Argosy, Vol. 122, No. 1 — page 88: what you’re looking at

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

“18 ‘That the three Maywells—sister, brother, and cousin—were working at cross-pur- poses, he was sure. And Harry Vale was ‘determined to throw the weight of his help in the scale beside Allaine. _ His personal duty as a policeman did not $0 greatly disturb his mind. This was scarcely an official matter. His oath of office defining his responsibili- ty first to the national and State constitu- tions, then to the city and its laws, em- phasizes the peace officer’s unique position in that he is individually and personally responsible for his acts and omissions, In other words, despite the police rules, the policeman must first of all judge for him- self and act accordingly. And Harry Vale in this instance was judging for himself with a vengeance! It might be said that he had already over- stepped the boundary of his strict duty. What had first merely roused his curiosity and interest had now fanned to life within him the flame of an ambition for criminal investigation. It was beside the point that this ambition had become a very personal desire to know what it all meant for Al- Jaine’s sake! He felt that in some way the girl was being cheated of her rights. If Colonel Hardy Maywell had intended an hour be- fore he died to make his niece his chief legatée, it stood to reason that he had not changed his attitude toward her in so short a time. But this second will—this now in his pos- session—that was the most puzzling circum- stance of all, to Harry Vale’s mind. The next day he strolled through the block of Vandam Street where the fire had but only the two upper stories of that in which Vale and Allaine had had their ad- venture were burned out. “Some hot fire for a time, eh?” the po- liceman observed to the man leaning on the area gate and whom he rightly judged to be the janitor of the half- burned build- ing. “You said it, officer. I thought we’d all have to get out. Some of the tenants did drag out their trunks. And the water did a lot of damage.” One house was completely gutted; THE ARGOSY. “Nothing saved on the top floor, of course?”’ suggested Vale. ‘“‘ Le’s see, didn’t Miss Maywell have a studio there?”’ “Mr. May-well,” said the janitor prompt- ly. “ He’s back again.” “You don’t mean Andrew Maywell?” gasped Vale. ‘“No, no. Allan is his name. He’s a promising young artist—or was. He has been away from here for a couple of years, and just got back the other day.” ““He kept his studio here all of that time?” asked Vale, still suspicious. Allaine might have occupied the rooms of late, after all. ‘Oh, no. But the studio happened to be empty, so he leased it again. Nice lad. I’m sorry he was burned out. But they tell me he’s fell heir to his uncle’s property over on Trevorth Street, and will go there to live.” ‘So it was Allan who had this studio?” muttered Vale as he moved on. The discovery turned a different light upon the adventure of the previous even- ing. It had been behind the tile in Allan’s studio that the will favoring his Cousin Andrew was hidden. It seemed probable that Allan had hidden it, in spite of the fact that his sister tried to save the will from being burned. Were the twins both guilty of seeking to keep Andrew Maywell out of the inheri- tance? And how had they obtained the document and hidden it, anyway? -Again, what should Vale do with it? It certainly was a white elephant on dis hands. Suspicions born of these mysteries shut- tled to and fro in his brain in a perfectly maddening way. At one moment he be- lieved he was risking his career as an honest cop by holding the will and saying nothing. But if Allaine was the victim of same wicked plot to cheat her, Harry Vale was willing to take this risk. He was not entirely undisturbed regard- ing what might befall him personally. An- drew Maywell’s veiled~ threat when Vale had refused to identify Allan as the sus- pect had made no light impression upon the policeman’s mind. The criminal lawyer had influence in many quarters. Especially among the men cComiclbooks.com