Argosy All-Story Weekly, April 19, 1924 — page 86: what you’re looking at

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

206 who had scraped. acquaintance on the porch the previous afternoon joined him at the end of the long table and asked if he had been shooting pool the night before. ‘No; I took a walk,” Phil replied. ‘Is pool the chief dissipation around here? I noticed a movie house and a couple of ice cream dens—”’ ‘I guess the best thing in the burg is the ‘phone to New York!” the travelling man laughed. “It gets the girls anyway. There was a mob of them waiting for turns at the booth in the drugstore last night, and some of them were lookers, believe me! They weren't village belles, either, nor so- ciety dames, but there was one little queen —looked as if she might have been a gover- nes$, but oh, boy! what eyes, and how she could use ’em! Black as sloes, they were, with a laugh in ’em, and a little, pointed chin, and a mouth like a red dab!” “Veah?” Phil slowly lowered his ferk. “Did she have on a white dress with a long, dark cape?” “ Dark gray, the cape was, almost black, and a little gray hat with a bright red feather!” the other supplemented eagerly. “She talked like a foreigner, with a soft, purring little accent—that’s what made me think she might be a governess, for you could see she wasn’t—well, not a swell. Where did you meet her?—Say, brother, if you can fix up a little party for to-night ll hire a car—?” He paused hopefully, but Phil grinned and shook his head. “Sorry, but I didn’t meet her; don’t even know who she is. I just passed her walking along the road last night with a fellow.” ‘“‘ She must have had him waiting around outside somewhere, then, while she ‘phoned to another guy! You can’t beat.’em even if you stack the cards, can you? I was right in the next booth and heard her call up 609—What’s the matter?” Phil was staring until his eyes protruded. “6o99—what?” he demanded. “ That’s funny! What was the last number?” “ Didn’t get it, or the exchange either. ‘“ The travelling man shook his head as he pushed aside his empty oatmeal saucer. ‘“‘ You could tell from her tone that she was ARGOSY-ALLSTORY WEEKLY, talking to a johm, though. They sure can put it over, can’t they? Did you think you knew that number?” ‘ Sounded kind of like one I’ve got down in a notebook,” Phil replied. ‘‘ It couldn’t be the same, though. Going toe be here long?” He finished his breakfast and made his escape as soon as he could. That was funny about the first three figures of that vumber Lucie had called in New York the uight before. There wasn’t any doubt of the girl’s identity, for now that he had been reminded of it Phil did remember that spiky red quill in her smart little tam. Why in the world had Lucie gone all the way to the village to telephone when the one at the house must be available for the servants’ use? Obviously so that her con- versation would not be overheard by any others of the household. That couldn’t be of importance to the investigation, though, and the matter of that number was just a coincidence. Armed that afternoon with a large, flam- boyantly ribboned box and a bottle of per- fume with a foreign label, Phil approached the gap in the stone fence at the Manor once more. The gates were still closed and no one was visible through their grill but the intermittent beat and whir of an engine from the direction of the garage showed that one of the cars was being tuned up. From farther distant there came the buzzing drone of a lawn mower. With one free arm he lifted a strand of the wire barrier, and, bending, crawled through and dropped behind the heap of loose fence stones to take stock of his sur- roundings. Generations of landscape gar- dening had brought the grounds to the highest perfection of studied nature, a wil- derness of great trees and massed shrub- bery and lovely, unexpected vistas cunning- ly planned. But its beauty was lost on the unappreciative Phil. Why didn’t people have straight roads and paths that a guy could follow in the dark if he had to, and clear away those old trees and bushes so they could see all around? He couldn’t be three hundred yards from the house and yet there wasn’t a sign of it. And how was he to find oO Eomichdooks-=co S|