Evening Star Newspaper, July 13, 1925, Page 14

R R D R e S aatas eSS RSSO SOPPPPPPPOPPPPPPPOS (Continued from Yesterday's Star.) “Have you got the letter?” *No, sir W are ontent My friend gave me a copy. Would you like to peruse it, sir?” 1 should Ong Chi Seng took from an inside pocket a bulky wallet witn papers, Singapore dollar notes and clgarette cards. From the con- fusion he presently extracted a half sheet of thin note paper and placed it before Mr. Joyce. The letter read as follows R. will be away for the night, I absolutely must see you. I shall ex- pect you at 11. I am desperate and if you don’t come I won't answer for the consequences. Don’t drive up. It was written in the copper-plate hand which the Chinese were taught at the foreign The writing, 0 lacking in ¢ er, was oddly in congruous with the ominous words. “What makes you think that this note was written by Mrs. Crosbie?” I have every confidence in the veracity of my informant, sir,’ re- plled Ong Chi Sepg. “And the mat- ter can very easily be put to the proof. Mrs. Crosbie will no doubt be » to tell you at once whether she s such a letter or not. ince the beginning of the conver- sation Mr. Joyce had not taken his eves off the respectful countenance of his clerk. He wondered now if he discerned on it a faint expression of mockery “It is Inconcelvable that Mrs. letter,” sald Mr. Jovce “It "that is your opinion, sir, the matter i of course ended. My friend spoke 1o me on the subject only be- cause he thought as I was in your office you might like to know of the existence of this letter before a com- munication was made to the public prosecutor.” “Who has the original?” asked Mr. Joyce sharply. Ong Chi Seng made no sign-that ved In this question and its manner a change of attitude. “You will remember, sir, no doubt, that after the death of Mr. Hammond it was discovered that he had had relations with a China-woman. The letter is at present in her possession.” That was one of the things that had turned public opinion most vehe- mently against Hammond. It came to be known that for several months he had had a Chinese woman living in_his house For & moment neither of them spoke. Indeed, qverything had been sald and each understood the other perfectly. “I'm_obliged to you, Ong. I will give the matter my consideration.” Very good, sir. Do You wish me to make a communication to that effect to my friend?” I dare say it would be as well if vou kept in touch with him," Mr Joyce answered with gravity. Yes, sir.” The clerk noiselessly left the room, shutting the door again with deliber- ation, and left Mr. Joyce to his re- flections. He stared at the copy, in its neat, impersonal writing, of Les- lie's letter. Vague suspicions troubled him. They were so dis- concerting that he made no effort to put them out of his mind. There must be a simple explanation of the letter and Leslis without doubt could give it at once, but, by heaven, an explanation was needed! He rose from his chalr, put the letter in his pocket and took his topee. When he went out, Ong_ Chi Seng was busily writing at his desk ‘I'm going out for a few minutes, Ong,” he sald. “Mr. George Reed {s coming by ap- tment at 13 o'clock, si ‘The stopper n-an: innocent: tystandez who laughe when be hears ®Willle, draw the water into the bowl” and #John, I do wish you wouldn't waste the hot water.” written such & | It was filled | waited she held out | | | | | Where ' Leslie. THE LETTER BY W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM. (Copyright, by the Ridgway Co.) shall 1 say vou've gone?” Mr. Joyce gave him a thin smile. “You can say that you haven't the least idea.” But he knew perfectly that Ong Chi Seng was well aware that he was golng to the Jjall in_which Mrs. Crosbie was detained. When she was brought into the room in- which he her thin, dis- tinguished hand, and gave him a pleasant smile. She was as ever neatly and simply dressed and her abundant, pale hair was arranged with her usual care. “l wasn’t expecting to see you this miorning,” she said graciously. She might have been in her own house, and Mr. Joyce almost expected to hear her call the boy and tell him to bring the visitor a gin pahit. “How are you?"” he asked. “I'm in the best of heaith, thank vou.” A flicker of amusement flashed across her eyes. “This is a wonderful place for a rest cure.” The attendant withdrew, and they were left alone. “Do sit down,” said Leslie. He took & chair. He did not quite know how to begin. She was so cool that it seemed almost impossible to say to her the thing he had come to say. Though she was not pretty, there was something agreeable in her appearance. She had elegance, but the elegance of good breeding ch there was nothing of the of soclety. You had only to look at her to know what sort of peo- ple she had and what kind of sur- roundings she had lived in. Her fragility gave her a singular refine ment. It was impossible to associate with the smallest idea of gross- I'm looking forward to seeing Rob- ert this afternoon,” she said, in her good-humored, easy voice. (It was a pleasure to hear her speak, her voice |* and her accent were so distinctive of her class) “Poor dear, it's been a great trial to his nerves. I'm thank ful that it'll be all over in “It’s only five days now. 1 know. Each morning when I awake I say to myself, ‘One less.’ " “By the way, am I right in think- ing that you had had no communica- tion whatever with Hammond for sev- eral weeks before the catastrophe?’” “I'm quite positive of that. The last time we met was at a_tennis party at the MacFarrens. I don't think I said more than two words to him. They have two courts, you know, and we didn’t happen to be in, the same sets.” “And you hadn’t written to him?" “Oh, no.” ““Are you quite certain about that?" he sald. “Oh, quite,” she answered, with a little smile. “There was nothing I should write to him for except to ask him to dine or to play tennis, and 1 hadn’t done either for months.” At one time you'd been on fairly intimate terms with him. How did it happen that you had stopped asking | him to anything?"” Mrs. Crosble shrugged her shoulders. “‘One gets tired of people. We hadn't anything very much in common. Of course, when he was {ll, Robert and T did everything we could for him, but the last year or two he’s been quite well, and he was very popular. He had a good many calls on his time, and there didn’t ssem to be any need to shower invitations upon him." .‘“’;A'r. you quite certain that was Mra. Crosbie hesitated for a oment. “Well, I may just as well tell you. It had come to our ears that he was living with a Chinese woman, and Robert said he wouldn’t have him in the house. I had seen her myself.” Mr. Joyce was sitting in a straight- backed armchair, resting his chin on his hand: his eves were fixed on ‘Was it his fancy that as she | thin | THE EVEN One of a series of best short stories published dur- ing the past year, made this remark her black pupils were filled on a sudden, for the frac- tion of a second, with a dull red light? The effect was startling. shifted {n his Thair. spoke very slowly, choosing his words. think 1 shouid tell you that there is in existence a letter in your hand writing from you te Geoff Hummond, He watched her closely. She made no movement, nor did her face change color, but she took a noticeable time to reply. “In the past I've often sent him little notes to ask him to something or other or to get me something when 1 knew he was going to Singapore.” ““This letter asks him to come and see you because Robert was golng lo Singapore. “That's impossible. I never did any. thing of the kind.” “You'd better read it for yourself.” He took it out of his pocket and handed it to her. She gave It a glance and with a smile of scorn handed it back to him. “That’s not my handwriting." “I know. It's said to be the exact copy of the original She read the words now and as she G_STAR, WASHINGTON, D. 0., MONDAY, JULY 13, body. But great beads of sweat stood on her forehead. She took a handker- chief from her bag and wiped the palms of her hands. She looked at the letter again and she gave Mr. Joyce a sidelong look. t's not dated. If I had written it and forgotten all about it, it might have been written years ago. If yow'll give me time Il try and remember the circumstances.” “I noticed there was no date. If this letter_were in the hands of the prosecution they would cross-examine the boys. They would soon find out whether some one took a letter to Hammond on the day of his death.” Mrs. Crosbie clasped her hands vio- lently and swayed in her chair so that he thought she would faint. “I swear to you that I didn't write that letter.” Mr. Joyce was silent for a little while. Ho took his eyes from her dis- traught face and looked down on the floor. He was reflecting. “Under these circumstances we need not go into the matter further,” he sald slowly, last breaking the si- lence. “If the possessor of this letter sees fit to place It in the hands of the prosecution you will be prepared.” (Continued in Tomorrow’s Star.) LEMON JUICE BEST g TO WHITEN SKIN ¢ The only harmiess ¢ to bleach the skin read a horrible change came over her. Her It turned green. The flesh seemed on a sudden to fall away and her skin was tightly stretched over the bones. Her lips receded, showing her teeth, so that she had the appearance of making a grimace. She stared at | Mr. Joyce with eyes that started from | their sockets. He was looking now at | a gibbering death's head “What does it mean?" pered. | Her mouth was so dry that she could utter no more than a hoarse sound. It was no longer a human voice. “That is for you to say,” she whi: l‘ he an ered. ‘I didn’t write it. I swear I didn't rite it." Be very careful what “It would be a forgery.’ “It would be difficult to prove that It would be ®asy to prove that it was senuine.” A shiver passed through lean vhite is to mix the juice of two lemons with three ounces of Orchard White, which any druggist will sup- ply for a few cents. Shake well in a bottle, and you have a whole quarter-pint of the * most wonderful skin whitener, softener and beautifier. Massage this sweetly fragrant lemon bleach into the face,}neck, arms and hands. It cannot irkitate. Famous stage beauties use it to bring that clear, youthful skin and rosy-white complexion ; also as a freckle, sunburn and tan bleach, you must mix this remarkable lotion yourself. It cannot be bought ready to use because it acts best imme- diately after it is prepared. Orchard White any other used car dealer to have the same interest as the Ford Authorized Dealer in seeing that you get the best used Ford for money you invest. but one question Americainsists on plenty of water—both hot and cold. This is the land of the free and the'home of the shower bath. Here water—and plenty of it—is a require- ment for the pursuit of happiness. Men like to turn on the faucet and let ‘er run. Spring stops cramp their style and the stopper is spare equipment. So there has never been but one hot water question—make it convenient and plentiful and HOLD DOWN THE COST. 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