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Show 1 ' I: I r.n v.v. : : :ctt vc oii y. ' !j Av.tLor cf "A IJiniatc- of Var" ( " :r' : ' ly j:trlert.S. '.oe & Co.) fou;ht fir an alvur.tae. KolandVas wiry anl 8ile ani he hi been well trainel, but the brute tu. of bis antagonist an-tagonist was a cruKhirg weight against Urn. lie gre-.v brrsthles as he fctrus-6lei fctrus-6lei to holj'hl3 own. Uut he kert his nerve, and not for t Instant did he fel that hisvas a losin? f.ght. Twice he found a chance to put In a telling blow, and each time he followed up bis advantage. advan-tage. But Zito'y persistence was equal to his own. Koland could not down him He could not make an Impression upon the Impetus of the Count's bulk. Gasp-lng, Gasp-lng, he fought for life against this mass of flesh which did not feel his blows. His active resistance had put ito on the defensive, and the moment the latter lat-ter felt Roland's weakening he grasped his Wrist again and tried to turn his ?wn weapon against him. Roland felt the barrel pressing his -side and knew that , everything depended upon his strength. With the desparation of a last chance he tried to Jerk his hand free. At the same Instant he managed to trip Zito, and both-TSnged forward toward the stone hearth. They fell crashing among the andirons., and-irons., Roland was on, his feet In an lnr stant. , Zito'a grasp had loosened and he lay quite still. The Prince looked down at him In bitter triumph, which changed quickly Into a kind of horror. He deserved de-served death If any one did, but Roland had no desjre to be the avenger. He bent down and . hastily examined him ds he lay there, pale, harmless and repulsive. re-pulsive. A bad cut on the back of his head showed that In falling he had struck'orie of the huge amllrons. , , Roland was glad that he had not kllUd him, even by accident Reallilng that consciousness might at any moment mo-ment return, he looked about for some-' thing with which to bind his adversary. The curtajn cords were the only thing visible that could be turned Into service. The Prince examined them and found, them soft but heavy. He tore three or four of them from the hooks and hastily has-tily bound the Inert Count where he lay. Then he drew the body from the hearth, constructed an efficient gag with -his handkerchief and started to Return to the passageway. Tha paper that Zito had been reading caught his eye and he examined It. It proved to be a report from one of the men who had abducted the Americans. It was written from Oberholtz and acknowledged Zlto's order hat the women wo-men shovid be brought to him without delay. The writer said that he had not been able to find anything in the conduct con-duct of the Americans wfijch would establish es-tablish the crime that Zito hoped to sub. stantlate. Ha would make the arrest, however, and bring the prisoners to Stanek at the first opportunity. The frankness with . which the charges against the girl were ignored would make -the letter a valuable bit of evidence evi-dence to the United' 6tates Government in. case of trouble. Roland folded It. and placed If In an'mner pocket, ' P tTo be continued.) ' ; c:'.:rr. nvm.-c;ztinu:i. "Yes, eicrrt tMt be seemed to stand over ne f r a lor ? time, terrifying me, alr .-t c; ivlrg me mad." Roland turned toward the marred oaken panel which Katherina had indicate indi-cate i. . . "These ancient castles are curiously constructed," he said. "I'll try this ST" in." . He tapped It here end there, fumbled with it, and presently it slid noiselessly back revealing within the wall an opening open-ing which extended downward into darkness. - Katherina uttered a stifled cry of amarement. The Prince grew white. "Zito was really here." He bent low an4 examined the doo by the light of a candle which Kathe-. rlne held for him, and noticed that the Spring had been newly repaired. Taking Tak-ing the candle, he slowly explored the passageway. The ladder led downward for ten steps into a stining corridor. On the first landing many footmarks were discernible In the thick carpet of dust.'. Two narrow passages led off from this corridor, but Roland ignored them and continued his downward course. On each floor he found several little hallways hall-ways leading in different directions. It was evident that-there was a complin cated system of secret passages,- embracing em-bracing many wings of the castle. But still Roland went downward, seeking, the end. . His, search, however, was in vain, for although he came upon a door at the lower end of the passage, he could not move it and it was clear that" It had not been opened for decades. He retraced his steps to the landing where he had first observed the footmarks in the dust. Following them along a pas-age, pas-age, he descended another ladder, and came by a somewhat tortuous courser to a low door, in which he observed that a new spring had been fitted.' Making sure that his pistols were ready for use, Roland bent back the spring and with, the utmost caution peered through a narrow aperture. What , he saw caused htm to beat i. hasty retreat, for not ten feet away, seated quietly at a table, was Count Zito himself, i CHAPTER XIX. An Encounter. It required but an' instant for Rola'nd to decide what to do. He turned again to the door, opened It and entered, quietly quiet-ly closing It behind him. Zito looked up from the papers he was examining, startled and alert He rose quickly. Ignorant of the .identity of his antagonist, antagon-ist, with the clothes of a peasant and the bearing of a prince. "Who are you, sir?" he said savagely. He took a step toward Roland, but stopped when he saw a revolver leveled at his eyes. . "Hold up. your hands." the Prince commanded In a low voice. "If you utter ut-ter a sound, I'll shoot'' Zito raised his arms and glared at Roland like a, maddened beast His lips ' w ere purple . and there, were purple blothes on his swollen face. "Well," he said after a moment, and his cruel lips broke into a sickly smile, "we can stay here Tndeflnltely, I suppose." Roland advanced toward the Count; and with- his rovolyer pressed close to the man'a breast, ho removed one of Zito's pistols and threw It into the corner cor-ner of the room. The second one stuck In the case, and as the Prince fumbled with it, Zltq brought down his raised tint with'terrlflo force upon Roland's head. The blow sent him reeling and he would have fallen If Zito had not grasped his arm in an effort to take away the revolver. Stunned and dazed as he was, Roland had presence of mind enough to cling to the weapon and strike out with his full strength. The blow went wide of its mark and the two men swayed about the room locked In each other's arms, struggling for possession pos-session of the revolver. Zito was the heavier, and as he bore Roland down in his huge, bear-like embrace,, the Prince realised that his adversary, was too much for him. -He tried to turn his revolver on Zito, Ttui the muscles of his wrist were powerless in the grasp of such a giant- The two were struggling before a huge stone fireplace. Chairs had been overturned over-turned and the lamp had faHen'wlth a crash. Except for .this, the struggle went, In "Hence. Not a word was j spoken as they clung to each other and |