The review. [volume], February 03, 1916, Image 3

About The review. [volume] (High Point, N.C.) 1908-19??

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THE REVIEW, HIGH POINT, NORTH CAROLINA
. 1 . ' t . '- ... '
Qh3
COIN
FroniKe5cerario
Novelized From the Motion Picture Drama of the Same Name. Produced by tne
Universal Film Manufacturing Company. '
SYNOPSIS.
4
Kitty Gray, ne-wspaper woman, finds In
a curio shop half of a broken coin, the
mutilated Inscription on which arouses
her curiosity and leads her, at the order
of her managing editor, to go to the prin
cipality of Gretzhoffen to piece out the
story suggested by the inscription. She is
followed, and on arrival in Gretzhoffen
her adventures while chasing the secret
of the broken coin begin.
SEVENTEENTH INSTALLMENT
CHAPTER LX.
The Plotters of Grahoffen.
In the court of, Grahoffen, meantime,
mixed sensations occupied the minds
of those responsible for the disappear
ance of Kitty Gray and her servant,
Roleau. Old Cortislaw and his re
doubtable aid, Count Sachio, foregath
ered in the palace rooms immediately
following the acts which had meant
the forced deportation.
"She has gone, then, Sachio?" de
manded the king.
"Without a doubt, your majesty! I
myself from a distance saw the two
hoisted inboard in freight nets as so
many cattle. They went into the hold
of the vessel beyond any question
whether or not they come out again
is their concern, not ours!"
"I am not so sure," said the old
king thoughtfully, "not so sure. True,
we have rid ourselves of potential
trouble, but at the same time we have
deprived ourselves of potential aid in
questions not yet solved. They might
have been useful, perhaps "
"You mean the girl?"
"Yes. She has a mind, be sure of
that. But what she might have done
of use to us we may no longer ask
with pftJfit she now is beyond our re
call. That is only as to her knowl
edge, whatever it may have been, of
the broken coin. As to this other enig
ma, this scrap of paper, which mayjor
may not be connected therewith who
knows? I declare, I am like a horse
In the dark ready to shy at any such
trifle as a scrap of paper blowing on
the Wind."
"We still have it, your majesty we
took it from tier.' x
"Yes, but when we separate the two
the scrap of paper and the scrap of a
girl what do we actually accomplish?
We have only a larger secret left, a
deeper mystery. Curses on all women,
anyhow! They only make us trouble.
Mysterious themselves, they solve no
mysteries. The best I hope for yonder
traveler is that she sinks at sea. I
swear, sometimes our little kingdom
bids fair to sink in Its own waves of
trouble."
"Well, now, your majesty," said
Sachio, who disliked this discontent
of his sovereign,; at no time safe for
any courtier, "let us see what we o'ur
selves may be able to do in solution of
this mystery which has been be
queathed us. Surely our minds are as
good as those of a rattle-brained girl
from America."
"Hum it may be true. What do
you propose, at least?"
"Why, your majesty, that is obvious.
What we must do is to get into our
hands the other half of this scrap of
paper. It lies still somewhere over in
Gretzhoffen, along with the other half
of the Gretzhoffen coin."
"Yes, along with the missing half
of that coin, also! They hold -the key,
or half of it, that is true. And yet we
hold as much as they half of the
answer. Each is complement of the
other. That is to say, a stalemate, a
drawn game there is never profit In
any such."
"Stay, your majesty, let us see rur
ther before we call the game done.
Surely our chances outweigh theirs,
for we have a monarch to guide us
who has brains and courage. I count
myself, also, as worth an equal bal
ance with Count Frederick, their
strongest man. And how shall we es
timate yonder drunken, worthless, pup
pet king of theirs how shall he stand
in comparison with ours?"
Sachio bowed deeply. His flattery
was not without its effect on the old
king, who smiled his approval.
"My dear Sachio, whenever I need
comfort you have it at hand!" ex
claimed he. "Well, then, what fur
ther may we plan against them? How
may we loose their hold upon these se
crets which perplex and menace us
so much?"
"Why, this: That we profess a new
and profound friendship for Michael.
He will be but too glad to listen to our
proposition, be sure of that."
"Suppose we may be assured of
that- what then?"
"He would be willing to do us some
little favor if it caused him but little
trouble to erant it. He looks on us &a f
defeated. Let us encourage him t
play the role of the grand Caesar, able
to be gracious, to be magnanimous, to
a fallen foe."
"Good go on I see the point."
"So we ask of that weak mind some
thing which his mere sloth will dis
pose him to grant vus nothing much
only the ownership of a worthless
bit of paper. He does not know its
value perhaps he does not know of
lUexistencft" '
BROKEN
Jw EMERSON
GRACE CUNARD
COPyRlGHF. 95. & WPIOHT A.FWTTeft5CV
"But if he knows nothing whatever
of that scrap of paper if he never
heard of it"
"AH the more he will be willing to
part with it if we ourselves can find
it. As to that, we do not know. This
is but a drag-net sort of move on our
part, but it may take some fish who
knows?"
"Good! Then what is our next
move, as you perceive it?"
"'Why, let us make a cautious move
to feel out their point as a fencer
tests his adversary's wrist, to feel his
strength at the hilt. Let us send a
note of friendship to Michael and ask
him if it be not better that these two
little kingdoms, separated by so nar
row a stretch of land, should not
henceforth meet in harmony, and
no longer join in armed encounters.
Let us point out to him that there are
other nations greater than either of
us or both of us which perhaps
some time may- look our way. Let us
show him the virtue of an alliance be
tween these two kingdoms. Let us
play upon his fears, his vanity, his
weakness, until we have convinced
him that friendship with us is a thing
desirable for him. Let us ask good
Michael if he is not graciously dis
posed to be our friend today to be
our magnanimous and powerful
friend!"
Sachio grinned broadly at his own
irony, and his monarch gave vent to
a loud laugh, his gray beard curling
at the thought of his courtier's cun
ning as well as his loyalty to his own
king.
"Excellent! Sachio, excellent!", he
exclaimed. "Nor do I doubt the suc
cess of this thing as you plan it, if
you yourself shall carry it forward.
Do you then write that humble mis
sive that you suggest do you your
self ask Michael to be graciously gen
erous to a weak and pleading friend!
Ha! ha! Sachio, what next lies on
the board for us?"
"Why, then, your majesty, we are
alongside the fence that lies between
us. We do not know how far i may
be until we come to a gate or a gap,
but sometimes there will be a gate or
a gap, through which we may pass.
In some way I doubt not, I and others
may perhaps gain access to the palace
of Gretzhoffen. That gives us our
footing. As for them, they sleep and
revel. As for us, we act. It is the
man of action who succeeds. Let
them dream we will act."
"Your counsels jump with my own,
my dear Sachio," said Cortislaw. "I
have small use for the man who
dreams or the man who waits. It
shall be as you say. A test of this at
least cannot harm us, and may prove
of extreme value. Go forward with it
then, as you have said."
CHAPTER LXI.,
The Discovery.
The two kingdoms now hung on the
fate of two refugees, two castaways,
themselves forlorn and hopeless. Even
as Grahoffen's king and its leading
man of affairs pondered the absence
of these two. so likewise the kingdom
of Gretzhoffen was concerned in their
absence, in their welfare, in their fu
ture, in their return.
Count,' Frederick stood on the deck
of the Prinz Adler liner and fronted
the captain of that vessel, who was
severe in his resentment of the lib
erties he deemed to have been taken
with himself and his ship.
"I tell you," said he, "I have noth
ing to do with your little war here.
I am neutral I am a barrier in the
open trade of the open sea. My gov
ernment will demand reparation for
this insult to our flag."
"Sir," said Count Frederick, "your
government be damned! I will take
my chances with your government.
Of what use will your government be
to you if we blow your ship out of
the water?"
"You threaten me, then?"
"No, I do not deal in threats. I
tell you that I know the persons whom
I mentioned are on this ship. I mean
to take them off."
"And I tell you again that there are
no such passengers on my ship. The
ship's lists show all who have sailed
with us. You may look for yourself
examine our books all you like. Do
You take us for pirates are we be
yond all responsibilities?"
"I do not call you pirates," said
Count Frederick, calmly. "I only call
you dupes. I believe you have been
deceived. You are net in possession
ofvall the facts. My own men have
told me that these perspns were to
be smuggled aboard the ship."
"Heiliger Gott!" mused the captain.
"What is this that has been under
taken here? I never discovered it.
Who and what are these persons if
there be indeed any such aboard?"
"Two, as I said. One is a man of
small rank, no more than a faithful
servant, powerful and resourceful
himself, once , loyal in my own serv
ice, now loyal in that of his mistress."
"And she the other?" - 1
Tea, a young American of youth
and much beauty. She, was Jn this
country on business of her own. With
out plan she became involved in af
fairs between these two monarchs.
She has been the victim of evil for
tune, not through fault of her own.
Now, I am telling you the truth since
I have gained my purpose of an audi
ence with you. You may. rely upon
what I have said, captain. This is the
truth, so far as I know it."
"Then why not let them sail for
their own country if she has been in
jured here why not let her go back to
her own country? I am booked for
New York. If that be a city of her
native land, why not that port as well
as any other? And how shall I know
your own motives?" '
Count Frederick paused in thought
at this. "True that is true," said he.
"Very well, we will search your ship.
When we find the young woman let
her decide what she wishes to do. If
she says she wishes to go back to her
home, I will not prevent It. But if
she be asked to go back against her
will, then I shall take her with me,
no matter at what cost. At least she
should have the choice of decision
she should not be stowed aboard like
a dumb beast with no volition of her
own."
"We are quite at one as to that,"
assented the captain. "Good, we will
search the ship I am convinced we
shall not find these persons in any
of the cabins."
"Stay," he added an instant later,
"I recall that a short time back there
was complaint of noises below decks!
I sent some men to look into that.
Where are they?"
He pressed a bell and soon one of
his assistant officers came.
"Go, bring me the men I sent to ex
amine the cargo a while ago. There
was some talk of a noise as of loose
animals in the hold."
After a time the officer returned,
pushing before him two seamen. They
were the same who had been dis
patched on the errand mentioned. But
They Rose Aftr an Agonizing
they were not now as they had ben
then. Both bore marks of conflict,
and of conflict which had not gone al
together to their favor.
"How, now, you dogs?" cried the
captain. "What's wrong with you?
Have you been fighting among your
selves?" One, quicker witted than the other,
gave his assent to this at once. The
second was not so fortunate.
" 'Twas the animals," said he, with
cunning not quite equal to the issue.
"What? You disagree, then?" said
the captain. "What does this mean,
fellows? Animals? What animals?
Lions? tigers? I did not know we
carried such!"
The sailor hung his head, and the
captain's suspicions grew.
"You are covering up ' something
here. Speak, you ruffians, and speak
the truth."
"Captain," began the man once
more, "we are innocent. But we found
two stowaways below, and thinking to
bring them up, they fell upon us and
beat us a man and a woman."
"How did they get aboard where
are they then who are they?"
"They must have come in with the
freight by the lift from the dock, cap
tain. The young woman she is beau
tiful and as you say, she is like a
tiger. As to the man, yes, he was like
a lion. They fought us, you see."
"Where are they now, spitzbuben,
ruffians?"
The speaker paled suddenly. "They
are there in the hold," he said.
"Lead us to them then."
They turned to find their way to the
lower portions of the ship, but even as
they did so they met an interruption.
An agitated man, grimy and dirty, in
oil-stained clothing, came running to
wards the captain's room none less
than the chief engineer of the vessel,
who obviously had been engaged in
commoner duties than - naturally be
longed to him. -f
"Captain quick!" he exclaimed.
"There is. trouble .with the engines."
"What's wrong?" inquired the ship's
master. ;
. "The right-hand tubular has gone
bad," exclaimed the engineer. "She
has been pounding like a million ham
mers. The water is low, and the in
take's clogged. Something's wrong
I cannot tell what. We have tried to
shut her off and can't. The boiler may
go at any minute."
"Explode?" inquired the captain
calmly.
The engineer could only nod.
"Stay," called Frederick at this
Juncture." "Let the engineer go back
to his work. Let us first find the help
less persons below. If danger impend
let us bring them up to have their
chance for safety."
The captain, a gallant man withal,
turned to him and nodded grimly. "Go
back to your post, Miller," he said to
the engineer. "We will join you pres
ently." He himself led the way to the. lift
which led to the lower decks and the
hatchway which covered the ladders
into the ship's hold.
They found themselves at last deep
in the bowels of the vessel, among
the bales and casks of the cargo,
where for a time all, was darkness and
'mystery. But as they hurried here
and there, commanding the guidance
of the two recreant seamen and cast
ing the rays of their lights hither and
yon, at last they saw a trussed-up
bundle behind a bale of goods which
seemed to have some human sem
blance. It was Roleau. Frederick
himself was first at his side. He bent
over him, freed him, and after a time
revived him.
"Monsieur- your excellency!" said
he at length. "It is you."
"Where is she?" demanded Freder
ick. "Was she here?".
"I have known nothing for some
time, it seems. Yet she was here, yes
she is gone, I know not where."
Frederick left him to continue his
Instant Which Seemed Death Itself.
hurried search in the confused freight
age of the ship's hold. At last he
found that which he sought.
She tried feebly to raise herself as
she heard footsteps, heard a voice she
knew to be that of her friend.
"Mademoiselle thank God!" was all
Count -Frederick could say.
"It is you, then?" was her reply.
"What has happened? Why are you
here?" -
"I am here, my dear mademoiselle,
in the justice of the immortal gods
to save, you to. care for you. I heard
of the plot against you. My own boat
lies alongside I have come. I am here
to take you from this ship, if so you
wish. Come then, let us hasten. There
is scant time."
They all crowded now to the lad
ders up from the hold, and, rapidly as
they might, found tb,eir way back to
the upper deck. There came confu
sion, noise, trampling, shouts, sounds
not ordinary at this stage of the voy
age of a vessel putting out to sea. The
passengers themselves suspected
something to be wrong. They crowd
ed now about the captain excitedly, ex
postulating. The master of the ship
pushed them aside.
"Well, Miller," he demanded again
of the oil-stained engineer who hurried
up, "what is it?"
"It may be a minute, sir or less!"
In an instant they were face to face
with the ultimate peril of the seas
fire, explosion on shipboard.
There came from below that sound
which had been expected, dreaded a
muffled, heavy roar,, comparable to
nothing in the world in terrifying qual
ity at such a time as this. The ship
so lately, safe and strong beneath them
all, nowtrembled. Midway her decks
rose, spread apart, fell. A cloud of
blinding white steam rolled from the
engine rooms, stifling and scalding all
within its way. Cries of anguish came
from below decks, cries of despair. To
Jiese were added now the far more
numerous cries of those In mortal ter
ror. Obedient to their orders for a time,
the crew held to their posts. The boats
were lowered one after another. , Yet
into each there piled a senseless mass
of packed humanity, overcfowding and
rendering it useless as it reached the
surface of the sea.
Children and women and strong men
fought now for a place in the last of
the boats. Discipline broke and failed.
What had been a happy party of trav
elers was now a 'disorganized mob.
His arms supporting Kitty on one
side, those of Roleau on the other,
Count Frederick did his best to reach
the rail. Useless, hopeless! They were
forced back time and again.
"Jump!" cried Frederick at last.
"Jump! We will swim for it. We
must take the last chance."
The look on the face of the girl at
his side was one in part of despair,
but more of trust. Unhesitatingly the
three sprang together.
The sea closed over them. They rose
after an agonized Instant which
seemed death itself rose but to see
the giant ship which had carried them
raise her bows aloft, shiver and
tremble, and slowly slide back and
down beneath the waves. In the whirl
pool which marked the spot they were
but little human units, floating as best
they might among scores and hun
dreds of others.
"This way!" cried Frederick, and he
and Roleau aided Kitty to a floating
piece of wreckage. But others saw it
also. Time and again they were
fought back from it as others strong
er or more remorseless claimed it as
their own.
In all this commotion of shouting
and struggling men, of wailing wom
en, of flailing arms and beating fists,
Frederick and Roleau lost sight of
Kitty at last she had gone, they knew
not where, in that chaos of the sea.
"Where is she?" demanded Fred
erick weakly, himself well-nigh spent.
"Which way?"
"I know not," gasped Roleau, him
self in as bad case as the other. "I
cannot tell, but fear that she is gone."
They swam about for a time in
search, but could not make out the
whereabout of her whom they sought;
then they hoisted themselves one on
each side of a floating spar and rested.
"Allow me, excellency," said Roleau,
and flung across the end of his belt.
"Let us lash fast. I cannot hold much
longer."
Spent and hopeless, they rested as
they might and allowed fate to i have
its way with them.
"Our boat the yacht, excellency,"
exclaimed Roleau at length. "Where
is she the vessel which brought you
out?" Frederick could only shake his head.
"Gone," said he. "I doubt not she was
scuttled by the heavy ironwork blown
out by the explosion. There is no
hope."
CHAPTER LXI I.
Marooned.
The vessel when blown up was well
on her way with the favoring winds
which she sought, which in ordinary
course would have carried her out into
the Mediterranean.
How Count Frederick and Roleau
lived the"y scarcely knew. Happily the
water at that latitude was not cold,
and the day was one of calm.
"Roleau, she has perished!" mur
mured Count Frederick. "She is gone.
Let me, too, perish then, for I have
never been able to say that which I
should have said. I have had no op
portunity to expiate many things
which I have done."
"As well die now as any time," said
Roleau.
Wind and wave carried these two
far they knew not how far, and had
no means of guessing, for they could
not tell how long a time had passed
since the explosion which had sunk
the ship. They knew not which way
to look for land, if land there might
be. It was by mere chance that at
one moment, as they flung high on the
crest of the wave, Count Frederick
saw, many hours after the wrecking
of the ship, something which caused
him to give an exclamation of surprise.
"Roleau," he exclaimed. "There is
land ahead, I believe!"
"Look!" said Count Frederick at
length. "They are coming out to us."
Surely enough, even from where
they were they could see dark forms
running here and there, could see the
launching of a boat, could see it com
ing on, rising and falling on the waves.
At length the craft came alongside,
manned by strange, swarthy natives,
whose speech they did not know, yet
who seemed friendly enough withal
to serve as rescuers for them. With
small ceremony they were hauled on
board, and the boat, turning, made
way back again to the shore ahead.
" Tis an island, Roleau," said Fred
erick, after a moment spent in exam
ination. "Not so large, but excellent
under foot, is it not true? And these
people seem riot unfriendly to us."
For a time they had been left alone,
but now they saw certain of the na
tives returning with food and water.
Upon these both the shipwrecked ad
venturers fell with eagerness. Their
captors stood about and grinned in
pleasure. All the wealth of Count
Frederick, his gold, his castles, his
lands these things seemed little in
value as compared to what these
swarthy natives brought him now.
CHAPTER XLIII.
Kitty, the Castaway.
If Count Frederick and Roleau hud
been dismayed when they saw Kitty
Gray swept away from them in , the j
laad struggle - for fetv in the sea,
what must have been her own feelings
as she found herself separated from
these powerful friends? Once more
she found herself alone and once
more in the blind instinct for self-
mi rrnri v . mtim ww wm -j u n u r si lis
for her own safety.: : J '
She dared not. think of the fate of
her friends. She mourned them now
as dead, but 'still in her subconscious
mind kept bitterly fighting the convic
tion even as it came. And as she ar
gued( she found herself swept away
farther and farther from the place
where last she had seen them.
In some way,, she knew not how,
Kitty found herself among many oth
ers upon the same considerable piece
of wreckage where Roleau and Fred
erick had endeavored to place her
soon after the explosion. Many others
now clung to this. She shuddered as
she cast a glance about her over the
water, and drew closer to the center
of the raft. One after r another she ,
saw them lose their hold; one after
another she saw them carried away
by the waves. As for hereelf, pre- ,
served miraculously, she knew not
how, she fastened herself as best she
could to the frail floating floor and,
ceased to struggle. Mercifully her
senses left her for a time.
When . she came once more slowly
and painfully to a realizing sense of
what had befallen, she looked about
her wearily.
She was alone upon the sea. Of
those who had been about her, none
now survived! Not far from her a .
horiv nr two floated, hnt not a livine
being was to be seen, not a survivor
save herself Lad found this means of
safety. '
There was no food. There was no
fresh water for her. There was no
means of raising a sail, or using an
oar, even of hoisting a signal had she
had one. And yet the sky above her
was so blue and gentle, the sea around
her so kind, that all now seemed less
QT-riV1c tli a n it YiaA hoon hnt now
Hungry and thirsty as she was she
shuddered as she thought of the added
pangs that might be hers. She called
aloud in her distress, her despair
There came no answer, save in the '
shrieks of the circling birds which
hovered, ghostlike, above her.
The waves bore her onward, she
knew not where, and cared not how,
for how many hours she could not tell.
Face to face with herself, her past, her
future, the unhappy girl passed a
period of unknown duration, engaged
in her own reflections.
It was not her own life she feared to
lose, so she said, for life after all was
a little thing, a temporary passage at
best. But if only she might have
lived now for 'the sake of that which
she felt in her own heart--for the
sake of that uncompleted period of her
own life whose dawn she acknowl
edged to have seen but now!
He was gone! She had seen him'
swept away before her very eyes. He
was her enemy, who had so often
taunted her and defied her, who had
fought her in every contest of wits
yet in turn he had aided her to escape
and saved her but now instead of
enemy he had turned into friend or
more than friend and he was gone.
The sunset of her day came even with
its dawn. ,' '
"Yes," she said to herself, "he saved
me at the cost of his own life." And
the" life of that other faithful friend,.
Roleau, the dauntless, it, too, had
been wasted to save her own the life
she now could hold but worthless,
since it must be lived alone. They
were dead and she had been the
cause of that! What could life hold
further for her?
Kitty Gray bent her head down upon
her knees. Her hair fell about her
face. And thus she sat, she knew not
how long, resigning herself to her
fate, making her peace with what she
felt now must come. "Now," said she,
"let me die!" And when once more
the sleep of exhaustion came upon her
she thought it that of death itself.
She wakened, none the less, in
time for strong indeed are the ties
that bind us whether or not we like
to this life into which we are bora
without our asking. She wakened and
stared With hollow eyes about her at
a world which she neither knew nor
loved. But even so, at length her gaze
found something to cause her eyes to
kindle, her breath to come a trifle
faster.
Far in the distance she had caught
sight of the shore of distant land
the same sight which in turn had met
the gaze of that friend whom now she
mourned. It lay there low on the sea
and distant land, some sort of land,
she knew not what.
She looked at it dully, apathetically.
In truth, she was too far gone to care.
Whether or. not she retained con
sciousness through the remainder of
her vovasre. she herself could never
tell.
At length, a weak and unimportant
bit of flotsam of the sea, Kitty Gray
was cast up upon the shore, rejected
by that sea but now so eager to claim
her as its own. Yes, by, some miracle,
she dared not ask what, she had been
spared. This at least was land. If
death must come, it was not now to
be death through peril of the sea.
Wearily she lifted herself from her
bed upon the sand, raised herself upon
an elbow to look about her.
What she saw gave her no great de
light. Rather, had she had strength
left for terror, she had known addition--al
terror now. .
Approaching from a distance wero
certain figures, inhabitants of thia
land, whose look she could not recog-.
nize, whose language she could not
understand. They approached, shout
ing, gesticulating. They were armed;
and they advanced upon her menae-;
ingly. . ' 1 '-
(TO BE CONTINUED.) - , ,