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Show - nils III OR' ,. .IB 11101 ONIi C110. I A ROMANCE OF THE RIVIERA. Bv st. anoiuw itATuaonun, Author of "Ml- I'aulln: of Xcio York," "Tii Sjitdtr'i Uel," "iliit Caintce," tte.,ite. Copjrtf ht, 1903, Street and Smith, New York. citAi'Ti:it v. Russia Tnkcs tho Plunge. Morrlck's flrat Inclination when lio realized tho dastardly nature of tho outrage that hud been perpetrated upon them was to do something In order to strike back. Jones had, however, weighed tho situation well and know heat how to handle It. Ho had Merrick Btrctch out upon ono of tho seats, and with a rug mado u very fair dummy of himself upon tho other. In tho flickering, uncertain light It would require an extraordinarily extraordina-rily sharp pair of eyos to discover any- thing wrong. It chanced that while prowling about, looking under tho seats, Jones v ,. had run across a small plcco of timber - so mo four feet long, by ns many Inches In diameter, which, being round, had somewhat tho appearance of a post. It was an elegant substitute substi-tute for a battering ram. Alnd Jones welcomed Its appearanco with more than a little satisfaction indeed, tho article Itself no doubt suggested sug-gested tho legitimate uso to which so cleverly constructed a weapon should bo put. Eagerly Jones waited, transferring his watch back and forward from one door to the other. Ah! what was that a hand at the window, an arm raised to hold on by some projection above! Evidently tho Intruder had expected to find tho window closed at least, ho had como prepared for such an obstacle. ob-stacle. Jones saw It coming In time to lower low-er his head, when thoro was a crash of glass and tho whole window went in hlta When tho Job of smashing tho glass had been completed In such an heroic manner, tho face of a man appeared In tho opening. Ono glanco told Jones his identity there could bo no mistaking that yol-' yol-' low head of hair and tho blazing orbs of tho Russian. If Jones had any scruples with ro- Igard to what ho proposed doing they never mado themselves known. Ho had his battering ram In readiness and at tho proper ttmo ho let It go. , Tho projectile struck fair and lj square, and with enough power to tear looso tho Insccuro grip ho had upon tho carriage. Merrick heard a yell such as tho Cossack of tho lion gives when ho meets his fato In tho mad rush of battle. bat-tle. "He's gone?" demanded Merrick, who was partly In tho dark as to what had occurred, and eager for news, of course "Yes I struck him square In tho face, a tremendous blow, with this affair. af-fair. It knocked him clear off the car and tho bridge. I could Just see his l)Ig figure go whirling down, with nrms and legs extended. And I heard tho splash when ho struck. Ugh! It will haunt me for many a day, I guess." Tho picture thus conjured up was o exceedingly dramatic and full of horror that Merrick also shuddered, although his eyes had not beheld tho actual occurrence. "You believe tho big Russian Is dead, then?" ho asked. "Oh! no, that would bo too good; tout ho'll have a perfectly delightful tlmo getting out of tho mud I heard H him swearing nfter ho struck." I Tho excitement ovor they settled I down to tnako tho best of a bad bar- ealn. I suddenly mo nttio motor aneaci ue- gan to send out a series of shrill, agonizing screeches such ns electrified I oven those of strongest nervo, since it seemed to presage a dreadful catas- y tropho. Jones and Merrick unconsciously i uprang to their feet, and the former I mado as though to thrust his head out I to sco what was coming; but ero he could do so thoro camo a shock that I sent them both sprawling against the J cushioned back of tho forward scat. I When Jones and his comrado thus i scrambled about among the cushions and small luggago In tho endeavor to I maintain soma decent sort of equlll- S brlum, they knew full well that some- I thing out of tho ordinary had happon- I Perhaps accidents aro far less fre- 1 'fluent on European railways than Is I tho caso In America, whero greater I hazards are' taken In making speed; j hut nevertheless they do occur nt j times, and with Just as fearful conso- quonces. A hasty examination gavo Merrick nnd Jones tho pleasing Information that beyond a fow contusions of small i moment they had not suffered any damago from tho accldont. I Apparently thoro were othors who could not lay claims to such luck. I At any rate, tho dcath-llko sllonco that had followed tho last grand crash was succeeded by crlos of terror, tt shrieks and tho hoarse voices of "4- alarmed men calling for assistance ' These appealed to tho Inmntes of tho carriages whero disaster had set more lightly when did cries for help over BontiA In vain In tho cars of men who wero of tho Anglo-Saxon raco? Jones, forcing a door, crawled outside, out-side, followed by his comrade. A scene of turmoil and confusion presented Itself such ns they must, ro-member ro-member long. From tho windows and smashed doors of the wrecked carriages men and women wero crawling with almost ludicrous hasto, llko terrified bees escaping es-caping from a hlvo Into which tho smoko of tobacco has been Injected. Jones was a mnu equal to tho occasion. occa-sion. Whenever ho saw a head he sprang to tho rescue, Some wero bruised nnd cut moro or less, for the shake-up had been pretty rough, and Hying glas3 carries danger with It; hut It seemed as though by tho mercy of Providence there were to ho no fatal casualties. While ho worked, Jones was endeavoring endeav-oring to solve tho problem ns to how this had happened, so when he rca .'lied .'li-ed tho vicinity of the overturned motor, mo-tor, ho began a search for tho driver. If ho had stuck by his engine tho chances wero that he must be underneath under-neath tho helpless monster and beyond all hope of saving. Presently, however, n voice ndilrcsi-ed ndilrcsi-ed him In French, and calmly begged that ho would lend a hand toward rescue; res-cue; and turning, ho behpld a man who, from his garb, he 1 new must have been on the motor, pinned down by a heavy wooden beam or log. It wps tho work of hut a minute to extricate tho man, and as Jones surmised, sur-mised, he turned out to bo the engine driver. Ho was bruised nnd sore, but gavo thanks that no bonoB seemed broken. When Jones had hastily questioned him with tho facility of a lawyer, all ho discovered was that tho alarm hnd been given when tho driver found ho was swooping directly down upoa a pllo of logs that had been purposely placed upon tho track, with the Intention Inten-tion of stopping tho Nice express, and upon which n red lantern had been placed, but which signal was seen nt such short range that there was not tlmo to bring tho train to a stop, though he mado a desperate attempt to do so his stoker had Jumped, but ho remained on his motor to see tho logs fly In every direction nnd then find himself pinned under ono, ten yards away from tho track. At least Jones hnd satisfied himself thero was no accident but dark design back of tho wreck. What ho had learned mmlo him uneasy. un-easy. If robbery was Intended thoso who took so desperate a means of accomplishing ac-complishing their purpose might doubtless bo found looting tho wrecked coaches even now. Ho started tho cry of alarm and sent it nlong ovcry man became aroused by tho possibility of now danger dan-ger nnd for tho tlmo being their hurts and losses gavo way before tho possibility possi-bility of marauders coming from the birder of Italy. Thero wero other chances, political ones. Franco was Inwardly seething Royalists wero unceasingly plotting to bring about a crisis whereby tho army might swing over to their cause, and nsr tho army went so the people would Incline. Somo Important dlgnltnry In mufti might bo on board this train, whoso capture would bo a feather In tho cap of tho plotters. Stranger things havo happened In Franco ero now. Jones, who had evolved this clover explanation from his brain, looked around to see If he could not find corroboration. cor-roboration. And yet he was more or less startled when ho did' actually discover moving figures among tho trees and rocks, figures of men carrying guns, nnd who had apparently remained hidden until now for somo reason or other. That they wero brigands tholr number num-ber and military precision of movement move-ment seemed to eto. Jones dropped behind a rock and concluded to watch the game ho did not bcllevo It was any of his funeral, but all tho samo It paid to bo on tho safe side. Now, If they would only lay hands on tho count, for Instance, and carry him off, no ono would shed many tears. To Jones surprise, however, no say plain signnls pass between tho grim leader of tho marauders and tho man from Africa's burning sands, which proved that honest Count Leon himself him-self wns in sympathy with ,tho secret ..movement not to overthrow tho republic, repub-lic, and placo tho Royalists again In power. Tho distressed passengers huddled together llko a flock of frightened sheep, whllo somo of tho armed men stood on guard others scrutinized each group, nnd n few moro searched tho carriages, doubtless appropriating what looso valuables they discovered. Ho who seemed to bo n leader drew tho count aside and sternly covered him with n pistol whllo he asked a fow questions in a low voice. Then he went direct to a carriage that had escaped Injury, as though directed thither, and dragged therefrom there-from an Individual who camo forth very unwillingly. Quickly this party mado an effort nt defense, but was set upon by several of tho marauders, disarmed and mado a prisoner. Then sharp commands wero given, tho armed men fell Into lino, and whllo tho tra tiers still huddled about tho fires, tho mysterious forco vanished ns strangely ns It hnd como, among tho trtca and rocks that marked that mountainous section. Meanwhtlo Mark Merrick was also engaged In playing with fortune's favors. Whon Jones set such a charming oxamplo of .man's nobility, by rushing hither nnd yon, pulling unlucky passengers pas-sengers out of their predicament, tho younger man, urjjd on by similar motives, mo-tives, rirted in tho other direction. Hn vrcrKta llko a Trojau, ror rhi cries that came from tho lips of frightened fright-ened women pave him tho Impression that tho catastrophe might bo oven moro serious than as yet appeared. Among tho women was ono who seemed more deeply Interested In watching the quick, nervous actions ol young Merrick than In lamenting the loss of her finery, ns somu of tho other damsels wero doing. This self-posscsrcd young person was petite In figure, nnd wholly nngol-Ic nngol-Ic in appearance In fact, bIio was no other than tho girl from tho Transvaal, Trans-vaal, the owner of unnumbered diamond dia-mond mines, Little Mlfs Millions. Of course Merrick was doing his best to make the ladles comfortable. Ho Invaded n carriage, secured all ho could, and having lugged It to tho fire, demanded an owner, who eagerly put In a claim. All was proceeding well when for tho first tlmo ho set eyes upon tho faco of Constance Dare, As before, when he had seen her In tho Parlslaln carriage, her appearanco gavo him a shock, for ho stood quite bt 111, holding his breath, and passing one hand over his forehead us though in doubt whether ho wore really nwako or dreaming. Then ho was thrilled uy tno consciousness con-sciousness that her eyes searching about hither nnd yon for something, had become fastened on him. She raised her hand as If Involuntarily Involun-tarily she beckoned eagerly that ho approach, and as ono In a dream Mark Merrick walked on to his fato ho could not havo had tho power to re-fuso re-fuso even though sure destruction lay under his feet. For Love Is mightier than cold Reason, and thero was thnt In his past to warrant blind obedlcnco when that llttlo hand bade hlra no longer hold back. Onco ho started Merrick's reluctance vanished, and tho blank look of amazement upon his faco also gavo way to eagerness. And so ho camo to where she stood, thl3 girl, who had onco before been such a factor In the molding of his life. Constance had extended a llttlo hand ho did not seo It, so eagerly wero hla oyes drinking In every well remembered remember-ed lineament of her features, with the I mocking memories they stirred Into I life dancing beforo him. Sho smiled now, smiled with pleasure, pleas-ure, nnd the rosy Hush had crept down to her very neck. "Mark Mr. Merrick how strango that wo should meet again and under such stormy conditions. It seems fated that we can only como together under tho shadow of danger." Mark found his voice and her hand. "Dear Heaven, but I am glad to sco you, Constance. You como to mo as ono from the dead. I havo mourned you as gouo from tjils world, and oven now I havo hard work to believe my senses," ho said, pressing her hand In both his own. "You aro a little glad then?" sho asked. "Glad I am well, never mind what my condition of mind Is. You can surely Judge of It by tho look in my oyes. God bo praised for sparing you. It is wonderful, marvelous even. I cannot dream how It could havo happened." hap-pened." "This Is neither tho tlmo nor placo for an explanation, nor am I wholly suro in my mind that you will caro very much to hear what wonderful things havo happened to mo sinco that day," sho said. Merrick was quick to reaffirm his eager desiro to hear her story. "Only when you aro ready, Constance. Con-stance. As you say, tho tlmo and place aro neither of thorn propitious. Just now I am only too glad to know you aro alive and well, and still Constance Con-stance Dare." Thero was a significance In theso last words that did not fall to catch her attention. What did ho mean? Had ho bcllovcd sho preferred somo other to himself, and that whether living or dead sho was lost to him? (To be continued.) |