Show at ZA SERI S atory ra I 1 L f L U I 1 I 1 V I 1 S AB POOL EL E L BY JACQUES FUTRELLE av M t IM 1903 by the ame ted hund sunday ng um aft 1 y robt 10 by the bobbs berr company 11 SYNOPSIS co nt dl di the italian ambas ador mador Is at dinner with diplomats when a messenger summons him to the em b bassy say where a beautiful young woman asks for a ticket to the embassy ball the ticket Is made out in the name of miss isabel thorne chief campbell of the secret service and mr grimm his head detective are warned that a plot Is to brewing in washington and grimm goes to tl it a e state ball for into info matlon mation hia his at tendon 1 Is called to miss isabel thorne who with her companion disappears t hot shot Is heard and senor alvarez of the mexican legation is found wounded crimm is I 1 assured miss alias thorne did it he limits her demanding knowledge ot of the frair and arrests pietro Petro miss thorne visits an old bomb maker and they ja it 11 cuss a wonderful ond erful experiment F tty thousand dollars Is stolen from the office of senor rodriguez the minister fro from m venezuela and while detectives are in vesti gating the robbery miss thorne ap pears rears as a guest ot of the legation grimm accuses her of the theft the money Is restored but a new mystery occurs in the d of r Bois segur the I 1 trench rench ambassador elusive miss thorne reappears CHAPTER XIII continued you knew I 1 was here repeated sir mr grimm musingly and may 1 I 7 9 just as you knew that 7 or some one at least had entered this house a tew few minutes ago she interrupted the automobile horn outside was a signal gasn wasn t it hastings ft as in the car or was vias it blair or Johnson 9 mr air grimm did not say t you anticipate any person al danger when you entered 7 9 be he queried instead t you afraid I 1 might shoot no there was a long silence mr air grimm still sat with his elbows on his knees staring at the vague white scotch which was mies migs thorne s face face and bare neck one of her white arms hung at her side like a pallid serpent and her hand was at rest on the seat of nf the couch it deems miss thaine he said at length casually that our paths of duty are inextricably tangled twice previously we have met under cir cum stances that were more than strange androw and now this whatever What everin in justice I 1 may have done you in the past by my suspicions has I 1 hope been forgiven and in each instance we were able to work side by side to ward a conclusion I 1 am von wondering dering now if this singular affair will take a similar course he ile paused miss thorne started to peak but he silenced her with a slight gesture of his hai hat d it ie is only fair to you to say that we that is the secret have learned many things about you he te resumed umed in the same casual tone we have hae through our agents traced you step by step aiom rome to washington we know that you are in a way ray a representative ot of a sovereign of europe e know that aou a were on a secret mission to the blanish court perhaps for this eign and remained in madrid for a month we know that from there you went to paris also on a secret mis a on perhaps the same and remained there for three weeks we know that you met diplomatic agents ot of those governments later in london we know all this we know the man ner of your coming to this country of your coming to washington but we don t know why you are here again she started to speak and again he stopped her we don t know your name but that Is of no consequence we do know that in 14 spain you were senora cas savant in paris parts mademoiselle daube d abbl non in london miss jane kellogg and here miss isabel thorne we re alize that exigencies arise in your call ing and mine which make changes of name de deat rabia frable necessary even and there is no criticism of that now as the representative of your govern ment rather a government yes i have a right to be here although unac cred cited you have a right to remain here as long as your acts aie consistent with our lais las iou on have a right to youl secrets as long as they do not directly or indirectly threaten the welfare of this country now why are you herec he ile received i 0 answer he expected none after a moment he went on admitting that you are a secret agent of italy admitting everything that a you ou cla claim im to be you haven t can minced incel me that you are not the person who ho came here tor for the letters and cigarettes igar ettes you have said nothing to drove prove to my satisfaction that you are not the individual I 1 was waiting tor for to night you don t mean that you BUS hect 9 she began in a tone of amaze ment I 1 don t n ean that I 1 suspect any thing he interposed I 1 mean merely that yo yoi I 1 haven t convinced me ere eire s noth ng I 1 inconsistent in the ILI tact fact that you are what you say you are and that in spite of that you came tonight for he was interrupted by a laugh a throaty silvery note that he kemem bared well his idle hands closed spasmodically only to be instantly relaxed suppose mr grimm I 1 should tell you that immediately after madame Bols Bois segur placed the matter in my hands this afternoon I 1 went win it straight to your office to show this letter to you and ask tor for your assistance she inquired suppose that I 1 left my card for you with a clerk there on be arg informed that you were out re member I 1 knew you were on the case from madame Bols Bois segur would that indicate anything except that I 1 want ed to put the matter squarely before you and work with you we will suppose that much mr nir grimm agreed that is a statement of tact fact miss thorne addel addad my card which you will find adur atur at baur office will show that and when I 1 left your office I 1 went to the hotel where you live with the same purpose you were ere not there and I 1 left a card lor for you and that Is a statement of fact it was mas not difficult owing to the extraordinary circumstances to imagine that you would be here tonight just as you are and I 1 came here my still was to inform you of what I 1 knew and work with you does that convince you and how did you enter the em bassyl mr grimm persisted biot not with a latchkey as you did she replied madame Bols segur at my suggestion I 1 left eft the french window in the hall there unfastened and I 1 came in that way the way I 1 may add that monsieur 1 m went ent out when he disappeared very well commented mr grimm and finally I 1 think perhaps I 1 owe you an apology miss thorne another one the circumstances now as they were at our previous meeting are so unusual that Is it necessary to go on there was a certain growing deference in his tone I 1 wonder if you account for monsieur Bols Bois segur a disappearance as I 1 do he inquired 1 I dare say and miss thorne leaned toward him with sudden eager ness in her manner and voice your theory is she questioned it if we believe the servants we know that monsieur Bois Bols segur did not go out either by the front door or the rear mr grimm explained that being true the french window by which you entered seems to have been the way ay yes yes miss thorne I 1 interpolated and the circumstances at ft 0 the ambassador tending the disappearance how do you account for the tact fact that he went evidently of his own will precisely as you must account for it it if you have studied the situation here as I 1 have responded mr grimm for instance sitting at his desk there and he turned to indicate it he could readily see out the windows overlooking the street there is only a narrow strip of lawn between the house and the sidewalk alk now it if some one on the sidewalk or or in a carriage 9 promptly suggested miss alias thorne or in a carriage mr grimm supplemented ted had attracted his atten some one he knew it Is not at all unlikely that he rose lor for no apparent reason as he did do passe passed I 1 along the hall and through the french window across the lawn to the carriage and not a person in the house blouse would nave seen him go mf out precisely there seems no doubt that wag wa the way she mused muser and of course he must have entered the carriage of his own free wilia in other words on some pretext or other he was lured in then made prisoner and he paused suddenly and his hand met miss thorne s warningly the silence of the night N w as broken by the violent clatter of footsteps apparently approaching the embassy the noise was unmistakable some one was run ning the window miss thorne whis she rose quickly and started to cross the room to look out mr air grimm sat motionless listening an instant later and there came a tremendous crash of g ass the french window in the hallway by the sound then rapid footsteps still running along the hall mr air grimm moved toward the door unruffled perfectly self possessed there was only a narrowing of his eyes at the abruptness and clatter of it all and then the electric lights in th tho hall flashed up before mr grimm stood a man tram fram d by the doorway staring bigly into the darkened room his face a as haggard and white as death his mouth a agape gape as if from exertion nd the lips bloodless his eyes were widely distended as it if from fright w W jlia s r clothing disarranged collar unfastened and dangling the ambassador miss alias thorne whispered thrillingly n fc CHAPTER XIV ft A rescue and an escape miss aliss s voice startled mr grimm a little but he had no doubts do abts it was monsieur Bols segur mr grimm was going toward the en framed figure when without any apparent reason the ambassador turned and ran along the hall and at that instant the lights went out again for one moment grimm stood still dazed and blinded by the sudden blackness and again he started toward the door miss thorne was beside him the lights he whispered tensely find the switch he heard the rustle of her skirts ae as she moved away and stepped out into the hall feeling with both his hands the wall A few feet away in the direction the ambassador ambas had gone there seemed to be a violent struggle in progress there as the scuffling of feet and quick drawn breaths as muscle strained agai against ast muscle the lights if be he could only find the switch then as his hands moved along the wall they came in contact with another hand a hand pressed firmly against the plastering barring his pi ogress A light blow in the face caused him to step back quickly the scuffling sound suddenly resolved itself into moving footsteps and the front door opened and closed with a bang mr grimms listless eyes snapped and his white teeth came together sharply as he started toward the front door but fate seemed to be against him still he stumbled over a chair and his own impetus forward sent him sprawling his head struck the wall with a re sounding whack and then over the house came utter silence from out side he heard the clatter ot of a cab finally that died away in the distance miss thorne he inquired quietly I 1 im in here she answered in a despairing sp voice but I 1 can cant it find the switch are you hurt huntr no and then she round found the switch the lights flared fared up mr grimm waa was sit ting thoughtfully on the floor that simplifies the matter conald drably he observed complacently as he rose the men who signaled to me when you entered the embassy will never let that cab get out of their sight miss thorne stood leaning forward a little eagerly gazing at him with those wonderful blue gray eyes and an expression of of perhaps it was ad nitration mi ration on her face are you sure she demanded at last I 1 know it was his response and lust just then monsieur sec see detary of the embassy thrust an in head timidly arkind the cor ner of the stairs the crash of glass had aroused him what happe happened he asked breath lessly V e 0 don t know just yet replied mr grimm if the noise aroused any one else please assure them that there theres s nothing the matter and you might inform madame Bols Dois segur that the ambassador will return home to morrow good night at his hotel when he reached there mr air grimm found miss thorne 8 card and he drew a long breath at his office he found another of her cards and he drew another long breath he did like corroborative de tails did mr air grimm and of course this on the following day miss thorne accompanied him to alexan dria and they were driven in a closed carriage out toward the western edge of the city finally the carriage stopped at a signal from mr air grimm and he assisted miss thorne out after which he turned and spoke to some one remaining inside a man TO BE CONTINUED |