Part 14 (1/2)
”What's that?” cried Jack Benson, leaping up. ”How--”
”No; I don't believe, on second thought, that I'm the prize fool.”
”Come, come,” directed Lieutenant Ridder. ”Talk up quickly, young man.”
”If you want to hear what I have to say,” retorted Eph, with a slight flash of his eyes, ”you'll have to wait until I get around to it.”
It was serving direct notice on Ridder that Army briskness wouldn't do in Eph's case.
”Well, what have you to tell?” demanded the young lieutenant, impatiently.
”I was on my way back here,” Eph continued. ”Guess, maybe, I was eight blocks or so away from here. I had been to the hotels that I agreed to visit, and--”
”Why did you go to the hotel, anyway, after you knew Benson had sighted Millard?” broke in the Army officer.
”Because it wasn't a sure thing that Jack had seen Millard. He thought so, and so did we. But, after we left him, the auto ran along slowly, and we heard no row behind, so we guessed that maybe Jack had been wrong in his guess. At least, Hal and I figured it out that way. So I went to the hotels on my list, just the same, and I guess you did, didn't you, Hal?”
”Yes,” nodded Hastings.
”This isn't bringing us, very fast, to your latest adventure,” complained young Ridder.
”It's your fault, then,” continued Eph, placidly. ”You asked a question, and I answered it.”
”Well, what about meeting the woman in a gray dress and veil?”
”I met her,” retorted Eph.
”Could you see through the veil?”
”No.”
”Then how do you know it was Millard?”
”I don't know,” Eph rejoined. ”But there are mighty few women as tall as Millard. Besides, this one had rather a long foot, and wore rubbers.
I noticed that. Huh! This makes me feel like thirty tacks!”
”How did you meet her--or him?” asked Ridder.
”I was crossing a street, maybe eight blocks from here,” Eph replied, ”and I saw that tall woman, in gray, slip on the crossing. There was a street car coming, and she gave a little yell. I got to 'her' just in time to pull 'her' out of the way of the trolley and to set 'her'
on 'her' feet again. Then I picked up 'her' dress suit case. It struck me that the one I supposed to be a woman was on the point of speaking to me when he--she--seemed to see my uniform and then get a look at my face. Then the party, whether it was he or she, made signs to show that he, or she, was deaf and dumb. The suit case was heavy, so I offered to tote it along, as I was headed the same way. I thought it was the least I could do for a woman who had just had a great shock.
If that was Millard--and I'd bet a torpedo boat it was--how he must have chuckled over the idea of having one of the submarine boys carry his bag for him.”
”How far did you go with this 'lady'?” asked the Lieutenant Ridder, with a faint touch of sarcasm.
”Two blocks,” replied Eph.
”And you left her--”
”At a cheap hotel where I can find her again. And I guess it's up to us to start right away.”