TRADE SECRETS .sx By " DOUGLAS NEWTON .sx " GRONARD had difficulty in keeping a smirk of triumph from his face as the plump millionaire said :sx " Well , we're really very sorry to lose you , Gronard .sx " " I am very sorry to go , too in one way , Mr. Farre , " he answered smugly .sx " You have treated me so well .sx But you see how it is one's homeland always pulls one .sx " " Of course !sx Of course !sx " beamed Gaine Farre .sx " Especially with your type , eh ?sx You're one of nature's born patriots , I guess , Gronard .sx " " Yes , for me my country comes before everything , " Gronard began , but pulled up sharply .sx He had almost given himself away .sx And this fat , heavy man had he really been shrewd ?sx He had no need to fear .sx This soft , pink creature with the half-awake eyes was far too self-complacent to be suspicious .sx How comic these big industrialists were , how easy to fool , how childishly sure of themselves !sx Farre was actually saying , with a playful chuckle :sx " And I suppose you'll be taking a position with one of my deadly rivals in your own country , eh ?sx " .sx " Naturally my training must make me seek work in industrial chemistry , but hardly with a rival , Mr. Farre .sx Surely any firm in my country that had the effrontery to challenge your great corporation would soon be more dead than deadly ?sx " .sx Gronard's tone was meekly mocking ; he was so sure that the secrets he was carrying to the Schotenpeffer Gesellschaft would drive the rival corporation out of the world markets within a year or so .sx But this sleek millionaire was far too egotistical to suspect mockery .sx " Neatly put , Gronard , and I guess we do know all the ways there are of dealing with trade threats , " he nodded .sx " But of course , you have been in a position to learn some things from us , you know .sx " Gronard almost laughed at this clumsy attempt to feel him out .sx He adopted an air of pious horror :sx " Mr. Farre !sx Do you suspect me of abusing your trust ?sx " .sx " My dear boy !sx " Farre's protest was paternal .sx " There's no question between men of honour .sx .. But some of the other directors .sx .. they'd like a formal assurance , you see ?sx .sx .. " Gronard couldn't help admiring his own acting .sx He leant forward earnestly , cried :sx " Mr. Farre , I do assure you .sx .. Mr. Farre , how can I prove ?sx Ah !sx I know .sx There must be a full search my rooms , my papers , the trunks I am to take on the ship , everything " .sx " My dear boy !sx " Gaine Farre was almost aghast .sx " But I insist , " Gronard protested .sx " There must be no doubt about me .sx It must be proved finally that it will be impossible for me to carry away as much as a scrap of paper bearing a single one of your trade secrets .sx Please , I demand this .sx Only thus can we part with clear minds .sx " This numskull Farre had played into his hands ; he wanted that search himself .sx It was the one way of making sure he would not be prevented from leaving the country .sx Corporations as powerful as old Gaine Farre's could be dangerous to those they feared might be stealing their jealously guarded trade processes .sx A thorough search would kill all suspicion and threat .sx Its effect would be so certain .sx He had no incriminating papers .sx No , not as much as a single chemical formula written down .sx It had not been necessary .sx A brain like his did not have to rely on paper .sx He had memorised everything .sx That was the only safe way to steal secrets .sx His brain could not be tapped .sx These fools couldn't even know what he knew .sx They were so helpless that they would have neither evidence nor excuse to detain him .sx In fact , his show of honesty , his insistence on the search and its complete failure , so demonstrated his innocence that old Farre felt he must make some amends for his directors' suspicions .sx He wrote a most glowing testimonial letter recommending Gronard's trustworthiness and ability to any firm likely to employ him in the future .sx Gronard laughed long over that letter .sx It was the supreme joke .sx He looked forward to showing it to his uncle , the president of the Schotenpeffer Gesellschaft , as the crowning touch of the old fool's folly .sx The comedy of it singing the praises of a man who had actually robbed him of his best-protected trade monopolies !sx The letter was in his despatch-case when he boarded the liner for home .sx The police found it when they searched his cabin .sx He was startled to see the police , especially as Angus , the Government expert of the Chemical Warfare Department , was with them .sx Still , he did not fear .sx Angus was a mysterious quantity , but he'd never been mixed up with the military secrets side of the Farre work .sx Also , not even Angus could tap his brain .sx Still , it was odd how Angus pounced on old Farre's testimonial letter .sx He spread it flat , studied it , pinned it to a table , even .sx began brushing it with chemicals he took from a little case looking for secret writing .sx Gronard smiled at the childishness of it and then stopped smiling .sx Secret writing was actually appearing in the white between the typed lines .sx And then Angus was looking at him grimly and saying :sx " Clever .sx Using a letter nobody would ever suspect to carry the formula .sx " " Formula ?sx " gasped Gronard .sx " What formula ?sx " .sx " Drop it , Gronard , " snapped Angus .sx " Your bluff's called .sx We know the formula of ' V ' Gas .sx " " ' V ' Gas what are you talking about ?sx I know nothing about ' V ' Gas .sx " " You shouldn't that's the damning point , " snapped Angus .sx " It's a secret known only to the War Department and Mr. Gaine Farre .sx He keeps it hidden in a specially-built safe in his strong-room ready for instant manufacture if there is another war .sx " " But but if old Farre alone knew " Gronard stammered .sx " It means it's a criminal offence your knowing , " Angus told him .sx " It pins you as a spy , my friend .sx Gaine Farre was suspicious of you when he found your name wasn't Gronard but Schotenpeffer ; that is , that you're actually the nephew of the president of the Schotenpeffer Gesellschaft , which deals in chemicals and war gas .sx " But Gronard wasn't listening any more .sx Fat old Farre had suspected him , after all !sx That pink , heavy man had known who he really was all the time .sx .. He saw light .sx Old Farre hadn't been a fool he himself had been one .sx Old Farre's attempt to feel him out hadn't been so clumsy , after all .sx It had driven him , Gronard , into insisting on the search , and that insistence had told old Farre that he felt safe because he carried the formula of the trade secrets not written down , but in his brain .sx And old Farre , being not at all the fool he had seemed , had seen that Gronard could not be stopped getting away with those secrets save in one way .sx And , seeing that way , old Farre had coolly and cleverly taken it , writing the war-gas formula , which only he knew , between the lines of his testimonial in secret ink .sx .. He heard Angus telling a policeman :sx " Yes , it'll mean at least seven years' jail .sx .. But also he almost heard old Farre's voice purring :sx " I guess we do know all the ways of dealing with trade threats .sx " THE GHOST CAR .sx By " GRAMALEK .sx " THE following peculiar tale was told me by Tam Macdonald , landlord of the " Sporran , " in the little village of Inverbogle .sx I have regretfully ( for the original wording was intensely dramatic ) changed Tam's Scottish accent for the more ordinary English , and thus have lost much in the telling .sx But how else could this strange story have been brought to the mind of the Sassenach ?sx Tam and I were sitting near the fire , our pipes in our mouths and the bottle on the table between us , one wild night in December , and it was after our third dram that he condescended to wax conversational .sx There was no one else staying in the " Sporran " at the time , and therefore nothing to disturb us , unless it were the wind droning in the firs or the rain splashing dismally against the window-panes .sx Tam filled his glass ( the soda being noticeable by its absence ) , stuffed his pipe with what he called tobacco , lit it , and lying back in his chair began the tale translated thus :sx one more attempt to get a lift home , and prepared to stand up and shout .sx It soon became evident , however , that the car was approaching very slowly indeed , but it rounded the bend behind me and came on steadily and surely at a slow walking-pace .sx At this juncture I made up my mind that I would not try and stop it , but would just open the door and jump in , and trust to luck that the occupants would take me home .sx " I waited .sx The car crawled towards me , all its lights on , and with never a sound except the soft crunch of its wheels .sx It was a saloon , and it did not strike me at the time that its engine made no noise .sx On it came , and as it drew level I opened the back door and jumped in , shutting it behind me .sx " And now , Sir , the moment had arrived which makes me shudder to this day .sx There was nobody in the car , nobody in the back seat with me , nobody in the front seat , and nobody at the wheel .sx Steadily and surely the machine moved on , its lights throwing a white blaze in front and the small glow from the dash-board lamp dimly illuminating the empty front seat and the wheel on which no guiding hand lay .sx Slowly , silently , we crept on , while beads of perspiration formed on my forehead .sx My whole body was shaking with horror .sx What of the five other cars ?sx Were they also gliding on their way with no human hand as a guide ?sx " The windows were all closed with the exception of the one next the invisible driver , which I could see was open through the glass partition that divided the front seats from the back .sx I tried to open the doors .sx I couldn't find a handle .sx When I did , the door appeared locked and I couldn't move it .sx Had I been locked in for some foul purpose or had the door merely jammed ?sx I began to think the former .sx It was dark inside , except for the reflected light from the head-lamps , and the windows were foggy from the warmth inside the car a warmth which I had wanted desperately five minutes before and would now cheerfully have exchanged for the rain and wind outside .sx And all the while we moved forward steadily , silently , slowly .sx " I looked round my moving prison .sx The first thing I saw , while the hair rose on my head , was the still-burning stump of a cigarette .sx Then somebody had been here somebody living or dead ?sx Were they still here were they with me at the moment ?sx I shook like a man with ague , and my hands , so cold a little while before , were clammy .sx We still moved gently , firmly forward , propelled by an invisible , vibration-less power .sx We were approaching a bend in the road :sx I knew the bend .sx On one side the side for which we were making if we failed to turn was a steep bank which ran straight down to the river and was almost perpendicular .sx I waited ; I was no longer cold ; I could hardly feel my rheumatism ; I was paralysed with fear .sx Nearer we came and nearer .sx At last we were on it going straight ahead .sx I shut my eyes and waited for the crash and the swoop downwards which I knew would be the overture to death .sx I wondered what it would feel like .sx Should I be smashed to bits as we hurtled down the bank , or I should I live until we sank beneath the cold water of the river ?sx Should I feel the water rushing into my prison from which there was no escape , feel its cold grip on my body as I fought to release myself from where no release save death was possible ?sx