Argosy All-Story Weekly, February 23, 1924 — page 91: what you’re looking at

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

° EIGHT MONKEYS resume her questionnaire on the subject of Seumas Shayne. I can’t be certain whether it was an accident or carefully planned by Nell, but it happened that within half an hour she and I were fellow passengers in the elevator bound for Broadway. “ Just the very man I wanted to see,” she exclaimed, without overdoing the sur- prise. ‘I’ve had a bit of luck. I sug- gested a special article to Mr. Ackerman and he thinks it’s a great idea. I am to make two pages of it for Sunday, with all the pictures I can get.” “The Thurtell divorce case, I suppose?” “Not at all. It’s about your friend, Seumas Shayne. It’s a wonder to me that no one has thought of it before. Here is a man who is a big success as novelist, play- wright, composer, poet, painter—an_ all- round genius, and yet nobody but little me has thought of telling a waiting world all about him.” ‘‘ Oh, it has all been tried before,” I said, with a pretty fair attempt at nonchalance. “When ‘A Woman’s Word’ and ‘ The Lilac Lady’ were produced on the same evening every theatrical reporter in New York was sleuthing to find something to write about Seumas, and the same thing happened when ‘ The Hero’ was produced at the Metropolitan.” “ Didn’t they publish anything about him?” “A lot, opinions, advice, anecdotes— everything but facts. The result was that the only thing the writers agreed on was that Seumas lived in Europe.” “ Europe’s quite a sizable town,’ said Nell. I may want to cable him. What’s his street address?” / . “T believe he travels a lot. He has a chateau in Brittany and a villa in Italy. Sometimes he takes a notion to run off to Abyssinia or Ceylon. I don’t want to dis- courage you; but I doubt if you can find out anything about him that hasn’t been printed.” Nell laughed in a way that I found very annoying and said, “I’d like to make a little bet with you that I find out all about him.” “Oh, I wouldn’t bet against you,” I hastened to assure her, ‘‘ especially as I am AND A CATSPAW, 249 very much interested, and I’m going to help you all I can.” ‘* Awfully sweet of you,” she said, and, though I was careful not to look at her, I could feel a satirical smile floating around. ‘‘ But honestly,” I added with a first class imitation of sincerity, “if I had been given the assignment, I wouldn’t know how to go about getting the right dope. Of course, unless you mean to go to Europe.” “IT don’t think it will be necessary to go so far,” she said, “ and what is more, I am surprised at your saying that you would not know how to start this inves- tigation, a man who is a shark at murder mysteries and such-like.” “Well, how are you going about it? And what started you on the idea anyway?” “The fact is I have been interested in this Seumas Shayne for a long time. Be- fore I left Boston to come here, I received letters from a girl friend who admired his writings. She telephoned me at the office this afternoon. I told her some time ago that my theory is that this Seumas Shayne is a sort of syndicate.” At this there was a sound of hearty and prolonged laughter from me; but I felt that it did not ring true. Actors say that a natural laugh is one of the most difficult of histrionic achievements. I ended this outburst of derision with the word that Napoleon said should not exist—Impossible. “Yes, I find that I was wrong,” Nell admitted. ‘‘ My girl friend phoned me that the famous Seumas Shayne canjt be a syndi- cate because she has seen his portrait.” “Really! A photograph of Seumas Shayne?” “Not a photograph; a painting, in the Independent Art League Exhibition.” “Is that so? I must go and see it. Is this girl friend of yours—is she—er—what does she look like?” I suppose I must have shown an eagerness for which there was no apparent. cause, for I felt Nell giving me a sharp Iqok as she said: *¢ She looks like the prettiest girl you ever saw, and she is probably the richest. Why do you ask?” “‘ Just curiosity to know what sort of girl would fall in love with a man she has never seen.” (E(0) _OoOK (EO)