in i i i sssa? a (Cep/rlght, KM t CHAPTER I. A Call In the Night. There are few things darker than * country read at night, particularly II one does net kuo u the lay of the land. It 1b not difficult to traverse a kno>t;> path; .no matter how dark It It, one is ablo to f.nd the way by the aid of a mental photograph taken In the daytime. Cut ctipposlng you have never been over the rocd In the day tirno, that you kr.ow nothing whatever of lta topography. whore It dips or rises, whero It narrows or '?? Vou find yourself lii the samo unhappy state of mind Its a b !nd-man suddenly throat into a etrar.ee house. One black niftht, along a certain country read In the heart of Now Jer sey, in tbo days ?hsn tho only good reads were city thoroughfares and country highways wore routes to lim bo. a csrri?no v'ent forward cautious ly. From time to time it careened like a fcI;-r.t-notn birge in a beam sea. The wheels and springn voiced their ansukh Continually; for It. was a good rnrrtare. to michmts "and Uummocke. " Faster, faster!" came a muffled voico from tho Interior. '-31r, I irre rot drive any faster." replied tho ccnchmss. "I can't see the horses' heads, sir. let alone the road. I've blown cut the lamps, but I can't see the road any bclicr lor that." "Let ?4io bcnica have their heads; they'll find tho way.' It ccn't bo much far&cr. You'll sea Ilchts." Tho cc^chnan atcra In his teeth. All right. This men who woe In ?uch a hurry would pmbably s-and Iftcnf till Ir'.o the ditch. Save for the few atari Kbyte, ho Elpht h.~vo been driving Rcclzebub'o co.'./h in the bottomless pit. Birck velvet, everywhere black velvet. -A Triad war blowing, and yet the blac!;r.cts was so thick that U cavo to tho coachman tho sensation of jpild suaocailcn. liy and by, tbrocsli tho trees, he saw n flicker of light It might or might not bo tho destination. He cracked his whip recklessly and the nlffl IW Ml "Why, You Cherubl", Cried the Old Maid. ferriage lurched on two wheels. The nin In tho carrleso balanced himself, ctrcfully, ?o that the bundle In hi* arms should cot bo undul> disturbed. Ilia arm* achcd. lie stack his bead out of the window. ' "That's the place," ha aaid. "And ?. hen you drive up make as llttl* nola* am Jos eta." "Tea. sir." called down tho dflrer. When the carriage 'drew up at Its Journey's end the tqan Inside lumped out and h istetwd toward the sates. . He scrutinized tbo ?Un on one of the poru. This waa tha place: HISS FARLOW'fl PETVATB SCHOOL. bucdlo In bis ar.na stirred and he Lorried' op the path to the door of tbo house, lie selxedtbe Rodent knocker and struck aareral Mines. Ma then placed tho bundle on the steps; and ran back to tho waiting carrtaca. Into whlcb Be ctrppod. s "OS with you I" .tthrt's f word, air. Mark* w*.e*n mifcj your truta." : l,W "Do you think you could OttrJMF place ajtalnf ; ,? vvjT rouldnt get me on this pike axalu. #lr, tor a thousand; not mdl' r lUraM lUaQraU) of the upper balls to see If all h?r charge* were In bed, where the rules of the school conflued them after 8:30. It was at this moment that she beard the thunderous knocking at the door. The old maid felt her heart stop beating for a moment Who could It be, ai this time of ulghtT Then the thought came swiftly that ptrhaph the parent of some one of her charges was 111 and this was U>e summons. Bull ing her fears, she treat resolutely to tile door and opened It. ? "V.'bo-ls It?" ehe called. ' No one answered. Bbe cupped bar band to ber ear. She could hear the clatter of horses dimly. "Well!" she exclaimed; rather an grily, too. She was In the act of closing the do^r when the light from the ball dis covered to i?ix the huudle on the steps. 8he stooped and touched It "Good heavens, it's a child!" Bbe plcko< the bundle up. A whim per came fitom it a tlrnd little whim per of protest She ran back to the reception room. A faundllng! And on hnr doorstep! It vas Incredible. W(iat In the world should she do? It would create a scandal and hurt the prestige of the achool. Some one had mistaken ber select private school for a farmhouse. It was f right/ Ulf Then she unwrapped the child. It was about a yaar old, dlmplod and golden haired. A thumb was In Its rosebud mouth and Its blue eyes looked up trustfully Into ber own. "Why, you cherub!" cried the old maid, a strange turmoil in her heart. She caught the child to her breast, and then for the first time noticed the. thick envelope pinned to the child's cloak- She put the. baby Into a chair and broke open the envelope. "Name this child Florence Gray. -I' win (end annually a liberal sum for her support aud reclaim her on ber eighteenth birthday. The other halt of the inclosed bnwtlet will idontify me. Treat the girl well, for I shall watch over her In secret." ? - Into the Axed routine %f her hum drum Ufa had coma ? mystery, a tan talising, fascinating mystery. Bbe bad read of foundlings left' on doorsteps ? tram paper covered novela confis cated from her pupils ? but that one should bo placed upen ber own r? spectablo doorstep! Suddenly she smiled down at the child and the child smiled back. And thcrs waa nothing mora to be donu except to bow before the decrees of- fata. Like 'all prim old malda. her heart waa fun of unrequited romance, shd here was something she might spenJ lis floods upon without lot or hindrance. AI nady she waa hoping that the man or woman who had left It mtght^ever coma back. ino cnim crew, ueguinrly moo rear, upon a certain dale. Mlaa Farlow received a roglatfcred letter with money. Thr.ro lcttors came from all part* of the world; always the same ??art), always the same lino? "I am watching." . Thua -seventeen years passed; and to Susan Farlow each year seined shorter than the ono before. For sho loved the child with all hnr heart. 8h? had not trained young girls all theso yean without becoming > '^ut In tho art of madlog the true alt * breed ing. There waa no ardlal -.leod In Florence; the tact waa omphaalxed by her exquisite face, her email hand* and foot, her spirit aitd gentleness. And now, at any day. aome one with a broken bracelet might come for her. Aa the day* went on the heart of 6u aan Farlow grew heavy. "Never mind, aunty," aald Flo: .je; "I shall always corce back to sea you." She meant it, pocr "child; but how waa ahe to know the terrora which lay beyond tho hortaon? \ . ? * ? e ^ve ? ? ? . The house of Stanley Hargreavo, la Rlverdale, waa the house ot no or dinary rich man. Outaldo It waa aim. pie enough, but within you loaned v/hat kind of. a man Hargreavo waa. There were rare tapahans and Baraks on the eddrw .atifctieeUiea on the walla, and here and there a Ono paint ing. The library itself represented * fortune. Money bad been laid (rat lavishly bat never waa'lfully. It waa the home ot a -scholar, a dreamer, ? wldo traveler. ?.? mWM dlspoci.l, sir. since that night ytjo rc* cu?d xae." t "Wall, I haven't the leant doubt that when I ask you will giro." "Without question, air. It waa *1 Wftya ao understood." Hargreave's glance sought the mir ror, then the snillelets face of bta man. Ha laughed, but the sonqd con rayed no Kan or mlrtb; then be turned and wast d^wn'tha steps slow ly, Uka a man border x( with aone thought which was not altogether to hta liking. He had aent an order lor hla cair. but had Immediately couiit?r tnanded It. He would walk till he grew tired, ball a taxlcab, and take a ma up and down II road way- ? The wonderful Illumination might prcve <11 rertlng. For 18 years nearly: aiid now it waa as natural (or hli to throw a glance ovor his cbouldor whenever bo left the hou*e as it v>a for bin to breathe. The average npn would hare grown careless during ell this* years: but Hargrenve was not an |(r#ftge man: be was, rather, an extraordinary Individual. It waj hla lire In exchange for eternal vlgUuco, and bo knew end acccplcd tho (act. Half an hour later he got Into n ' taxlcab and directed the man to drlva downtown as far as Twenty-third street and back to Columbus circle. The bowllderlng display of JlghU, bow ever, In nowise served to ll(t (be ue:' u or oppression that h?* Istreductlen* W?re Made. belonged to no clubs. Two months *M the longest time bo hud ever re mained In New -York since tba dU posal cf hi* bid home In Madison avenue end hit resignation from b trod boo him. You nover can tell. We might need him some 'Ahi Norton, hovy 'um ftM?. v-figS "Oood (Teeing, Mr. Bralne." The reporter, catching eight of a pair of: dasxtlcg eyes, hecltatsd.1. -The Prince** Perigolf. Norton. Totfro in no hunr, *r* your WftF'H "Not sow,** umlled vhe reporter. . "Ah I" said the prtaca**. Interested. It was the rid compliment said In an unusual, way. It pleased her. Tbe reporter sank Into i chair; vn?*n Inactive h? wa* rather .4 dreamy-eyed sort of chap. II* pes nen*d that San. accomi>ll?htnont o( talking' upon oae subject and think ing upon another at the aamn time. So while k* talked gayly with ? tha on varied thimee, :.a?k ml the lnslgnifc m'Um Ulyl* Hon dyad, an organisation *ljh kU th"Thero are but fewfwblch oner* ? "Elgbtcon years ago, In 8t. Pelen tan" , "I remember. Tbo millionaire'* eon. Did ho recognise your* "I don't Vnw(. Probably he did. But ha i.Iway* liad gend nerves. He' la being followed at thla moment. We RhaM strike quick; for If ho recognised me li?' will art qulclc. Ho 1* cool and brute. Yon remember bow be bravod i\a that night la IVunfia. Jumped boldly through tbo \rfndow at thc rlsk of breaking his neck. He landed safely; that Is tho r plant", tooj abd be waa Jfflit aa muoh -of ? general aa tlralne. Ho aat at his library tabUi. the maxillary musclos In his Jav a working. So titer had found hltuf Wtfl, he had broken the. law of his own making and he must suffer tho conrequenccs. Pralne. who waa MenahlHoff la Kurala, ? Sebwartx In Germany. Moadosa In Spain, Cartuecl In Italy, and Du Kola In France; ao the rogue 'had found him oit> Vmfi fool ibkt-he had been I High spirited, full or thoie youthful dentins of doing good in the. iforld, ho bad Joined what he Jiad believed a great secret so clairstlc movement. to learn that hf had been trapped by p band of bffr llant tblcTcs. Kidnapers and assaaal. nators for hire; the Black Hundred; fiends from Topbetl For nearly eighteen yean tio had eluded them, ror he kneir' that directly or Indirect ly thoy would never ceaM to hunt for him: ,*nd an Idle whim had toppled him Into their clutclves. ' lie wrote several letters feverishly. Tbo last waa addressed to Miss Bcsan Fcrlowand read: "Dear Madam: Send Florence Clruy to New Toi-k. to arrive bore Frldey morning. My half of the bracelet will bo Identification. In closed Bnd cash to aquare accounts." Hit would get together all his available fund*,- recover his child, and fly to the ?nds of tho world. He 1 would tire them out They would find that the rcnceful dog waa a bad animal to rouse. He rang tot the faithful Jones. "Jones, they hare found me," he said; simply. J ? ' "''.'C- ?.;> . - "Yon will need me. then J" f. "Quite possible. Pleaae mil these And Ihm weH talk It over- No doubt soma ? ono la watching outside. He Careful." . "Very good, ?lr." 2 . Hargrcave bowed bis head In hit Join.d What H? Rfl.v.rt to Bo a Groat 8oel*ll??lc Mov.m.nU hand*. Mauy limna ho had Journayed So His school and hung about Uio FMt*. straining his tyti toward' tha worry groups of younK girl.. Which among them *ta? bin. heart of hl? hearu blood ol hi. blood? TJ.?t ?ho might Aov?r b. drawn tn'j, thin Hi LTgrwLve corcrcd a good ol ground, but during *11 this time bin right band n?rrr lert the automatic. In ,1 bla oreicsat pocket, except at these momenta wheti h? ?u obliged to alrd bla shocks. Ho ft ould ahoot and mako inrjulrlee cfterward. ? . ? Tit, away ;?* young girl and companion got on the- train which wss to carry her to Nc?f "Vortt, the great dream city she was always longing to see. And the spider wove Ms web. ;? ' A Hargrove readied bom* at night. Ha pet the money lo the safe nod was telephoning wbeta Jones entered and handed bla master an unstamped note. . . "Where did you get Uttir J ?>' "At the door, air. I lodge that the house ta surrounded". ? Hargreave read the note. It stated briefly that *11 his movements during the day had/^en noted. It waa known that he bad collected a million in pa per money. It he surrendered this he would be allowed twenty-four hours before the real chaso began. , Othfr wise he should die bf'rve midnight. Hargreave crashed the note In hla Li. ? ' ? *?-? ? ; ? rissBE^i Vltlttd the Htnnsr of an Avtstori ltinO- Turf might kill him: there ?:?? a chance c( their accomplishing tin t; but never clioutdtheytoseh his daughter'^ fart one. ... "Jo-irt, you co to tho rear door and ' I'll toko a look out of tho front. \\? httTg. >n hour. I' know the breed. T?Vil watt Ull .-'ildnight and then forcij their ???>? In-" Hargreave raw a doxen shadows In tho front yard. ' "Ma all about the back yard," whltpefcad Jones down the ball. The natter eyed the man.* ? ' Very welt,