Show rte i SE iS RIAL iA STORY t ELUSIVE ISABEL By JACQUES FUTRELLE Illustration by M. M KETTNER HETTNER bt 1 by Dy The Tie A en td C Pr g ht bt 19 by Th Bobbs- Bobbs Bobbs Company is I SYNOPSIS j i Count di Rosin the Italian HaHnn ambassador ambas- ambas actor ador Is at dinner with diplomats In Inthe Inthe the national capital when a messenger rings brings a note directing him to come to the embassy at once Here a beautiful soung oung woman asks that she be given 6 to k ticket to the tho embassy ball Tho ticket tick tick- et Is made out in n the name of ot Miss Is Isabel Isabel Is- Is abel abet Thorne Chief Campbell of ot the secret service and Mr Grimm his head detective are warne warned that a plot of or the Latin IaUn races against the English speak- speak ng races Is brewing In Washington and end Grimm goes to the state ball for tor Information In a conservatory conservator his attention attention at at- tE-nUon tE Is called to Miss Isabel Thorne who with her companion soon pears A revolver shot Is heard and Campbell and Grimm hasten down the hall to find that Senor Alvarez of ot the Mexican legation has been shot A woman woman wo wo- wo- wo man mILn did It and Grimm is assured It was Miss Thorne Ho visits her demanding Knowledge e of the affair and there arrests a man name named PIetro CHAPTER VII I IThe The Signal And the original question remains unanswered remarked Mr Campbell The original question r repeated Mr r. r Grimm Where is Prince Benedetto ii I the secret envoy his chief reminded reminded re re- re- re minded himI him I wonder mused the young man If It the Latin comp compact ct is signed In Inthe inthe the United States States- The Latin compact will not be signed In the United States 1 Mr r. r Grimm interrupted And then after fa a moment Have we received any further further reports on Miss Thorne I If f mean nean reports from our foreign agents The chief shook his head Inevitably by some act or word she Bhe will lead us to the prince declared declared de de- Mr Grimm and the moment he is 15 known to us everything becomes becomes becomes be- be comes plain sailing salling We know she Isa is isa isa a a secret agent agent I I expected a denial but she was quite frank about It And 1 1 had no intention whatever of 09 placing her her under arrest I knew some one was in the adjoining room because of ofa a slight noise in there and I knew r she knew it She raised her voice a af at f t little obviously for the benefit of L whoever er was there From that point everything I said and did was to comI compel com corn pel peI that person whoever it was to show himself J I His chief nodded understandingly understanding Mr Grimm was silent for far a little then Went on The last possibility In my mind at 7 t that moment he confessed was as that the person in there was the man nian who fi shot hot Senor Alv Alvarez ez Frankly Frankl I had bad hadL 6 half hall an Idea that that that-that that It might be the L 3 prince prin-ce in person Suddenly his bis mood changed And now flow our lady of mystery mystery mys mys- tery tery may come and go as she likes because because because be- be I cause I know even if a dozen of our nen men have ransacked ransacked Washington in InI i. i vain uin for the prince she will inevitably I lead us to him And that reminds me rl l 1 should like to borrow Blair and andL andt t ft L Hastings and Johnson Please plant them the keep constant constanti f. f so they may ri i watch on Miss Thorne Let them report rePort re- re Port ort to you and wherever I am I 1 will reach you over the phone i J By Dy the way what was In that sealed sealS seal seal- ed tf packet that was taken from Senor S J Alvarez Camp Campbell bell In Inquired curiously It had something to do with some somer railroad responded Mr r f fran franchises Grimm as he rose I sealed it again and turned returned it to the senor Evident Evidently toil ly Iy It was not what Signor li to find In in fact he admitted id idid It wasn't what l he e was looking for r For a little while the two men gazed id idle i thoughtfully each Into the eyes of the le leis other then Mr Grimm entered his is I Private office where he sat for an hour jr f r with his Immaculate boots on his is isid I f- desk thinking A world he war he had hadI id I been thrust forward by his government government govern- govern n- n ment to prevent it subtle It-subtle subtle blue gray gray iy r eyes his eyes his Highness Prince Benedetto to 1 a Abruzzi-a d a haunting smile and scar- scar IT- IT tet tel lips lies At about the moment he rose to go 50 gout ut Miss Thorne closely veiled left ilc Jo fie Venezuelan legation and walked ed I rapidly down the street to a corner jr entered a aun awaiting awaiting Where here without a word she t. t waiting automobiles automobile The wheels spun un una and end the car leaped forward For a amile amile mile or or more it wound aimlessly in inand and out occasionally bisecting its own Path finally Miss Thorne leaned forWard for for- or Ward ard and touched the chauffeur on the he kF i t arm Now she said Tho car straightened out into a I street of stately resl residences and scuttled ut uto tied along until the bosom o of tho the Potomac came Into view besides les i that nat for a few minutes then over the he bridge badge to the Virginia side In the dilapidated little city of Alexandria The car did not slacken its speed but v pound cound und in and and out through dingy Erects past tumble-down tumble negro huts its far h if an Rn hour before it came to a ar a r il 1 in to front of an old brick 1 1 I I This la is number seven ninety the chauffeur lr announced Miss Thorne entered the house with a key and and was gone for ten minutes perhaps She was readjusting her veil ell eU when she came camo out and stepped Into nto the car silently Again it moved forward orward on n to the end of the dingy street and finally Into the open coun coun- try ry Three four five miles mlles perhaps out the old Baltimore Road and again the he car stopped this time In front of an ancient colonial farm Outwardly the place seemed to be deserted The blinds bUnds battered and stripped of paint by and rain were all closed and one corner of of the small veranda had crumbled crumbled away from rom age and neglect A na narrow path strewn with pine needles led tortuously tortuously tortuously tortu tortu- up to the door In the the rear of the he house rising from an old oid barn a thin bin pole with a like cup attachments at the apex thrust Its point Joint Into the open above the dense odorous pines It t appeared to bo be a wireless mast Miss 1 Thonie e passed around the house and the barn A man ca C cane tie forward and kissed her hera a a thin little man of Indeterminate age drying age drying his hands on a piece of cotton waste His face was pale with the he pallor of one who knows little outdoor outdoor out out- door life his eyes set deep-set and aglitter a gilt ter er with some feverish I Inward w d fire and the thin lips Ups were pressed together er In a sharp line Behind him was a along along long ong bench on which were scattered tools of various arlous sorts fantastically shaped chemical apparatus two or three electric batteries of odd sizes and aud ranged along one end of it In a arow arow arow row were a s score score ore or more metal spheroids a shade larger than a one- one pound shell From somewhere In the rear came the clatter of a small gaso gaso- line Ine engine and still farther away was an electric dynamo Is the test arranged Rosa the little little lit lit- tle tie man queried eagerly in Italian The date Is not fixed yet et yet she replied relied replied re- re plied lied in the same language It will willbe be je I hope within the next two weeks And then then then- Fame and fortune for both of us he Interrupted with quick enthusiasm Ah Ah Rosa I have worked and waited so long for this and now It will come and with it the dominion of the world again by our country How will I know when the data Is fixed It would not be well to write me here My lady of or of mystery stroked stroke the sj slender nervous hand caressingly and anda a great affection shone In the blue- blue gray eyes At eight o'clock on the night of the test tes t she explained still speaking Italian a single light will appear atthe atthe at atthe the apex of the capitol dome in Wash Wash- w I j I 1 t With That We Control the World Exclaimed the Man Triumphantly i Ington That is the signal agreed upon upon upon up up- c on It can be seen by all In the city and and Is visible here from the window of your b bedroom droom The feverish feverish feverish fe fe- exclaimed Yes yes yes he glitter In his eyes eye deepened If there is a fog of course you will not attempt the test sh she went ent ono on t o o not in a fog he ho put in quick- quick ly y It must be clear And if it Is clear you can see the light Ight in th the dome without difficulty And all your plans are working outwell out outwell ut well wen 1 Yes And yours I dont don't think there Is any question but that both England and the United States will buy Do you know Wh Whit what it t means menns Do you know what It means means means' He was silent a m moment ment his hands working nervous nervously I Then h with an effort And his Highness His nis Highness is safe sare The subtle fo for a mo me- misty thoughtful eyes grew mr ment meat then then cleared again He He is s safe sh she repeated I he ne he Mexico and Venezuela were were ere bC began We We dont don't know yet what they y will do The Venezuelan answer is loc locked ed edIn in iii the the safe at the tho legation I will 11 know now what it Is within forty eight h hours hours ours Sho She was silent silent a little Our difficulty now our greatest greatest di difficulty m cu It y Is the hostility of the French ambassador ambassador ambassador ambas ambas- to the compact Ills His government government govern govern- ment ment t has bas not yet notified him 0 of the Is e emr mr presence ence of ot Prince dAbruzzi he be does doest ies p Sot in the feasibility of the be theno beto e no not t believe to to to proceed have to to-to to plan an and d we ne n extremes extremes to prevent him wor working kl n g against us But u they must see the inca incalculable I cu 1 a hI e advantages to follow upon such a atom compact com com- that w will willbe 11 the vast power pact p act with earth whole be g given I ven to them over the b by y this He Indicated the 1 long ong littered lit lib work k table They must see It cd- cd wor work They hey J. J will see It ft L Luigi u J- J JI g I said Miss And now how are aro tl Thorne gen gently Are comfortable comfortable com com- ou Are you Vie well Are you y you vou orta bl e. e Its It's such a dreary old place here I suppose so HO he replied an ant and d beI be he blue gray eyes for foran forme I I me met t the solicitous instant t. t Yes I am quite corn com coman an time timeto ho be added a. a I have no to F be otherwise la se with with all the work I Ito It will mean so 80 muc much h must m d do o. o They The were both silent for a time Thorne walked over t to Miss FinallY o. o I the long table tabia and curiously lifted out ont I of the It was a sinister looking g glittering At Atone Atone Atone one end of ot it was a delicate vibratory apparatus not unlike like the of a telephone and the other end was threaded as if the spheroid was made as an au attachment to some other devIce de de- vice With that we control the world exclaimed the man triumphantly And its it's mine Rosa mine Its wonderful she mused softly Wonderful And now I must go I Imay Imay may not see you again until after the test because I Shall be watched and fo followed lowed I go If I get an opportunity I shall reach you by telephone telephone tele phone but not even that unless It la is necessary There Is always danger always danger she repeated thought- thought fully She was thinking of of-Mr Grimm I understand said the man aim sim- I ply I And look out for the tha signal sIgnal tho tho light In the apex of the capitol dome she went on I understand tand the night must be perfectly clear and you understand un that the test Is to be made promptly at three o'clock by your chronometer 1 At three o'clock ho repeated repented For a moment the they stood with their arms around each other then te tender tender- derly der- der ly his visitor kissed him and went out He remained looking after aCter her vacantly until the chug-chug chug of her automobile as it moved off down the road was lost In the distance then turned again to the long work CHAPTER VIII Miss Thorne Thome and Not Miss Thorne From a pleasant wide-open wide bay win dow of or her apartments on the second floor Miss Thorne looked out upon the avenue with Inscrutable eyes Behind Behind Be hind the tho closely drawn shutters of another another an an- other window bay-window farther down the avenue on the corner she knew a aman aman aman man named Hastings was hiding she knew that for an hour or more he had been watching her as she wrote In Inthe Inthe Inthe the other direction In a house near the corner another man named Blair was similarly ensconced and he too had be been n watching as she wrote There should be a third man Johnson Miss Thorne curiously studied the face of ot each passer-by passer seeking therein something something some some- thing to remember She sat at the little mahogany desk and a a note with the Ink yet wet upon It lay face up before her It was addressed addressed ad ad- dressed to Signor Signer Pietro In Int Inthe inthe t the e district prison and read My Dry Dear Friend I have been waiting to write you with the hope that I could report Senor Alvarez out of danger but his hla condition I regret to say remains un un- un- un changed Shall I send an attorney to you Would you like a book of or any kind Or some delicacy sent in from froma a restaurant Can I be of any service to you In any way If I can please drop me a line Sincerely ISABEL THORNE At last she rose and standing in the tho window read the note over folded It placed It in an envelope and sealed It A maid maid came in answer to her ring and there at the window under the watchful eyes of Blair and Hastings and and perhaps Johnson she Johnson she handed the note to the maid with Instructions to mail mall It it immediately Two minutes later she saw the maid go out along the avenue to a post-box post on the cor cor- ner Then she drew back into the shadow shadow shadow shad shad- ow of the room slipped sUpped on a dark dark-col ored wrap and standing away from the window safe beyond the reach of prying eyes waited patiently for the postman He appeared about five o'clock and simultaneously another man turned the corner near the postbox postbox post post- postbox box and spoke to him Then together er they disappeared from view around the corner So that's Johnson Is it mused muse Miss Thorne and she smiled a little Mr Grimm certainly pays me the compliment of having me carefully watched A few minutes later she dropped into the seat at the desk again The dark wrap had been thrown aside and Hastings and Blair from their hiding biding p places aces could see her distinctly After Arter Artera a while they saw her riso rise quickly as asan asan asan an automobile turned into the avenue and lean toward the window eagerly looking out The car came to a standstill standstill standstill stand stand- still in front of the legation and Mr Cadwallader an under under-s under secretary of the British embassy who was alone in the car raised his cap She nodded and smiled smiled then disappeared in the shadows shadows shadows shad shad- of the room again Mr Cadwallader der went to the door spoke to the servant there then returned returned returned re re- re- re turned and busied himself about tho the car Hastings and Blair watched Intently Intently intently In In- both the door and the window for a long time finally a n closely veiled veiled veiled veil veil- ed |