Show IT A aa NA L STORY ELMO EVE I 1 Z M A B E L B y JACQUES by M cipu loper fht by bv the aeao asso a ed sunday sunda y b I 1 aea copyright IW I W by the iho bob a me we company is 18 SYNOPSIS count dl oll rosini the italian ambas bador ador is at anner d with d when a messenger summons him t to 0 the em bassy where a beautiful you young ng woman asks for a ticket to the embassy ball the ticket Is made out in the name of miss isabel thorne chief campbell of 0 the secret service and mr grimm hs h s head detective are warned that a plot Is bre ire arg in washington and grimm goes to t a e state ball for information his at is called to miss isabel thorne who her companion d sap pears A slot sl ot is heard and senor alvarez of ile tl e an legation Is found w wounded 0 grimm is assured M ss thorne d d it he v s ts her deriana ng know knowledge lede of the affair and arrests P etro petro nn annl M miss thorne visits an old bomb maker and they discuss a wonderful experiment flit fifty y thousand dol ars Is stolen from the office of senor rodriguez the minister from venezuela and while detect ves are in vesti Nesti gating the robbery miss thorne ap pears as a guest of the legation grimm accuses her of the theft the money la is restored but a new mystery occurs in the d s ppe arance of monsieur Bois Bols segur the he french ambassador E us ve M qs s thorne reappears bearing a letter wh cl states that the ambassador has been kid and demanding ransom the am cassador bas returns and again strangely d s appears later he ie is rescued tron fron an old hou a e in the suburbs it Is discovered that pietro I 1 etro sl ot senor alvarez and nd that he is pr nee nce d abruzzi grimm f figures in a mysterious jail del very he orders both miss thorne and d abruzzi to leave the country they are conveyed to new york and placed on a steamer but return grimm coffee is drugged and upon regaining consciousness he be finds a sympathetic note from isabel thorne the conspirators against the government are located and their scheming Is over heard grimm orders d abruzzi dabruzzi to de btroy stroy the unsigned compact CHAPTER cont aued miss thorne has stated the mat ter fairly I 1 believe your highness and mr air grimm permitted his eyes to linger a moment on the bushed face of this woman wh lp v ft way as de tending fending him but there I 1 anly 1 one thing to do miss thorne he was talking to her now there Is no mid die dle course it Is a problem that has only one possible answer the de Et ruction of that document and the departure of yo voi i and you your high ness tor for italy under my personal care all the way I 1 imag ned this matter had ended that day on the steamer it will end here now to night the prince glanced again at his watch then thoughtfully weighed the percussion cap in his hand after which with a curious laugh he walk ed over to the squat iron globe in a an n opposite corner of the room he bent over it half a minute then straight ened up that cap mr grimm has one dis vantage id he remarked casually when it la Is attached to a mine or I 1 I 1 your silence would be worth just how much torpedo it can not be disconnected without firing it it Is attached he turned to the others it is needless to discuss the matter further j now it if you will follow me mea we will leave mr air grimm here with a strange little cry neither anger linger nor anguish yet oddly ing of the quality of each isabel went quickly to the prince how dare you do such a thing she demanded fiercely it is mur der this is not p time miss thorne for your interference replied the prince coldly it has all passed be yond the point where the feelings feeling of a any n y one person even the feelings of the woman who has engineered the compact can be considered A single affo can not be permitted to stand in the way of the consummation of this world project mr grimm alive means the compact would be useless if not impossible mr grimm dead means the fruition of all our plans and hopes you have done your duty and you have done it well but now your authority ends and I 1 the envoy of just a moment please mr air grimm interrupted courteously As I 1 un der stand it your highness the mine there in tre tle corner Is I 1 charged 7 ys T fa S i k I 1 yes it just happened to be here for purposes of experiment the cap is attached 7 quite r the prince lat laughed ched and at three 0 clock b 3 our watch the mine will be fired by a wireless operator fifteen miles from here something III e thit yes very much I 1 ke that assented the prince thank you I 1 merely wanted to understand it mr air grimm pulled a chair up against the door and sat down crosing his legs on his knees rested the barrel of a revolver gl t bering fascinating in the semi dark ness now gentlemen and he glanced at his watch its it s twenty tw enty one minutes of three 0 clock at tl ti ree that mine will explode we will all be in tl e room when it happens un less his highness sees fit to destroy the compact eyes sought eyes and the prince removed his mask w th a sudden g s ture his face was bloodless it if any man and mr grimm gave hiss miss thorne a quick glance I 1 should say any person attempts atte apts to leave leav ethis this room I 1 know he will die and there s a bare chance that the percussion cap will fall to work vork I 1 can account for six of you if f there Is a rush but man it if that mine explodes we shall all be killed blown to p aces burst from one of the figures if the percussion cap borka sup ted mr grimm mingled emotion struggled in the flushed face of isabel as she studied mr grimm grimms s impassive countenance I 1 have never disappointed ou yet miss thorne he remarked as if it were an explanation I 1 shall not now she turned to the prince your H ganess I 1 think it needless to argue fertl er she said we have no choice in the matter there Is only once course destroy the compact no was the curt answer I 1 believe I 1 know mr grimm better than you do she argued yo i thirk he be will weaken I 1 know he will not I 1 am not arguing for him nor for myself I 1 am arguing against the frightful loss that will come here in this room it if the compact is not de strayed it a absurd to let one man stand in the ay declared the prince angrily it might not be an impertinent q question your highness commented mr grimm for me to ask how you are go ng to prevent one man stand ing in the way waya A q lick change came over miss thorne a face the eyes hardened the lips were set and lines mr grimm had never seen appeared about the mouth here in a flash the cloak of dissimulation was cast as de and the woman stood forth this keen bril ilan t determined woman who did things the compact will be destroyed she said no declared the prince it must be destroyed must must do you say must to me mea yes must she repeated steadily and by what authority please doby that authority she drew a tiny filigreed fill greed gold box from her bosom boom and cast it upon the table the prince stared at it in the name of your sovereign must she said again tl TI e prince turned away and began P pacing acing back and forth across the roon with the parchment cr dimpled in his hand for a minute or more isabel stood watching him thirteen minutes mr air grimm an bounced coldly and now bloke out an excited chat ter a babel of french english ital lan ian spanish those masked and ones who had held silence for so long all began talking at once one of tl era em snatched at the crumpled compact in the princes hand band w wh h lall cro eded around him arguing mr grimm sat perfectly still with the re volver babrel resting on his knees eleven minutes he announced aga n suddenly the prince turned v ly on miss thorne with raged rage d stort ed face do you know what it means to you if I 1 do as you say saya he demanded savagely it means you will be brand ed as traitor that your dour name your property if yo i will pardon me our high ness she interrupted the pol power er that I 1 have used was given to me to use I 1 have used it it is a matter to be settled between me and my government govern nent and as far as it affects my person is of no consequence now you will destroy the compact nine minutes said mr grimm monotonously again the babel broke out do we understand that yo i want to see the compact 9 one of the men aked s ddenny of mr grimm as he turned NO I 1 don t want to see it id pre fer i ot to sep se it with haried blazing in his eyes the prince made his way toward the lamp holding a parchment toward the blazi tl TI ere s nothing else to be done he exclaimed sa gely just a moment please mr grimm interposed quickly miss thorne Is that the compacts 7 9 she glanced at it nodded her head and then the flame caught the fringed edge of paper it crackled flashed flamed and at last a thing of ashes was scattered on the floor mr grimm rose that is all gentlemen he an bounced courteously you are free to go you your highness and miss chorne will accompany me he held open the door and there was almost a scramble to get out the brince and miss thorne waited until the last and miss thorne if you will give us a lift in your car mr grimm 11 suggested it Is now tour four minutes of three the automobile came in answer to a s gnal and the three in silence en it the car trembled and has just begun to move when grimm re something om ething and leaped out wait for me he called there a a man locked in the coal bin he disappeared into the house and miss thorne with a gasp of horror sank back in her seat with face like chalk the prince glanced uneasily at his watch then spoke curtly to the chauffeur run the car up out of danger there 11 be an explosion there in a moment they had gone perhaps a hundred feet when the building they had jut left seemed to be lifted bodily from the ground by a great spurt of flame which tore through its center then col alsed ill e a th ng of cards the prince unmoved glanced around at mis thorne she lay in a dead taint faint beside him go al ead he commanded bal kimoi e CHAPTER the personal equation mr campbell ceased talking and the deep earnestness that had settled on his face passed leaving instead the blank inscrutable mask of be f A you your H ganess and M s thorne will accompany me ne behind which his clock like genius was hab dually hidden the choleric blue eyes of the pres dent of the united states sh eted inquiry angly to the thoughtful countenance of the secretary of state at his right thence along the table around the official family was gathered it vas a special meeting of the cabinet called at th suggestion of chi I 1 campbell and for more than an houi bout he had done the talking there had been no interruption so much he concluded at last it if there is any point I 1 have not made clear mr grimm is he e to exola n it in person mr grimm rose at the mention of his name and stood with his hands clasped behind his back his eyes met those of the chief executive list essly lemly we understand mr grimm the 1 resident began and he paused for an a n instant to regard the tall clean cut young man with a certain admiral 0 on n we understand that there does not actually exist such a thing as a latin compact against the english speak ng peoples on paper no was the reply lou personally prevented the sign ing ng of the compact 9 TO BE CONTINUED |