Argosy All-Story Weekly — page 91: what you’re looking at

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

A HATFUL OF TROUBLE, men, as Foster came back with a basin of water and bandages, “ told her daughter that she had seen a man on the wall near the arbor. Miss Moran told me, and as Foster was not in his room, I came to in- vestigate. I found Mr. Cassidy there, and I’ve nothing to add te what I’ve already said, except Pm going back te the ladies now. If you wish to see me later, I shall be at your service.” Suiting the action to the words, he re- traced his steps, vaulted in through the low window, and found Felice sitting in the “There is no danger,” he said, “ for Cassidy, Lyons and Foster are all on the, job.” ‘‘T'll tell mother,” said she, “ and then I'll be back. Wait here.” Arthur had a few inward twinges of his New England conscience. Perhaps he should have told Felice more. But, again, this mixed up mess was unravelling so that one statement led inevitably back to an- other. And he could not risk that. - . The young mathematician’s thoughts jumped suddenly to another phase of the situation. ‘““ How did the y-man know I was likely to be hired? How did he know that I had received a reply to my letter of applica- tion? He must have known it, for he men- tioned the fact to Professor Evans—and that was when Mrs, Evans saw him; and after she overheard his remarks, she was so impressed by his ill favored visage and remarks that she telephoned to me to the Crescent Laboratory. Aha!” There could be only one answer to that. Some one who had access to the inner facts of Mr. Black’s office knew the ad had been placed; some one had seen the reply which Arthur had written; and, with phenomenal speed, all things considered, some one had communicated with the y-man, and the y-man had hastened to Boston, thence to Schofield, and interviewed Arthur’s refer- ence, Professor Evans. Arthur had no idea who this third party might be. But he put him down as the z-man for the present, and then abandoned all groping for the invisible web in which his feet had been so skillfully snared. 6A 561 ~~ ~ The mathematician merged into the man. Felice was coming down the stairs again. CHAPTER XXIV. FELICE IS INQUISITIVE; OW, where shall we begin again?” saucily inquired the young lady from her nook in the window, - “‘ With the fiend in human form, as the headlines would say, that ran off with my camera containing your portrait.” She smiled at him with the eyes of a young fawn. “Oh, no. We're going back of that. You must have been a very busy young man, since we walked down to the beach where you had breakfast, and then walked back with me to the side gate. You left me shortly before noon; you went to the city, got a job, made good on it, and then got back here again, all well inside of twenty-four hours. Some speed, Arthur!” “Tm afraid you—” “Don’t look so shocked at my slang,” Felice pursued. “I’m incorrigible, that way. At least, father says so. Instead, tell me all about that mysterious job, please. I’m simply dying of curiosity.” Arthur gave a very creditable exhibition of the uncharted curves of a defunct eel in a very hot frying pan. If he told Felice the kind of a job he had been given, the kind of a man that had given it to him, the kind of a wad that went with the job, that alone would have been quite enough to make Felice think he should immediately change his name to “* Ananias Munchausen.” He grinned as he thought bow Felice would open her eyes in that divinely rapt fashion she had when surprised, if to those statements Arthur should add the queer — habit Mr. Black had of folding his right ear down over the lower half of it. He eet another grin at her reference to ¢ Thei ins and outs of his employment and. subsequent events were certainly speedy enough. Then he grew grave and candid simultaneously. “Ti you don’t mind,” said he, “Id OO (Q) com oye) KS 56) m