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Show jTj Ty Jules Mary .Love Mystery Adventure V " -'i asse.ssow-.as- IhVJ!!:. d,rrmJf" fellow who. one, I'i.. n.1 ntrano In th han, howd no disposition to leave. On . of th ir a leaf from his not, hook, scribbled a few word and hold-in hold-in It out to a footman. Mid; 'Tak that lo your m Muter and h will receive us Immediately." ,Th three man rr Ludovle, Lau vo)tr and Joanny. i.aapsron. Ilk all groat worker waa an early. riser. II waa already up. Nothing In hia faro ahowed surprise sur-prise whan ha road: 'm behalf of tha corsair, Jaro.us Waa Medeno ttalal-ast, ttalal-ast, wi salute you:" II reflected for a faw saronda oalv, and then aald to tha footman. "Br1n' these vialtora Into tha ry aalon ana beg them to wall." I After whlnh ha want Into hia off Ira, land there gave hi nine if up to a strange occupation. Klrat, behind tha tapestry, ha w.irked a llttla latch that released a amall Iron door set In tha wall. Within, With-in, waa a llttla electric machlna. now ilrnt. whose count las wires dlaap ri Into tha marbla to carry thair furmldebl cnirfv to dlatant part a of the palace. Oasparon iamtndlt car" fully and cloaed I ho door again. It all worked prfirtly. And ha am I led. "1 ahall b wall defended." Tha tji.atrica fall hack Into plae araln. Ha praaaad upon tha left ay of the llttl ataiue.of a Japaneta warrior, that etood on hia dank, and then upon the right; both eye dropped back Into the lat-k of the head, ana Immediately could ba heard. without knowmar whence, the Itjjhf tlc-tac, regular aa that of a clock, not Indeed In tha rooiu Uwelf, but In the next room. Then he aterpd Into a dreaa'n room nekt to tha office, , bla room all In white, with porta had marbla walla. He turrrd an electric awttt-h, aettled cloaa to the wall and. with hia ear aralnat the back of tha chali. all hia aenaea awake, he listened. A thread of tele- fihon wire, ending In microphone ndden In the chair, connected th d neat rig room with th grey aalon. Nov a wonl apoken in the anion could eacape him. Thua he overheard from lifer off and Invisible, mv converaa-ttun converaa-ttun by which he might. later profit. A i f l rat hA could hear rlearlv tha AUO' WHO lJ TH UTOKr, Ceorgea 4'lauda Hlancafnrt eacrlflr hia JHe and hta lov for .ui, a beautiful beauti-ful young animal trainer. tin urdrr to aava hia twin brother. I.udovio Uluncafort. from cominli ting many rrlmt to gain uoaH-aHin or iha grem fortune of th dead pirate. Kalat-t'aat. which haa been I -ft " .!' cara of the family 01 iiaaparonu, a banker of Meealna. until the 2Mb of December. There are thre heir. Joanny. a half-craxy beggar, and Mile and Tine, a young by and hia alater, none of whom knew of thia (oriufle. l.udovlc think that the rhll-drrn rhll-drrn have been drowned by Kermadeuc and alarle-Anne, hta wife, but they have been aaved by Jyanny and aiitrualvd to th vare of 111. wha at ka to avenge heraetf on I .u do vie l.ecaua he broke Into her room on night when ah waa under tha influence of th opium Which he had pruad-d her lo amok. Khe lovea Uorgt-a, but fc-ela unworthy un-worthy of him. .... Uuvovfr, an x-thlef. akla Iidovlr, and Kouacouhnn. a reformed ciiinlnal, alda Cieorgea-Clau'le. iiapti;r fxi. tiiw jwh or UMhlNUKH. Now, ao auarply had thla Impression Com back to him, that h gaaped out with surprise: I "Where la Ziil?" He aet himself to be'eig them with quoettous. to beaeta Tina ripecially, adjuring ad-juring her to knewer. when the door of to tut loo 1 1 openvu and Capialu Atnuroia appeared on th all). ! "It la Urn to go aahora, Monaleur," h aald. "J ut a faw mlnulaa more," aald Georaee. "I have my ordcra to put you back aboard in taitin," said Aiubrou( smiling. He let himself go. To many thought whirled In his brain. He could nut tii.uk clearly. LHmiencioa lartuna waa at 111 alongHida the alouett. And while aha maneuvered slowly wny Oeorgea atoud with hie eyes iiaed upon the yauni. waiting, wait-ing, hoping for some apparition, an apparition ap-parition that would tak tb form of Ziil. steps of thre men on th tiles of th saton ii nd he smiled. Three steps, hurried, hur-ried, hestlfatlng. close along th walls, were the steps of men who sought to sm ure themselves that they were alone, that nothing threatened them and that i hey nilwht not be overheard. The examination ex-amination must have been sat Isfnoto j, fur two of the men began to talk. 'lUg aa thla business Is. It'a beginning too simply, my boy.' aald one. " io-parone io-parone must have long foreseen today'a claims and we ar going to find our-selves our-selves up against a man worthy of our meial. and a man who haa had time to prepare hU plan of battle. Bo beware! "I expect old (Jaeparoa will defend himself like a devil. . . I certainty don't evpect he will turn vr Joanny 'a hundred million with a smile on hi lips." "It will he enough for today to mak good our claim so that no doubt will remHln In the hanker'a mind. ' Aftr-wrinli Aftr-wrinli the hundred millions can be set SMide until tha law Itaelf recognUea our r'Vnlesa naaparone shows himself a good fellow and give tt up to ua of his own free will. . ." ... lp above In hia telephonic chair, Oasparnne treated himself to a llttl dry laugh that nreeaged nothing good. Then hia fnce became again Inscrutable Inscrut-able aa ha listened. Then there ass a long all fin re during which he could hear only the simpleton who was swaying hia great ahouldere. hefor the window and humming low his eternal and melancholy refrain. v above tiaanaron whlsprd to himself. him-self. "Not on of those who com her today, to-day, thla SMh of Iecembr, will ei go nway alive: The skv waa stilt clear and tha aea as calm and placid aa a lovly lake ,HMparon had learned what he wanted to know. U got up and turned th electric switch and the chair wsa on more what It appeared to be. an honest seat very comfortable, and with no up-pesrsnce up-pesrsnce of Its devilish Inner uses. II went back Into his office and rang. Are the thre vlsllora still In the grev salon' he asked the servant. "Verv well! Bring I hem her" - And he waited their arrival with the most perfect comnlncency. Antonio (iasparone waa a strong man. 4 Continued Monday.) But the deck remained deserted. Throughout an (h ere of the fatal day, the prophetess of evil had clung to the aleps of ine fountain of .e tune, shouting her dark predictions. 'I hsve seii Mnd I hrti heard th signs of catastrophe ' she cried. "Mea-aina "Mea-aina and all Hlciiy will perlah In thla disaaler: 1 have iron in animals wandering wan-dering full of troublii in the fleida all the wav from Aetna to th east, anu . hava heard their cries of fright, for they perceive the shaking of the ground. Th subterranean iiolsf reach their ear before they reach lb ears of men. Woe: W oe:" The peopta who heard her laui-hed, hut new crowds gathered without em.. Accustomed In tlu purMdiae of theirs lo live beneath the constant threat of diss st er, the Sicilians htive becom giudualiy resigned to it. The old woman wo-man went on. "Kty from your homes Oct away from the walla that will crush vou beneath be-neath their ruins: Are you stupid and are you blind? 1-on t you bear the rolling roll-ing of the thunder In the deptha u. the abysees covered bv the earth you love, the enrtli that will kill you ilk a sly traitress? liut I hear. , . on. How I hear!" And leaning over, bent almost double, the old woman" listened tn tna nol ahe alone could guees, that even an perhaps did- not perceive! Hhe held her handa over her ears to be deaf to the calamity whose signs ahe so plainly heard. And the pcoJ. at 111 Inuxhing. moved off and left her alone. Who would have believed her? how was an old Cslahrlan w ho had crossed the straits and taken refuge In Messina where she lived In hogging. Whence could come the catast ruphe she predicted? pre-dicted? Prom the voicsno? NYer had Atna seemed more luof fensive. And the day of th HMh of December, looked forward to by all the characters of this story, looked forward to a cen tury a gone, hy the corsair lacuea Yve Mederlc Saint -Cnst. A I moat at dawn whn Cnsparnna's pal:u-t hefote the sea had hardlv awakened awak-ened from Us nlifht ei reel, three men were hammering and r'nglng ut the door i:teparone's servants who answered ans-wered w ere nut orally in bad humor. They fourd t hemnelve Nt-inK thru. |