If
The MHion Doiar Mystery
By HAROLD MAC cftATH
Illustrated from &?wi tn th ? P/iofo Drama of th*
Sam ? Nam* lot th ? Thanhouser Film Company
(Oopjricbt, 1911, V/ Harold MMQraUt)
CHAPTER VI.
"Did you got tbo range?" asked the
countess, when lato that night Bralno
recounted .his adventure.
"Range!" he snarled. "Mr girl,
haven't I Just told you that I had to
Cght tor my life? My boat was In
flames. We had to swim for It till
wo were picked up by a Long Island
barge tug. I don't know what becamo
of the motorman. He must have
headed straight for shore. And I'm
glad he did. Otherwise he'd be howl
ing for the price of another boat.
Olga, for tho first tlmo I've had to
let one of Ilia boyo have a look at
my face. Doesn't know the name;
but ono of theao days he'll stumble
ccrois it, nnd ibe result will be black
mull, unless I push him off Into tho
dark. It was accidental."
Tha countess leaned forward, her
hands tightly clinched.
"But the box!"
Bralno made a grsturo of despair.
"Leo, aro you using any drug these
days?"
"Don't make fun of me, Olga," Im
patiently. "Did you over see me drink
more than a pint of wine or rrooke
more than two cigars in an evening?
Poor fools! What! let my brain go
Into the wastebasket for the sake of
ah hour or so of exhilaration? No.
and never will I! I'm keen about the
gray matter I're got. and by the Lord
Harry, I'm going to keep it. There's
only one nope fierj In the Hundred,
and he's one of the best decoy* we
have; so we let him have bit coke
whenever ho really needs It. But this
man rfclton has seen my face. Some
day tell see It again, ask questions,
and then , ? . .n
"Then what?"
"A burial at sea." he laughed. TLe
laughter died swiftly as It came.
Threw it Into eight hundred feet of
water, on a bar where the sands are
always shifting. Holl never find It.
even if bo took tho range. Ho could
not have got. a decent one. The sun I
was dropping and the shadows were I
long. He threw the chest into tho
miter and then began pegging away
at us, cool as you please, and flrod I
our tank."
' vi l00ka 10 ?3U 88 lf ho had wasted
his time."
That depends. Between you and I
?ne and the gate-post, I've a anoaklng
idea that this man Jones, whom no
body has given any particular attcn
tlon. Is a deep, clever man. Ho may
?a_ve honestly attempting to And
a new hiding place; the advertisement
VC"paper majr hnTe <>?wn
? . n? have thrown tho box
?ver. In pnro rage at seeing himself
checkmated Ageln, the whole thing
may have been worked op for our
benefit, a blind. But If that's tho
case, Jones has na on tha hip, for we
Drehshn?;. *Ut W? c#n do what >? ?">?
probability ho expeeti well cease to I
before^'Ch h'm " ahrav<1,7 ??
Olga caught his Jmnd and drew him
d?w? be*l4<1, ??? " I wasn't going to
you?onl*ht. but I' -nay mean
something rltal."
"What?" alertly.
tn'ThV^.'v? *nd walked over
to tho light button. She pressed It
and the apartment became dark.
"Come over to the window, quick'"
hlm "*>?? tha room,
f; tba way. the house with the I
niarblo frontage."
A man emerged. Jit > cigarotte, and
"No?" i""** <,0wn
Nol She cried, as Blaine turned
to mako for tbo door, doubtless with
tile intention of finding cut xrbo this
?aa? was. "Every night altar you
leave he appears." m
I^Does he follow mar
"No. And that's what bothered me
at first, l believed he wis watehlnr I
come apartment above. But rsJSSrt?
when I turn ont the lights he comes
forth So there's no^ubt tUt
matches you enter and takes note of
your departure*" " or
?But dpestft follow me. That's odd.
What the devil 1* his Idea?"
"I'd give a good deal toW."
Tho shadow and the *iA?fi?. I
?"e dl-PPear^ J^nS X 'c^
? In the apartment vera
turned on again.' ware
Tt" "*"7 Utok W.
Wt^tCeh."* <hU I
And eren it that moment thA ??(,.), I
"ftiaplclouif- km murmured
tha cigarette Into tb? mtit ? JTTJ*
watching m. for . .C'
<?t I know what I kwow^r*! -
WWld. Il's floe to JTSL *?? 22
on tap of ft" hS w?f ? 2^5!
mZZ*00* tha ?w
^tSd'Sa^,eorf4i-t?-'|
"Tomorrow night you might leave
by tlie Janitor's entrance. I'll keep
the lights on till you're outside. Then
I'll turn thom off and you can follow
and learn who he Is,"
"It's mighty Important" ?
"Don't scowl. At your age a wrinkle
Is apt to remain If you once get It
started."
He laughed. "Wrinkles!" She could
talk of wrinkles!
"They are more Important thus you
think. Every morning { rub out the
wrinkle I go to bed with."
"I wish you could nib out the gen*
ernl stupidity which Is wrinkling my
brain. I've made three moves and
failed In each. What's come over
mo?"
"Perhaps you've had too many suc
cesses. The wheel of chance la al
ways turning around."
"May I smoke?"
"Thanks. At least it proves you still
have come consideration for mc. You
wouid smolto whether it was agreeable
or not. But I like the odor of a good
cigar; And it always helps you to
think."
lira ine lit the cigar and began bis
customary pacing. At length he
paused.
"Suppose we have a real old-fash
lened coaching party out to the old
mansion wo know about?"
"And what shall we do there?"
"Make the mansion an enchanted
castle where sometimes people who
enter can't get out. Do you titlsk you
could get her to go?"
"I can try."
"Olga. I must have that girl; and 1
must have her soon. Sometimes I And
myself mightily puxtled over the
whole thing. If Hargreave is alive,
why doesn't he turn up now that It's
rractlcally known that his daughter
presides over bis household? I might
understand It It I didn't know that
llargr^ave Is really afraid of nothing.
Whero is the man with the Ore thou
sand, picked up at sea? What was
tho reason for Jones carrying that box
out In broad daylight? Who la the
chap watching acroaa the street?
Sometimes I believe hi my soul ? if I
hare one!*? that Hargreave Is playing
with us, playing! Welt" flinging the
half consumed cigar Into the grate,
"the Black Hundred always goea for
ward. win or lose, and never forgets."
"We are a fine pair!" said the wo
man bitterly,
"We are exactly what fate Intended
us to be. They wroto you down In the
book as a beautiful body with a
crooked mind. They wrote mo down
es the devl), doomed to roam earth's
top till I'm killed."
"Killed?"
"Why, yea. I'm not the kind ot
shap who dies In bed, surrounded by
the weeping members of tho family,
doctor, nurse, and priest. I'm a
scoundrel; but it has this saving
urace. I enjoy being a scoundrel. Now,
I'm going up to the club. There's
nothing like a game ot billiards or
cbess to smooth that wrinkle which
seems to worry you."
In the great newspaper office there
was a mighty racket. Midnight al
ways means pandemonium In the
city room of a metropolitan daily.
Copy boys were rushing to and fro,
messengers and printers with sticky
galleys in their hands; reporters were
banging away at their typewriters,
end intermingling you could hear the
ceaseless ellckety-cllck from the tele
graph room.
The managing editor came out of
hla office and approached the desk of
the night city editor.
"Editorial page gone down?"
"Twenty minutes ago," said the
night city editor.
"I wanted a stick on that Panama
rumpus."
"Tori late."
"Wlw.e'a Jim Norton?? .
"At the chamber ot cramerce twa
quet. The major Is gofrjg to throw a
bomb into the enemy's ta mp."
"Nothing on the Hargreavs stuff?"
Dues* I'd better put that In
the cubbyhole. He's dead."
"No win found yet?" ?
"Not a piece aa big aa a postage
stamp."
"That will leave the girt In a tough
place. No will, no birth certificate;
and. worn of all, bo photograph ot
the old >oat> himself. 1 don't see why
Jim sidestepped this affair. Be the
only man In town who knew anything
about StrgtaaTa."
"Be hasn't given It up; out he waste
to oover it oe hla own, tare the yarn
over when he's got It, ao falsi alarms,"
?o B?tji the gamer
"Tee; and JUa Is the sort every pa
per needs. When the time eomea the
story turns up. If there to one. Hare
he Is now. look* like an actor In the
fourth act of k drama. Good looking
, chap, though.- . ? r}.
Norton came In through the ?<Mer
??tee. Be was in evening clothee, top
hat. 4:le*d clpirctte dangled be
tween his llpt*
?reffp
"Column and a halt." ";-'
, " Any thlq'E good?" Kilted tho uixBS^
IOC
"Tto lid tu boan jammed on tight
No win* to any resUm*nt altar on*
o'clock. Thero'll bo a roundup of ???
ery gunman In town." V -tj
"flood work! Qo to It."
It waa one o'clock when Norton
turned In hU laat sheet or copy and
started tor home. Just outside the
eutrance to the building a man with *
slouch hat drawn down over hla eyes
stepped forward. .
"Mr. NortonT"
"Yes." Norton stepped back sus
piciously.
Tin' other chuckVtd, raised and low
ered his hat swiftly.
'XJood Lord!" murmured the re
porter.
"Will you take a ride with me In a
taxi?"
"All the way to Syracuse, If you ssy
so. Well, I'll be tinker d? d!l
"No names, please!"
What took place In that taxlcab waa
never generally known. But at ten
o'clock the next morning Norton sur
prised the elerator boy by going out.
Norton proceeded downtown to the
national bank, where be depoelted
$5,000 In bills of larfe denominations.
The teller hed some difficulty In count?
Ing them. They stuck together and re
tained the aoddeo appearance ol
money recently submerged In water.
? * ?
Florence was delighted at the Idea
of a coaching party. Often during b?r
echoolgltl days she had seen the Ush
lonablo coaches go careening along the
road, with the sharp, dear note of the
buglo rising about the thunder of hoof?
and rattling of wheela. Jones was not
enthusiastic; neither was he a killjoy
"But you aro to go slong, too," salt!
Florence.
"I, Miss Florence?"
"The countess Invited yon especially.
You will go with a hamper."
"Ah. In my capacity as butler; very
good. Miss Florence." . To her he gave
no sign of his secret satisfaction.
The hour arrived, and the gar party
bowled away. They v:ound In and out
of the streets toward the country to
the crack of the whip and the blare ol
the horn. Florence's enjoyment would
r" I
Florence Wh Chatting With the
Count.
have been perfect bad It not been for
the absence of Norton. Why hadn't
he been Invited? she dtd not aak be
cause aba did not care to disclose to
the countess her Interest In the re
porter. They vera n caring the limits
of the city, when the coach ires forced
to take a sharp tarn to avoid an auto
mobile In trouble. The man puttering
at the endue raised his head. It was
Norton, and Florence wsved her band
vigorously.
"A coaching party ."he murmured;
"and your Uncle Jamee was not Invit
ed! Oh, vary well 1 " He laughed, and
suddenly crew serloua. It would not
hurt to find out Where that coach waa
lolng.
He act to work savagely, located
the trouble, righted It. and set off lor
the HargTeave home Ha found Susan
and bombarded, bar with questions
which to Susan cam* with the rapidity
of rain upon the root
"Bo Jones went along!"
"In his capacity of butler only."
Norton smiled. "Well, HI take a
Jaunt oat there myself. Ton are sore
of the location r*
"Tea."
"Wall, good-by. Ill go as a wa?w.
since they wouldn't invito me. I'm
one of the beat little waiters you ever
heard of: and an tilings come to him
who walta." .
What a pleasant, affable yang man
be waa) thought Soaan as she watched
all bat Ml upoo hla nedk
"But ?what ere T?" dalng here,
flTMinfl muk waiter T"
-lt'? a MUe "Kftt, I waa?t
inrlted, and the truth Is I'm Tsry
desperately Jo Io?? with the young
lady In wboee honor thle coaching
party U being glTen. And ...
maybe ahe't la danger."
"Danger? What abowt?"
"Dit Lord only know*. But ahow
ma aboxt the house. I're not been
here In to long I>e forgotten the nut
of It I remember ona room with
tba secret panel and another with a
painting ?hit turned. Hare thay
changed them?"
??No;' It It fust the aama b? "It
used to be. Come along and 111 ahow
?OUl."
Norton Inspected the rooma oar?
folly. ato+lng away In hit mind JTary
detail. He might ba worrying a*wrt
nothing: b?t'?o many ****** *
bad happened that H wea better to he
on the aide of caution than oo toe
tide ot carelessness. He
bouse and ran across Jonaa csrryMn!
? banket of wine. _
?Here. Norton; take thlt to the
party. I want to reconnotter.
"All right, mind! Say. Jones, how
much do yon think I'd earn at UOa
job?" comically. ..
"Oct along With you. Mr. Norton. U
may bo the time to laugb. and then W
may not." .
"I'm going t)tck into, tho houM w?
hide behind a .ecret panel, l're got
my revolver. You go to the ataWea
and take a try at my car; aee If ahe
works smoothly. We may hare to do,
bo mo biking. Where la the counteer
In thl?r ti
"Leave that to me, Mr. Norton, bwo i
tho butler with hie grtm emUe. "'Be
off; they are moving back toward tba
h08o#Norton carried tho baiket around
to thb lawn, where It waa taken from
bis handa by the regular servant He
?tghed aa ho saw Florence, laughing
and chatting with a man who waa a
stranger and whom h. beard ad;
dressed aa count. Some friend of toe
countess, no doubt. Where ws. sllthlt
tangle going to end? He wished he
knew. And what a yarn he waa going
to write eome day! It would be read
like one of Qaboriaue talee. He
turned away to wander l?ly
grounda. when beyond a clump of ce
dars he aaw three or four men convert
lng alowly. He got as near aa posalble,
for when three or four men pot the?;
heads together and whisper animated
ly, it uaually meant a poker game < ?
something worse. He caught a Pk>*se i
or two aa It came down the wind, ano
then he knew that the ragao tatpl.
don that had brought him out her^
had been *et In motion by ??
heard "Florence" and "the <fld draw
log room;"
anh that waa enough. V,
He scurried ahont for Jonea. ^ ]' ***
pare luck that he had had old Meg
show him through the hooea ottsr
wlse he wculd have forgotten an ghejti
the aecret panel In thewaBandtoe
parntlng. Jonea ah rugged resignedly.
Were these men of the counties'
party? Norton couldn't aay.
Norton mad. his hiding pUce In
safety; and by and by he coo'* V",
the gussts moring about in 'he root^
Then all eounds ceased for a while. A
door closed sharply. ,nnBf
"No; hero yen must itajr. young i
lady." said a man's voice.
"What do you mean, sir?" demanded
the beloyed voice.
"it meant that no one will return to
this room and that you wtn not be
missed until It la too late/ .
The tound of voices stopped ab
niptly, and something lllto scuffling
ensued. Later Norton beard the tart
of a chair ttrike the peael and
one uit heavily upon ft. "? watted
perhaps Are minutes; then he gently
cild back the panel Florence V;. I
bound and gagged under his very ey*^? ,
It waa but tba work of a raoment to
Do not apeak or maka
the least noise. Follow
Greatly aetonlshed?l^lorenc<|oWe4$ i
and the peaU sli p ped back Into ptaee. |
peered to be a real prison.
"How did yop get here?" ahe asked
breathleaaly.
"Something told me to follow yoo.
And something la always going tp tall
me to foUow you, Florence." ? : ,
She preaeed hU hand. It waa to her
aa If one of thoee book heroen had
atepped out ?tf .a book; only book h*
roff always tremendous fortune#
and did got bare to, work for a l!t
tor^Odfly enough, the waa not
"WhowaSthe man?" be asM.
"The Oount Norfeldt Some one
has tmpoaefl upon the rmirteeS" l'. 'vv
^Do^you think so?" with a strange
"What do you mnaafiv... '*
"Nothing lost now. The Idea la to
get out of here fast aa qulekty aa we
Thar*'* a lane back of IB* stable, and
a ellght detour bring! us back Into ihe
mala road."
Tba tbraa mounted and clattered
away. To Florence u had the air of
a prank. She waa beginning to hare
such confidence In theae two tare* tire
?an that aba felt aa If aba was narer
going to be afraid an? more.
When the Countess Olga a?w tba
three horses It *u an effort not lo
fly Into a rage. But secretly aha
warned her people, who presently garo
chase la the limousine, while ahe
prattled and jeated and laughed with
her company, who ware quite unaware
that a drama waa being enacted rtgM
coder their very noaea. The counteaa.
while aha acted auperbly, tore her
handkerchief Into ehreua. There waa
aomethlng sinister in the way all
their plana fell through at the very
Moment of oonauramatlcn; and that
night rhe determined to aak Uralne
to withdraw from thla warfare, which
gradually decimated their numbera
without Getting anywhere toward the
coal.
Jonea shouted that the Umoaalaa
waa tearing down the road. Some
thing must be done to stop It. Ha
suggested that he drop behind, tear*
bla horse, and take a chance at pot
ting a tire from the ahrnbbery at tha
roadside.
"Keep going. Don't atop, Norton,
till yon are back In town. Ill manage
to take good care of myself."
(To be oontlnued)
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