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Show RECLUSE "mk "firm WYNDHAM KVV W fltT C0PV!GHT In WNU CHAPTER VII Continued 14 "Tliere lire other crumbs .of comfort (or you." Ho smiled. Mllmnn took from Ills poekethook n mize of note-paper note-paper covered with his tine, distinct writing. "Tills," lie went on, "Is a ropy of n conversation with Loddon. At lluit time Loddon lmd done nie the honor to considc'- me dead and burled, D tarmless reclusj ignorant of what lie wns talking. He was able to talk Indiscreetly, conildent that not n lirnilli of what he said would ever be translated into words by his listener. I will read It to you : ''There's one big-headed, millionaire million-aire manufacturer who thinks he owns New York state above the Westchester line that has a hlg Jolt coming his way. Some day he'll go into my friend's office looking six feet high and weighing around two-fifty. When he .... n ,1 .i comes out of ii ii inwni Him weigh ns a bantamweight. I tell you, Mr. Milninn. when a man has bruins and no scruples he can get to Washington Wash-ington any time at all.' " "You think he was talking about Raxon and McKimber?" said N'ita eagerly. "1 am certain of It. Undoubtedly McKimber expects to be United States senator from New York. It is conceded con-ceded he deserves this honor.' If Itaxnn forces him out of the race, It can only be because lie has some mysterious mys-terious and powerful hold over him. You must not forget that for years I have been collecting all sorts of scraps of knowledge about him." "Why?" the girl asked. "That's what Is so -curious to me. It seems so coincidental that just at a moment he ruined you indirectly you have nil this knowledge to use against him." "it was through Mr. Bradney," he admitted. "You guessed that I gave him the hundred thousand dollars. I believe in him. His lecture, which fired nie, brought the donation. Then, suddenly, I found he had been dismissed. dis-missed. I had his successor interviewed, inter-viewed, a lesser man and an envious nie. He was frankly against Iirad-my. Iirad-my. That's how it began. I bought Mr. Mulct's wonderful group because 1 thought we in America had at last a sculptor worthy to rank with the world's greatest. I was interested in his eclipse. I found l!;txon only when Lmldon spoke of Unlet." "But my father?" she Insisted. "How did you find out, about him?" "It began at a dinner table. Someone Some-one mentioned the Saratoga affair. You know, Kita, we are distant connections, con-nections, and I have a family pride Dial is as strong as it is illogical. Kven then I did not see Raxon in the affair until Loddon, port-sodden, told lie that his patron never forgave 'ilien came instances of this vengeful-ness. vengeful-ness. Among them was a mention of a society horseman who had thrown tils patron of Loddon's into the sea. "I employed investigators. Many of them. The first would get facts. I l lien dismissed him and engaged a second sec-ond to build on this structure. I did not want any private detectives to get at my real purpose. I warned Brewer iiMinst him. But at that time Hazen Mined so immeasurably more powerful power-ful than the unknown Itaxon that he laughed at my advice." "I owe you an apology," said the Sirl. "I had no idea you had been so thorough.. I see exactly what I'm to do. I'm to find out what hold Iiaxon lias on JIcKimber." "Yes," Milnian ' assented. "I want t" use the same weapon against liuxnn as he employs against Mc-Kiiulier." Mc-Kiiulier." "It's a glorious adventure," she cried. "There's one thing which makes me uneasy," he admitted. "It is in send-1g send-1g you to a house owned by a man of Unxon's sort. He has the power to vreate the illusion of truth and sincerity sin-cerity when In reality he laughs at h'tli. Good women have loved him as e!l as bad." "I'm not exactly a child, Uncle 1'etor," she reminded him. "In soviet- one meets all types. I am not "'raid. I can never forget the life my Oilier might have been leading now Imt for him. I shall never be ashamed 01 what we are going to do." She Sl"i'ed at him. "Let's go Into the kitchen and hear daddy laying down "'e whole duty of footmen." CHAPTER VIII , Nin Barnes fitted into the life at feat Rock very quickly. She would l,;lve trouble later on. she decided. "Ith the three Itaxon girls, whose ages jj:,lSed fnnn twelve to eighteen years. ; Tll".v Were attractive in a rather sec- "iid-rau. way. The eldest girl was I ."'erly opposed lo lotting Agatha ' 1,r'nvn mix with til" g:ie.-ts. She saw ; ,!,iit on he,- merits she had no chance s"'t tlie s:r;,nu-"i'. Sin e Mis-f't'own Mis-f't'own carried Ine i:'.v and appeared ,l ll'o -linuer tame. ud,':iirah! Kou-ucd. the Itaxon girls determined to force her out. I'aul Raxon, walking leisurely up his drive one day, was amazed to see two strapping men alight from a taxi outside the house and carry suitcases in as though they had come to stay. As they had gone to the back entrance, en-trance, he supposed they were men servants hired by the social secretary. It had not, until tills moment, occurred oc-curred to him that to have strange men in the house might be dangerous. There was a new butler expected. That made three. Suspicious and crafty, Itaxon saw that he might have three spies here, for all he knew. Keeland Barnes, looking fifteen years younger without his big mustache, mus-tache, was giving his fellow footman a few last words of advice when a blase, cynical man pushed open the door of their common sitting room. He Received Paul Raxon With Reserve. Re-serve. Never before had Fleming Bradney seen the man who had disgraced him. In a sense the sight of Raxon was a shock. He seemed of a refined type, intelligent, and superior to what Bradney Brad-ney had expected. iiarnes was a better Judge of mankind. man-kind. He saw in Kaxon a cruel and vindictive man, indomitable and not to be swayed. " 'Alio, 'andsome," said Barnes genially, "your name Sneed?" "It is not," said Raxon, frowning. Sneed. That wan l'eter Milman's man. He had bean! it more than once from Loddon. "Who are you?" "Mv name is 'Iggins," said Barnes. "When you know me well enough you can call me 'Enry. I'm the new footman foot-man This" he pointed to Bradney, whose beardless face bad a certain childish wistfulness about it "this is Alfred Build, also a footman to the swell who owns this place. If you aren't Sneed, who are you?" "I happen to be 'the swell who owns this place,'" said Raxon. He had no doubt about the bona fides of these men Tall London footmen by the mlk 0( them. 'Enry's agitation unused him. 'Enry was heard to say hit his last employer, Lord KichesteT. would not so demean himself as to enter his footman's room. "1 do as I please," said Raxon cold-ly cold-ly He left them, as he supposed, wrapped in embarrassment. inhaVe seen the footmen," he said to his wife. "They'll 'do. Let me be told when the nevv butler comes. 'He's here." said Mrs. Raxon. 1 hope he's satisfactory. He has the best references. He was w.th M.. Peter Milman for years. A few minutes later Sneed bowed respectfully- ' . .'.TV "Why did you leave Air. Al-Jimm '.' he was asket'. There was a certain reticence aboul the man. It seemed he hardly liked to say. "Mr. Milman was very good to nie," be began, "but of late It got to be very hard there, sir." "In what way?" "I'm afraid poor Mr. Peter Is losing bis mind. lie's had some money losses, I understand, sir, and he's acting act-ing queer. It's my belief he's dangerous, danger-ous, lie's cut down on the food so there isn't enough to eat. He's been a good employer to me, but when a man don't get his wages or his meals, be has to look out for himself." "Quite right. I've seen your two new footmen. One of them, 'Enry he calls himself, seems inclined to be impudent, im-pudent, f'heck that." "Impudent!" Sneed was incredulous. incredu-lous. "Why, Mr. Raxon, they have the highest references. On duty, sir. you'll find no fault with them. I don't know what's come over house-servants of late, Mr. Itaxon. When off duty they seem to think themselves as good as anyone else." Raxon said nothing. His dismissal was a nod. He was satisfied that Miss Agatha Brown knew her job She had brought In three excellent men, and the colony of Swedish women help seemed thoroughly capable. He found himself wondering how It was so much intelligence, energy and beauty could he united in a girl who was now only one of his help. It had been Paul Raxnn's idea to make a hii with her by his knowledge of furniture. furni-ture. He had (lung open the door of a lofty apartment with the simple exclamation, ex-clamation, "My Louis Seize room." "What makes you think so?" Miss Brown returned after one brief glance. She pointed out what she declared were forgeries. She went from piece to piece criticizing here and there until un-til his pride of possession fled. "I know very little about French furniture," she said simply. "When I Was at Horsham abbey, Viscount Raoul de Guillain often stayed there. You know, of course, that he is the supreme authority. Oddly enough, I hear he is in New York. If you would like him to see your things, I'm sure he'd be delighted. If you've lots of people coming next week, it might be bettter to weed some of these out. One hates to be laughed at in that sort of thing." "I suppose this viscount has a regular regu-lar fee?" "He would want to fight a duel with you if you even suggested It. He Is quite a rich man and often gives his services to museums to detect forgeries." for-geries." "I wonder how I could get hold of him?" "I'm almost sure he would accept an invitation to dine if I reminded ' him about Horsham abbey. Shall I write?" "I'll tell you what we'll do," Raxon said. "Give me a letter of introduc tion and I'll call tomorrow, when I shall be in New York. Find out where he is staying and let me know. A few hours later, Viscount Raoul de Guillian, duly warned by a telegram tele-gram in French dispatched from a distant office, moved into the Ritz. He received Paul Raxon with reserve. It was only , when he learned that Agatha Brown was a guest at Great Rock that he consented to go. He was affable enough to agree to stay there a week. When he arrived, the admirable' Sneed was in the hall, and a footman immediately carried his suitcases to his room. "The whole gang's here now," said 'Enry, wringing his hand. "How's good old Peter?" "More hopeful than ever," Malet seemed a trifle nervous. He fingered Is is small mustache and imperial in doubt. "Do you think I can carry this through? If one is suspected, all are suspected." "Of course you can. Even Alf is getting a firm touch. He had stage-fright stage-fright at his first dinner, but he's training on splendidly." 'Enry sat In the most comfortable chair he could find and 'lighted a cigarette. "What's the mystery about McKimber?" "Is he here yet?" "He conies tomorrow with wife and son. The eldest Raxon girl is highly excited. What is there to McKimber that old Peter is anxious to know his every move?" "I'm in the dark, too. Peter says I'm under Nita's orders, and she will tell us what to do." "You're all right, you're a guest," 'Enry remarked. "I'm only a poor, honest footman and have to be ordered or-dered around." "You've not had any run in with Raxon?" (TO BE CONTINUED.) :.xxxxxxxxxxxxx |