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CHAPTER IX. TUPPENCE ENTERS DOMESTIC SERVICE

WHEN Tommy set forth on the trail of the two men, it took all Tuppence's self-

command to refrain from accompanying him. However, she contained herself as

best she might, consoled by the reflection that her reasoning had been justified

by events. The two men had undoubtedly come from the second floor flat, and

that one slender thread of the name "Rita" had set the Young Adventurers once

more upon the track of the abductors of Jane Finn.

The question was what to do next? Tuppence hated letting the grass grow under

her feet. Tommy was amply employed, and debarred from joining him in the

chase, the girl felt at a loose end. She retraced her steps to the entrance hall of

the mansions. It was now tenanted by a small lift-boy, who was polishing brass

fittings, and whistling the latest air with a good deal of vigour and a reasonable

amount of accuracy.

He glanced round at Tuppence's entry. There was a certain amount of the gamin

element in the girl, at all events she invariably got on well with small boys. A

sympathetic bond seemed instantly to be formed. She reflected that an ally in the

enemy's camp, so to speak, was not to be despised.

Well, William," she remarked cheerfully, in the best approved hospital-early-

morning style, "getting a good shine up?"

The boy grinned responsively.

"Albert, miss," he corrected.

Albert be it," said Tuppence. She glanced mysteriously round the hall. The effect

was purposely a broad one in case Albert should miss it. She leaned towards the

boy and dropped her voice: "I want a word with you, Albert."

Albert ceased operations on the fittings and opened his mouth slightly.

"Look! Do you know what this is?" With a dramatic gesture she flung back the left

side of her coat and exposed a small enamelled badge. It was extremely unlikely

that Albert would have any knowledge of it--indeed, it would have been fatal for

Tuppence's plans, since the badge in question was the device of a local training

corps originated by the archdeacon in the early days of the war. Its presence in

Tuppence's coat was due to the fact that she had used it for pinning in some

The Secret Adversary