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Show - r-T-rrj tjj' ' ,, . ' -'. , .- L --. - .' --.- . ! .- . ;.! - . . v v vt.t' v yt-. y y u v v , v jt4 ic J?l it JS ? 4v K ! i? K V Vy i j i? J? ''' '' ' ' ."'.""' '."'' '''" ' " v i $ 1' By ST. GEORGE R.ATHBORNE, . ? ,-' Vvl Author, of '.'Little Miss Millions," "The Spider's Web," "Miss W , . . , Caprice," "Dr. Jack's Widow," Etc., Etc. K v " ' - - vj; . ;?., ... . : ' - v Copyright, 1901. by Street and Smith, New York. - - 1 V W . , : , w v y yj yv xtt ii is4 t ili iJi !s jj ik jic .iti t yJi yJ4 ii:r.etr"icflily 'op'rioWe.- -Tell' me, wSyfi - Jo" you 'Wjayla-x ,'nje- -jI m a eqmpUte- stranger; I, never saw you befor.e. J -' - ''Qnite"''truei-'(Jitite t'rtte, ?y'o"ng- sir,", chuckled, .the" .'oEHev!; ..ttbveC'.'l ha-ve seen . you, before. , I know when you came to Antwerp,' afi'd just h"8' your ay-'em'-'"' ployed your time since."' '" '.-; .-, .-, ,"The deuce. you do! , Then you must' have known. jny. name. Wby-did 'you ask for it?" with the light of suspicion . and unbelief in his. eyes. "To ascertain how far you would have confidence in me. I see you are. incredulousj.vbut, young man,, it is ,my especial business to know everyj, stranger -who " comes "to " Antwerp,", whether" he be French, English, 'Russian, 'Rus-sian, American or Turkish; also to; discover dis-cover as, much with relation to his bus-'i ihess here" as is necessary to understand under-stand his status in society. Although you have never met me before, I doubt not you would recognize my 'name.. Permit me." :. . ... - - A aird' was thrust ' into 'Charlie's hand v,.. . - ,5 4j. . ;., Mechanically he glanced at it. .'f The result was peculiarly unpleasant.'' unpleas-ant.'' ;.-?''.; '. .-''' ' . It simply bore, a -name, but that' name was as famous at St. Petersburg and . Paris as ..'in Antwerp Baron De- metrius Peterhoff. " - '' ;," This wonderful man tiad been at the ; head 'of tbe famous Third Section in Russia; he had been the ' terror . of Nihilists for years; an argus-eyed head. Of police; u'ntil,, unfortunately, a cog slipped i. with . fatal result, since the Czar Alexander was murdered through : the instrumentality of a bomb, ani from that hour Saron Peterhoff's usefulness, use-fulness, in Russia was at an end. '-"Ah!" Charlie'said, very "calmly; "I have heard of, you very often, baron; but, really, I confess the prospect of meeting so renowned a character never entered my mind. -To what am I indebted in-debted for the honor?" - --" Again the distinguished gentleman. . uttered the word that had startled Charlie before. "To the pretty fraulein." ;. Charlie frowned. "See here, baron I know this lady as Ml e. Arline Brand.. Surely there must be a mistake." ' - u i - ' "She hargoldetf hair"?" - ' - -- "Yes." "And eyes so blue" holding tip his ' hands in, a dramatip, manner that 1 would have delighted Artemus "that they shame the lovely skies if the-RiTlera." the-RiTlera." v Charlie groaned an assent. A crushing crush-ing weig-ht seemed to press' upon his brain and he felt as though tottering on the -verge of a precipice. . "; CHAPTER li.-!r(cJitiaul.), . '' ' ' Naturally, Charlie Stuart was justified justi-fied in believing the girl to be the child of some Flemish citizen. True, she wag hot dressed in the usual Dutch fashion, but her golden tresses and blue eyes; that shone like twin stars, ... .. made him take. the fact for granted.. ',. He was, .therefore, considerably surprised sur-prised when, springing to her feet, she' advanced a step-, or two toward tbem.. holding out her "hands, a look of 'great Joy illuminating her face;- and : In a voice .which the echoes of Tier recent sobs still haunted, addressed them in purest English: "Oh, sirs! Heaven has heard my, prayer and sent you to my rescue!" Stuart made up his mind 'then and there, strange as such a proceeding might be, that there was a deeper mystery mys-tery vabout the presence of this young girl;; in these terrifying surroundings than had at first occurred to him. Many things united to make him be- lieve this the fact of her not being ' missed by her party,' her maimer in avoiding any reference to the friends who should be so anxious yes", then and there he became convinced that a story lay back of it as startling as any product of an opium smoker's dream. Charlie knew it would be well for him to divert the girl's mind as much as i possible; from the horrors she had so recently been forced 'to face. Thus as they walked along,, he even grew somewhat merry, and his object was accomplished, since the girl's temporary tempor-ary trembling fit had passed away and she was now calm enough to ask ques-- ques-- tlons regarding their opportune , presr , ence in the dismal place. Several times Charlie knew she. was looking at him intently. He believed, that he could guess the reason that she had a story to tell, A Story far out of the ordinary run; and was studying him when she thought herself unobserved, studying him to determine whether she dared entrust him with its astonishing details. scrupulous. You" can realize that after seeing to what a dreadful fate they would have condemned me because 1 refused to carry out their will." , vThey are a set of precidtfs scoundrels scoun-drels and cowards! ".he declared. "Ah! but perhaps they are all-powerful at court men in touch with a dynasty that-can shake the earth: if aroused, to whom one poor' ;buman life is. as a fallen leaf,"; she said as .if testing test-ing his loyalty..,' v "It is the same I see no jreasph why I should draw back." Taking out'hiB' watch'; he continued," in the" most deliberate de-liberate fashion; """It is-now almost high-noon..-.; At eight, then, this even?-lng.-to- theminute I shall do myself the-hpnor of calling upon you at your hotel, and until I am convinced that it is unlawful for me so to do, all the police of Antwerp shall not stop me in my rights of a British citizen traveling travel-ing under the protection of his flag." Arline impulsively held out her hand. ' - ; ' "I thank "you.. God : bless you, Mr. Stuart!" she said, in broken tones. . . And Charlie, , as he . felt the , little hand quiver and throb in his, found a strong indignation arising within his breast, directed against those unknown un-known parties who . had so mercilessly condemned so charming a young woman wom-an to a cruel fate. . ;V 'It' was Artemus who, unlocked "the heavy door and ushered them into the garish light of day, who gravely relieved re-lieved Charlie of his brass candlestick and placed it, together with the rusty KeyaV where" they belonged.--- - ... Charlie .saw ,.thatf his -companion glanced hastily to the right and left .through her veil. Once he was almost sure she gave a start, but by no word did she signify discovery. - ' - v "Could you get a cab for, me?" she asked With a perceptible tremor in her voice. ,'.-.-. "Easily, no doubt. There are usually usual-ly vehicles waiting outside the Steen. This way, please." - : ; ' Before the vehicle' started,; Arline As -to the. name," continued the baron, coolly,' "wh?"- does it matter? Mile. Arline Bratv. "is as good as an-, other indeed, when-you come to ex-amiti ex-amiti it, there-is' something of the adventuress ad-venturess stripe about so delightful a cognomen, don't you think, young sir? To my knowledge that is only one of a score of different names the lady has adopted within the last few years." "Adventuress!" How like the shock of a rattlesnake's stroke the mention of that word felr upon Charlie's hearing.. , . "Since you have been so'kind as to give me warning, suppose you tell me who thia wonderful lady '- of many names 1st ' he asked, coldly. "You must have heard of the Countess Count-ess Isolde Brabant." - ' It waa a name he had often seen mentioned in London and continental papers, a name belonging to a beautiful Russian young woman, given over heart and soul to the cause of Nihilism, Nihil-ism, connected with high families in the Land of the "White Czar, banished through royal decree, and now turned adventuress In Vienna, Paris and other capitals of Europe. He shuddered at the picture. "At least I am under favors to you, baron, for yojr kindness; and if I make a fool of yself it will not be for lack of warning." "Well, young air, I owe my life to your father. Before Sebastppol, when a fierce engagement was in progress, I had been cut down and lay there help- Brand threw back te veil, and again Charlie was given the privileg-e of looking Into those honest blue orbs, rivaling the heavens in. their hue. r "I will release you from your promise prom-ise if you regret making it, Mr. Stuart," Stu-art," she said, softly.' . "Thanks;' but I am a singularly obstinate ob-stinate man, I fear. At eight to-night, I said. Besides, I confess to much curiosity curi-osity to hear what you promised to tell-" .' -. Those wondrous eyes beamed upon him; a little hand crept out to alldw of a parting pressure; then the ve-! ve-! hide 'lumbered away, leaving him there in front of the historic Steen, watching its progress down the crooked crook-ed thoroughfare, and wondering at the change that had broken into his quiet life. When Charlie Stuart reiterated his rash promise with regard to seeing the owner of those marvelous cerulean orbs that same evening, he had but a faint conception of the magnitude of the task he- had taken upon himself. He was dimly conscious of a figure hanging from the rear window of a second old vehicle a figure that made all manner of pantomime gestures, and in which he recognized his friend Artemus. Arte-mus. Remembering the quaint methods by which Artemus invoked the dramatic dra-matic muse, he ended with a laugh. "No harm done, I imagine," he said, aloud. To his surprise some one added: "That remains to be seen, young CHAPTER III. . Charlie Makes an Engagement Wbc was s'le? This question . came, into (. Chalie's mind many times while they walked through those ghostly passages, seeking seek-ing the worn- stone stairs at the top of which stood the roughly hewn oak door studded with rusty nails. At the foot of the worn stone steps the girl came to a sudden stop. "Sir," she said, addressing Charlie as though he were the only party in sight,, "unless I am mistaken these steps lead up to the museum of the Steen, and we have reached the exit of this horrible underground tomb." "We can be in the light as soon as I unlock the door up yonder,"; he said quietly. ...; "One moment, before -we ascend. I want to catch my breath to tell you how grateful I am for your timely assistance as-sistance " "Please don't mention it," said Charlie. Char-lie. .;;. "Indeed, it was a great pleasure, fair lady," chirruped Artemus, eagerly. "You overwhelm me with confusion. I have, as you may weir suppose; received re-ceived something of a shock, and hardly feel equal to the task of explaining ex-plaining to you just now what strange circumstances brought me into the desperate predicament from which I have been rescued by your assistance. But I trust I may see you again soon, when the explanation that is due will be gladly given. Forgive me if I say I have been studying you all this time, nd something tells me I may surely trust you with my life. God knows I need friends." less, when a squadron of British dragoons dra-goons charged. They would have crushed me to atoms, but that a wounded Highlander captain, crawling crawl-ing over, shielded my body with his own, and, raising himself, waved his tartan in the air, at which the dragoons dra-goons separated, sweeping past to the left and to the right. That bravo Highlander was your noble father. For years we corresponded; but In my eventful life the memory of the debt I owed him more shame to me became Turning indignantly to see who had dared to thus address him without invitation, in-vitation, Charlie faced a middle-aged gentleman of military aspect, who was regarding him with much urbanity. "I am quite ready to explain the meaning of those words I uttered, young sir, on condition that you favor me with your name." Charlie's first hasty inclination was to refuse point-blank, but he had up to this point of his existence never known the time when he found reason to be ashamed of his name. It belonged be-longed to one of the best families in Scotland, and his ancestry dated back to the days of Bruce and Wallace. "That is a condition easily complied with, as I have never yet refused it to any man who felt enough interest in me to ask. It is Charlie Stuart" The other bowed. "Good! I see we shall get on together to-gether amazingly well. There need be no trouble whatever, since we agree so charmingly," he said. "Ah! about what, now?" asked Charlie, Char-lie, once more keenly on his guard. "H'm! Say, the pretty fraulein." "But perhaps we do not agrte on that subject; in fact, our views Hy be Her words thrilled Charlie. "Pardon me, miss I should have told you before my name is Charlie Btuart. I am at present an exile from eld London, in search of a mission. Jerhaps I have found one," he said, vlth an amused smile. A faint flush chased across her countenance. coun-tenance. "And I am Arline Brand." She had a small reticule attached to her girdle, as" was the custom. Opening Open-ing this, she took out a quaint little Inlaid cardcase and handed him a bit of pasteboard. "When you call, ask for me under tuat name, by which I am known. But let me say again as a duty I owe you, Mr. Stuart let me give you full warning warn-ing that, while I appreciate the great favor you have done me, I must tell you I have enemies, and that if you should seek to continue the acquaintance acquaint-ance so strangely begun, it might possibly pos-sibly bring you into trouble." "I never yet have allowed lear of mortal man to influence my actions," Btuart said, proudly. "But these men are eruel and un- obscured by other issues. Young sir, for his sake I have sought to save you from the snare of the fowler. Be warned in time." A cab, doubtless previously signaled, dashed up, the busy baron jumped In, waved his hand to Charlie, and was gone. He left a very puzzled and deeply worried young man in , front of the Steen. Charlie seemed wrestling with the problem, and draws ist this way, then that; but his natural obstinacy finally won out. "Well," he muttered through hi teeth, "I said eight o'clock to-night; and, come weal or come woe, I shall keep the appointment." (To be continued.) |