Argosy All-Story Weekly — page 100: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

734 ' “ Etes-vous confortable, monsieur? C’est bien. Soyez tranquille. Nous sommes vos amis. Bon soir.” CHAPTER XVI. OUR TIME IS NARROWED, LUNCHED that day with Mary—alone, for her aunts were both in Paris—and it would have been hard to find in the confines of the British islands a more de- jected pair. Mary, who had always a sin- gular placid gentleness, showed her discom- posure only by her pallor. As for me I was as restless as a bantam. ‘“‘T wish I had never touched the thing,” i cried. ‘I have done more harm than good.” “You have found Lord Mercot,” she protested. ; “Ves, and lost Turpin. The brutes are still three up on us. We thought we had found two, and now we have lost Miss Victor again. And Turpin! They’ll find him an ugly customer, and probably take strong measures with him. They'll stick to him and the girl and the little boy now, like wax; for last night’s performance is bound to make them suspicious,” “Tt wonder,” said Mary, always an opti- mist. ‘ You see, Sir Archie’s only dragged him in because of his rank. It looked odd his being in Adela’s company, but then all the times he has seen her he never spoke a word to her. They must have noticed that. I’m anxious about Sir Archie. He ought to leave London.” “Confound him! He’s going to, as soon as he gets out of the hospital which will probably be this afternoon. I insisted on it, but he meant to in any case. He’s heard an authentic report of a green sandpiper nesting somewhere. It would be a good thing if Archie would stick to birds. He has no head for anything else. And now we've got to start again at the beginning.” ““ Not quite the beginning,’”’ she inter- posed. ‘< Dashed near it. They won’t bring Miss Victor into that kind of world again, and al! your work goes for nothing, my dear. It’s uncommon bad luck that you didn’t ARGOSY-ALLSTORY WEEKLY, begin to wake her up, for then she might have done something on her own account. But she’s still a dummy, and tucked away, you may be sure in, in some place where we can never reach her. And we have little more than three weeks left.” “It is bad luck,” Mary agreed. “ But Dick, I’ve a feeling that I haven’t lost Adela Victor. I believe that somehow or other we'll soon get in touch with her again. You remember how children when they lose a ball sometimes send another one after it in the hope that one will find the other. Well, we’ve sent the marquis after Adela, and I’ve a notion we may find them both together. We always did that as children—” She paused at the word ‘ children’ and I saw pain in her eyes. “Oh, Dick, the little boy! We're no nearer him and he’s far the most tragic of all.” The whole business looked so black that I had no word of comfort to give her. “And to put the lid on it,” I groaned, * I’ve got to settle down in Medina’s house this evening. I hate the idea like poison.” “It’s the safest way,” she said. ““ Yes, but it puts me out of action. He’ll watch me like a lynx and I won’t be able te take a single step on my own—simply sit there and eat and drink and play up to his vanity. Great Scott, I swear I’ll have a row with him and break his head.” ‘Oh, Dick, you’re not going to—how do you say it—chuck in your hand? Every- thing depends on you. You’re our scout in the enemy’s headquarters. Your life de- pends on your playing the game. Colonel Arbuthnot said so. And you may find out something tremendous. It will be horrible for you, and it isn’t for long, and it’s the only way.” That was Mary all over. She was trem- bling with anxiety for me, but she was such a thorough sportsman. that she wouldn’t take any soft option. “You may hear something about David Warcliff,” she added. “T hope to God I do. Don’t worry, darling. I'll stick it out. But, look here, we must make a plan. I shall be more or less shut off from the world, but I must have oO Eomichbooks (S©)