Part 62 (2/2)

”I--I'm afraid there may be,” she replied, sitting down and explaining what Elaine and I had just done.

The Lieutenant listened gravely.

”And,” she concluded, ”they wouldn't listen to me, Lieutenant. Can't you follow them and keep them out of trouble?”

Woodward who had been listening to her attentively jumped up as she concluded. ”Yes,” he cried sympathetically, ”I can. I'll go myself with some of the men from the post. If they get into any sc.r.a.pe, I'll rescue them.”

Almost before she could thank him, Woodward had hurried from his office, followed by her. On the parade grounds were some men. Quickly he issued his orders and a number of them sprang up as he detailed them off for the duty. It was only a moment before they returned, armed. An instant later three large touring cars from the Fort swept up before the office of Woodward. Into them the armed men piled.

”Hurry--to the Del Mar bungalow,” ordered the Lieutenant, jumping up with the driver of the first car. ”We must see that nothing happens to Miss Dodge and Mr. Jameson.”

They shot away in a cloud of dust, followed hard by the other two cars, das.h.i.+ng at a breakneck speed over the good roads.

In the narrow, wooded roadway near Del Mar's, Woodward halted his car and the soldiers all jumped out and gathered about him as hastily he issued his directions.

”Surround the house, first,” he ordered. ”Then arrest any one who goes in or out.”

They scattered, forming a wide circle. As soon as word was pa.s.sed that the circle was completed, they advanced cautiously at a signal from Woodward, taking advantage of every concealment.

Around in the kitchen back of Del Mar's, Henry, the valet, had retired to visit one of the maids. He was about to leave when he happened to look out of the window.

”What's that?” he muttered to himself.

He stepped back and peered cautiously through the window again. There he could see a soldier, moving stealthily behind a bush.

He drew back further and thought a minute. He must not alarm us.

Then he wrote a few words on a piece of paper and tore it so that he could hold it in his palm. Next he hurried from the kitchen and entered the study.

Del Mar had scarcely begun to outline to us a long and circ.u.mstantial pseudo-investigation into what he was pleased to hint had been the death of Kennedy, when we were interrupted again by the entrance of his valet.

”Excuse me, sir,” apologized Henry, as Del Mar frowned, then noted that something was wrong.

As the valet said the words, he managed surrept.i.tiously to hand to Del Mar the paper which he had written, now folded up into a very small s.p.a.ce.

I had turned from Del Mar when the valet entered, apparently to speak to Elaine, but in reality to throw them off their guard.

Under that cover I was able to watch the precious pair from the tail of my eye, I saw Del Mar nod to the valet as though he understood that some warning was about to be conveyed. Although nothing was said, Del Mar was indicating by dumb show orders of some kind. I had no idea what it was all about but I stood ready to whip out my gun on the slightest suspicious move from either.

”I hope you'll pardon me, Miss Dodge,” Del Mar deprecated, as the valet retreated toward the door to the kitchen and pantry. ”But, you see, I have to be housekeeper here, too, it seems.”

Actually, though he was talking to us, it was in a way that enabled him by palming something in his hand, I fancied, to look at it. It was, though I did not know it, the hastily scrawled warning of the valet.

It must have been hard to read, for I managed by a quick s.h.i.+ft at last to catch just a fleeting glimpse that it was a piece of paper he held in his hand. What was it, I asked myself, that he should be so secret about it? Clearly, I reasoned, it must be something that was of interest to Elaine and myself. If I must act ever, I concluded, now was the time to do so.

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