Page:The Master of Mysteries (1912).djvu/27

Rh took up one of these and turned to the advertising pages in the rear; then he tried another. It was not till he had read through the Swastika that he was satisfied and smiled. He paid for the copy, hailed a passing cab, and was driven to his studio, where Valeska was already waiting for him.

He announced to her at once that the dead man was not Hudson, and gave a brief description of the latter, whereupon she told Astro the story of her own search.

"I didn't find the girl; but I traced her antecedents. First I went to the advertising manager of the 'Dentabella' company, and told him I wanted to get hold of the model he had used in the ad. Finally I wheedled her name out of him—it was Agnes Vivian—and went up to the Harlem address he gave me. The young lady, however, no longer lived there; but I got the woman of the house to talking and found out that our little friend had left without settling her bill. So I intimated that I was looking for Miss Vivian to pay her some money I had borrowed, and in this way got the landlady to tell me everything she could that would help me to locate the missing girl. She had been posing for photographers; but now it seems as if she had got another job. At all events, a gentleman answering to Hudson's description had called on her several times, with the result that one day she had left and had never come back. She had sent for her trunk next day; but the landlady would not let it go, and could not ascertain where it was to be taken. She had an idea, though, that the girl was working on East Thirty-ninth Street somewhere; for she had overheard her telephoning one day previous to her departure. So you see," Valeska concluded, "our friend Hudson has probably left