The Argosy, Vol. 81, No. 4 — page 124: what you’re looking at

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

690 this August weather. However, we will let that pass. Now then, if you don’t mind, I shall give way to Baron Rimini, whose word as a man of honor is unchallenged. Baron, will you be so good as to speak?”’ “With pleasure.” The baron fingered his imperial, passed his hands over his shining forehead and then, without a glance at Mrs. Granger, but with a significant look at Lansing, began. “You must know, Mrs. Granger, that our dinner party was care- fully selected as to company, and that your daughter was chaperoned by your cousin, the count.” Lansing laughed, as he pointed out that Apponnetti was not in the dining-room at all. “He did speak to the party while they were waiting for their dinner, in the room down-stairs, but he did not go up,” he . added. “The count had not yet joined us in the private room,” Rimini went on calmly, “but this was only because he had a matter of business to attend to, as you shall soon see.’’ He cleared his throat and proceeded. “Our dinner had not been long in prog- ress when I happened to notice that in some manner our waiters had been changed. The servitor we had first was a genuine waiter, with ability quite marked. It is always my habit to scrutinize waiters, as the serving of a meal is quite one of the important elements thereof. As I say, I noticed that the waiter who served our oysters was not the man of whom we had ordered the din- ner. . “At first it occurred to me that for some reason or other the management had seen fit to make the change, but another study of the new man revealed the fact that he was not a waiter at all. For although he had on a waiter’s jacket and apron, he had not the regular waiter’s shirt or collar, and I saw, too, that his vest, a tan one, was pushed back beneath the lapels of the jacket so as to conceal it. “What was the inference, I ask you? Why, nothing but that curious work was going forward. “Thereupon I rang up Count Apponnetti, who was in conference with a friend in the manager’s office below, explaining to him the situation. He spoke to Francois—the proprietor of the restaurant—who recalled that a suspicious person had engaged the room adjoining ours. Francois and the THE ARGOSY. count and a guard of employees at once went up-stairs to investigate, while I took this waiter out in the hall to question him. ‘““He acted very strangely, declared we were all in danger and must escape at once. | “IT confess I was amazed, not being fa- miliar with this country, and suspected per- haps we were to be attacked by outlaws. I was the more worried because of groans I heard in the adjoining room. ‘Well, we no sooner returned to the pri- vate dining room, I and the waiter, when he steals to the door, locks it and throws the key out of the window. The next in- stant we hear a battering at the door and the calling of loud, angry voices seeking admittance.” The baron laughed easily. “T may say,” he went on, “that I was tempted to open the door; in fact, I should have done so had the key not been missing —quite to my chagrin and dismay. There- upon this waiter cried we were beset by ruffians and would be murdered. We were all of us overwrought, excited, and I, chan- cing to find by the radiator a rope ladder, provided by Francois, as a fire-escape, low- ered it from the windew, and the last one of us left the room by that means as the door was being battered down.” Lansing laughed in spite of his indigna- tion. “That is one fine story, baron. It is really a crackerjack! You ought to be writing books about life in a European court.” “Peace!” The baron’s eyes were snap- ping. “This is not all. We will now allow the-Count Apponnetti to relate further de- velopments.”’ “Yes,” and Apponnetti took the cente? of the floor. “When I received the baron’s message by telephone—all the private rooms have house telephones—I, as he said, at once reported to Francois, who, calling his. two house detectives, proceeded up- stairs to investigate. We went to the pri- vate room which this suspicious person had engaged—the room adjoining ours—and I ask you what did we find?”’ ‘We found the original waiter lying upon the floor, bound and gagged, suffering from an unmerciful beating. We at once re- leased him, and he told how he had been attacked by the young man who had en- gaged the room. The man had first at- tempted to bribe him to exchange clothes, COnMGCOOOKS (E@)