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Show Secret Adversary ! i ssk btj.AgathaChristie : ' ' CHAPTER X Continued. 14 vn!ns Tommy nt on th ,' -nJ oviiltat lily- W.miM not. should h rlalc tryliii; to : ... of her? ll decided (lint t s: leave no stone unluriuM. His ". .j (Jesperat. o'clock tti fMtnlllar aound ''if W turnlni mmlo Mm lrln- N"i frf't. Th '!rl ll"' 5; '-t (V il.vr," lie conunniull. "I l w r,vs to you." l1 ;fAved- 'VH her. Annette. I want oo to .-'rf ft out of this. r, svk her head. -r.vsiM. There ar threo of '- the floor below." Tommy secretly Krn(e-- Krn(e-- . r (he Information. "1UK you i r-. i rtfI m lf ou cvulJr" - monsieur." ",r.j t.-tT ,, , 5!:! hesltaleil. - ! 'je not. monsieur; I am afraWI A !( turned awT. - fl-,.-:.'.r.( yoa ao anvtning to neip ' c ' ' Sir!?" crleJ Tommy. "She'a 1 ; voir ace. too. Won't you fcive r . a (heir clutches?" f-a tojh Jane Finn?" U is her you came her to look tr :; 7 j:'s It." ?.f f'r! loeifl at Mm. then prne',1 rii"i across her forehead. ;it Fir.a. Alwayt I hear that . ." l:?. It Is familiar." L, ' zzy rarre forward eacortr. 'T.3 nust know something about the f'r Mimed away ahniptlr. 1 t;.w Dothlr.; only the nan-e." .v ?: i!k1 towards the d.or. Su I-:-L" 5e uttered a cry. Tommy rM. ?he hal catssht $!cht of the ;r it hsd laid ajn!nt the wall . . before. For a moment he 'y lok of terror In her eye. u iojUoaMy It rhance'l to relief, lis i'r:p:!y she went out of (he - teat couM make nothing of .. i KJ she fancy that he had mn( !.r !"!-k her with It? Surely not. , I' rrfii-jr the r'tur on the wall ... : -.fitfully. - ?.xt more days went by In dreary .. iitcs. Tommy felt the strain tell- -is nerres. He saw no one but "--si t2i Annette, and the g!rl had '-'-;). He pathere-l from Cn-"!u;t Cn-"!u;t th?y were waiting for orders h- T!r. Brown." Terhaps. thought . .y. he was abroad or away, and ', -". ere obliged to wait for h! -. evenlns of the third day ( !::ht 1 rude awakenlnj. s -:u barely seven oVloefe when he i :"-! fre traxp of fo.itster,; outside - -i tasa?e. In another minute i3r waa flung open. Conrad en- hfMieikA Yo" a Bluffed Ua, Did You7" i:'"1 h,m was the evll-looklng -'fj . Tornray' heart sank at .Hht of them. v'nor'" sa'l the man, Tie n' "Got Ul09e rPM. mater' ti J ! ' Conra'l produced a V"-tr 14 "t COrd- The nert ml'Ite wiVn h' horrlo'y dexterous, :m the cortl ro"J his Wk. . ConrH'I held him down. fct tt . dev"-r' bpSan Tommv. ' "it Cn V' speechle8!' Krln of the ., froze, the words on 1.1a Mask 1 Pweeded deftly with '"oere i nother "'Inute Tommy P'e,"bnn(lle- Then at "Ho si'oke: "i'X'70"'0 b,"ffe'1 u". dM you? Joo knew, and what jou ilKln't know. Uiirunlnod Itli us ! And nil (I10 IIiiki K win H lilviff! lUuff! You know e timn , kltleu. Hut our niiml.er'a up now nil rluht, you t iwlne." Tommy lav silent. There wmh noih-Ini; noih-Ini; (o any. lie lind fulled. Somehow or other (he omnipotent Mr. ltrown had seen (hroiiK-li hla pretensions. Suddenly a (lioucli( oerurred (,1 him. "A. very good apeet-li, 1'oiirnd," he auld approvingly. "Hut wherefore the bonds and fellers? Why not let this kind gemlemun here cu( my throat wlthou delay T' "llarn." said Number H uneipe.(. edly. "Think we'a ua green na to do you In here, and have the police nos lng around? Not'alf! VeM ordere.l the carriage for your lordship tomorrow tomor-row mornln", hut In (he meantime we're no( taUti- any chanevii, nee 1 Talking aa though you were still a( the Mtvtutng ldir, aren't yon?" Ti'inmy made no reply. He whs en-K'lt;! en-K'lt;! In wonderlnK how Mr. ltniw 11 had d!sooored hla Identity. He decided de-cided thut Tuppenre. In the (hroes of anle!y. lind gone (o the puller, and that his dlsappi'aranoe having been maiie public tli pan had not been low to put two and two together. Tlie two men departed and the door slammed. Tommy waa left (o hla niedltatloiia. They were no( pleasant one. Already hla llmba felt cramped and allff. He waa utterly helpless, and he could e no hope anywhere. About an hour had passed when he heard the key softly turned, and (he dour opened. It was Annette. Tom niy'a heart be.it a little faster. He had forgotten the girl. Whs It possible pos-sible that she had ome to his help: Suddenly he lieanl IVnrad'i voice: "Come out of It. Annette. He doesn't want any supper tonight." "out. oul. ! sals Men. Hut I must take the other tray. We need the things in It." "Well, hurry up." growled Conrad. Without bniWlii nt Tommy the girl went over to the table, and picked up the tray. She. raised a hand and turned out the light. "course you" Conrad had come t-the t-the d"Or "why did you do that?" "I always (urn l( out. You should have told me. Shall I relight it. Monsieur Mon-sieur Conrad?" "No, come on out of It." "I. beau petit monsieur." cried An nette. pausing by the boil In the dnrk-ness. dnrk-ness. "You huve tied him up well, heln? He la like a trussed chicken!" The frank amusement In her tone Jarred on the boy; bu( n( (ha( moment, mo-ment, to his amazement, he felt her hand running lightly over hla bonds, and something small and cold wu presse-I Into the palm of lil 3 hand. "Come on, Annette." "Mais me volla." The d'xir shut. Tommy heard Conrad Con-rad say: "Lock It and give me the key. The footsteps died away. Tommy lay petrified with amazement. The oh Jeot Annette had thrust Into his hand was a small penknife, the blade open. From the way she had studiously avoided looking at him, and her action with the light, he came to the conclusion con-clusion that the room was overlooked. There must be a peephole somewhere In the walls. Kememberlng how guarded guard-ed she had always been In her manner, man-ner, he saw that he had probably been under observation all the time. Had he snld anything to Rive himself away? Hardly. True, his question to Annette had proved that he was personally unacquainted un-acquainted with Jane Finn, but he had never pretended otherwise. The question now w us, did Annette really know more? Were her denials Intended Intend-ed primarily for the listeners? On that point he could come to no conclusion. Hut there vis a more vital question that drove out all others. Could he. bound as he was. manage to cut his bonds? He essayed cautiously to nib the open blade up and down on the cord that bound his two wrists together. to-gether. It was an awkward business, and drew a smothered "Ow" of pain from him as the Knire cut into nis wrist. Hut slowly and doggedly he went on sawing to and fro. He cut the flesh badly, but at Inst he felt the cord slacken. With his hands free, the rest was easy. Ills first care was to bind up his bleeding wrist. Then he sat on the edge of the bed to think. Conrad had taken the key of the door, so he could expect little more assistance from Annette. The only outlet from the room was the door, consequently he would perforce have to wait until the two men returned to fetch him. Hut when thev did . . . Tommy smiled! Moving with Infinite caution In the dark room, he found and unhooked the famous picture. He felt an economical pleasure that his first plnn would not be wasted. There was now nothing to do but to wait. He waited. Tha nlghi punhuU alowly. Tummy IIhi Uiiuukli mi mhhuIi i liuuia, but' ul lu.i hg ,,eail luolai.M. 11, aioud' upiifciil, uivw a Uwp bmuiu, ami ciuii nod the plciuio lli uilj. 'I'na door opened. A fulnt light alUMiiiioU In truiu uutahio. .Number H follow uil. Am he MeppvU uoruaa Ui threshold, Tommy Mongol tho plctui down Willi leiriuc iuim ou hla hrud. Number 11 weni down uuiuIni a alu-peiid.iua alu-peiid.iua cnii.li of M'uLcii gn,a. i nilnui Tummy hud allpped out and pulled to (ha Uoor. The key was In tho luck, llo turned It uud withdrew ll Juat ua Cunnul hurled hlumelf ugalnat Ilia door from tho Inaldu with a volley of cui'M-a. For a moment Tommy heailaled, Thero tut the aound of aome one llr-rlng llr-rlng on th flour below. Then the ller-iiiuu'b ller-iiiuu'b voice came up the amirs. "llott lui Hlmiiiell Coiirud, whut la It?" Tummy felt a amall hand thrust Into hla. lleslde hlin stood Annelte. Nhu pointed ui a rickety ladder (hut apparently ap-parently led to home allies. "Quick up here!" Shu dragged him ufler her up (he ladder. In unollier moineii( they were standing lu u (lusty garret llllered Willi lumber. Tommy looked, round. "'l'lila won't do. It'a a regular trap. There's no way out." "Hush! Wall." The girl put her ringer to her lips. She crept to the top of the ladder ami llMoncd. The banging and healing on (he door waa (errlflc. The Comma and another were trying to force the door In. Annette explained In a whisper: "They will think you are still Inside. In-side. They cannot hear what Conrad saya. The dour la too thick." "Yea hut look here " "Leave It to me." She bent down. To his amazement, Tommy saw that she wna fastening the end of a long Tommy Brought the Picture Down With Terrific Force on Hla Head. piece of string to the handle of a big cracked Jug. She arrunged It carefully, care-fully, then turned to Tommy. "Have you the key of the duorf "Yes." "(Jive It to me." He handed It to her. "I am going down. Do you think you can go hnlfway, and then awing yourself down behind the ladder, so that they will not see you?" Tommy nodded. "There's a big cupboard In the shadow of the binding. Stand behind It. Take the end of this string In your hand. When I've let the others out-pull out-pull 1" Hefore he hnd time to nsk her anything any-thing more, she had Titled lightly down the ladder nnd wi In the midst of the group with a loud cry. The German turned on her with an oath. "(let out of this. Co to your room!" Very cautiously Tommy swung himself him-self down the back of the ladder. So long as they did not turn round . . . all was well. He crouched behind the cupboard. They were still between him and the stairs. "Ah!" Annette appeared to stumble over something. She stooped. "Mon, Dleu, viola la clef!" The German snntehed It from her. He unlocked the door. Conrad stumbled stum-bled out, swearing. "He's got away." "Impossible. He would have passed us." At that moment, with an ecstatic smile Tommy pulled the string. A crash of crockery came from the attic above. In a trice the men were pushing push-ing each other up the rickety ladder and had disappeared Into the darkness above. Quick as a flash Tommy leaped from his hiding plnce and dashed down the stairs, pulling the girl with him. There was no one in the hall. He fumbled over the bolts nnd chain. At last they yleldad, the door swung open. He turned. Annette had disappeared. Tommy stood spell-bound. Had she run upstairs again? What madness possessed her! He fumed i!th Impatience, Im-patience, but he stood his ground. He would not go without her. And suddenly there was an outcry overhead, an exclamation from the German, and then Annette's ?olco, clear and high : "Ma fol, he has escaped ! And quickly! quick-ly! Who would have thought It?" Tommy still stood rooled to tho ground. Was that a command to him to go? He fancied It was. (TO BE CONTINUED.) |