a bigger bit than they can chew. Tin going right back to London to put the ease In the hands of your British police. Scotland Yard for me I I guess the professional always scores over the amateur In the end. Are you coming along with me?" Tommy shook his head. "What's the g,,od? line of us is enough. I might as well stay here and r., se round a bit longer. Something Some-thing might turn up. Cue never know s." "Sure thing. Weil, so long. I'll be back in a couple of shakes with a few-inspectors few-inspectors along. I shall tell Ihoui to pick out their brightest and best." But the course of events was not to follow tlx plan Julius had laid down. Later In the day To. tuny received a w I re : "Join me Manchester Midland hotel. Important news Julius." At T:oO that night Tommy alighted from a slow cross-country train. Julius was on the platform. Tommy grasped him by the arm. "What Is It? Is Tuppence found?" Julius shook his head. "No. But I found this waiting In London. Just arrived." He handed the telegraph form to the other. Tommy's eyes opened as he read : "Jane Klnn found. Come Manchester Midland hotel immediately Beel Kdg-erton." Kdg-erton." Julius took the form back and folded It up. "Queer." he said thoughtfully. "I thought that lawyer chap had quit." CHAPTER XII Jane Finn "My train got In h:.lf an hour ago," explained Julius, as he led the way out of the station. "I reckoned you'd come by this before I left London, and wired accordingly to Sir James. He's booked rooms for us, and wril be round to dine at eiirht." Sir James arrived punctually at eight o'clock, and Julius introduced Tommy. Sir James Ghook hands with him warmly. Immediately the first greetings were over Julius broke out into a l.ood of eager questions. How had Sir James managed to track the girl? Why had he not let them know that he was still working on the case? And so on. Sir James stroked his chin and smiled. At last he said: "Just so. Just so. Well, shes found. And that's the great thing, Isn't It? Eh! Come now, that's the gr?fit thing?" "Sure it is. But Just how did you strike her trail? Miss Tuppence and I thought vou'd quit for good and all. But I guess I can take it we were wrong." "Weil I don't know that I should "o so far as to say that. But it's certainlv fortunate for all parties that we've managed to find the young lady." "But where is she?" demanded Julius, his thoughts flying off on another tack. "I thought you'd be sure to bring her along?' "That would hardly be possible, said Sir James gravely. "Why?" , "Because the young lady was knocked down In a street accident, and has sustained slight Injuries to the head She was taken to the infirmary, and on recovering consciousuess gave her name as Jane Finn." "She's not seriously hurt?" "Oh a bruise and a cut or two. Her state is probably to be attributed to the mental shock consequent on recovering recov-ering her memory." "It's come back?" cried Julius ex- ''"Undoubtedly, Mr. Hersheumrcr since she was able to give her real name. I thought you had appreciated that point." "And vou'Just happened to be on the spot." said Tommy. "Serins quite like a fairy tale." But Sir James was far too wary to be drawn. . Coincidences are curious things, he said dryly. Ne crtlndess Tommy was now' certain cer-tain of what he had before only sus-pccicd. sus-pccicd. Sir James' presence in .Manchester was not accidental, l-'ar from abandoning the case, us Julius supposed, he had by some means of his own successfully run the missing girl to earth. The only thing that piu-zled Tommy was the reason for all this secrecy. Julius was speaking. "After dinner," he announced, "I shall go right away and see Jane." "That will be Impossible, I fear," said Sir James. "It Is very unlikely they would allow her to see visitors at this time of night. I should suggest sug-gest tomorrow morning about ten o'clock." Julius Hushed. There was something some-thing In Sir James which always stirred him to antagonism. "All the same, I reckon I'll go round there tonight and see If I can't ginger them up to break through their silly rules." "It will he quite useless, Mr. Her-sheinuner." Her-sheinuner." The words came out like the crack of a pistol, and Tommy looked up w ith a start. Julius was nervous and excited. The hand with which he raised his glass to his lips shook slightly, hut his eyes held Sir James' defiantly. Tor a moment the hostility between the two seemed likely to burst Into llame. but In the end Julius lowered his eyes, defeated. "For the moment, I reckon you're the boss." "Thank you." said the other. "We will say ten o'clock then?" With consummate con-summate ease of manner he turned to Tommy. "I must confess, Mr. Be res-ford, res-ford, that It was something of a surprise sur-prise to me to see you here this evening. The last I heard of you was that your friends were in grave anxiety anx-iety on your behalf. Nothing had been heard of you for some days, ami Miss Tuppence was lg, -lined to think you had got Into diliieulties." "I had, sir!" Tommy grinned reml-nisccutiy. reml-nisccutiy. "I was never In a tighter place in my lite." Helped out by questions from Sir James, be gave an abbreviated account of his adventures. The lawyer looked at him with renewed interest is he brought the tale to a close. "You' got yourself out of a tight place very well," he said gravely. "1 congratulate you. You displayed a great deal of ingenuity and carried your part through well." Tommy blushed, his face assuming a prawn-like hue at the praise. "And since then? What have you been doing?" For a moment. Tommy stared at him. Then It dawned on him that of course the lawyer did not know. "I forgot that you didn't know about Tuppence," he said slowly. The lawyer laid down his knife and fork sharply. "Has anything happened to Miss Tuppence?" His voice was keen-edged. keen-edged. "She's disappeared," said Julius. When?" "A week ago." "How?" Sir James' questions fairly shot out. Between them Tommy and Julius gave the history of the last week and their futile search. Sir James went at once to the root of the matter. "A wire signed with your name? They knew enough of you both for that. They weren't sure of how much you had learnt In that house. Their "kidnaping of Miss Tuppence Is the counter-move to your escape. If necessary they could seal your lips with a threat of what might happen to her." "That's Just what I thought, sir." Sir James looked at him keenly. "You had worked that out. had you? Not bad not at all bad. The curious thing la that they certainly did not know anything about you when they first held you prisoner. You are sure that you did not in any way disclose your Identity?" Tommy shook his head. "That's so," said Julius with a nod. "Therefore I reckon s,ome one put them wise and not earlier than Sun day afternoon. "Yes, but who?" "That almighty omniscient Mr. Brown, of course!" There w-as a faint note of derision in the American's voice which made Sir James look up sharply. Y'ou don't believe in Mr. Brown, Mr. nersheimmer?" "No, sir, I do not," returned the young American with emphasis. "Not as such, that is to say. I reckon it out that he's a figurehead Just a bogy-name bogy-name to frighten the children with. The real head of this business is that Russian chap Kramenin." "I disagree with you," said Sir James shortly. "Mr. Brown exists." He turned to Tommy. "Did you happen hap-pen to notice where that wire was handed in?" "No, sir, I'm afraid I didn't." "H'tii. Got it with you?" "It's upstairs, sir, in my kit." "I'd like to have a look at It sometime. some-time. You've wasted a week. Weil deal with Miss Jane Finn first. Afterward, After-ward, we'll set to work to rescue Miss Tuppence from bondage. I don't think she's in any immediate danger." The other two assented and. after makin" arrangements for mooting on the morrow, the great lawyer took his leave. At ten o'clock, the two yonng men were at the appointed spot. Sir James had Joined them on the doorstep. He alotif appeared nnevcited. Hp Intro lllleed then, to Ihe doctor. ".Mr. 1 lorslieiiiniicr--Mr. Beresfurd t I r. Kovlance. llow'8 tho patient?" "doing i, I, well, livid, inly no idea of the Might of time. Asked this morning how many had been saved from the Lusitanla. She seems to huve something on her mind, though." "I think we can relieve her anxiety. May w e go up?" "Certainly." Tommy's heart heat sensibly faster as they followed the doctor upstairs. Jane linn at last ! The long-sought, the mysterious, the elusive Jane Finn! How wildly Improbable success hud seemed! And here in this house, her memory almost miraculously restored, lay the girl who held the future of Ktigland In her hands. A half groan broke from Tommy's lips. If only Tuppence could have been at his bide to share In the triumphant conclusion of their Joint venture! Then he put the thought of Tuppence resolutely aside. Ills confidence In Sir James was growing. There was a man who would unerringly ferret out Tuppence's whereabouts. In the meantime Jane Finn! And suddenly a dread clutched at his heart. It seemed too easy. . . . Suppose they should find her dead . . . stricken down by the hand of Mr. Brown? In another minute he was laughlnj at these melodramatic fancies. Th doctor held open the door of a rooia v ""j '' i f V; ' ' l'! )W: ,r.-.rt! v r- . J -( . - i "How Do, Cousin Jane?" He Said! Lightly. and they passed in. On the white bed, bandages roun 1 her head, lay the g'.rL Somehow the whole scene seemed unreal. un-real. It was so exactly what one ex- i pected that it gave the effect of being beautifully staged. Tne girl looked from one to the other of them with large wondering eyes. Sir James spoke first. "Miss Finn." he said, "this Is your cousin, Mr. Julius P. Hersheimmer." A faint flush flitted over the girl's face, as Julius stepped forward and took her hand. "How do, Cousin Jane?" he said lightly. But Tommy caught the tremor In his voice. "Are you really Uncle Hiram's son?" she asked wonderingly. j Her voice seemed vaguely familiar to Tommy, but he thrust the Impres- sion aside as impossible. j "Sure thing." j A shadow passed over the girl's face, i "They've been telling me things dreadful things that my memory j went, and that there are years I shall i never know about years lost out of J my life. It seems to me as though It were no time since we were being hustled into those boats. I can see it all now." She closed her eyes with a shudder. Julius looked across at Sir James, w ho nodded. " . "Don't worry any. It Isn't worth It. Now, see here, Jane, there's something we want to know about. There was a man aboard that boat with some mighty important papers on him, and the big guns In this country have got a notion that he passed on the goods to you. Is that so?" The girl hesitated, her glance shifting shift-ing to the other two. Julius understood. "Mr. Beresford is commissioned by the British government to get those papers back. Sir James Peel Edger-ton Edger-ton is an English member of parliament, parlia-ment, and might be a big gun in the cabinet if he liked. It's owing to him that we've ferreted you out at last. So you can go right ahead and tell us the whole story. Did Danvers give you the papers?" "Yes. He said they'd have a better chance with me, because they would save the women and children first." "Just as we thought," said Sir James. (TO BE CONTINUED.) |