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y HARRY IRVING GREENS.E Aulbor oEý Yosonde of the Wikiemess" I1Iustrz.1ions byr 1'ganus 0. KgIttner c' r' "YIONF IA10 g· w. 6 HCui'A K '}f SYNOPSIS. Abner Halliday, a miserly millirnartre, found gagged. bounr and iinssible in .1i room, his safe rifled tand $40,i0o miss jg, Tie thread of the story is taken up by his nephew Torr. Living in the same house are other relatives: reckl's, Biruce Hall.daY and pretty Clarn Winton. Brrluce, who is a bond broker, hli. bAeen trying to raise $10,000 to put rhroulih a deal and -sve himself from financial ruin. f11 has applied to hIs miserly uncle and to others for the loan but has been refused. Tom rends for William Lel)uc. Lan old-time friend connected with a detective agency, In relating the story Tom rever:ts to llls acquaintance with a Mrs. Dare., a wealthy widow, whose business agent is Rllchard Mackay, a ioodler and political boss. Tom Is jealous of Mackay alnd is deeply i lovye with Mrs. Dace. Bruce l:Halllday warns him to shun her as an advrenturess. Torm Sees Mrs. Dace and Mackay togeth ra. He afterwards meets the woman at t horse race, and, happening to mention that Bruce had a tip on the winneir, she vhes him $50O to place on the wrace. The p goes wrong and she Inses her money. later Tom invests in stocks. lie makes some money, and returns the lost $500 to Mrsn Dace. It is at this juncture that the theft of the $40,000 from old Abner Hlalli day occurs. Le Due rmeets Clare and rnice. He learns that the key which Clare had to the house is rrisesing. Mac kty's dealings with Mrs. Dace make Tom more Jealous. The ldetective intimates a suspclIen against Lruce IIalliday as the thief. This Claris Winton indignantly re pudiates. CHAPTER XI.-(Continued.) "And the door at the head of the stairs which leads from here into the kitchen, was that disturbed?" I asked her as my first sensations faded. She was patling from excitement and the haste of her movements. "No, the door was locked and Just as I left it last night with the key still on the inside. He could not have gone up higher than the head of the basement stair. I just hap paned to remember that I had left a broom down here yesterday, and when I came down after it I noticed this door right away. Who on earth do you suppose could have done it?" She was wringing her hands weakly, the perspiration of nervousness popping from her forehead. Being in total darkness myself, I tmadeno attempt to enlighten her as I carefully examined the place. Out side of the scanty supply of coal that remained from last winter's supply th# basement contained little save an acndiulation of odds and ends and as eld chest of mine that contained arttlles that I had stored away years efore. However, I still retained the y to it, and I now opened it and a careful inspection of its in So far as I could discover by t !artit:iy the articles within *ine. ulatouched since f had" ' laced them there, and satisfied A that point I shut and locked it again without having as yet received the faintest ray of light to assist my search. I must have spent at least half an hour in my examination of the place and my questions of the house keeper, but at the end of that time was compelled to give up with abso lately nothing learned that I had not known to start with. Another thing that perplexed me somewhat was as to whether or not I should inform my mntle of this new crime. I did not see that anything would be gained by telling him, while it would most cer tainly agitate him and lead to further 00tbursts; therefore I decided to leave him in ignorance of it and re quested Mrs. Tebbets to do the same. I also decided to see LeDuc and get hls opinion on the matter, and repair ItI the outraged doors as best I could with hammer, boards and nails, and toothing the housekeeper by my as altSnces that the incident was a triv ialy to which she need pay no further Attention, I went upstairs and sat down to my breakfast with Uncle Ab tR as usual. But an hour later when I had reached my office I telephoned the detective with the request that he moot me, at the noon hour. He readily rs0anted and I then went about my dall work. lHe met me at luncheon and I ex Plained the matter to him without relitde. He looked serious minded I finished. "What do you think of t," I asked. In his abstraction he delayed his reply for perhaps 30 sec -lds. ''t seems peculiar. But I am more iitlned to consider It as a separate -ld distinct offence rather than as 5 aftermath of the original happen iag, Purther than that I don't be Ihae I hav. any theory to advance as let However, it may all come out in the final solution, provided there is 0"e, and in the meantime I would dis ,-s it from my mind if I were you. "You find that difficult. you may ook upon it in this light. If I re member, we had a sharp shower last nht--the thunder awoke me. It is at nhreasonable to assume that some moYards prowler caught in the Strm may have forced his way in edely to secure a dry nest in which to leep*" While I did not take much Stock in that explanation and so in formed him, I added that being in a receptive mood I would file it in my ~ain for futur reference, and then e interrogating him as to his own matement since we had last fore the ered. But when it came to that he had little to say and at first that disinclined to part with even ha Later on as we ate, however, ecame a trifle more communi E tb" Under the warming influence Stobacco and coffee he began to ilte moestsfactory replies to Iny lngs, but if he had learned any Ot of •mportance he did not betray fl ttce tho day upon which he had taken an active interest in the case and I had heard his low whistle at the mention of Mackay's name, curi osity had filled my mind as to what his researches would be in that dI rection. 1. had gone to Mrs. Dace's with the mention of LeDuc's name that she might understand why I had repeated to him conversations which had occurred between herself and myself, that she might not feel that I had tattle-taled our private talks without explaining the reason to her. But though I had paved the way by which he might have had a confiden tial business chat with her, if he had availed himself of the opportunity it had not come to my knowledge. That LeDuc might now have full informa tion of what I had done and feel at liberty to interview her should he desire,. I now told him of my talk upon the subject with her; telling him that she had denied absolutely having repeated my half confidences to any one, and had seemed to be amused at the idea that Janet was anything more or less than an automaton. This in formation he received without com ment beyond the paradoxial remark that he could not remember that he had forgotten anything. "What elsie have you got to tell me?" I urged in finishing. He closed his lips so tightly around his cigar that it re sembled a nail driven into a crack and appeared to be filling himself to his toes with smoke as he reflected. Presently he expelled the smoke from his mouth after the manner of a nur sery dragon. "I don't know whether I am acting wisely or not, but under your promise to divulge nothing you may learn from me without my consent I am go ing to risk it. I know that you be lieve in your cousin Bruce's honesty." "Implicity." "But do you happen to know that he has somehow or other managed to come into active control of enough money to resume his operations on 'change on a rather liberal scale?" he queried with a thin smile. I was as tonished and told him so. "Well, he has," he pursued assert ively. "Furthermore, he is carrying on his operations under some name which does not sound at all like his own. You looK surprised. That's the way I felt when I first found this out." I ruminated. "But certainly he would not be fool ,enough to openly' and notoriously ani- under our very noses begin the use of money dishon estly obtained almost the day after the commission of a crime which he knows he has not absolved himself of?" I cried. LeDuc looked at me queerly. "That is what almost any one would think under first impulse. But when you are dealing with criminals you must remember that they do not reason and act just as do honest men. When a sane man takes his life and liberty in his hand and commits a desperate crime, he is df necessity more or less regardless of conse quences, as well as being driven by strong pressure. And in nearly all cases it is because of this reckless ness that we catch him. He may commit the crime itself with a skill and caution that is almost more than human, yet the next day is apt to go out and do something so foolish that it instantly attracts attention to him. For instance, having had no money before, he now begins to spend it lavishly; or becoming under the in fluence of liquor boast or let things drop that sound queer. If it were not for these peculiarities of the criminal make up, and the fact that he general ly makes a confident of some woman who betrays him, the road of the criminal would be comparatively safe and that of the detective an unhappy one." "But I cannot believe that there is anything crooked about Bruce. De ceit is foreign to his whole nature." My friend thrust one hand in his pocket. "Does he ever smoke cigarettes?" he smiled. "Frequently." "Any particular brand?" I paused to reflect. "I think so. As I remember, those that I have seen were invariably a Turkish abomina tion with a serrated gilt band for a mouthpiece. What is your reason for asking me that?" He withdrew his hand from beneath the table and tossed a half-smoked specimen of the species which I had been describing on the table before me. I Rooked at him inquiringly. "I found that in the hallway of your house near the closet where your uncle had been confined. Per haps you noticed at the time that I picked up something which I did not show you." Silently I sat trying to read his 1 blank eyes. But as for divining what lay behind them I might as well have gazed at windows back of which the shades were drawn. CHAPTER Xiil,. Directly after this seance with Le- I Due the stock which I had margined t began that series of kangaroo leaps upward which will never be forgotten by those, who by reason of their in- I terest, watched the marvel. I probably r called my broker up not less than half I a dozen times a day during this I period, and it was seldom Indeed that his last quotation was not higher than the one of say half an hour before. It went darting skyward in the eccentric tig-zags with which a kite mounts in a gale, and within a fortnight -I found myself richer by thousands added to thousands. The glittering heights of fortune seemingly hung close over me; the end of the rainbow with its great bag of gold was within mathe matical striking distance; and taking greater chances than ever for the sake of g:reater gains, I plunged wild ly as I restaked my winnings on every throw. And day by day the Midas touch was mine and I wofi, won, won. Then grown money reckless by my con stant success, I permitted myself anoth er piece of extravagance for the allure ment of the woman I loved and the greater opportunities it would give me to be with her. I bought a handsome motor car upon which I had had my eyes for some time, housing it in a public garage and telling nobody but her that I had purchased it. I took Mrs. Dace out on the first evening after I had mastered my new acquirement for a long ride country ward. The weather was ideal, the roads in splendid condition and we spe-I along to the low whir of the machine with the soft night air fan ning our faces. It had long been un derstood between us that she was to carefully guard all my confidences. and I kept few things from her. Ex ultantly I spoke of my increasing wealth and magnificent prospects. Her arm slipped under mine. "Good, good," she cried with a schoolgirl's enthusiasm. "I congratu late you from the bottom of my heart. I It makes" me happy to know about it. I told you that I should exercise my sorcery to command your success. When you win I feel that I have won also." Her tacit confession that she con sidered herself as a close partner of mine, and that she was backing me to the winning of a prize which we should share together in the long time to come, combined with the de licious sense of comradeship awaken ed by her arm pressure, became as an intoxicant. In that moment I would have pawned my soul to have pos sessed her. I threw my arms about her and held her to my breast almost fiercely. "My God, how I love you, Matie. Tell me that you will marry me-you must," I cried, as I found her lips and drained them as a drunkard drains his cup. Her arm hung upon my shoulder; her upturned lips seem ed to be clinging to mine; I could feel the ebb and swell of her bosom so closely was she drawn to me, and in that position I held her until a slight warning swerve of the machine temporarily restored my sanity. I quickly removed my right arm and clutched the wheel, but still kept the other around her waist as I begged her in the name of my great passion to make me the happiest ma'n on earth by her answer. Impassion edly I recalled to her my long nights and days of torture when I was half sick with despair of ever possessing her. For the first time since our ac "Furthermore, He Is Carrying on His Operations Under Some Name Which Does Not Sound at All Like His Own." quaintance began she was visibly agitated by my pleadings. "You say that you love me with all this great love and tell me that I must answer your question, Tom, dear," she said very softly. "Very well, I will answer you. I will marry you upon one condition." "And that?" I cried wildly, feeling myself grow weak in the suspense. "That you will not Importune nme now to fix the date. You must leave that entirely to my discretion. When I think the right time has come I will manage in some way to let you know that I am ready. Until then you must be patient with me like the dear boy that you have always been." "Then we are really-engaged?" I gasped It out with the unbelief of one who by a seeming miracle sees the dead restored to life. She patted my cheek. "You may so consider us if you wish-under that condition. But it must for the time being remain strictly our secret." Half doubting that I was still of this earth I steered onward as in a trance. Then. unless my senses were tricking me, this most glorio . of women was to become my clos m panion through all the days to come; the one whose head should rest upon my shoulder through the long nights; whose bosom should pillow my face in hours of weariness; who should be my wife, the mother of my children. My eyes filled with the moisture of happiness and through the mist the chalky roadway blurred before me. A feeling almost of awe filled my soul. Never again will such a great thank fulness possess me, and silently I blessed God that in his infinite good ness he had permitted me to be born. In front of an out-of-doors garden frequented by the better class we stopped and dismounted. Long lines of motor cars and carriages extended away on either side, and the music of an European orchestra floated over the walls of the enclosure. We passed through the palm-lined entrance and took our seats at a table beneath a tree whose low hanging limbs almost brushed it. A thousand well-dressed people were eating and drinking around us as they idly chatted or listen ed to the music. It was the soul of Beethoven throbbing in our ears out of his grave. I ordered champagne in honor of our bethrothal. I seemed to be floating in the air. All weight, all consciousness of the physical left me, and the music was ethereal vibrations wafted to me from infinite distance. I could only liken ry sensations to those of one occa sion long before when feeling badly I had by mistake taken a slight over dose of a drug, and for some hours thereafter had soared amongst the clouds in an ecstasy which the earthly born are incapable of experiencing ex cept through the wizardry of the chemist. Her hand lay idly upon the table close beside mine, and with a quick glance around to make sure that no one was observing us I cov ered it with my own. "The ring, sweetheart, you shall have tomorrow. During my day dreams I have some times amused myself by looking at them in the diamond shops as in my imagination I selected one for you. And only the other day I found the one you s.hall have. It is flawless; as perfect in its beauty as a gem as as you are as a woman. In the un countable centuries of the past when the world was being molded this stone was created for you, and yours it shall by. But you must loan me one of yours for a few days that I may have it fitted to you." 'She laiighed fa4" i low, delicious way as I slipped a diamond from her inger. "Of course, I shall be proud to wear it-proud and- happy. But please don't be too extravagant, Tom. Remember I do not want you to go to extremes," she cautioned. In my then state of mind money was but glittering dross, worthless except in its power to bring her pleasure. Had I possessed a million I would have poured it over her as prodigally as Bruce deluged Clare with roses. "And of course the car is yours," I went on with the recklessness of a Croesus. "I will so instruct them at the garage, and when you wish rt you will have but to telephone and have it brought to you." It was a present made under the impulse of the mo ment and absolutely without thought of the future; bestowed as a child in a spontaneous outburst of generosi ty and affection thrusts his most priceless toys into she hands of a "And of Course the Car Is Yours," I Went on With the Recklessness of a Croesus. playmate. She looked up at me with a start. "Do you really mean to give it to me, dearest?" she inquired with a quick intake of her breath. "Dearest!" The word ran through me like wine. My clasp tightened around the warm hand I held and my reason ran riot. "I most certainly do. I bought it merely to please you. Perhaps you had better keep it at the Arcadia where it will be handy for us on pleasant evenings." She leaned forward and looked at me, her mag nificent eyes glowing softly. "You are very good to me-better than I deserve," she murmured in a momentary lull of the music. "I shall not tell you how much I appreciate your generosity; I shall show you instead." Nothing but the presence of the crowd restrained me from repeat ing my physical demonstration of the hour before. "And I will always be goi "to you, and you will be happy with me, won't you?" I breathed, full of anxiety. Her long lashes fell until they swept her cheeks and screened the royal blue eyes from mine. "I think so-given certain condi tions." "And those?" She looked at me again, smiling now. "If we should be married, Tom, dear, I should demand nearly all your time as my own. I should want you nearly always where I could reach out my hand and touch you. That privilege you could not grant me if you were engaged in some occupation which demanded much of your phyis ical attention. Also, in order to make me contented, you would have to be able to take me where I wanted to go and at such times as I cared to be there. I don't care for Italy in the summer and I despise St. Petersburg in winter. Furthermore, we both love the beautiful things of this world, its flowers, its music and its luxuries, and could we enjoy them together I be lieve that I would be a happy woman. But I don't believe that we would ever.be content were we tied down to a fiat in a narrbw street. Therefore, I want you to understand me, dear. If you wish our lives to be rich and filled with the joys of living you must succeed. And in this age success means money. Having made your for tune the world will cheerfully admit that you have brains, and a man who at your age has achieved wealth and the consequent respect of the world has few other difficulties to over come. These are the reasons why I so earnestly beseech you to make the most of your opportunities now that you are well on the road which leads to all that both of us crave. Whip your talents and courage to the uttermost; ride them mercilessly, but wisely and with patience." I followed her quickly and anxious ly. "But suppose, dearest, that I should be unfortunate; suppose through some financial cataclysm which man is as unable to forsee as he is to prevent I should become ruined and left dependent upon what I could earn by work. Would you then love me any the less?" She smoothed the rose upon her bosom, her eyes falling. "I have not meant to intimate that life in a cottage would make me love you the less. Neither would I expect you to believe me if I said that it would have a tendency to make me love you the more. Anyway, I uo not feel that such an existence is essen tial to my happiness, which you say is of the utmost solicitude to you. Therefore, I mention these things not as a condition to govern our future relations, but as incentives for you to strain yourself to your best efforts as though you were fighting for your life; to overlook nothing which you may turn to your advantage; to think; to act; to succeed-succeed. I am fonder of you than of any other man for many reasons. You have been devoted to me and believe in me; you are strong and handsome and have an alert mind. But to make our life long happiness assured you must lift us above the sordid vexations of the world. We are both hopeful and am bitious, and I doubt if we could be content should we have to give up our ideals for commonplaces. I do not say that I should not love you in ad versity, but I abhor it and I know that our lives would be greatly marred if you had to slave for me and I had to cook for you. I am speaking frankly to you as my prospective husband. For our mutual happiness you must win." The realization of all this had rid den me like an old man of the sea from almost the beginning of my ac quaintance with her, and it was be cause of its realrz.tion that I had played so de _erate. Andu now con frinted so `vividly` by ' toi bicoselostx-. ness that she also realized it I fell from the clouds like a plummet to solid earth again. Once more I sat before her a normal human being, conscious that I had weight and much of it, and that instead of floating ideal istically I must tread the earth like any other man. The dream faded and grim actuality took its place. In stead of soaring to the glittering mountain peak in eagle-like flight I must climb there. Yet by abandoning the winding and beaten roads I could short cut it over the cliffs and the journey would not be long. I would offset the added danger of the bee-line by courage and skill. I would leave the plodders to the longer, safer road as I mounted steadily up the preci pices while they wandered through the canyons in their gradual ascent. I set my teeth as I swore to myself that I should not fall. I do not be lieve that any man was more coldly determined to win, no matter the dan ger or difficulty, than P was that mo Sment. I emptied the remainder of the contents of my wine glass upon the gravel at my feet and saw faint wonder come creeping into her face as she watched. I stiffened my shoul ders and sat erect in my chair. "I am glad that you spoke to me as you did. You have awakened me to a fuller realization that I have no right to ask you to entrust yourself to my keeping until I have proven that with my arms around you, you will be protected from the vulgarities and petty troubles of life as a woman of your kind should be protected. Therefore until I have proven this my wine glass shall remain turned down." She clapped her hands soft ly and picked up her own glass by its reed-like stem. "Bravo. I give you my moral sup port by following your good example." She pushed it, half filled, to one side as I expostulated. "But it is not necessary that you should deny yourself simply because I do. Yours is not the struggle, it is but the waiting." Her hand slid over mine in a fleeting caress. (TO BE CONTINUED.) An Eskimo's Dwelling. We do not look for any great amount of inventive genius among the Esqul maus, but for years they have em ployed a rather complete respirator, used in the preparation and taking of a vapor bath, as a means of protection from the dense smoke. This Esqul mau respirator is a little basket woven of twisted strands of fine grass. It is placed with its shallow side against the mouth, and a wooadn peg, which arises from the center of the basket, is held between the teeth. For this purpose water is evaporated over a big fire in a very low hut, which is tightly closed to keep in the heat. In this stifling atmosphere the employ. ment of a respirator is absolutely neo essary. Dinner Adventures Young Mrs. Wilton hurried guiltilly through the dusk. This was the third time within a week that she had at* tended a reception and remained so long that her conscience, if not her husband, reproached her. "I'll stay at home tomorrow and get up a regular dinner, frills and aH," she promised herself, penitently. The dining room clock chimed half past 5 as she opened her door. There was no time to change her dress, so, slipping a big apron over her finery, she flew into the kitchen. There she put on the kettle, turned the heat on full blast under the oven and in ten minutes more was flopping biscuits into buttered pans. She flew in and out of the kitchen and the dining room with the beautio ful quickness and sureness that some times comes as a result of a happy, restful, worry free day. She felt somehow that dinner would be good, even though it was hurriedly pre pared. It was. The steak was broiled to perfection, the biscuits were so flaky that even Mrs. Wilton was astounded. The coffee had percolated itself into some sort of nectar. "Say, young lady," Wilton remark ed as he buttered his fiftlf biscuit, "this is a dinner that must have been inspired. Why--" helping himself to more steak and mushrooms, "It's a regular poem!" "Oh, this isn't what I call a regular dinner," declared Mrs. Wilton, dim pling. "I got in rather late from Mrs. Bentley's this afternoon and so I didn't fuss. But tomorrow we are going to have a dinner that will take your breath away. I have the outline of it already in my mind, and you may bring that Mr. Ridgely home with you if you want to." "Well, if you can beat this dinner you're a wonder. Of course, I'll bring Ridgely. I've ben advising him to get married when he's kicked about boarding house meals, and a meal like this one will certainly clinch my arguments." Directly after ,Wilton's departure the next morning Mrs. Wilton sat down and put the outline of the din ner on paper. Everything worked out so smoothly and looked so well when written down that she felt as if the dinner was already half prepared. Re- raind was easy when she plck ed ru one fcs th e sarv mwf T atories 4e1 st ng. ' W e Aa* p : ly she turned from thim hbe 4aco ered that It was too late to get sev eral of the dinner essentials in time for them to be prepared properly. With a good deal of reluctance she rearranged the dinner. As she was on her way to the telephone to order the new dinner materials the door opened and Mary Powers ran in, daz zling in her bridal finery and fresh from a European honeymoon. The sunny afternoon melted away and when Mary Powers had vanished young Mrs. Wilton stood in the mid dle of the floor and an awful forebod ing flooded her soul. She had forgot ten for the second time to order the makings of that dinner! One wild look at the clock told her that the last delivery boy had gone on his last round. There wasn't even time for her to dress and run out aft er the necessary things. A sick fear came upon her and she whispered hoarsely: "There's not a thing in the house!" Her feet were dead weights, her head was incapable of thought and her hands moved incessantly in mad dening purposelessness. Away up on the emergency shelf, where in a spirit of joking security her husband had put them, was the proverbial can of salmon and the pound of prunes. In the icebox were four sad little chops. And she baked biscuits, sad little biscuits, and acake, a pitiful-looking cake. It was then past dinner time. She arranged this harrowing feast, turned the lights low and waited. Then an hour that seemed eternity had slipped away and her head was throbbing like a dynamo the door opened gently and' a conscience stricken Wilton appeared--alone. "Where's Mr. Ridaelv?" asked Mrs. Wilton in a far-away voice. "Why, you see, Bess, I-well, I'm frightfully sorry that I forgot about your magnificent spread tonight, but I had an out-of-town caller--Cheney, you know, my best customer-and I forgot about time. We missed my regular train, and Cheney couldn't stay over, so I didn't try to get home. We had supper in a restaurant. I'm awfully sorry, girl, but--- " Mrs. Wilton began to clear the ta' ble with cheerful rapidity. 'Never mind," she said, "I worked pretty hard over this dinner, but it can't exactly be called an inspired re past." Man and the Rat. Man and the rat go everywhere and eat everything. They are the two creatures that dwell in houses and travel in ships. Each drives its other rivals to the wall, but neither, except locally and for brief periods, has ever come near to exterminating the other. Ths use of cement is greatly facilitat ing the fight going on against the rats.