The evening world. Newspaper, October 8, 1921, Page 15

THE EVENING WORLD’S FICTION SECTION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 8, 1921, 3 trained eyes for these planted bur- glaries. You might find it convenient to remember that you caught a glimpse Of somebody who describes a good deal like me—or some one outside might have spotted me coming in or going out. I've got to have a guarantee be- fore I tinker with your birdcage. [If you honestly want those bonds, just sign this first.” He threw a bit of paper on the table. She drew it toward her, and read: I agree to pay Harry Thorne one thousand dollars for confidential services in opening the safe in my house. (Signed) “Never,” she cried. “It’s absurd. Of eourse, I won't sign that.” “All right.” He’ pickcd up the slip. “Tm on my way, then. No harm done. Good night.” “No,” she said vehemently, catching his arm as he started toward the door. “Wait. I'll sign. But do hurry up and get the thing over.” As he again laid the paper on the table, she dipped a pen in ink and hastily wrote her name. “It’s only for my own protection, you understand,” he explained as he folded the agreement and placed it carefully in an inside pocket. “I ain’t got a doubt in the world but what you’re on the level; but as—well, a friend of mine fs he said only to-day: ‘Harry,’ he says, ‘when you have any business dealings with a woman, see that the terms are set down in black and white zand her signature is on the dotted line.’ ” Slipping on a pair of rumpled cot- ton gloves, he stepped over to the safe, bending down and listening carefully as he twirled the antiquated combina- tion. A turn or so of the knob to the right, two or three to the left; and then the iron door swung open. HORNE reached inside, and handing the package of bonds to Mrs. Ames, closed the safe again and carefully polished the knob with a bit of greasy rag. Then he stood up and confronted hey. Betty had clutched the bombs, finger- ing them exultantly, and now her smile was sparkling with a reckless joy and relief, as she took from her precious package a $1,000 bond:and held it out to him graciously. “J don't think I have ever paid out money with more satisfaction,” ghe said with her best great-lady manner. “You have been of inestimable service to me” ‘Let me see them.” He snatched the bonds from her hand and rapidly count- ed them over, “Righto!” There was an incandescent gleam in his cold, light eyes. “I guess I've got a whole lot more pressing need for these than a rich lady like you," he said, and put them in his pocket. For a moment she stared, incapable of believing the evidence of her eyes, and then sprang at him wildly, recoil- ing just as sharply as he thrust the muzzle of a smal! automatic into her face, “You—you low thief!" she gasped. “Same to you,” he jeered insolently. “Now I'm going to walk out the front door, and I guess you won't—scream, nor phone to the station house, neither —not with this receipt in my pocket.” She ran after him, catching his arm and trying to hold him back; but he menaced her again with the pistol. “You shut up and stay tn this room till! I get out, or I'll give you one in the jaw that'll put you to sleep for an hour.” Betty Ames obeyed him. She needed no putting to sleep. Ghe simply fainted quietly into the nearest chair, “MX J HEN sxe came to, she crawled A onto a couch and lay there until nearly morning. Final.« ly she summoned sufficient streligth to creep upstairs to her room and undress, Unable to sleep, and spurred by the ¢@mperative need for action of some gort, 10 o'clock found her at Achison’s ce. Her spirits began to revive as © reached the building; if any ona uh recover the bonds for her, it was e. Surely it would be easp for him to force Thorne to disgorge. Her name was sent in, and the law- yer recelyed her almost immediately. “What pleasant wind has blown you here again?’ he asked as she entered. “Not a nice wind at all, but a bitter east one,” she said shortly. “I might as well tell you at once and get it over, That man who was waiting to see you yesterday afternoon—well, I spoke to him, and engaged him to come to the house |ast night. It seemed an act of Providence—then, He opened the safe in the library for me and got out the bonds; and then,"—she stamped her foot in angry recollection—‘“he heid me back at the point of a pistol and made off with them.” “What? What are you telling me?" His tone was incredulous, horrified, In response to his sharp questioning, she went more into detail, When she had finished the story, he sat thinking, his face set into stern lines of concen- tration. “There's apparently only one thing to do,” he said at last; “the matter will have to be reported to the police and Thorne placed under arrest. That should have been done last night, be- fore he had a chance to dispose of the bonds or conceal them.” “No, no!” she cried. “You don't fully understand. He made me sign a paper —a sort of an agreement hiring him to open the safe for me.” “But that was under duress—with a pistol pointed at your head.” “No,” she confessed, “it was before he started in. He wouldn’t move a hand until I had signed. §o I"— Achison cut her short with an im- patient gesture. “What next?” He threw out his hands. “Of course, in that case, we can’t go to the police. It is too ridiculous.” ’ “Surely, though, this man wif Hsten to you,” she pleaded. “He wants you to take his brother’s case, you told ma Why, Mr. Achison, you simply—must make him give me back those bonds. ag shé wished to consult him upon a matter of great personal importance. YTHIN fifteen minutes Ram- sey arrived. He was a tall, dark young man who guve *the impression of depend- ability. Most of his life had been spent abroad, and he had only recently come to New York as a representative of one of the French journals to write up certain phases and characters of American social life, There was nothing aggressive about him; yet when he was shown into Betty Ames’s sitting room, he brought with him an atmosphere of optimism and resolution which insensibly buoyed up her courage. “I'm in an awful mess, Wallace,” she began at once, “and I've got to con- fide in some one; so I turned to you.” “Well, I’m here at your service,” he responded. “Just how awful a mess fs it?” “ONE OF MY SHOTS WENT WILD AND KILLED A PRIZE GUERNSEY BULL.” He told me that he had a very press- ing need for them. Maybe he meant that he was planning to pay your fee with a part of them.” There was a momentary hard flash in Achison’s eye “No,” he said decisively, “that mat- ter was all arranged yesterday after noon. Just to satisfy you” He turned over some papers-on his desk and drew out a memorandum on which was written in an illiterate hand a list of names with varying amounts set down opposite them, the whole making a total of $10,000. This he handed over to her. “That covers my fee,” he said briefty. “As you see, it has no possible connec- tion with your loss. However, I shall get into immediate touch wkh Thorns, as you suggest, and you may be sure that I will spare no pressure, either by threats or persuasion, that I am able to exert. In the mean time, my dear chigd, let me beg you to go home and rest. Try to put this miserable affair out of your mind as much ag possible, I promise that you shall hear from me the moment I have anything to com- municate.” Betty returned home more disap- pointed over the result of her visit than she would have cared to admit. She felt that Achison, for all his prom- ises of aid, was rather hopeless as to an actual recovery of the bonds. And failure was something she was tem- peramentally unable'to face, If Achi- son was going to sit placidly by and let the bonds go, she was not, Was there not some one else to whom she could turn for advice, some one in whose judgment and real co-opera- tion she could trust? But not @ woman —a woman wouldn't know what to do. Mentally she ran over the list of her various men acquaintances, dismissing each from consideration for this rea- son or that, until at last she happened to think of Wallace Ramsey. He was indubitably the one person for her purpose, quiet, discreetly reticent, a gentleman and clever. She wasted no time in hunting up his telephone number; and finding him at his apart- ment, she asked him if he woubhlin't come to her house as soon as possible “Really awful.” And then somewhat shamefacedly she gave him « recital of events commencing with-the night of Achison’s party. At the mention of the lawyer's name Rumsey sat up as if he had re- ceived an electric shock. “Achison?” There was a queer flash in his dark eyes. ‘So he is in it? Go on; I am anxious to hear the rest.” After that he did not interrupt again, but leaning forward listened to her story with the closest attention. When she had finished; he made no imme- diate comment, but sat back gnawing his Mp and tapping his fingers on the arms of his chair, his eyes fixed far beyond her. “What does Achison have to say about the matter?” he asked at last. “You have reported to him of course?” “Well, he was awfully indignant and distressed At first, he was going to notify the police; but when he found out about the paper I had signed, he dropped that idea very quickly.” “In other words, he made it very plain to you that your hands are tied?” “Yes; that was practically his atti- tude, And I don’t understand why!” --regentfuly. “When I went to him, I had scarcely a doubt but that he would straighten things out for me. I thought that, since he had charge of the broth er’s case, he could easily make some eort of an arrangement with Thorne You see, it had struck me that pos. sibly the reason Thorne had taken the bonds was tn order to pay Mr. Acht- son's fee.” Ramsey tifted his head as if some- thing that was puzzling him had been faintly illuminated, “A woman's intuition,” he muttered; then to her: “Did you mention any- thing of the sort to Achison?” “Yea, I did; but he explained to me that the question of his fee liad all been settled yesterday afternoon and could not possibly be connected with the robbery. To convince me, he showed me a slip of paper with a list of names and the amount each had agreed to subscribe. Altogether, ft made about "$10,000." “I see” Ramsey's tone was a bit disappotnted. “It proved something of a blind alley, eh?” ——_ Again he sat for several minutes silence, knitting his brows. “Mrs, Ames,” he said finally, look ing her directly in the eyes, “do you believe that this wag a matter of chance, that it all just happened?” She looked back at him bewildered, “Of course it happened,” she said. “Do you think I dreamed it?” “No, But I believe there was a dos sign behind all this seeming happen- ing; and the more you tell me of the circumstances, the more I am _ con- vinced of it. It is all too—well, co- incidental. Now, I am going to give you a shock. Your friend Achison is at the bottom of the whole thing.” “Achison!” she repeated in uncom prehending amazement. “Wallace, you've gone crazy. Why, there would be no reason for it. He is rich and”—— “How do I know his motives, or what gaps there may be between hig income and his expenditures?” he de- manded impatiently. ‘I do know somes thing, though, of his consummate trickery. He shows one phase of him- self to the world; but on another side, he is X, an unknown quantity, or @ quantity known only to himseif. “I have had some personal experle ences with him,”’—lLis face darkencd and there was a sudden vindictive gleam in his eyes,—“which have proved decidedly enlightening. I'm on that man’s trail, I tell you, and I'm on it until I get him.” E saw the dubious, question- ing look in her eyes, and caught himself up with a slight shrug of. the shoulders, “Naturally,” he resumed his even tone, “you think I am speaking from prejudice or personal enmity. But wait until I have finished. Let us go over the circumstances as you have told them. In the first place, Achison informed you of those bonds and where they were, explaining also that they were casily negotiable. I don't believe that that was a slip of the tongue on his part; his tongue is tre well trained to slip, unless he means it to do so, Then he vuggested that you come to his office the next after- noon at 38 o'clock. The bur also happened to be there. How do you know that Thorne’s very pat appear- ance was not all arranged beforc- hand?” “Ridiculous!” Betty broke in quickly “Thorne came there to see about his brother's defense. Mr. Achison couldn't have known Sunday evening that the brother would be arrested the next morning.” “4 weak spot in my chain,” con- ceded Ramsey, “although it doesn't at all affect my belief in Achison's com- plicity. Zut let it pass for the pres- ent. The main point is that Thorie appeared while you were there, and that Achison was yery careful to in- form you of the fact, and also to let you know that he was a safe-blowe Mark this too: Thorne was not wait- ing in the large outer office acvording to pour story, but in a small reception room adjoining Achison's office, wher you likewise were shown. And when you left, Achison said good-by to you in his inner office; he did not even yo with you to the door of the reception room, much less to the elevator The * punctilious, Chesterfieldian Mr. Achi son, who prides himself on his old school manners! ‘Thus, Thorne ani yourself were entirely alone together, and you were aHowed plenty of tine for conversation without being inter- rupted, “Mrs. Ames,"-——he rapped the tahle sharply,—‘‘can’t you see how it all dovetails?" “It seems too preposterous,” she ob- jected. “I can’t quite take it in.” “Think it over,” he advise. “Go over it all bit by bit, and I believe you will come to my conclusions, © And now"'—he picked up his hat and stick —"“I am going to scout about a little in certain circles. I've been doing some work lately which has taken me more or less into the underworld, and I've made a valuable friendship or sa If I hear anything that will he!p clear up the situation, { will let you know at once,” ORTUNATELY for the state af Mrs, Ames’s nerves Ramsey telephoned her early that evee ning, and soon afterward made his appearance, “Don't expect too much,” he warned as he sat down. “I only know a little: but it is something, and I thought you would like to be told.” “Oh, go on, go on!” she urged. “To begin then, I have found that an anonymous note was received by tha District Attorney's office early Monday morning, which divulged vhe hiding place of your cracksman’s brother, and, of course, led to his tmmediate arres\ Who sent that note, or what clues te the writer it may contain would be very difficult for us to find out. Those things are not usually revealed cacept in the course of an official investi tion “The point is, though, that Thorne’s brother was arrested on Monday morne ing, as I say, and that within an hour afterward—I have positive assurance of this—Thorme was at Achison'’s e@ Order Your Evening World in Advance