PAGE FdDR 0 k MISrtOWN Bll WW. a J 111 ? 1FV n lif .4T , Seven A Dials Mystery By Agatha Christie A Detective Story with a Thrai in Every G h a p t e r Wherein a Girl Helps to Trap an International Spy. Commencing -Soon in The Daily e News ok JL.Y.U. 84 EPItiUips Uppmheiin Copyright. 192 by E INSTALMENT XXXX. "A vein of-weakness in this, I suppose," he began slowly, oi advancing age and ineptitude lately, Miss Brown, for the. first time in my life, I have felt, I will not say the need of, but the deslrr of a confidante. Accidentally you know already more than any one else of the internal affairs here, except for our XYO friend at Scotland Yard and Nicholson at the War Office. Some of these affairs we are engaged upon may seem to you a little trivial. I will tell yon the great object of all our work now and for the last week. We want to detach the respectables as far as possible from for eign influence. "Last night's incident Was only one of several. At every opportunity we are doing our beat to discredit these fellows. There is nothing puts up the baek of the working man more than to have it proved to him that those who are supposed to be his leaders and friends are playing the fool in serious ttanes, like Bretskopf last night. I hear, by the bye, that Bretskopf, or the leader of what they call the Action Committee, has offered secretly 10,000 pounds for distribution among the press to make as light as possible of last night's business. "That won't make any difference?" Miss Brown asked anxiously. Desslter trailed. "What do you think? There's no influence in the world can change the tone of a single paragraph in any paper. Tonight Bretskopf's episode wftl appear in great head-' lines." r 1 "Supposing you succeed," Miss' Brown asked "supposing these envoys ti dlscredltftfi-db you think tpbetrolbl&, VUl pass 'do,- peStS SssirtJ her. "I Phillips Oppenhelm have come to the conclusion ud ed for some time to gase at the Houses of Parliament. The inner forces of life to which one pays no attention in one's day-by-day existence, and which Miss Brown studiously ignored. seemed suddenly wonderful things. There was a branch of XYO in FVMpS THE, 7wrttSr r. 6ea4 fershaaa ragwis Usefnd of Malakoff how well she remembered-Jt -Malakoff, stripped nak-edr4h'e 'rnan. his curming vicious-nesk, Ms sinister malignity. There -was the nndlysls of Bretskopf too-hot pleasant reading. Some of it naa Been oroaarasi wiuiin uic last few days far-seeing pre-j paratlons for what was to come. . There was the story of China1 a closed chapter now the story tw-tnrrrrewtnt-when thejrho! -! ferment of black fury and evil rntent had been focused from that f j crime-drenched city in Russia up- j I on England; stories of secret ship-, ments of arms, of great stores of I food brought in different capitals, ! tfiioped in different manners, toi different warehouses, cases of Inflammatory pamphlets to be i translated copied and duplicated j until they lay like poisonous but i phantom fungi upon the land. And behind all these it vela - today I think I know more about, t,kms the fiaure of the man who :t than any other man alive , had defied, the secret services of! that with all the blood and thun- the world and passed from capital aer talk in the parks, and these to capital with an ever-Increasing meetings inrougnoui me wnoie price upon his head, a man un-ountry, despite these frothy- recognized among the ereat lead tiouthed 'leaders,' there is no re- ers of the cause for which he olutionary spirit in this country." : toiled, but a man whose name The private telephone rang, soelled terror to those who welded i Miss Brown received a cryptic 1 their thunderbolts in the caverns I message and passed the receiver to her chief. "From Downing Street, she an nounced. Desslter listened for a moment and spoke almost in monosyllables. Miss Brown, he said, "you un derstand. I know, after our con versation, that I have everv con fidence in you every confidence and a great deal of interest. of the underneath world. Miss Brown bought a newspaper and, notwithstanding the cold, sat ; down upon the edge of a moisture Beaded seat while she read. It AID IN NIGHT CLUB Serge Malakoff, Bretskopf and Kra-set Fined For Drinking I With Women After Hours "I am very proud to think so." I . . Colonel Desslter," Miss Brown ad-' Brown, after her return to mltteAl j Whitehall, found the conference "I want you now. therefore," he Jer - Deastter himself absent. wont nn HnHlV -rwvt tw he hurt P" WOrX Dy ine SHM OI but to put on your hat and coat er however had increased very nice new hat and coat by the bye and hurry out. Go anywhere you like for an hour, and if you meet any one whom you recognize on your way here, forget them." Miss Brown struggled into her coat after a regretful glance to ward her typewriter. "There's a great deal of work to be done." she observed. "Plenty of time later on." Desslter assured her. "One hour, mind. Why not go for a walk? You look little pale." Miss Brown took her leave and descended the stairs toward the lift, very demure, very quiet and unobtrusive. As she reached it, however, with her fineer urjon three men steDping out. She stood on one side, dropping her eyes at once as she noticed their curious glances. She recognized all three and went on her way with a lit- ue smiie oi reflected glory. amazingly, and she started at once. With a keen sensation of pleasure she realised as she glanced through some of the letters to which she was to reply now completely sne was trusted ai l o cjocx Mergen had been aDoeared con templa ting the bell. It swung up into its she found herself accepting "mace and she was conscious of situation with equanamtty. the "TVl Unit VnMxr what Ima Pnl rnr cut? r.Ttrs umii pu ij.n mmx '"' " : mWfiirms&' '"" n'"imwtm..m '-WP '', 1 1 '.'.'! mm P... THE TYPE OF BRITONS WHO BRAVE THE TERILS OF THE TRACKLESS AIR The crew of the R-101, Britain's wonder airship photographed at Cardlneton. with their police-dog mascot Tim fifth man from the left in the middle row Is Mr. Johnston, navigating officer; next to rum skein from left' is Mr the officer in charge of test flights; next (seventh from left) is Flying Officer Irwin. Oaptatn of the rtt airship half contrite, half bewildered. I broadcast the first words of the Standing by the side of the stove ' Flora "How long have you been here? 'j Premier alter the astounmng ev- miss Brown was peaceiuay mct-u- she asked, mini! to her feet "Some flv or ten minutes " "I am rea'.iy very sorry." she confessed. "I worked without stop ping all the afternoon, and I thought Td have my tea by the fire. I never sleep in the daytime. I can't think what happened to me." "In any ease." he said, "you have done a very excellent day's work already. I have been look- ng through some ol it. I congra from somewhere in those myster-1 tulate you. I fail to find a single fous premises beyond and Srought . error. Your letters, too, express her some luncheon upon a tray. "Colonel Desslter thought you probably wouldn't go out, madam," he said. "So we've done the best we eould fof you." With an omelette, some cold meat, rotte and butter, some bak- ea appies ana nan a Doiue o exactly what I intended to con vey." Mlfs Bro". turned on the light and looked across at him grate fully. Tla ram M . ki i Mia Pumii fait Mfnnntinirlli , KMn, " lire: All. VTCtB UUI. 1UIC Ul H W H III, 1 . I TT " . . v w u w mim nmm w.t. M.t. , we Miss Brown walked uoon the ! and with riiwrrHnn vt with i 1 f lf a little singing still In the have our majority in the House of Embankment watched the sea! healthy appetite When she had11, a flnvmg of the senses. commons." galls hovering over the gray water ; finished, she recommenced her !? whlcb he ROuW not account. -That Un't the point. Do you and scavenging in the gutters by her side for food. No rain was falling, but the air was damp and cold and there were signs of fog over the city. After a brief progress eastward she turned her back and 'walked the other way. passed Scotland Yard looked ud toward Downing Street and paus work. She was disturbed by neither t. wnan. nc iuw ui- oeueve inai we suu nave a m visitors nor telephone calls. To- Uv way into her mind. the eountry? Of course we have ward 3 o'clock Memo brouaht She had had a uream of courts not We're a well-meaning lot of herin sometea anda olato of u bMn dream She glanced duffm Men rv- that's whit we've hot toast, at neither of which sh- "P ' ' if" Mnn,J?,7,f ,y glanced. He lingered for a mo- .2 " J"- " faeat 'Eumed nur olace upon the hearth- "If you will pardon the liberty, , tBIlIi.miSw& madam." he ventured, "your type- i !ZL 2? fwW w writer has been going since half- ih",vrr'r t40S, ,l fi.ihaOWi'' paw one, ana it is now 3 oclock " , r V rr"- 22 . Wight l' suggest that you. have fHJESffi, 2e'j mor mt hM. th. t nought fully as though and rest for a time?" t0 MUs Brown's unspoken ques- VHtm Armam m ultn1 tiOXI. that ah tirmA nh.iaii . Yes, I did. he confessed weary, yet mentally stimulated by yu re .not angry." one of the rooms of that great i the continual reminders in her building to her right. She envis aged it all. She nerseii was developing a miniature repUca: files of reports from every one of the great industrial centres, the names of toe passible strike leaders, cuttings of speeches from the local papers, an account of the men themselves, their real aims and character. There was a list on the other side, too a blacklist of employers, a growing compendium qf infor mation which no one had ever troubled to oolleet before. Then there was the foreign branch with fts phantasmagoria of unending detail punctuated by mood-curd -lmg coldly dramatic records of unbelievable happenings. With a human little thrill, so straneelv out f .accord with toe tray mlet- mess oi nei surrounainss. sne re-1 s;ier. 1 work of this amazing worii into imiiaus t.iu which she had plunged. Rlie ae- A jouina'L't lolterlr.s about cepted Mergen's suggestion with Downing Street ir. search of copy a little gesture of relief, sipped described the exodus of the various her tea and munched her toast, members oi the cabinet . cun:il curled up in an easy-chatr near .from No 10 a lew days later the fire. A pleasant and moat in idious drowsiness possessed her. There was something which seemed like a mist before her eyes, a pleasant gliding away of the sen- o rest, the half-terr'fied. half-stupefled exit of a flock of sheep with their dreaded yet revered canine protector at their heels." Certainly, though neither novetiet nor journalist nas ever Meramea to She sat up with a start. She 1 attempt to disclose what may hav? was conscious of the queerest, i taken place at a Cabinet Courier moat unfamiliar sensation In the the events which immediately fol-world, her. heart was beating fast, iorved it clearly indicated the fact toe blood racing through her chat It had been of a startltnr, veins as though to some strange ! nature. Moss of the little company sort qf mueic. A few feet away i made their hesitating way to-from her, in toe darkened roorn, ward We.rtmtnster standing before the Are with his The Prune Mrnltter. attended naodt btftimi hu back, w&s Dse- bt a faithful subordinate, step- member ed those passionate hours "Heavens, have I been adeen? to be driven to the Carlton. Safe- when the had sat at the table i M1m Brown exclaimed, terrified. !,v ensconced In the smoking room, and taken down into quaint and ! "It would appear so," was the ! the former ordered a whisky and secret symbols the story of what i noncommittal reply. I soda, filled h!s pipe and leaned revelations. There was the sketch strange feeling. She was puxaled,' would have loved to have heard proved ourselves to be "What exactly are Marabela' demands?" The Prime Minister smoked frrkwly for a moment. "Desaanda surta as have never before been made to anj Prime nooaea Minuter or an estab!isned eov in reply . eminent.' he said, "a course of i i ; Embarassing Moments action as he may dictate." "In other words, he is to be P-lmc Minlrter," the other re-niarked. "Precisely, only he realises the fart that there can be no general election lust now. He wants to govern throurb me without it. T am to wear the sheen's head and hr' to do Ihe roar Inn" Whfn are you going to see him again?" "At my house at midnight " the Prme Mtnirter replied, with a grimace. ' He Insist': upon it that no other minister is oresent The only person he wants to brins with him is Desslter. head of our new department at the Home Office, which, by the bye, was his Idea" At 11 o'clock that night Miss Brown "was comfortably tucked tip in bed. her curtain discreetly drawn, bat her window a few ten mmatea she had preaeribedl was out again and eeatai In Lbel car. Ii was barely Jtvftoty nsin-4 i Mill ii. ml t UmbamI rA A self mnriftm th man 1-mitAi i llaht-hearted Aoart from the 1ov "ni ultimatum ta all rv w-n-!wno"e appearance n . . . . . 'if of ht his nrnlar praHf thr there was raa annt.hlntr soaethmc ' ' tk the Mlur other remarked, r.mf,,V. "but , still .nil i familiar U her BOOTH inches mm. the olottMe which he sion 9 man vaguely I tall, sturdy' man of iair complexion, -haven with features seemed carved' of granite (To Be Continued nday) ' TT'fi -. ReciUtlafli. Hpua Matheaoa, Dlvt- had discarded ntaUv folded ua Bong "LaUabr." Drvlasac 9. on one chair, the clothes whlrn Dance. Jean Robertaon. Division the tXQSKjsed to waar In toe 9. morning similarly arranged upon Recitation, "The Boy Who At-another. There were counted out ways Told the Truth," Beryl ready for her bath In the morn Birch, Division 8. ing six pennies on the comer of ; "Oafol of the Ptowera," The the mantelpiece, the kettle filled Seotar Divlatoas. Dance ents of the afternoon. Only the t ing when he was awaxenee oy vioi'n aolo R;'. waiter who brought th whlskvlthe uind of a motorcar stopping , panted by Ruth and soda and his .Dmuanlon outrtde. and the shrill suru;non3 Danee. Marvb sea'ed In the opposite easv chair, i of thf ekvtrie bell She sa' up In were privileged to hear them. I bed. 'remembered her night dress Well. I'm damned!" I on, of her recent purchase. His subordinate, himself a cab- whlcff she had secretly considered inet minister of high rank and I Immodestly transparent and de-unaddicted to the use of strong 1 ollete and sliding out of bed, language, stretched h'rwtlf out ! hurried Into a dressing-gown She In his ( hair and looked helnlesslv oDened the door upon the chain up at the celling HI expression 1 fcnd peered out. It was Mergen : preted by Division was still that of a man stricken ' who rtood were n nai m nis bow mv in:: dumb by the unexprrt?d. I hand, his manner apologetic ,KiraendaH a-r 'tlrhat An mi mV n( I allO" ''Vm TtTTV MUU IltnWn. h T the Prime Minister demanded His I announced 4wt the Chief wanU companion glanced round the, you at Whitehall at once. He room "At first I thought it was a i bluff," he declared. "I am not wania you io xo wiui mm vo conference." It is very pleasant to hear you sure that I don't thin so now In minutes. "You will have to give im ten Miss Broau decided say so." any case, it was the most out- eainujr.' "As a matter of fact," he observ- rseeous attack unon a statesman! "That will do very nicely, miss. claret, as compared with the bun'ed malting his way toward the of established reputation which I Miss Brown, honied back to her and cup of coffee which Mies inevitable cirarette box. "I can't have ever heard from a young ; room, nd in -very little more than I Brown inrax now i mnageo oeiore yon mart attending n's nrst caDinet came. They used to send me up Council meeting." special younir mn from one of: The Prime Minister sighed the oparjmenu but none of my, "Marabe!s haa thrown a bomb- onel Desslter is expected back?" j ever done 80 ulckly or ; shell and no mistake. We are face she inqaired . to face with the worst crisis in skn 5 fteriuton vision 5. Horm.i Arrhi. Dance. The c Dance," Division 4 Piano Duet B""; MeWaughton !)!.: MacDonald's F;irn The Rehear...! Christmas Cam! "God 8ave (;: School. I '!( ' '' (i : BAPTISTS l' su B':rC 1 1 XMASTREE herself at headquarVfcia 5flltrjM fJatUfnn at rhar i Lw was lemglnc la hit, otetU by the Niglit Fm m ;.r.-; m4 opposite nun saafttna En.loahli' Evi:i;t 'J .- A large audie::- clean-1 crium at tnc n which ' evenlr.? on t! i annual Sunda L , Tree and ent-rt.i.n-ii"t.- T gram was conf:n : n .lissnvmrc anu mw of the l:. mved 1 du ' -i ; jRSqlTQiienTT .H-.iium: rand'- v HOLDS CONCERT x: . Hutdor rhoir n-,'i.N- v Christmas Closing r.sercBeS Tktnrn surprised - : Plate Thursdav Aftemoen a rtlver nenknif .ably -replied. Al1 ; The eletinc exercises prior to led the evening the Christmas vacation took olace - most -enloyabie Thursday afternoon at Booth Memorial School when the pupils assembled In the auditorium to enoy a program to which each of the thirteen divisions emtrtbuted. Miss E. A Mercer, principal pre--ided Accomoanists were Miss I. p Grawe Miss E A Mercer and Mias Myrna Puller The details of 'he program are as follows: "O Canada," the School. Carol. "The First Noel." the School. Action Song, Division IS. DaMe. llaSi Smith. Dlviaton 11. "Jolly OM St. rflchlas." songs and dances Divisions 12 and 1. Carol. "0od King Weneealas," Ffmfbf niildem Action Song. "HesAi and Heels," Division 7. - . Dance aad Son. Dhrtaton 11. in a loot whit program Band select n r. Kn Omn Btui ' Thuroer Rt-ritation Bil'' Violin Solo tv Vocal Duet B i ton. Recitation At-' Dialogue. Ka' Class Christmas Cb. : partment. , Recitation Recitation Pianoforte eron. Recitation Mai'.: H..7- S i' h: : Exercise. Mrs T Recitation A':.-Vtoltr Jolo f.i' RerltaUon Mai , Christmas I'.' lHamblln'a Clas ReciUtion la k Vocal 8o!o v .accompanied by Pianoforte S". ReciUtion. Bn' Piano Solo. H-v Recitation. Jc ; Song. June Oi!k I . -i! .1. i ii.i'.'.1'1' - l. cf". -.at ! Wnl f'.is 'it-: 1-15;. & ... A'-..-"0 .. wit ! ir.is.1'. ., ; ra.'