Show L RIAL I 1 AL 8 T 0 R Y E VMS W 1 I 1 S SA A BIEM a lm B JAC bv M KETTNER copyright 1908 by the associated Magetz magazines him copyright opy right 1809 1909 by the bobbs merrill company Coni 10 t r SYNOPSIS count dl di rosint the italian ambassador la Is di at dinner with diplomats when a friessen messenger er summons him to the embassy w where ere a beautiful young woman arsics for a ticket to the embassy ball the ticket Is made out in the naine name of miss isabel thorne chief campbell of the ie secret service and mr grimm his head detect detective Jve are warned that a plot Is brewing in washington and grimm goes to tai the state ball for information his attention Is called to miss isabel thorne who with her companion disappears A shot not Is heard and senor alvarez of the mexican legation la is found wounded grimm Is assured miss thorne did it lie ho visits her demanding knowledge of tha the affair air and arrests pietro Petro miss th thorne 0 rne VIS visits 1 t s an old bonab maker and they discuss a wonderful ex experiment p fifty thousand dollars Is stolen from the office or bf senor rodrig aei the minister from venezuela and while detectives tire are investigating vesti gating the robbery miss thorne appears sasa as a guest of the legation grimm accuses her of the theft the money Is restored but a new mystery occurs in the disappearance of bf monsieur Bois segur tho the ench ambassadors ambassador f CHAPTER XII continued monsieur he went on and thero there ivas fras a tense tens e note in his voice the ambassador of franco france had disappeared gone gone vanished wo we searched the house from the cellar servants quarters even the roof but there was wa no trace of him the hat he usually wore was in the hall ddll and all 91 ats iia other hats bats were accounted for yo you may remember monsieur that tuesday was cold but all his topcoats top coats were found in their proper places so it seems Mon monsieur i and r repression ended in a burst of excite excitement mento if he de left the embassy he did not go out by either door and he went without hat bat or coat ile he stopped helplessly and his gazo gaze alternated inquiringly between the benevolent ne face of the chief and the expressionless onless cou countenance of mr grimm if he left the embassy T mr grimm repeated it if your search of the house proved conclusively that he there he did leave it be monsieur stared at him blankly for a moment won then nodded and there are windows you know t op mr grimm went on then As I 1 un ferstand Ber Ser stand at it monsieur no one except you and the stenographer saw th the after ten oc lockin in the morning out monsieur began excitedly ibea 1 I beg pardon I 1 believe that is correct you saw him about ten you say therefore no one axce except pt the ste stenographer nog saw him bim after ten that is also true as far as I 1 know any callers letters telegrams Tele telephone messages message sr ta 1 I made inquiries in that direction monsieur was the reply 1 I have tho tha words of the servants at the doo and of the stenographer that there were no callers and the statement of the stenographer that there were no telephone calls or telegrams the thero ro were only four letters for him personally so nally he left them all on his bis desk here bere they are my mr grimm looked them over leisure ly they were commonplace enough containing nothing that might bo be construed into a reason for the disappearance pe arance the letters Alon monsieur Bois segur had dictated were laid on his desk by the stenographer monsieur I 1 eur rushed on volubly excitedly in the anxiety and uneasiness following the disappearance pe arance thoy they were allowed to remain there overnight on wednesday morning monsieur and he hesitated impressively those letters bore his signature in his own handwriting li mr grimm turned his listless eyes full upon monsieur rigo blots lots perturbed 1 face for one scant instant I 1 no doubt of it t being a ng his s s signature he be queried non monsieur non conf the secretary exclaimed emphatically ibus avez that is I 1 have known his signature for years there is no doubt the letter were not of a private nature if you would care to look at the ho copies of them v he offered the duplicates tentatively mr grimm read them over slowly the while monsieur sat nervously staring at him they too seemed beamed meaningless as bearing on th the matter in hand finally mr brimm nodded and monsieur resumed 1 and wednesday night Mong monsieur leu another strange thing happened monster Bois segur smokes many cigarettes of a kind made especially for him jn in france and shipped J to him here he keeps them in a case on his dressing table on thursday ni morning orning his valet reported to me that this case of cigarettes had disappeared disappear edl of course Oser observed mr grimm crimin monsieur Bois Bols segur has a latchkey latch key to the embassy I 1 of course anything unusual happen last night that is thursday night 46 nothing monsieur th that at is nothing we can find J i mr grimm sat silent for a time an and a fell to twisting the seal ring on his finger briger mr campbell turned around and moved a paper weight one inch to the left whre where it belonged while monsieur Rig Aig plot disappointed at their amazing apathy I 1 squirmed uneasily in his chair atwould it would appear then mr grimm remarked musingly that maht after his mysterious dig disappearance appearance the ambassador has either elther twice returned to his house at night or else sent some one there first to bring the letters to him for signature and later to get his Certain ement monsieur 1 I mean that seems to be true but w where is he why should he not come back what does it mean mada madame boisse gur is frantic prostrated she wanted me to go to ithe police but I 1 did not think it wise that it should lepome public so I 1 came here very livery well commented MK mr grimm let it rest as it is meanwhile you may reassure madame point out to her that if monsieur Bois segur signed the letters tuesday night he was mas at least alive and if he came or sent for the cigarettes wednesday night he was still alive I 1 shall call at af the embassy this after afternoon nooh no it it advisable to go with you now give we me your latchkey latch key please r produced the key and D anaed it over without a word other thing mr grimm continued please collect all the re volva arsa bat may be in tha house and take charge of them yourself it if any one by chance heard a burglar prowling around there tonight ho he might shoot and in that event either kill monsieur or or moll me when the secretary had gone mr campbell idly drummed on his desk as he studied the face of his bis subordinate d iso so much he commented fl finally nally its its miss thorne again said the young man as if answering a question perhaps ps these reports I 1 llave have received today from the latin capitals may mar aid you in dispelling that mys tw tory campbell suggested and mr primm turned them over eagerly meanwhile our royal visitor prince benedetto remains unknown th T young mans teeth closed with a snip I 1 P it t s only ollya a que question stion of time chief I 1 ho 1 id a abruptly bru p itly ta il find him HI 1111 I 1 fl find n d b elmp I 1 m I 1 I 1 A ai dhe d he sat down to read the report CHAPTER X XIII il 1 A conference in the dark the white rays of the distant are arc highl altered through the half drawn velvet hangings hannings hang ings and laid a faintly II 11 jun 4 wilned path across the ambassadors desh aish the heavy leather chairs mere avero mere gler impalpable splotches in tho the shadows the cutglass cut but glass knobs of a m mahogany cabinet caught the glint of bf light and lilt rejected ItA it dimly linly outside was 1 the vague indefinable night drone of a efty city a asleep sloop unbroken by any sound that was dis distinguishable 1 until finally there came the distant boom of a clock it struck twice r seated on a couch in one corner of the ambassadors office was mr grimm he was leaning against the high arm of leather with his feet on the seat thoughtfully nursing his knees if his hia attitude indicated anything except sh ear comforto comfort it was that he wa was s listening he had been there for two hours wideawake wide awake and absolutely motionless five ten fifteen minutes more passed and then mr grimm heard the grind and whir of an automobile a block or so away coming toward the embassy now it was in front k f honk I 1 hon on 1 it called plaintively bonon I 1 honk the signal at last tho the automobile bile went rushing on full tilt while mr grimm removed his feet from the i seat and dropped them noiselessly i to 0 the floor thus W with ith his hands bands on his knees and listening listening with every faculty strained he sat mott motionless on peering toward the open door that led into the hall the car was her hand still stilt re rested sted on the switch gone now the sound of jt it sv swallowed allowed up in the distance still he sat there it was obviously some noise inthe in the house for which he was waiting minute after minute minu to passed and still nothing there was not oyen even the i whisper of a wind stirred drapery H he e wast about to rise when suddenly with no other noise holpe than that of the sharp click of the switch the electric lights lahs in the room blazed up brilliantly ly the glare dazzled mr grimm with its blinding flood floo d but he move then softly almost in a whisper good evening mr armm amm of it was a womans comans voice pleasant unsurprised perfectly modulated mr grimm certainly did not expect it now but ho he knew it instantly there was not another quite like it in tho the wide wide world and though he was still blinking a little he came to his feet courteously good morning miss thorne ho he corrected cornec ted gravely now his vision was clearing and he saw her a graceful figure silhouetted against the rich green of 0 the wa wall 11 drape draperies ries iter her apa ti pa were curled the least bit as it if ais ae might have been smiling and d her wonderful eyes ro re fleeter a glint of of was it amuse amus ment the folds oi of liar hor evening dress fell away from her and one bare white arpi was exten dedas her hand still rested on the switch and you licar hear me ano still in the half whisper 1 1 I I think you would now im going to put out the lights fo for r an instant while you pull the shades down and then arthen wo we have a a conference the switch snapped the lights died as suddenly as they had bad been born and mr air grimm U moving lovi ng noiselessly visited each of the four windows in turn then the lights blazed brilliantly a again it just for a moment miss explained to him quietly and she ll 11 handed him a sheet of paper 1 I want you to read ahls r read it carefully then I 1 shall ishall turn out the lights again they are dangerous after that w wo e discuss the matter at our 10 leisure ls 1 mr grimm read the paper ahila miss eyes questioned his im passive face at length he looked up indolently listlessly and the switch r snapped napped sio sho crossed the and sat down M mr r grimm sat beside her ber ij 1 I think miss thorny suggested tentatively that that accounts perfectly for monsieur digap 11 it gives one explanation at least mr grimm assented musingly kidnapped hold held prisoner alty thousand and dollars demanded for hla his safety and release A pause andio and to whom may J I 1 ask ash was ahls his demand addressed to madame Bolo segur replied miss thorne 1 i I have the envelope in which it came it if was mailed at tho the g general post office at half past ono one 0 clock this afternoon so the canceling stamp shows and the envelope was addressed as the letter was writ ten on a tyve typewriter writer and ho how inquired mr grimm after a long pause e how didat did ft como come into your possession lie he waited a little why monsieur report this development to mo this afternoon when I 1 was here her monsieur did not inform you of it because he did not know of it himself she replied answering the jast question first it bamo came into my possession directly from the hands 0 of f ma madame dame Bois segur she gave it tome why mr grimm was peering cring through the inscrutable darkness straight into her face ii a white daubin daub in the gloomy gloom shapeless indistinct 1 I have known madame for half a dozen years miss thorne continued in explanation we have been friends that long I 1 met her in tokio boklo later in berlin and within a few weeks here in washington you see I 1 have traveled in the timo time I 1 have been an agent for my government well madame Bols Bois segur received this letter about half past four this afternoon and about half past five she sent for me and placed it in my hands together with the singular details following upon the ambassadors bass adors disappearance so it would seem that you anda and I 1 are allies dorthis for this once and the problem is already solved there merely rem remains the task of finding and re releasing leasing the ambassador mr grimm sat perfectly still and why he be asked slowly aaro are you I 1 here bere iere now tor for the game same reason that you are here she replied readily to see abil myself if the the person who twice came here at night once for the ambassadors bass adors letters and once for his cigarettes would by any chance 1 make another trip I kney knew you apu were herk of course TO B BR F CONTINUED |