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Show WtfvVyt( V y yV Vvt yV yV v4i 4 rf JS-iiCitiifiSlS. Wi?5KK 5K 'i? 'K $ W'S 'i W ' 'x a wARRioE mm. I By ST. GEORGE R.ATHBORNE, Author of 'Little Miss Millions," "The Spider's Web," , "Miss Caprice," "Dr. Jack's Widow," Etc., Etc j? Copyright, 1901. by Street and Smith, New York. ijx yv yv yv yv yv yV y V yV xv vv xV y xv xx yi XV xV xV xV V' xV xV XV yj v MS Sjx K K J Jf J?5Jx riv r X4X xy Jy ax x x xjx xx xx xx xjx . Jx x there was a grain of truth in the jstory he had heard, surely the prfion-er prfion-er of the Iron Mask,,must. be found in such an unused quarter. Charlie began to feel a Ibit anxious. He was about ready ..to .confess , that for one he had quite enough of it, and only figured on how he might manage to curb this insatiate ambition ambi-tion on the part of his companion. The task was taken from his hands, however, and in a most unexpected manner. Artemus was eagerly urging him on to "fresh fields and pastures new," while Charlie held the other in check, fearful lest they fall into some horrible hor-rible pit, with rusty spikes at the bottom, bot-tom, such as they had discovered in one dungeon,- when, suddenly, without with-out warning, tnere came to their ears a sound so strange in this uncanny region, re-gion, so utterly out of sympathy with their surroundings, that both men stood still, as though paralyzed and the sound was as of a woman weeping! upon a truth, or the mere fabric of a Dutch legend. And you will accompany accom-pany me, my boy, out of pure philanthropy, philan-thropy, to share in the exhilaration of success" touching a suspicious bottlelike bot-tlelike package he carried under his left arm "or to support me in case of exasperating failure." Charlie Stuart could not say him nay; he really had nothing on foot whereby ,to kill time, and Artemus was such a jolly and original dog that it were worth something to hare the pleasure of his society for a space of time. So, hesitating, he fell. 'And, thus sauntering down the street of the Steen,. the two friends arrived in the shadow of the great building whose history stretched back centuries into the dim past. Together they entered, like other pilgrims desirous of gazing upon the art treasures which lay within those ancient walls. ' Charlie had seen allthese ' before, and cast but a casual glance around, being more deeply Interested in the CHAPTER I. In the Street oi the Steen. It all happened in quaint old Antwerp, Ant-werp, and Charlie Stuart found reason rea-son to believe that seldom in romance or history had a more singular adventure ad-venture befallen a pilgrim from London Lon-don than chanced to his lot on this I same day. , ' The morning was, half spent and Stuart found himself somewhat at a loss to know what he should turn to next for amusement. He had idled in - the markets, discovering new and attractive at-tractive features constantly; had lieen through the various aiwnms and picture galleries in' short, exhausted ex-hausted the sights of old Antwerp, and was on the point of considering his exodus, which would occur just as soon as he could make up his mind .where his next objective point on the map of Europe or the world would be. Then it was that Fortune, fickle "jade, took the pilgrim from London by the throat as it were, and radically changed the whole course of his existence. ' CHAPTER It What They Found. There were those who knew Prince Charlie well who had reason to believe be-lieve he had passed through some unpleasant un-pleasant experience with lovely woman wo-man been deceived, perhaps jilted. Although always gallant toward the fair sex, he seemed to be ever on his guard, as though quite determined no mortal .who wore, petticoats should have a second opportunity to . play battledore and shuttlecock with his heart. But this was something entirely out- of the common run; and as he stood there listening, to make sure there could be no mistake, he felt an electric elec-tric thrill pervade his whole being, such as he never before experienced. .Charlie determined to go forward. He was surprised at himself for the peculiar resolution that urged him on. It seemed as though he were being dragged forward by some inexorable inex-orable fate, whether he would or not. j And the sound of sobbing still continued, con-tinued, stealing along the gaunt passageways. pas-sageways. The darkness beyond was apparently as fearfully dense as that which descended upon poor, plague-stricken plague-stricken Egypt at the time Pharaoh declined to let the children of Israel go. - , As. Charlie advanced he noted that the sound, which had erstwhile reached reach-ed their hearing but faintly, grew more distinct. Thus he was presently present-ly able to place the sobbing, and, still advancing, he began to discern the dim outlines of a figure upon Uie As he drew closer Ee "saw that this was a girl in a long cloak, and that she had hidden her face in her hands, as though, to shut out the ghostly fig-1 fig-1 ures conjured up by the gloom. One thing was very sure when Artemus, Ar-temus, in the earlier stages of their exploration,. declared he heard a faint shout, it haC not been the gurgle of. the greedy SheltJt gliding underneath under-neath the crypts and corridors, aa he (Charlie) had so confidently de- actions of his confederate. An old,,, dame with her wide cap started toward them, but one glance from Artemus' eyes seemed to bring about a decided change in her intentions, inten-tions, "for she stood still, and then backed away. ' ' . . It was a signal victory, or, as Artemus Arte-mus expressed it, a "howling success;" suc-cess;" nevertneless, his companion was still fain to believe the magic of gold had more to do with the old lady's sudden blindness than the exertion ex-ertion of rare hypnotic powers on the part of the proud wizard. . Content to follow the other's lead, Charlie soon found himself in that apartment where several tall brass candlesticks stood upon an antique table, to be used in exploring the mysteries below. Artemus motioned that he should straightway possess himself of one, in order that their candles might have a proper receptacle, and Charlie, having enlisted for the war, come weal, come woe, took up the nearest of the lot, : which was in itself a treasure of art. Nervously Artemus tried several keys in rapid succession, muttering to himself the while in a way peculiar to him. At last came a. little subdued screech that announced success on the part of the chattering idiot at his side. They were evidently, in for it, since the ponderous door opened before be-fore them. Charlie was not the one to hold hark, so hf stpnripri hpvnnrl the rni.fal As he stood there idly twisting his blonde mustache, he became aware of the fact that someone was bearing down upon him at a swift pace, some one whose quick, energetic movements move-ments reminded him irresistibly of a vhawk pouncing upon its prey someone some-one who held out a hand in eager greeting and seemed bubbling over with animal spirits. Stuart welcomed him eagerly. His name was Barnaby Artemus Wych-erly Wych-erly Claude Barnaby and his profession profes-sion that of an amateur dramatic novelist.' It was simpiy astonishing, the weird fancies generated . in that erratic brain of his, each of which exceeded all others in phantasmagoric phantasma-goric and, it must be confessed, sometimes some-times ludicrous splendor. "Just the man of all England I wanted to see. Consider it a lucky omen, by Jove, to run across yoli in this manner. I'm going to enlist your sympathy and co-operation in a little --fichemeJ have, on foot, my boy, and, you can depend upon it, I won't take 'no' for an answer, so consider yourself your-self engaged as the second conspirator." conspira-tor." "Well, I don't know about that; but what wild, hair-brained scheme have - you on foot at present?" "Charlie, I've run across the noblest theme for a startling drama that ever 'bobbed up in anybody's path. Why, it actually opens an opportunity for fame and fortune to the gifted genius who has boldness enough to grasp the chance." clared, but in all probability, this lost i explorer calling for Help, j Well, thank God they had found her, and were in a position to ren- der her the assistance she craved, j After all, it had not been such a wild-, ; goose chase as he had believed when ; yielding to the importunities of his : adventurous comrade. They advanced closer still. As yet the distressed one was not aware of their presence, or the blessed answer to her prayers. Her attitude , of abandon was most effective, and Charlie could not but think what a .xshanning picture she made there, overwhelmed, not by grief, but the terror of her situation. It was not intentional on Artemus' part, but some sudden chill draught caused him to give a vociferous sneeze. This was instantly followed by a little shriek as the- girl's hands fell from her face, and she turned a pair of very large and, very startled eyes upon the two comrades. It was, of course, Cnarlie's bounden duty to immediately speak and reassure reas-sure the alarmed, fraulien that they were flesh and blood like herself, and not spirits of the. olden martyrs who had met deaths of torture in these dungeons; but for the life of him, and perhaps for the first time in the course of his whole experience, he could not say a. word. For the soft light of his waxen taper fell full upon the face that had until now been hidden behind the girl's hands a face that, tear-marked as it was, and more or less begrimed from contact with foul walls during her groping in the dark, electrified him with its peculiar charm of beauty, and started his traitor heart to beating as it had not done these many moons, since he had quitted the presence of another fair woman, with bitterness against the whole sex raging rag-ing in his bosom. (To be continued.) and went down. Immediately the door closed, and the clang of it was unlike any sound he could ever remember hearing. That creaking, rusty key turned in the lock. . "Now," said Artemus, in a shrill voice, pregnant with eager anticipation, anticipa-tion, "now we are in control, and the devil dungeons of the Steen must yield up their ghastly secrets to a master." Down the venerable stairs they wended their way. Could those same steps have been gifted with the power of speech, what strange and startling tales they might have given forth, of human misery, of historical personages person-ages and deeds that would have made the bravest cheeks pale. But they were mute. The dread secrets of the dim past would ever be safe in their keeping. "Hark!" Artemus uttered this word in a shrill whisper, and at the same -time clutched his companion's arm. Their surroundings were so eerie that it was not wonderful that his vivid imagination imagina-tion seized upon the slightest pretext to arouse the ghosts that had lain here for long centuries. , "What you hear' is only the gurgling gur-gling of the river Sheldt beneath our feet. At the foot of the worn stone staircase we descended there is a trap in the solid st'one, through which opening many a wretched condemned man met his fate. Yes, it was only the fretful flood you heard crying peevishly for more victims." Charlie's calm manner quite reassured re-assured the other. "Perhaps you are right; but it sounded wonderfully like a human voice calling for help." Thus in tiers the dungeons lay, each individual one seeming to surpass its predecessors in awful associations. Long had they been at their task. The regular routine pursued by tourist tour-ist and guide had been done; but there were other dark passages to explore, ex-plore, gloomy as the river Styx passages that the ordinary voyager never saw, but which Artemus was bound to Investigate; for if perchance "You have, of course, visited the Steen, that great castle down the Street yonder, once a prison of the Inquisition, now a museum. Did you take a guide"with lighted flambeaus flam-beaus and explore the frightful dungeons dun-geons under the castle, each cell and corridor of which seems to exhale hideous memories of the tortures inflicted in-flicted upon unfortunate prisoners in the Dark Ages, when Spanish cruelty ruled this country with an iron hand?" Stuart replied in the negative. His artist soul had feasted on the treasures treas-ures which lay littered about the courtyard of the onetime palace; but the musty dungeons he had but hastily hast-ily surveyed, being naturally averse "" ' to the contemplation of such horrors, i "Oh, I am glad of that," said Artemus, Arte-mus, eagerly, "for you will be better prepared to accompany me to those same dungeons now." "The deuce!" exclaimed Charlie, token aback; but, not in the least disconcerted, dis-concerted, the other went on: "Tell me, have you heard the story or rumor that is circulated here and there through certain circles about a modern man in the Iron Mask supposed sup-posed to be incarcerated in the Steen dungeons?" "I remember , hearing some little talk about such a thing, but really never pursued the subject." "Briefly, then, it has long been whispered that there was recently, and may still continue to be, a secret prisoner confined in a lonely dungeon under yonder massive pile of ma-Bonry ma-Bonry a man whose face is forever hidden behind an iron mask that is secured by a padlock. I have reached the conclusion that this man of mys-' mys-' jtery might be some troublesome heir to the German throne, or else a son Of Louis Napoleon. Think for a minute what wonderful possibilities this vista opens to the dramatist! It in quite enough to inspire the dullest mind! And I am resolved to explore those ancient dungeons personally, as no one has ever done before, with the Secretly avowed purpose of learning (whether I may found my great drama |