Newspaper Page Text
The Long Arm of Uncle Sam--V--P_hyllis;D_ofldgE,_ Sm.uggler_Ej‘gEW
Copyright, 1919, by the Wheeler Syn
g dicate, Inc,
ILL QUINN tossed aside his
¢« evening paper and, cocking his
¥ feet upon a convenlent r:hall'.l
remarked that now that peace was
flt:'al?y signed, sealed and delivered,
therq ought to be a big boom in the
favotite pastime of the idle rich,
“Meaning what?” I inquired.
"&mmnng. of course,” sald Quinn,
who wonly retired from secret service
when an injury received in action
forced him to do so,
“lid you ever travel on a liner
whrd four out of every five people on
boardd didn't admit that they were
trying to beat the customs officials
one ‘way or another-—and the only
reason the other one aidn't follow suit
was because he knew enough to keep
his mouth shut. That's how Uncle
Sam's detectives pick up a lot of
clues, The amateur crook never
realiges that silence is golden and |
that oftentimes speech leads to nl
heavy fine,
“Now that the freedom of the seas
{s an accomplished fact the whole
crew of would-be emugglers will
doubpm get to work again, only to
be nabbed in port. Inasmuch as ocean
trivél has gone up with the rest of
theweost of living; it'll probably be a
gport confined to the comparatively
rich ’or( a couple of years anyhow.
“It was different in the old days.
Bvery steamer that came in was load
ed te the eyes and you never knew
when you were golng to spot a hidden
necklace or a packet of dlamonds that
wasn't destined to pay duty. There
were thrills to the game, too, belleve
me.
“Why, just take theicase of Phyliss
Dodge.”
Mrs. Dodge—Quinn continued, after
he had packed his pipe to a gondl
tion where #t was reasonably sure to
remadn lighted for some time-—was,
theoretically at least, a widow, Her
full fimc. as it appeared on many
passenger lists during the early part
of 1913, was Mrs. Mortimer C. Dodge
of Cleveland, Ohio. When the cus
toms officlals came to look into the
matter they weren’'t able to find any
one in Cleveland who knew her, but
then it's no penal offense to give the
purser a wrong address, or even a
wrong name for that matter.
While there may have been doubts
about Mrs. Dodge's widowhood—or
whether she had ever been married,
for that matter—there could be none
about her beauty. In the language of
the classics, she was there. Black
hair, brown eyes, a peaches-and
oream mplexion . that came and
went wfile you watched it and a fig
ure that would have made her fortune ‘
in the Follies, Joe (regory said after
ward that trailing her was one of
the easiest things he had ever done.
EXTRAORDINARY.
To get the whole story of Phyllis
and her extraordinary cleverness—
extraordinary because it was so per
fectly obvious—we'll have to cut back
o few months before she came on the
seene,
For gsome time the treasury depart
ment had been well aware that a
number of precious stones, principally
mrl&q:klm-. were being smuggled
into country. Agents abroad-—
the department maintains a regular
force in Paris, London, Rotterdam
and other European points, you know
~-had reported the sale of the jewels
and they had turned up a few weeks
later in New York or Chicago. But
the customs service never considers
it wise to trace stones back from their
owners on this side. There are too
many ramifications to any well plan
ned smuggling scheme and it is too
easy for someone to claim that he had
found them in a long forg®ten chest
in the attic or some such story as
that. The burden of proof rests upon
the government in a case of this kind
and, except in the last extremity, it
gv‘vlyn tries to follow the chase from
other end-—to nab the smuggler
in the act and thus build up a jury
proof case.
Reports of the smuggling cases had
been filtered into the department half
a dozen times In as many months and
the matter finally got on the chief's
nerves to such a degree that he deter
mined to thrash it out if it took every
man he had.
In practically every case the pro
cedure was the same-—~though the
only principals known were different
oach time,
Rotterdam, for example, would re
uort: “Pear! necklace valued at $40,-
, sold today to man named Silver
- burg., Have reason to believe it is
tined for States”—and then would
low a technical description .n‘ the
neckiace. Anywhere from six weeks
to three months later, the necklace
would turn up in the possession of
a jeweler who bore a shady reputa
tlon. Sometimes the article wouldn't
appear at all, which might have been
due to the fact that they weren't
brought into this country or that the
receivers had altered them beyond
recognition, However, the European
advices pointed to the latter supposi
tion-—which didn't soothe the chief’'s
nerves the least bit
Finally, along in the middle of the
spring of 1913, there came a cable
from Paris, announcing the sale of
the famous Yquem emerald—a gore
geous stone that you couldn't help
recognizing once you got the descrip
tion. The purchaser was reported to
be an American named Willlamson,
He paild cash for it, so his references
and his antecedents were not investi.
gated at the time,
Sure énough, it wasn't two months
later wheén a report came in from
Chicago that a pork-made millionaire
had added to his. collection a stone
which tallled to the description of
tive Yquem emerald. |
“Shall we go after it from this ond.‘
chief?” fnquired one of the men on
the job In Washington. “We can make |
he got it and then sweat the rest of
the game out of the go-betweens,”
the man who bought it tell us where
Yes,” snorted the Chief, “and be
laughed out of court on some
trumped-up story framed by a well
paid lawyer. Not a chance! I'm
.l\"ml to land those birds and land
em with the goods. We can't afford
U take any chances with thix crowd.
¥ve evidently got money and
8, a combination that you've got
¥y awake nights to beat. No—
W i /
(/;:\T m // ¥ ”{}//‘;"///I !{){&\ 'Q\ —_—
/QT% 2 =y~ "™’: Y . f"?r'f-w
& //;//?/Zl%\)“\ ‘ /";// ’\ 4,/" : Uk ,- '; ‘q‘b«‘ B @
gl GW ‘ e },// : ”\\::‘ ot = D ’(.": N
]}%{{/fi /'\'Nz | /'(‘;2 'j/ / /// ‘l§'\‘}.“‘ : / AN N, D <
AM / I(‘4 '" 7 " /////>\ NS 1”~. R = :
el 7 N¢y N
LR 5 EAR 0
<VR - ) \\\l@ =i \ BTN i'k
N / SLTR o ¥ 'l"""'“\.“('\‘\2(,‘. TG fiRR! AN i
: _a \\ ST i&\\":\ e f\* |
Lo fl\\\ o I fn N "[
| : £ /4/ \ \\u ‘ “'{;&‘ !) llulJU_“N “ ;}"‘\:‘i"\};l; il j H},l
% ///, I \ %yI Jf‘
119759 A 4 —
// Iy )] |’ \
G i &L lmfl
- e 5 |
; £\
T
we'll nall 'em in New York just as
they're bringing the stones in,
“SBend a wire to Gregory to gef on
the job at once and tell New York to
turn loose every man they've got——
though they've been working on the
case long enough, Heaven knows!"”
The next morning when Gregory
and his soclety manner strolled into
the customs house in New York he
found the place buzzing. Evidently
the instructions from Washington had
been such as to make the entire force
fear for their jobs unless the SMUg- |
gling combination was broken up
quickly. It didn't take Joe very long
to get the details, They weren't many
and he limmediately discarded the
idea of possible collusion between the
buyers of the stones abroad. It looked
to be a certainty on the face of it,
but, once you had discovered that,
what good did it do you? It wasn't
possible to jaill a man just because
he bought some jfewels In Fu e
and, besides, the orders from Mnh-x
ington were very clear that the case
was to be handled strictly from this
side-—at least the final arrest was to
be made on American soll to avoid
extradition complications and the
like. "
JEWELS PURCHASED.
[ 8o when Joe got all the facts they
simply were that some valuable jew
“els had been purchased in Europe and
‘had turned up in America, without
going through the formality as visit
ing the customs house, anywhere from
six weeks to three months later,
“Not much to work on,” grumbled
Qregory, ‘and 1 suppose, as usual,
that the chief will be as peevish as
hades if we don’t nab the guilty party
within the week.”
“It's more than possihle,” admitted
one of the men who had handled the
case. .
Gregory studies the dates on which
the jewels hiad *been purchased and
those on which they had been located
in this country for & few moments In
silence, Then:
“Get me coples of the passenger
lists of every steamer that has docked
here in the past year” he directed,
“Of course it's possible that these
things might have been landed at
Boston or Philadelphia, but New
York's the most likely port”
When the lists had been secured
Gregory stuffed them ‘into his suit
case and started for the door.
“Where're you going?' Inquired
McMahon, the man in charge of the
New York office,
“Up to the Adirondacks for a few
days,” Gregory replied,
“What's the idea? Think the stuff
{s being brought over by airplane and
landed inland? Liners don't dock up-
State, you know."
“No,"” sald QGregory, ‘“but that's
where I'm going to dock until 1 ean
digest this stuff,” and he tapped his
snit case, “"Somewhere in this bunch
of booklets there's a clue to this case
and it's up to me to spot it. Good
b ‘h
YF‘ln days later when he sauntered
back into the New York office the
suit case was surprisingly light. Ap
‘p«ronuy every one of the passenger
Jists had vanished. As a matter of
‘fact they had been bolled down to
three names which were carefully in
ncrlh«g in Joe's notebook.
“Did you plek up any jewels in the
Catskills?' was the question that
greeted him when he entered.
“Wasn't in the Catskills” he
growled. “Went up to a camp in the
Adirondacks-coldern’ blazes, Any
more stuff turn up?
“No, but a wire came from Wash
ington just after you left to watch
out for a SIOO,OOO string of pearls sold
at a private auction in London last
week to an American named ......"
THE PEARL NECKLACE.
“I don't care what his name was"
Gregory cut in. “What was the date
they were sold?™
“Tthe 16th.”
Gregory glanced at the calendar,
“And today is the 224" he mused.
What boats are due In the next
three days?”
“The Celtie docks this afternoon
and the Tasmania ought to get in to-
HEARST'S SUNDAY AMERICAN — A Newspaper for People Who Think .— SUNDAY, AUGUST 31, 1919,
Grezory Caught up with her. ®* * * “What've got in the bag there?™
morrow. That'll be all until the end
of the week."
“Right!” snapped Gregory. ‘“Don't
let a soul off the Celtic until I've had
a look at her passenger list. It's too
late to go down the harbor now, but
not a person’'s to get off that ship un
til I've had a chance to look 'em over.
Also cable for a copy of the Tasma
‘nia's passenger list. Hurry it up!”
~ Less than ten minutes after he had
slipped on board the Cretic, however,
Gregory gave the signal which per
mitted the gangplank to be lowered
and the passengers to proceed as us
ual—except for the fact that the lug
gage of every one and the persons of
not a few were searched with more
than the average carefulness. But not
‘a trace of the pearls was found, as
Joe had anticipated. A careful in
‘spection of the passenger list and a
few moments with the purser had
convinced him that none of his three
suspects were on board.
Shortly after he returned to the
office, the list of the Tasmania's
passengers began to come over the
cables. Less than half a page had
been received when Gregory uttered
a sudden exclamation, reached for his
notebook, compared a name in it with
one which appeared on the cabled
report and indulged in the luxury of a
deep-throated chuckle,
“Greg’'ssgot a nibble somewhere,”
commented one of the bystanders.
“Yes,” admitted his companion, “but
landin’ the fish is a different mat
ter. Whoever's on the other end of
that line is a mighty cagey indlvid
ual.”
But, though he undoubtedly over
heard the remark, Gregory didn't
geem to be the least bit worried. In
fact, his hat was at a more rakish
angle than usual and his cane fairly
whistled through the air as he wan
dered up the Avenue half an hour
later,
The next the customs force heard
of him was when he boarded the
quarantine boat the next morning,
clambering on the liner a little later
with all the skill of a pilot.
“You have a passenger on board by
the name of Dodge,” he informed the
purser, after he had shown his
badge. “Mrs. Mortimer C. Dodge.
What do you know about her?”
“Not a thing in the world,” sald
the purser, “except that she is a most
beautiful and apparently attractive
woman. Crossed with us once be-
LOre" e—
“Twice” corrected Gregory. “Came
over {n January and went right
back."”
“That's right,” sald the purser, “so
she did, I'd forgotten that. But, be
yond that fact, there lsn’t anything
that | can add.”
“Seem to be famillar with any one
on board "
“Not particularly, Mixes with tr
vounger married set and I've noticéd
her on deck with the Mortons quite
frequently. Probably met them on
her return trip last winter. They
werd along then, if 1 remember
rightly.”
“Thanks,” sald the customs opera
tive, “You needn't mention anything
about my inquirfes, of courss™ and
he mixed with the throng of news
paper reporters who were picking up
news in various sections of the big
vessol,
When the Tasmania docked
Gregory was the first one off,
“Seaygch Mrs. Mortimer C, Dodge
to the skin," he directed the matron.
“Take down her halr, tap the heels
of her shoes and go through all the
usua! stunts, but be as gentle as you
can about it. Say that we've recelved
word that some uncut diamonds-not
pearls, mind you-—are concealed on
the Tasmania and that orders have
‘been given to go over everybody
thoroughly. Pass the word along the
line to give out the same informatlon,
so she won't be suspicious, I don't
think you'll find anything, but you
pever can tell”
At that, Joe was right. The ma
tron didn't locate a blessed thing out
of the way. Mrs. Dodge had brought
in a few dutiable trinkets, but they
were all down on her declaration
and, within the hour, she was head
ed uptown in a taxi, accompanied by
a maid who had met her as she
stepped out of the customs office,
TRAILED IN TAXI.
Not far behind them trailed an
other taxi, top up and Gregory's eyes
gived to the window behind the chauf
feur, ,
The first machine finally drew up
at the Astor and Mrs, DoGge and the
maid went in, followed by a pile of
luggage which had been searched an
til it was a moral certainty that not
a ri:eedle would have been concealed
in it.
Gregory walted until they were out
of sight, and then followed.
In answer to his inquiries at the
’desk. he learned that Mrs. Dodge had
stopped at the hotel several times
before and the house detective as
sured him that there was nothing sus
picious about her conduct.
“How about the maid?" inquired
Gregory. ¢ i
“Don't know a thing about her,
either, except that she is the same
she had before. Pretty little thing,
too—though not/as good looking as
her mistress.”
For the next three days Joe hung
around the hotel or followed the lady
from the Tasmania wherever she
went. Something in the hack of his
head-—call it intuition or a hunch or
whatever you please, but it's the feel
ing that a good operative gets when
he's on the right trail-—told him that
he was “warm,” as the kids say, Ap
pearances seemed to Jeny that fact.
Mrs. Dodge went only to the most
natural places—a few visits to the
stores, a coup'e to fashionable mo
distes and milliners, and some drives
through the park, always in the most
sedate and open manner,
Lut, on the evening of the third
day, the house detective tipped Joe
off that his prey was leaving in the
morning,
“Guess she's golng back to Eu
rope,” reported the house man, “Gave
orders to have a taxi ready at 9 and
her trunks taken down to the docks
before them, Better get busy if you
want to land her”
“I'm not ready for that just yet,”
l(}re:ory admitted with a scowl.
When Mrs, Dodge's taxi drove off
lthe following mornin, Joe wasn't far
@way and, acting on orders which he
' had delivered over the phone, no less
than half a dozen operatives watched
the lady and the maid very closely
when they reached the dock.
Not a thing came of it, however,
Both of them went to the state
room which had been reserved and
the maid remained to help with the
unpacking until the “All ashore
that're going ashore” was bellowed
through the boat, Then she left and
stood om the pier until the ship had
cleared the dock.
“It beats me,” muttered Gregory.
“RBut I'm willing to gamble my job
that I'm right” And that night he
wired to Washington to keep a close
lookout for the London pearls, adding
that he felt certain they would turn
up before long.
“In that case.” muttered the chief
at the other end of the wire, “why in
‘huven'n name didn't he get them
when they came in?"
Sure enough, not a fortnight had
passed before St. Louis reported that
a string of pearls, perfectly matched,
ensweging to the description of the
missing jewa&a. had been offered for
sale there through private channels,
The first reaction was a telegram
to Gregory that .Q}lrly hurned the
wires, short, but to the point: “Elther
the man who smuggled that neckiace
or your job In ten days” it read,
And Gregory replied: “Give me
thiee weeka and you'll have one or
the other.”
Aeanwhile, he had been far from
inactive. Still playing his hunch that
' Phyllis Dodge had something to do
with the smuggling game, he had put
in time cultivating the only person
on this side that appeared to know
her—the mald.
It was far from a thankless task,
for Alyce-she spelled it with a “y"-—
wag pretty and knew it. Furthermore,
#he appeared to be entirely out of her
element in a cheap room in Twenty
fourth street, Most of the time she
spent in wandering up the avenue and
it was there that Gregory made her
acquaintance—through the expedient
of bumping her bag out of her hands
and restoring it with one of his court
ly bows. The next minute he was
strolling alongside remarking on the
beauty of the weather, 5
But, although he soon got to know
Alyce well enough to take her to the
theater and to the cabarets, it didn't
seem to get him anywhere. She was
The Other News Columns
——e e e
Out of the tangle of daily happenings your paper relates
the outstanding incidents, the things that tell of progress
in the world of events. That is the news everybody reads.
But the knowing person reads the other news columns
as well. Here are related the significant affairs.of the
more intimate world of buying and selling.
A New household invention, a
hetter soap, a more economical
food, a more durable fabriec—these
are the events that guide our per
sonal expenditures. Such news is
found in the advertising columns,
together with reminders of the
faithful service rendered by more
familiar produects.
Advertising is a guide to you; it is
a declaration of faith on the part
of the advertiser. His faith in his
goods prompts him to invest
money in addressing a pub.lic that
The Atlanta Georgian and Sunday American
Clean, Wholesome Newspapers for Southern Homes
perfectly frank about her position.
Said she was a hair dresser by trade
and that she acted as lady’s mald to a
Mrs. Dodge who spent the better part
of her time abroad.
“In fact,” she said, “Mrs. Dodge is
only here three or four days every
two months or so.” ‘
“And she pays you for your time in
between?”
“Oh, yes,” Aylce replied, “she's more
than generous.”
“I should say she was,” Gregory
thought to himself-——but he considered
it best to change the subject.
During the days that followed, Joe
exerted every ounce of his personal
ity in order to make the best possible
impression. Posing as a man who had
made money in the West, he took
Alyce everywhere and treated her
royally. Finally, when he considered
the time ripe, he injected a little love
into the equation and hinted that he
thought it was about time to settle
down and that he appeared to have
found the proper person to settle
with.
But there, for the first time, Alyce
balked. She didn’t refuse him, but she
stated in so many words that she had
a place that suited her for the time
being and that, until the fall at least,
she preferred to keep on with it.
“That suits me all right,” declared
Gregory. “Take your time about it.
Meanwhile we’ll continue to be good
friends and trail around together,
eh?”
“Certainly,” said Aylice, “Er—that
{s—until Tuesday.”
“Tuesday?” inquired Joe. ‘What's
coming off Tuesday?"
“Mrs. ‘Dodge will arrive on the At
lantic,” was the reply, “and I'll have
to be with her for three days, at
least.”
“Three days——" commenced Greg
ory, and halted himself. It wasn't
wise to show too much interest. But
that night he called the chief on longl
distance and inquired if there had‘
been any recent reports of suspicious
jewel sales abroad. “Yes,” came the!
voice from Washington, “pearls agaln.}
Loose ones, this time. And your three;
weeks' grace is up at noon Saturday.”
The click that followed as the re
ceiver hung up was finality itself.
The same procedure, altered in a
few minor details, was followed when
Mrs, - Dodge landed. Again she was
searched to the skin; again her lug
gage was gone over with microscopic
care and again nothing was found.
This time she stayed at the Knick
erbocker, but Alyce was with her as
usual,
Deprived of his ulu\l company and
left to his own devices, Gregory took
a long walk up ¢he drive and tried to
thrash out the problem.
“Comes over on a different boat al
most every trip,” he thought, “so that
eliminates collusion with any of the
crew. Doesn't stay at the same hotel
two times running, so’there’s nothing
there. Has the same maid and al
wavs returns—"
Then it was that motorists on Riv
erside drive were treated to the sight
of a young and extremely prepos
sessing man, dressed in the height of
‘ fashion, throwing his hat in the air
and uttering a yell that could be
heard for blocks. After which he dis
appeared hurriedly in the direction of
the nearest drug store,
A hasty search through the phone
book gave him the number he wanted
—the offices of the Black Star Line.
“Is Mr. MacPherson, the purser of
the Atlantie, there?’ he inquired.
Then: “Hello, Mr. MacPherson. This
is Gregory, customs division. You re-(
member me, don't you? Worked on{
the Maitland diamond case with you
two years ago. * * * Wonder if
you could tell me something 1 want
to know—is Mrs. Mortimer C. Dodge
booked to go back with you tomor
row She 18? What's the number
of her stateroom? And-—er-——what was
thé& number of the room she had com
ing over? * * Ithank you.”
1f the mdtorists whom Gregory had
startled on the drive had seen him
emerge from the phone booth, they
wonld have marveled at®he look of
keen satisfaction and relief that was
spread over his face. The cat that
swallowed the canary was tired of
life, compared to Joe at that moment.
GREAT SURPRISE.
Next morning the customs opera
tives were rather surprised to see
Qregory stroll down to the Atlantic's
dock about 10 o'clock.
“Thought you were somewhere up
town on the chief’s pet case,” said one
of them, «
“So 1 was,” answered Joe. “But
that's practically cleaned up.”
With that he went aboard and no
one saw him until just before. the
“All-ashore” call. Then he took up
his place beside the gangplank, with
three other men placed near by in
case of accident.
“Follow my lead,” he directed. ‘“m
speak to the girl. Two of you stick
here to make certain that she doesn't
get away and you, Bill, beat it on
board then and tell the captain that
the boat’s not to clear until we give
the word. We won’t delay him more
than ten minutes at the outside.”
When Alyce came down the gang
plank’' a few minutes later, in the
midst of people who had been saying
good-by to friends and relatives, she
spotted Joe waiting fer her and start
ed to move hurriedly away. Greg
ory caught up with her before she
had gone a dozen feet.
“Good morning, Aylice,”” he said.
“Thought I'd come down to meet you.
What've you got in the bag there-"
indieating her maid’s handbag.
| “Not—not a thing,” said the girl,
flushing. Just then the matron joined
the party, as previously arranged, and
Joe's tone took on its official hard
ness. “Hurry up and search her! We
}don’t want to keep the boat any
longer than we have to.”
Less than a minute later the matron
thrust her head out of the door long
enough to report: “We found ’‘em—
the pearls. She had 'em in the front
of her dress.”
Gregory was up the gangplank in
a single bound. A moment later he
was knocking at the door of Mrs.
Dodge's state room. The instant the
knob turned he was inside, inform
ing Phyllis that she was under arrest
on a charge of bringing jewels into
the United States without the for
mality of paying duty. Of course,
the lady protested—but the Atlantic
sailed, less than ten minutes behind
schedule time, without her.
Promptly at 12, the phone on the
constantly demands honest mer
chandise. Itis through the adver
tising columns that you get in
touch with such straightforward
manufacturers.
Consistent advertising is pretty
clear evidence of trustworthy
quality. The futility of advertis
ing poor quality was realized long
ago.
A few minutes’ daily reading of
the advertisements brings the
knowledge so necessary for care
“ ful buying.
desk of the chief of the customs di
vision in Washington buzzed noisily,
“Gregory speaking,” came through
the receiver. “My time’s up—and Fve
got the party you want. Claims to
be from Cleveland and sails under
the name of Mrs. Mortimer D. Dodge
—first name Phyllis. She's confessed
and promises to turn state's evidence
if we'll go light with her.”
“That,” added Quinn, “was the fin«
ish of Mrs. Dodge, so far as the gov
ernment was concerned. In order to
land the whole crew—the people who
were handling the stuff on this side
as well as the ones who were mixed
up in the scheme abroad—they let her
go scott free, with the proviso that
she’s to be rushed to Atlanta if she
ever pokes her nose into the United
States again. The last I heard of her
{ she was in Monaco, tangled up in a
brackmail case there.
“Gregory told me all about it some
time later. Said that the first hunch
had come to him when he studied the
passengers’ lists in the wilds of the
Adirondacks. Went there to be alone
and concentrate, He found that of all
the people listed, only three—two men
and a Mrs. Dodge—had made the trip
frequently in the past six months.
The frequency of Mrs. Dodge's travel
evidently made it impracticable for
her to use different alias. Some one
would be sure to spot her.
“But it wasn’'t until that night on
Riverside Drive that the significance
of the data struck him. Each time she
took the same boat on which she had
come over! Did she have the same
state room? The phone call to Mac-
Pherson established the fact that she
did-—this time at least. The rest was
almost as obvious as the original plan,
The jewels were brought abroad,
passed on to Phyllis and she tucked
them away somewhere in her state
room. Her bags and her person
could, of course, be searched with per
fect safety. Then, what was more
natural than that her maid should
accompany her on board when she
was leaving? Nobody ever pays any
attention to people who board the
boat' at this end, so Alyce was able
to walk off with the stuff under the
very eves of the customs authorities
—and they found later that she had
the nerve to place it in the hands of
the government for the next twenty
four hours. She sent it by registered
mail to Pittsburg and it was passed
along through an underground -‘fence’
channel until a prospective purchaser
appeared,
“Perfectly obvious and perfectly
simple—that’s why the plan succeed
ed until Gregory began to make love
to Alyce and got the idea that Mrs.
Dodge was going right back to Europe
hammered into his head. It had oc
curred to him before, but he hadn’t
{ placed much value on it. . ...
“0-0-0-0," yawned Quinn. “I'm get
ting dry. Trot out some grape juice
and put on that Kreisler record—
Drigo’s Serenade. T love to hear it.
Makes me think of the time when
lthey landed that scoundrel Weimar.”
| (“A Matter of Record,” the sixth of
the “Long Arm of Uncle Sam” stories,
will appear next.)