Show N L it odd that you and I 1 stand standing ing here by the rail have in li a way held the destinies of the whole great earth in our hands F Q JL A fy MO V r COPYRIGHT 1908 1903 ty THE associated MA COPYRIGHT 1909 by THE MERRILL SYNOPSIS count dl di the italian ambassador la is at al dinner with diplomats when a messenger summons him to the embassy ba y where a beautiful young woman asks for a ticket to the embassy ball tile the ticket made out in the name of AINs isabel thorne cliplef f campbell of the secret service and mr grimm ills licud detect lv are warned that a plot is 13 blending blen ving in washington and grimm goes to tho the state ball for information ills his attention Is called to miss isabel thorne who with her companion disappears A pilot la ij heard and senor alvarez all area of tile mexican legation Is found wounded grimm Is assured miss thorne thorna did W it he the visits hor demanding knowledge 0 of f the ie lawair affair and arrests pietro Petro miss thorne visits an old bomb maker and they discuss cuss a wonderful experiment fifty thousand dollars Is stolen from the boffl office ce of senor benor tile minister inister m from fro m venezuela and while de detectives te chives are i investigating n vesti gating the robbery miss thorne appears as it guest of tile the legation grimm focuses her of tile the theft tile tha money Is restored but a new mystery occurs 1 in n tho cl reappearance arance of monsieur leur r ambassador elusive miss thorne reappears reappears reap Vears bearing a letter ali which fell spates tat that t the I 1 e ambassador has been and demanding ransom the ambassador bas ims returns and again strangely disappears later I ater he 19 rescued from an old ahouse house in tho suburbs it Is discovered that cletro shot senor alvarez and that lie Is prince grimm figures in a mysterious jail delivery ile he orders ordera bo both t h miss thorne and dabruzzo t 5 leave the country CHAPTER by wireless they paused in the offic the three if them and while miss thorne was giving conle some instructions is as to her baggage the prince went over to the telegraph booth and began to write a message ott oa a blank mr air grimm appeared gt Ms his elbow no he said cant 1 I send a telegram if I 1 like demanded the th prince sharply no nor a note nor a letter nor may you speak to any one mr air grimm informed him quietly why its an out outrage ragel flamed the prince it depends altogether on the vi w point your highness said bald mr air grimm courteously if you will pardon me I 1 might suggest that it is needless need lesa to attract attention by your present vre sent attitude you may inay I 1 say you may compel me to humiliate you tho the prince glared at him angrily 1 I mean handcuff halid tuff you mr air grimm added gratuitously handcuff me 1 I hesitate your highness if it was necessary after a moment miss bliss thorne sign fled bed her readiness and they started out at the door mr air grimm stopped and turned back to tb the desk as it if struck by some sudden thought leaving them together oh miss biss thorne left a message for tome lome one mr air grimm was saying to lie he clerk cleric shea decided it to la un 7 necessary ile he turned and glanced toward her and the clerks eyes followed his please give it to me it was passed oyer without comment it was a sealed envelope addressed to mr air charles winthrop wynthrop rankin alf arr grimm glanced at the superscription per tore tile envelope into bits and dropped it 11 into a bas basket liet A minute later lie ho was assisting miss aliss thorne and the prince into adauto mob mobile flo that was waiting in front As aa the car moved away two other automobiles appeared from corners nearby and trailed along behind to the station there a private compart ment car was in readiness for them it was a long dreary ride a ride of utter silence save tor for the roar and clatter of the moving train mr grimm vigilant implacable sat at case cabe miss thorne resigned to the inevitable able whatever it might be studied the calm quiet face from beneath drooping lids and the prince sullen scowling nervously wriggled in his seat philadelphia was passed and trenton and then the dawn began to break through the night it was quite light when they rolled into jersey city im sorry for all the inconvenience I 1 have chave caused mr air grimm apologized to miss aliss thorne as ho he assisted her to alight you must be exhausted if it were only that she replied with a slight smile andis and Is it too early to ask whore where wo we are going goin g the prince turned quickly at the question we take the lusitania for liverpool at ten said mr air grimm obligingly Alean meanwhile whilo lets get some coffeo coffee and a bite to eat 1 are you going to malto make the trip with us asked the prince mr air grimm shrugged rugged bb his shoulders weary and spiritless they went aboard the boat and a little while later they steamed out into the stream and threaded their way down the bay aless thorne stood at the rail gazing back upon the city they were leaving mr grimm stood beside her the prince still sullen still scowling sat a dozen feet apet away this Is a wonderful thing you have done mr air primm grimm said miss aliss thorne at last thank you he said eald simply it was a destructive thing that you intended to do did you ever see a more marvelous marve loua thing than that and ho he indicated tho the skyline sky line of new york its the dze most marvelous bit of mechanism in the world the dynamo of the western hemisphere you yott would have destroyed it because in the world war that would have been the first farat point of attack she raised her eyob roys but was waa silent somehow he wont went on utter ft a nio mo ment 1 I could never associate a wom an with destructiveness with wars and with violence that la is on an unjust way of saying it she interposed and then musing inuring ly it odd that you and 1 I standing hero by the rail mil have in a way held the destinies of tile the whole great earth in our hands and now your remark makes roe me feel that you alone have stood for peace and the general good and I 1 for destruction and evil 1 I mean that mr air grimm said quickly you have done your duty as aa you saw it and Fal failed ledl she aho interrupted and I 1 have done roy my duty as I 1 saw it and won she added she smiled ameled a little sadly 1 I think perhaps you and I 1 might have been excellent friends it it had not been for ill all this 1 I 1 know wo we should have said mr grimm almost eagerly 1 I wonder it you will over ever forgive me for for forgive you 0 alnes ne repeated theral Is nothing to forgive one must do ones duty hut dut I 1 wish it could have been otherwise the statue of liberty slid by and governors island and fort hamilton then in tho the distance sandy hook light camo came into view im going to leave you here bald mr grimm and for the first time there was a tense strained note in lile his voice aliss blue gray eyes cyca had grown inis mistily tily thoughtful the words stat startled led her a little and she turned to face him it may bo be that you and I 1 shall never meet again mr air grimm went on we will meet again she said bald gravely when and where I 1 dont know but it will come and perhaps then we may be friends ile he was pleading now why we are friends now arent wo we she asked and again the smile curled her scarlet lips surely wo we are friends arent we we are arc ho he declared positively As they started forward 0 revenue atter ater which had been hovering about sandy book nook put toward thorn them flying some signal at her masthead slowly the great boat on an which they stood crept along then the clang of a bell in the engine room brought her to a standstill and the revenue cutter came alongside 1 I leave yo you here mr grimm said again its goodby good by goodby good by sho she said softly good by till we meet once more she extended both hands impulsively and he stood for an all instant staring 3 into tho the limpid gray eyes then turning went below from tile tho revenue cutter he waved a hand at her as aa the great lusitania moving again sped on her way the prince joined alsa aless thorne at the rail the scowl was still on his face and now what lie ho demanded abruptly this man has treated us as it if we were a pair of children iles a wonderful man she replied that may be but we have been fools to allow him to do all this miss aliss thorne turned batly flatly and faced him we are not beaten yet she said slowly if all things go well we we are not beaten yet the lusitania was rounding montauk point when the wireless brought her to half speed with a curt message isabel thorne and na pietro petro aboard Lusi lusitania tanta wanted on warrants charging conspiracy tugboat tug boat will take them off intercepting you beyond Alon montauk point campnell secret service what does that mean asked tile the j prince bewildered it means that tile the compact will be signed in washington in spite of mr air grimm and there w was a s tho the glitter of triumph in her eyes with the aid of ono one of the maids ln in the depot at jersey city I 1 managed to get a telegram of explanation and instruction to da 04 foe foa in new york and this Is the re sult fulti ile ho signed mr air Camp campbells bolls name I 1 sup suppose pose to give weight to the an ali hour lator later a tugboat tug boat came along side aide and they wont went aboard CHAPTER the light in the dome prom from where lie he sat in a tiny at al covo cove which jutted butted out and encroached upon the line 1100 of the sidewalk mr lr grimm looked down on pennsylvania avenue tho the central thread of wash ington ever changing always brilli brilliant antI splashed at regular intervals with light from high flung dung electric area arcs the early theater crowd was waa in tin the street well dressed well fed careless for tho the moment ot of nil all things save sava physical comfort and amusement au an tonio biles carriages cubs cabs cars flow td past endlessly and yet mr lr grimm saw naught of it in hi tile the distance at ono end of the avenue the dome of tin tho capital cleft the shadows of night and a single light sparkled at its apex in tho the other direction at tho the left of tin the building which abruptly blocks the wide thoroughfare wore wor tile the windows of tho the house motionless moody thoughtful f air grimm sat staring staring strai straight ghi ahead comprehending none of these things which lay before him as in i a pati panorama orania instead ills hla memory wn wa ll 11 conjuring up a pair of subtle blue gray eyes now pleading now coquet now frankly defiant two slim allm white wonderful hands the echo ol 01 a pleasant throaty laugh a splendid elusive radiant littered haired phantom tru ly a yeoman woman of my mystery steryl 1 who wax wn this isabel thorne who for months past had been tho the storm center and directing mind of a vast international intrigue which threatened the world with war who this remarkable young woman who with ease and na as burance commanded ambassadors and played nations as pawns now that she was safely out ox 01 thi country mr air grimm had leisure to speculate upon him had devolved the duty of blocking her plans and lie he had dono done so mer merciless elless alike of his bla own feelings and of liars hers hesitation or evasion had bad never occurred to him it was a thing to bo be done and ho he did it ile he wondered it if sho she had under stood the there ro at the last beside tho rail ile he wondered it she knew the struggle it had cost him deliberately to send her out of his hia life or had even surmised that her expulsion from tho the country by his direct act was wholly lacking in the exaltation of 0 f to Q him that it struck deeper than that below the listless official exterior into ills his personal happiness 1 I and wondering lie ha knew that she did understand A silent shod waiter came and placed the coffee things at his elbow ile ho heed the waiter poured a demitasse demi deml tasse and inquiringly lifted a lump of sugar in tho the sliver silver tongs still mr air grimm heed at last the tha waiter deposited the sugar on the edge of the fragile saucer and amov moved ed away as silently as he had come A newspaper which mr air grimm had placed on tho the end of the table when lie ha sat down rattled a little as a breeze from the open window caught it then the top sheet slid oft off and feu to the floor mr grimm was still staring out of tho the window slowly the room behind him was wa thinning of its crowd oa na the theater 1 hound bound diners went out in twos and threes the last of these disappeared finally nally ll and save for mr air grimm there were not more than a dozen per persona sons left in the place thus for a few min utes and then the swinging doors doon leading from the street clicked and a gentleman entered ile he glanced around as it seeking a seat near a window then moved along in mr grimms direction between tho the rows of tables ills his gazo gaze lingered on mr air grimm for an instant and when tie lie came opposite he stooped and picked up the rallen newspaper sheet i TO UK BE CONTINUED |