Partners by Grace Livingston Hill Page B

distance and called a firm of detectives in New York with whom he had had some contacts before in looking up matters for the company.
    "That you, Ted? Good morning. This is Reuben Remington. I'm calling you to see if you can get a line on a man named Mason Albee, who used to live out West and two years ago came to stay--" There followed all the details of address and movements he had been able to get in his brief talk with Gillian. "This is strictly confidential, of course. I want to know where the man is now and what have been his movements in the past two years, especially under what conditions he is now living. If you can find out where he gets his money, that is important. I'll be calling you later, perhaps late this evening. Yes, and at what hour? Or tomorrow midmorning? What will be most convenient? I would appreciate haste, even if the details have to be filled in later. Whereabouts and financial state matter most now. All right, Ted, I'll be calling you, and I will send you a check as soon as you send me the memoranda. All right, Ted. Nice to hear your voice again."
    After he had hung up, he sat in the booth for a minute or two thinking. Should he or should he not follow up a thought that had just come to him? Well, it wouldn't do any harm to find out if it was possible, in case it should be advisable. Why shouldn't he give Aunt Ettie a call? He hadn't written to the poor old soul in almost a year, and it would please her tremendously to have a few minutes' talk. She was getting old, of course. Why, she might not even be alive yet. She had sent her usual birthday card last November, and a Christmas card at the holidays, but he hadn't heard from her since. It certainly would be a good idea to telephone her, even if it had nothing to do with the present problem. She had been a good, faithful nurse, a sort of mother-servant in the old home when he was a boy. She deserved a little attention from him. Now that his mother was gone, there was likely no one to think of her. She lived with her old sister, but the sister was grumpy. He could remember hearing about that.
    With sudden impulse he took up the receiver again and called the number. He couldn't forget that. He had known it ever since he was a child. Poor old Aunt Ettie! How she used to enjoy the thought that her family had a telephone and could call her anytime they wanted to. Not that they seemed to want to very often, but it was nice to know that it was there. He smiled at the memory of her kindly face while he waited for the answer to his ring.
    He had about decided that she wasn't at home and his impulse had been ill advised when he heard the receiver taken down and a brisk voice answered, "Hello!" It was Aunt Ettie! There was no mistake, and she didn't seem to have changed a mite! Her voice was just as young as ever.
    "Is that you, Aunt Ettie?" he shouted joyously, just as he used to when he came home from school years ago.
    "Well! My word! Ef that isn't Reuben! Where are you, Reubie? My! It's good to hear your voice again. I thought you'd entirely forgot me! How are you, boy?"
    "Forgotten you, Aunt Ettie? Why, how could I do that? I've been a busy man since I saw you last, but I was just thinking about you, and I took it into my head to call you up and see if you were all right. How I wish I could have run in to see you instead of just talking to you across distance. I'd just love to run in and say, 'How about a little snack, Aunt Ettie? What have you got?' the way I used to do. And you always had a big plate full of crullers, or a huge pan of cinnamon buns or a great dish of baked beans. My, how good they used to taste. I could appreciate them now after these years of boardinghouses and restaurants. What have you got in the house this morning, Aunt Ettie?"
    "Oh, gingerbread with whipped cream, baked apples and fresh brown bread, and the first green-apple pie of the season."
    "Hurrah! Aunt Ettie, I'm almost persuaded to rent me a plane and fly up to Maine and