Sin auld lang syne.”
| CONTENTS | ||
| CHAPTER | PAGE | |
| I. | An Ill Wind | [1] |
| II. | Missing | [7] |
| III. | Questions and Queries | [18] |
| IV. | Tempting Fate | [28] |
| V. | Give and Take | [37] |
| VI. | At Fort Myer | [47] |
| VII. | Treasure Trove | [61] |
| VIII. | The Only Woman | [76] |
| IX. | Gay Deceivers | [89] |
| X. | In the Cold, Gray Dawn | [104] |
| XI. | Great Expectations | [115] |
| XII. | A Tangled Web | [129] |
| XIII. | Duncan’s Dilemma | [143] |
| XIV. | The Philanderer | [159] |
| XV. | In Sheep’s Clothing | [169] |
| XVI. | A Tug of War | [177] |
| XVII. | Out of the Frying-Pan | [191] |
| XVIII. | Light-Fingered Gentry | [204] |
| XIX. | False Witness | [222] |
| XX. | Watchful Waiting | [240] |
| XXI. | The Storm Center | [255] |
| XXII. | “Toujours Sans Tache” | [272] |
| XXIII. | The Hearing Ear | [282] |
| XXIV. | The Kingdom of the Blind | [294] |
| XXV. | Phantoms of the Night | [304] |
| XXVI. | Uncovered | [317] |
| LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS | |
| Marjorie Langdon | [Frontispiece] |
| FACING PAGE | |
| “She was about to call her by name, when Janet quietly took up a diamond sunburst” | [100] |
| “Barnard again inspected Mrs. J. Calhoun-Cooper. ‘She looks like an Indian begum’” | [214] |
THE OFFICIAL CHAPERON
CHAPTER I
AN ILL WIND
“Washington, Washington; all off for Washington!” The porter’s stentorian call echoed through the Pullman sleeper. “This way out.”
A second more and the aisle was filled with sleepy passengers who strove to push past each other with the impatient rudeness which characterizes the average American traveler. The last to leave the car was a tall man, whose leisurely movements left him a prey to a hovering porter, and he surrendered his suit-case to the obsequious darky, after first inquiring the way to the baggage room.
“Go ahead and engage a taxi for me,” he directed, following his guide across the imposing concourse and into the waiting-room.
“Yessir.” The porter touched his cap respectfully; at one glance he had appraised the traveler’s well-groomed appearance, and his palm itched for the anticipated tip. “But you’d better hurry, suh; I kain’t hol’ a cab long, suh, an’ dey’s mighty scarce at dis time ob de mawnin,’ suh.”
“All right.” The traveler quickened his steps, corralled a half awake baggage clerk, gave his instructions, and sought the southern entrance of the station without further waste of time.