Show EH I 1 TO R ca ri d AA ea by JACQUES FUTRELLE of JR by M ne ga p r g foht at 9 8 by th the A s filed ved h kun ay y 1 adz aes coper aeilt ii t 1909 by hiie liobis merr morr U company if is SYNOPSIS count al dl ros nl ni the italian ambas eador sa d or is at d nn er with d when a messenger summons him to the em ein bassy a where a beamut tul ful young woman aks asks for a t cl et to the embassy amb emb isy ball the ticket Is made out in the na name me of M ss isabel thorne chief campbell of the se ret service and mr grimm h a had detect ve are warned that a plot Is 13 br v ins ing in washington and grimm goes to the tho eta state t e ball bal I 1 lor for information ro H a rne at t t tl if n la Is called to miss isabel thorne who with her companion disappears A eho bo Is heard and senor alvarez alvar ez ot of the me lean ic lan legation Is found v bounded grimm Is assured misa miss thorne d d it he v u t ta 4 her der and ng know ed a of the affa r and a rests P etro Petro miss th thorne 0 visits if t an old bomb maker m aker and they discuss a wonderful experiment exp 0 o ariment fifty thousand del dol ars are is stolen t f om the office of SL senor nor guez the min ster ter from venez ela and alile wl lie detectives are in vesti gating tle tl e robbery alas M ss thorne ap pears as a guest of the legi legation tion grimm accuses ac c ilses her ot of the theft the money Is apat rea t red but a new mystery occurs in tl e d sap earence of mons eur bo the french ambassador elus ve miss thorne rep reappears pears bear ng a letter which sta PI Ps I 1 tl a the amiDas ambassador has been I 1 id and demanding demand ng ransom the an ba ret ans and aga age n strangely d s api apy ears I 1 ater I 1 e Is rescued from an old ho se in tl e suburbs it Is d sc th t pietro ant sl ot senor alva and that he Is prince d abruzzi gr n P fl i res in a oue ous jail dell er he ile orders bo h 11 qs thorne and d abruzzi to 1 leave the country they are conveyed to new I 1 ew york and placed on a stean er but lut return CHAPTER continued your paper he inquired courteously mr grimm was still gazing dream lly fly out 0 the window I 1 beg pardon insisted the new comer pita pleasantly he ile folded the pa per once and replaced it on tl e table t one hand lingered for just the frac tion ot of a moment above mr grimm a coffee cup aroused by the remark mr grimm glanced around oh tl ank you he apologized I 1 tastily I 1 t hear you at that thank you the new comer nodded sir sm led and passed on taking a seat two or three tables down apparently this trifling courtesy had broken the spell of reverie for mr grimm sq ared around to the table again drew his coffee cup toward him and dropped in the single lump ot of sugar he idly stirred it for a mo ment aa as bis his eyes turned again toward the open window then he lifted lifted the tiny cup and emptied it again he sat motionless tor for a long time and thrice the newcomer new comer only a few feet away glanced at him nar bowly and nov now it seemed a peculiar drowsiness was overtaking mr grimm once he caught himself nod d ng and raised his head with a jerk then he noticed that the arc are lights in the street mere wobbling curiously and he fell to wondering why that sin gle flame sparkled at the apex of the capitol dome things around him grew haz vague unreal and then as it if realizing that something was mas tho tha matter with him he came to his feet he took one step for vard into the space between the tables peeled at tempted to steady himself by hold ng on to a chair then everything grew black about him and he pitched for ward on the floor his face was dead white his fingers moved a little nerv bously weakly then they were still several people rose at the sound of the tailing falling body and the new comet comel hurried forward 11 a s coat sleeve caught the empty demitasse as ho stooped and swept it to the floor where it was shattered the head waiter and another came pell mell and those diners who had risen came more slowly what a the matter asked the head waiter matter anxiously already the new comer was support ing mr grimm on his knee and flick nick ing water mater in his face nothing serious I 1 fancy he an shortly he a subject to these I 1 atle attacks what are they who is he the stranger tore at mr air gilmus a collar until it came loose then he fell to chafing the st 11 hands I 1 he is a mr grimm a government employee I 1 know him he answered again agin I 1 imag ne its it s nothing more serious than ind A I 1 atle knot had gathered about them with offers of assistance waiter ddn t you better send for a physician r 7 some one suggested I 1 im in a physician the stranger put in impatiently have some one call a cab and ill see that he 3 taken home it happens that we live in the same apartment house just a few blocks from here 16 obedient to the crisply spoken dl di erections lone ions a cab was called and live minutes later mr grimm still insen was lifted into it the stranger took a amat beside him the cabby touched lit s borse alth a whip and the vehicle fell into the endless amov ins ing line CHAPTER A slip of paper when the fight right ot of returning con finally pierced the black lethargy that enshrouded him mr grimm s mind was a chaos of vagrant absurd fantasies then slowly realization struggled back to its own and he came cam e to know things first was the knowledge that he wag was lying flat on his back on a couch it seemed then that he was in the dark an utter abject barmess and final inal f ly came an overwhelming sense of at 1 lence for a while he lay motionless with not even the movement of an eyelash eye lash to indicate consciousness wrapped in a delicious languor gradually this passed and the feeble flutter of 0 his heart grew into a steady rhythmic beat the keen brain was awaken ing he was beginning to remember what had happened he ile knew only that in some manner a drug had been administered to him a bitter dose dos e tasting of opium that speechlessly he had fought against it that he had risen from the table in the restaurant and that be he had fallen all the rest was blank with eyes still closed and nerve less hands bands inert at his bides sides he listen ed the while he turned the situation over OV er in speculative mood the waiter had administered the drug of course unless unless it had been the courteous stranger who had replaced the newspaper on the table that thought opened new fields ot of conjecture ur e mr grimm had no recollection of ever having seen him before and he bad had P paid aid only the enforced attention of politeness to him and why had the drug been administered 9 vaguely incoherently mr grimm imagined that in some way it had to do with the great international plot of war in which miss thorns thorne was so delicate and vital an instrument where was be conjecture stopped there evidently he was as where the courteous gentleman in the restaurant wanted him to be A prisoner ner probably in dangers long careful at to detail work in the secret service had convinced mr grimm that he was always in danger that was one reason and the best why he had lain motionless without so much as lifting a finger since that first glimmer of consciousness had en e n berred his brain he was probably under scrutiny even in the darkness and for the present it was desirable to accommodate any chance watcher atelier by remaining apparently unconscious and so for a long time he layt lay listening was there another person in the room mr grimms grimm ears were keenly alive for the inadvertent shut fling of a foot or the sound of breath h ing nothing even the night roar of the city was missing the silence it 1 I 1 imagine its nothing more serious than indigestion was oppressive at last he opened his eyes A pall of gloom en encompassed compassed him a pall without one rift of light his fingers moving slowly explored the limits of the couch whereon be he lay confident at last that wherever he was he was unwatched mr air grimm was on the point of concluding that further urther inaction was useless when hia his strain strain ng ears caught the faint grating of metal against metal perhaps the insertion of a key in the lock his hands grew still his eyes closed and after a moment a door creaked slight ly on its hinges and a breath of cool air informed mr grimm that that open door wherever it was led to the outside and freedom ghere was another taint faint creaking as the door was shut mr grimm a nerveless hands closed involuntarily and an d his lipa lips were set together tightly was it to be a knife thrust in the darka it if not then he ex pecked the flare of a match instead there was a soft thread and the rustle of skirts A woman moman mr grimm grimms a caution was all but forgotten in his surprise As the steps drew nearer his clenched fingers loosened he waited amo hands stretched forward in the dark touched him simultaneously one on the face one on the breast A In gular thrill shot through him but t here was not the flicker of an eye or the twitching of a finger the woman it was a woman seemed now to be bending over him then he heard her drop on her knees beside him and she pressed an inquiring ear to his left side it was the heart test thank god she breathed softly it was only by a masterful effort that mr grimm held himself limp and inert tor for a strange fragrance was en ve loping him a fragrance he well knew ibling the bands hands were wei re aurit at his hi breast again and there ther aw as the shary k fk crackle of paper at first he be bidal understand then he knew that the woman had pinned a paper to the th lapel of hie his coat finally she straight ened up and arid took two steps away irom from him 1 after which came a pause his keenly attuned ears caught her taint faint breathing then the rustle of 0 her shirts as she turned back she wae was leaning over him again her lip lips ton touched c hed lit his 3 lore forehead ead barely again gain there was a quick rustling of skirt skirts the door creaked and silence deen oppressive overwhelming silence isabel was he dreaming ana an then he be ceased wondering and tell fell to remembering her kiss light as air and the softly spoken thank godi godl she did care then she had understood that day the kiss ot of a woman beloved la Is a splendid heart tonic mr grimm straightened up suddenly on the couch himself again he to touched the slip of 0 paper which she had pinned to his coat to make sure it was not all a dream after which ha he recalled the tact fact that while he bad had heard the door creak before she went out he bad had not heard it creak afterward therefore the door wae was open she had left it 11 open purpose purposely lyp that was beside the question at the moment and why how was she in wash ington pondering that question mr grimm s excellent teeth clicked sharply together and he rose he knew t the he anav answer er the compact was to be signed the alliance which would array the chiv civilized world in arms he had failed to block that as he thought it if miss thorne had returned then thern prince Dene benedetto detto d abruzzi dabruzzi wh who 0 held absolute power to sign the compact for italy france and arid spain had also returned stealthily f feeling eeling hia his way ae as he went mr grimm moved toward the door leading to freedom guided by the fresh draft of air he ile reached the door it was standing open and a moment later stepped stopped out into the a starlit tar lit night it was open country here with a thread of white road just ahead and farther along a fringe ot of I 1 shrubbery mr grimm reached the road far down it a pin point in the night a light flickered through interlacing branches the tall lamp of an all automobile of course mr grimm left the road and and skirt ed a sparse hedge in the direction of 0 the light after a moment he heard the engine of an automobile and a saw aw a woman barely discernible step into the car As it started forward he staked everything on one bold move and won his reward being a narrow sitting space in the rear of the car hidden from its occupants by the one mile two mile three miles they charged through the th night and still he dine cling on at last there came relief that a the place where the light lights are just ahead there was no mistaking t that hat voice raised above the clamor 0 th the e engine the car slackened speed and mr grimm dropped off and batted behind some convenient bushes and the first thing he did there was to light a match and read what was written on the slip of 0 paper pinned to hia his coat coal it was simply my dear mr grimm by the time you read this the corn pact will have been signed and your efforts to prevent it splendid as thoy they were futile it is a tribute to you that it was unanimously agreed that you must be accounted tor for at th the time of ane signing hence the d drugging in the restaurant it was only an act ot of kindness that I 1 should corr come here to see that all was well with you and leave the door open behind me relieve believe me when I 1 say that you are one man in whom I 1 have never been disappointed accept this as my farewell tor for now I 1 assume again the name and position petition rightfully mine and know too that I 1 shall alway always cherish the belief that you will remember me as your friend ISABEL THORNE P S the prince and I 1 left the th steamer at mori montauk point on a tug boat mr grimm kissed the note twice then burned it TO BE CONTINUED |