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Show f I m he Roups Ansel on Wiims Swiftly Glide! OPPORTUNITIES HAVE LONG LIMBS Tho Opportunity of Your Lifo Now Prosonts Itsolf, iit tho Lake Salt Dry Awake! and take advantage of it 'ere it is too late. groan of tearing tinnVrs. There had been a rugged leaping and a senes of terrific concussions: now all motion ceased, but there was a deafening hiss of steam. The soft night breeze blew on his face and lie felt the rain falling. A dark, irregular mass loomed distinctly between him and the sky; and now be heard screams and cries of deadly anguish and calls, confused and aimless. One woman's voice shrieked piercingly and then was silent. He lay in the midst of bewilderment, ruin and death. His arm was paining him. He changed his position so as to relax the strain upon it. His wrist was still chained to that of the officer, and was bleeding. He spoke to the inau, but got no answer; he was lying in a strangely twisted attitude, his head was bent into his breast. Keppel seized him by the shoulder; the mail's head swung over loosely to the right; his neck was broken; he was quite dead. Keppel got on bis feet, standing on the side of the car. His eyes becoming accustomed to the darkness discovered the feet of another man protruding upward from a mass of debris. Just then a flash of lightning revealed his face; it was that of the other officer. His body was crushed to a pulp by the ragged end of a broken beam. Keppel waited a moment to collect his thoughts. In the midst of the horror and chaos surrounding him a spasm of hope and joy caught his heart and he laughed aloud. His brain became in an instant preternatnrally clear: he saw what he must do, and realized that no time was to be lost in doing it. Stooping over the body of the detective, he felt in the pockets of his clothes, and in a minute found a key the key that unlocked the handcuffs. He ap- Continue! fro in So. l.l. PART TWO TREASURE. chapter vi. TWO It will be remembered that the jury adjudged Keppel Darke guilty of murder in the second degree perhaps to fortify their consciences against the pliaiitomof that small man with tho hair on his face. The public so far as the newspapers represented it protested itself satisfied with the sentence of imprisonment for life in Sins Sing. The prisoner himself, however, was ungrateful enough to declare himself highly discontented; and Olyui-jjii- i Raven, who contrived, in spite of her mother's protestations, to gain access to the prison before he left New York, said to him words which he never forgot, and which made him resolve never to give up the hope of freedom. "Keppel," she said, ''I know you are innocent. I promise to love you always and never to marry any man but you." The authorities were very proud of the celerity which had characterized their fonduet of I lie case from the beginning;. Instead of lingering along for two or three years they had their man convicted in three or four months. It was a lovely day in summer when sentence was pro nouneed, and in order to maintain their good record they arranged to dispatch the prisoner to Sing Sing that night. At sunset a heavy thun lerstorm sprang np, aii.l instead of clearing away after an hour or two fresh battalions of clouds gathered as darkness fell, and the electrical Hashes and detonations shivered and resounded through the heavens. The train with Keppel on board started from the station in the midst of a drenching rain. Keppel sat in the car next the baggage car. Frank Monroe, the detective wlio had arrested him, sat in the seat by his side. His left wrist was fastened to the right wrist of Iho officer by the handcuffs. Another officer .sat in the seat in front of him. There were about twenty other passengers in the car; but few or Bono of them were aware that Keppel still less that he was the was a famous murderer of Harry Irene. Most of them began to be sleepy after halt' an hour or so and disposed themselves as comfortably as they could for a nap. Even the detective's eyes were heavy, and he kept himself awake only by a vigorous chewing of tobacco. But Keppel was not slepy in the least. He felt as if he should never sleep again. He reviev.vl in bis mind all the incidents of th la t three months. A silent passion of ra ge and rebellion seized upon him. He, felt that to gain liberty he would do murder a hundred times over. He was at deadly war with the world; it had taken from him without justification everything that ho held dear. No imaginable retaliation on his part could be too great. But he was absolutely helpless. He w.u chained, to his captor, and in Hi tie more than an hour he would be bet'.veen walls that he could never scale. The rain dashed against the windows; tho lightning- glared through the darkness. Oh, if heaven would but send a bolt to shatter his fetters and set him free! His eyes, wandering about the car, became fixed upon a young man who was seated in the next seat forward, on the other fide of the aisle. It struck him that this young man bore a considerable He was tall resemblance to himself. and rather slender, and had long dark hair that hung down on the back of his neck. His bands were slender, with Ion;? pointed fingers. The face was scarcely like lti s; the no-- e was different, and there wa; a slight inns! ache on tho upper lip. His coat, too, instead of being black, like Keppel's, was a gray summer tweed, lie sat in the comer of the seat by the window, with his head thrown back, as!,vi. How careless and secure he looked. He had a happy life before him. There were no fetters round bi3 wrists; no gloomy jail to shut out forever the smile of the world and the companionship of men.' But for tho accursed blind fate that makes the innocent suffer for the guilty, so might Keppel have been silting it that moment. He ground his teeth together and a sweat broke out Oil his fel'ehi-.id- . s PA'A i y r ( t The h i (,.'( an). !. tl thr Uttntlrnff. A shock jarred him to his center, anil the next moment hi left arm was almost wrenched from its .socket. He was lying with his head mi the floor of the aisle. T lie car, with a rending and erack-Itn- g li' ii '. was Idled almost erect and then fell I'll ils Mdo. The lamps 'had w. ivexiingiii-.i- l d; in the dark-nesfad si something came grinding swiftly toward him and went by. He heard the shattering of splintered glass and the -- -i from? He might still paint pictures, it was true, but it would not be safe to do so in this country; and us to Europe It was iK'tter to select some other profession. Yet what profession could bring the immediate returns that were necessary? Robbery was the only one, and there were objections to that! How was he to procure the means of buying bis next meal? A sudden thought caused him to search the pockets of bis coat and waistcoat the garments wdiich he had taken from the dead man. There were papers and letters, and in tho right hand p;cket of the waistcoat there was a small roll of bills four or five in all. It was too dark to discern the denominations, but there could not be less than five dollars. It was enough for the present: and indeed Keppel, who still had some traditions of conscience left, was glad it was not more. Nobody could feel the loss of so small a sum, and it was of disproportionate value to Keppel himself. He now left the track and turned off to the eastward. The rain gradually cleared and the stars came out. Guiding himself by them, Keppel walked on and on, now clambering over steep acclivities, now plunging into hollows, now toiling over plowed meadows, forcing his way through bits of woodland, stealing past farm houses, where dogs barked and cocks crowed, but occasionally coining upon a stretch of road that went his way. Presently the short night wore away and dawn began to appear. Keppel halted and spent half an hour in removing the stains of mud from bis clothing and making himself look as presentable as possible. His left arm pained him severely, but he thought himself lucky in having no bones broken. In one of his new pockets ho found a penknife, and with this, as well as he could, ho cut his hair short. In a couple of weeks his beard would have begun to grow, and he would be tolerably disguised. He now proceeded slowly, for be was very tired, and also sleepy and hungry. He had walked more than twenty miles. At length, as the sun rose, he saw, half a mile off, a railway cutting extending Thither he toward a small town. directed his steps, but lingered on the outskirts for an hour or two until the townspeople should be awake. Finally he heard a train coming, and managed to reach the station at tho same time that the engine drew up at the platform. Then, as it steamed away again, he walked into the town, as if just arrived from New York, and seeing a plain but comfortable looking inn near at hand, he entered and asked for a room and some breakfast. While bis eggs and coffee were being boiled he locked himself into his room to tliink over his situation. But the future was so vague that be was able to As soon as his come to no conclusion. money should be gone he would be tit He exthe mercy of circumstances. amined again the contents of his pockets. There were eight dollars in money, two or three letters addressed to Burton Fairfax, Esq., of Poughkeepsie, a couple of receipted bills, ami nothing else ex cept a cutting from a newspaper, headed "Some Developments of the Trent Mur- aer, which Keppel proceeded to read with interest. Its date was apparently of the day previous: The will of the bite Harry Trent was discovered yesterday in a package of documents left by him in a bureau drawer at the Bellevue hotel, in Philadelphia. He spent the night of February twenty-seconlast at this place, and seems to have forgotten to take the documents away with him. The will is dated February twenty, eiguteen hundred and seventy, and is very short, devising all his property, real and personal, to 'my wife, Sarah Althea Trent,' It is properly signed and attested. This will be of interest to those wdio ventured to express doubts as to the genuineness of the marriage announced in court last Tuesday by Mrs. Trent until then known as Mrs. Sallie Matchin. Mr. Trent at all events appears to have shared her opinion regarding its validity. The other documents in the package were not of . plied it; the next moment he was free. But he was not safe yet; there could be no safety as long as there remained any probability of pursuit. Keppel looked around him. Wedged between two seats on the opposite side of the aisle, which in the present position of the car was on an inclined plane above him, was a body whoso right arm, hanging downward, was within Keppel's reach a he stood. He took hold of the hand; it was limp and clammy the baud of a corpse. Bracing his feet against some fragments of wreck, he grasped the body round the waist and dragged it from its position. It was, as he had surmised, that of the young man in whom he had fancied a resemblance to himself. He had been killed by a mass of metal, wdiich had struck him in the face, crushing in the features and the front of the brain. Except that the countenance was thus rendered utterly unrecogniz able, the body seemed uninjured. Keppel chuckled. "You have died to save me," he said, "at the right moment and in the right way. May yonr soul have peace, brother." As quickly as possible he removed the dead man's coat and waistcoat and exchanged them for his own, putting the latter upon the corpse. Then, drawing the lifeless arm into a suitable position, ho passed the free handcuff round the wrist and sprung the lock. The body was now chained to that of the dead detective. "You must submit to be mistaken for a murderer, my good fellow," he muttered. "You will never know it; and, besides, I am innocent if that is any consolation to you. So now goodby!" Clambering out of the wreck, he stood upon the track beside the shattered train. He could vaguely see people moving about or standing in groups.. Tiie noise of escaping steam had ceased, but the groans of the wounded and dying passengers could still be heard intermittently. A figure approached him carrying a lantern. It wa3 one of the brake-me- d "Are you hurt, sir?" he said, pausing. "Only a few bruises," replied Keppel. "But I believe most of the others in our car were killed. And, by the way, there was one odd thing" "What was that, sir?" "Why, there was a prisoner aboard he was handcuffed to an officer they were taking him to Sing Sing, I suppose." "Why, that was the fellow that killed Harry Trent! What became of him?" "I was sitting in the seat next him. He's lying there stone dead, and the detective's with him. His life imprisonment didn't last long!" "Dead, is he?" said the brakeman. "Well, if I was he, I'd rathe; be killed in a moment in a railway accident than live fifty years in a prison. Some said, though, that he never murdered Treut. But I guess he got his deserts." "No doubt of it. Well, good night. I shall walk on to Tarrytown." "Good night, sir." KepiKd stepped off np the track. He had no settled plan of flight, but so long as ho did not meet any one who knew him he felt little or no apprehension. In tho belief of the world, tomorrow morning he would be dead; his obituary would be read in tho papers by millions of peo ple. Nevertheless, it behooved him to keep out of sight, and as soon as might whatever changes we're posbe, to sible in bis personal appearance. Ho would cut bis hair ho might bo ablo to bleach it, perhaps ho would let his beard grow, lie must move out of the country too; if ho could contrive to get to Europe so much tho better. He must take an other name, and look forward to a life under totally changed conditions. A new life, a lonely life. Henceforth ail his old friends and acquaintances were his deadliest enemies. All but one! Olym-pihad said that she believed in him. that sne loved liuu and would marry none but liini. Ave, but she, with the rest of the world, would now think of himasdead. Death obliteratesall thin memorv and love and tho rest. But what if be should send her a secret mes sage or sign informing her of his safety? He paused in his walk to reflect. Jio.it would not do, as the message might mis carry; and. if not, what avail to write to her? She could not come to him. They could not get married and go off togeth er. To know that he was alive might give her happiness for a moment, but in the long run it could only make her mis erable. Moreover, nmnev would be in dispensable, and where was it to come a 1 SO TO SPEAK. an important character. "It will be noticed that no provision is made in the will for Mrs. Raven and her daughter Olympia, wdio are understood to have been distantly related to the do- - ceased, and to have been receiving from him au annual stipend of some eight thousand dollars. This fact will probably occasion some comment, as it was intimated at the late trial that Mr. Trent had proposed to make Miss Raven his wife. Possibly the desire that he should make such a proposal was father to the statement that he had done so. His will seems to show not only the baselessness of the assertion, but that for some rea- son or other Mr. Trent intended in tho futnrotolettheso two ladies take care of themselves. It is to be hop d that they possess independent resources. "In Mr. Trent's breast pocket at the time of his death was found a letter written in cipher, tho purport of which was not made out. It was not produced at the trial, as the prosecution was not of tho opinion that it could throw any light on the case. It is now published, howevtr.'iii the hopo that some cipher expert may be able to elucidate it, and thus, perhaps, furnish an explanation of some of the mysterious circumstances that yet surround Mr. Trent's tragic end. Tho letter is as follows: " Slmpi F, npi. C q gnl F. pil pink oghi mllig npi. E. mkpi (', Klmh F, pion qolg U. qkin F, bqon qolg B qkng F. olmh qolg (J mhgq omgk qlm B hkq I' hnpq ngmo mioq S bupi. F, oilg qolg nlqg kgli kgli C lnho. F. Mogl. C okiq pbno S. lmni C. omgk. F hlnm F. mk'i C bqgi B. hiq S. pkol. C q knp ohup F. blkp linio I!, nlo. F, oim C ngil mkqti S. llllpi V llgil F. bqon inisq F, qopg q. go U iko F. dpi C. pghq lukqti B qglp (; mkqn F. ongl opkn (J liqpin F, omq I' Inig F, bkoiu 15 imq C. ngoi. F. mpqi). knli. oih hgo F. iniqg E bpg F. huoi E mkpi F, bign ikinn.' "The paper on wdiich this curious effusion is written appears to be of French manufacture." Such was the newspaper article, some Good BranGh. No. 400, Main St. passages of which moved Keppel painfully. Olympia, it seemed, would be reduced to want ju.-- t at the time w hen he was powerless to render her any assit-ancThe situation greatly perplexed him; for Harry Trent had told him with his own lips that he intended reserving Olympia for himself, and he had given it out publicly that Mrs. and Miss Raven were to live with him in his new house, yet he was married to Sally Matchin at that very time, and five days before had executed a will cutting oil Olympia without even the proverbial shilling. There was sometning odd about this; it demanded investigation. The first thing to be done was to find out the real murderer of Harry Trent; tht remainder of the niytery would probably resolve itself. Bat who would find the murderer out? Obviously, no one would concern himself about the matter unless Keppel himself did, and certainly be was in no portion to enter upon such a quest at present. He could only promise himself that he would never forget the purpose to do so. nor rest until it ht d been accomplished. As for the cipher, although Keppel was somewhat of an adept at cryptic, writing, he soon perceived that here was a problem out of the common run. It did not respond to the usual tests. Thus, of the seventeen different characters (commas and periods included) that composed it, three occurred six times or less, seven from twelve to twenty-nin- e times, and seven from thirty to forty times. Plainly, therefore, they could not be signs answering to letters of the alphabet. Again, the cipher consisted of groups of four characters (neither more nor less) and of single capitals. Of the four character combinations over sixty in nly seven occurred more than once in the course of the composition. Of the BEN. D. LUCE, Manager. The man lowered his weapon. "Ah! it is no ghost, then?" he muttered in French, and sank back on bis pillow. Keppel approached and looked down on him. He seemed all skin and bone; his hair grew disorderly on his forehead, and the lower part of his face was covered with a three weeks' stubble of red beard. His skin was dark yellow, his lips black and parched. Keppel had never seen the yellow fever, but he perceived that the man was dying. He bad arrived at this deserted spot in time to behold the curse of Maurice Solange fulfilled upon the thief who had betrayed him. CHAPTER VII. THK END OF TIIE KKfilNNIXO. ' K. VIA v IS "l'oii thought you could rob inc." Keppel Darke, finding that the red haired man was a Frenchman, spoke to him in that language, with wdiich he had a tolerable familiarity. Dupont, indeed, had lived in London, and knew enough English to make himself understood. twenty-twDut in his present desperate condition his separate capitals F occi times, C seventeen times, B six, S five thoughts inevitably expressed themselves and E four times. All this was very in his mother tongue, and much of the puzzling, and was to be elucidated, if at time he was probably not aware of wdiat all, only after prolonged study, of wdiich he was saying. He had been ill four Keppel's brain, at that juncture, was far days, the seeds of the fever contracted from being capable. Meanwhile the on board the ship having broken out two housemaid knocked at the door and sum- or three weeks later. Delirium occasionmoned him to breakfast. He replaced ally overcame him, and he would mutter the cipher in his pocket and went down. things that he fancied he was keeping After eating heartily he went back to locked in his heart. his room and slept till the middle of the "Are you alone here?" asked Keppel. afternoon. Then, after dining, ho took "Have you no physician?" the road again, and in the course of a "No, no," replied the other. "I shall couple of hours arrived at a town on the soon be well. I need no one. Who sent shores of Long Island sound. On the you here? Who are you? I am only a wharf a couple of men were just prepar- poor man. Have you seen Maurice? ing to pnt out in a catboat. Keppel Bah! he is dead. You can't deceive me. asked them whither they were bound. I have done him no harm. I buried him "To Port Jefferson," one of them anthe captain and I. He cannot come swered. back." "What will yon ask for setting nie "What is your disease?" Keppel asked. across?" inquired Keppel. "They all had it all but the captain "How does a dollar strike yon?" and nie. 1 bad seen yellow fever before; ""Done!" said Keppel, and ho got on I was not afraid. I shall get well; I am board. not going to die with all these millions He had no idea why he was going to I am a poor man; I have wandered up Port Jefferson, but he felt impelled to go here; I'm looking for work. Maurice-- he somewhere, and thought he would feel follows me everywhere. What differmore secure in the comparative wilder- ence can it make to him what I do with ness of Long Island than in a large town. the treasure? A dead man has other Perhaps he might get temporary employ- things to think about. The emperor lias ment with some farmer, or he might find enough without this. What is he but a a captain of a fishjng smack to ship him robber? He stole them; I have as much for a cruise. When he was a boy in New right to them as he." His voice sank in England he had lived near the seashore unintelligible mutterings. and had learned how to sail a boat. "What does all this mean?" said KepThe wind blew from the sonthwest, pel to himself. "Treasure the emperor starand the catboat started out on the a dead man robbery! He has murboard tack, headed nearly for her desti- dered somebody, probably. And lie has nation. In two hours tho coast was close yellow fever. He'll die of it, too, and 1 on board; they ran into the harbor, and may catch it myself. No matter; here I Keppel, having paid his dollar, jumped am, and here I stay, for tonight at least. ashore. It was then within an hour or I can't go any farther, and I can't leave so of sunset a warm, quiet evening. He a dying man either, even if he is a murset out to walk at haphazard, and soon derer. I have a special sympathy for found himself following a narrow track murderers, I suppose. At any rate, I am through an apparently interminable as much of a vagabond and desperado as growth of small pine and oak. Once in he is. This is a poor place to die in, but a wdiile be passed a lonelv farmhouse; he will be bet'.er oil' with me here than but though ho was getting tired and he would be alone. Though be doesn't hungry again he could not make up his seem very hospitable, I'll make myself mind to ask for shelter. at home." Night came on and found him still He raised the head of the sick man, tramping onward, with woods on either smoothed out his pillow and rearranged hand. But as the darkness increased the bed clothes. As he was stooping to the path seemed to fade away and be- tuck tho blanket under the mattress he come obliterated, and he was soon felt something cold touch bis forehead, stumbling through thick underbrush. and lifting his head quickly confronted Tho boughs and twigs whipped his face the muzzle of the revolver within an inch and the briars caught bis feet. Stagger- of his mouth. The sick man's finger was ing forward, exhausted and impatient, upon the trigger, and his features were he felt his feet sinking in a muddy ooze, twisted into a hideous look of terror and and discovered that he was on the bor- malevolence. Keppel had the instinct to ders of a swamp. He turned to the right remain perfectly still, with his gaze fixed and began to skirt along its borders; but upon the other. again and again he narrowly escaped "You thought you could rob in?," said plunging neck and ears in the treacher- Dupont, between his teeth. "I'm not to ous morass. Frogs croaked on all sides bo robbed while I'm alive, and you shall and mosquitoes buzzed around his head. die first. I know you accursed spy!" He lost all sense of direction, and thought His long yellow finger had begun to only of putting one foot before the other. contract to pull the trigger. Keppel's Often bo fell, but scrambled up again lips grew white; death looked ugly. Sudand groped onward. Whichever way he denly a startling change swept over turned the swamp seemed to lie in wait visage. His red eyebrows lifted for him. Ho thought: "It will swallow in a strange stare, his eyeballs protruded me up in tho end! And it was for this and his black lips curled back from his that 1 escaped from the railroad wreck!" teeth. But his eyes were directed no Just then he stumbled np a slope, and longer upon Keppel, but to the farther his feet trod on firmer ground. The corner of the room. The next instant he bushes and trees thinned away. Looking had pointed the revolver in that direcup be saw before him a black, rectangu tion, and fired over Keppel's shoulder, lar mass. He drew nearer;, it was a house. almost deafening him. He then dropped There was no light in the windows. It the weapon and sank back screaming, seemed ruinous and deserted. But it was with his hands over his face. a human habitation, and would suffice, Keppel secured the revolver, and then lie passed around the corner and found looked rouji-.lThere was no third perthe door; it yielded to bis hand. He en- son in the room The bullet bad passed tered, and felt his way along the parti- through a wainscot panel. tion of tho hallway to another door on "What the devil were you shooting the left. Passing in he saw a gleam of at?" he demanded sternly. light through a crevice in front of him. "A bullet won't kill htm," quavered In another moment ho had crossed the tho man: "he; can die but once. But he floor and was standing on the threshold comes be is always here. It's the treasof an inner room. ure he wants. What can a dead man There was a low bed against the oppo- do with treasure!" site wall. At its bead stood a table, on "Your dead man has saved my life, at which wan a lighted candle and some all events," muttered Keppel, "and I'm small bottles. The furniture of the room obliged to him for it. As for you well! was wretched in the extreme and the at- You will never harm any one again. mosphere fold and stifling. This is an ugly night; I wish it were On the bed was stretched tho gaunt over. And w hat of tomorrow!" and ghastly figure of a man, wdio, as He found another caudle, lit it, and, Keppel appeared, raised himself with having put the revolver in his pocket, dilliculty on his left elbow, and with his set out to explore the house. There was right hand leveled a revolver at the in- ncarc-e- y anything in it except the bare truder. The glare of bis sunken eyes rooms: but in a closet f.i the kitchen he was appalling, and bis hand shook so that found Some loaves of bread almost US the pistol wavered from side to side. hard as stone. lie soaked it in water "Halt! or I shoot you!" be said, with a and ate some of it. He brought a glass strong foreign accent. of water for the sick man, wdio drank it "Don't shoot!" cried Kepixd, lifting eagerly. "That's good!" the poor wretch his band. "I mean you no harm. I'm said. "I shall get well." "I don't think you will get well," refainting from fatigue aid hunger. 1 inns-eat and sleep." turned Keppel. "You look to me like a all-o- ;td c Dn-pon- . dying man, and you had better realize it. I kuow nothing aliout the treatment of yellow fever, and it's no use trying to find a doctor tonight. If vou are alive tomorrow I'll go for one. Meanwhile, if there is anything you want done, in case you do die, you had better let mo know it uow." "Bring no one here," said the other, with tremulous earnestness. "Listen. When I get well I will divide with you; there's enough for both; we shall be two of the richest men in the world. There are millions millions! I have told nobody. No one knows I am here. If they came they would take it all and put us in jail. What is the sense of that? Maurice knows, but he can't tell; it isn't Maurice it is his spirit, that's all. He can't speak, he can only look; and no one bnt I can see him. We are safe if I get well." "You had better keepquiet." said Keppel. "You're tiring yourself out and you're talking nonsense. There is no treasure here; if yon didn't die of the fever you would starve to death, as far as I can see. What is your name, and wdiat did you come here for?" "I am a poor peddler. I peddle wax fruits. I came here to be out of the way not to be interfered with. I shall take them down to New York and sell them, one at a time. The least of them is worth one hundred thousand francs. There are thousands of them." "I Keppel turned away impatiently. am going to take a nap," he said. "1 saw some fishnets and bagging in the kitchen, and I'll make r. bed of them If you want anyhere in the corner. thing you can call out." He got the materials and made his His fatigue was so bed accordingly. great, after the exertions and excite- ment of the previous two days, that be fell asleep the instant he lay down. He was awakened by a wild scream and a heavy fall. He raised himself up, still heavy and At first he did bewildered with sleep. not remember wdiere he was. Was be in bis prison cell? or had he been hanged, and was this after death? In a few moments he came to himself. The candle The faint was flaring in the scAket. gray of dawn was coming through the dusty panes of the eastern window. Who had screamed? The sick man, of course. Keppel looked toward the bed; it was vacant. What had happened? Ho got to his feet and made a step forward. He trod upon something that yielded beneath his weight. It was the body of the invalid. Recoiling, he fetched the expiring candle and bent over it. Tho man's body was drawn together, lying on its side. The hands were over the face. In the right hand was a long Evidently he had crawled from his bed and stolen on Keppel with the intention of stabbing him, but just before ho could accomplish his purpose tho specter by wdiich he imagined himself haunted bad intervened. The man was dead. The candle flickered and died out. Keppel made a spring for the other candle, but rememliered that he had no matches. He could not stay with the' body in tho darkness, so he made his way to the open air. The morning sky was clear, the eastern horizon a pale yellow. He paced up and down before the bouse till the sun rose, his mind full of gloomy thoughts. HoiTor and misery pursue him everywhere. He had the revolver in his pocket; why not use it on himself and end all? He paused, debating the question, but finally shook his head. He had had so many escapes lately that be persuaded himself he might have been preserved for a purpose. The unclouded sun, rising over the blue verge of the distant ocean, was an omen of hope. He the turned, and reluctantly house. The sunlight fell upon the corpse as it lay there. Keppel set resolutely to work. He straitened out the arms and legs and rolled up the body in a blanket from the bed. He tied it round with a piece of rope from the fishnet. It was now ready for burial. But bow was he to dig a grave? He had no spade. Yet the body could not be left above the ground; it might breed a pestilence. This reflection led to another. If the man had died of yellow fever all his clothing must bold the contagion and should be burned. Keppel resolved to do this at once. Tha coat and trousers were lying on a stool at the head of the bed. He took them up, and some papers slipped from the pocket and fell on the floor. He examined them, at first indifferently, then wdth more interest. There was a passport wdth several vises upon it, showing a journey through Egypt, India, Australia and Panama. There were several letters, apparently from persons of high authority in Paris, recommending the bearer, Maurice Solange, to the good offices of foreign consuls. It appeared, moreover, that Maurice must have been a personage of some importance, or, at any rate, that he had been intrusted with an important mission. These letters of recommendation could have been delivered onlv by the French emperor's authority. But the nature of the mission was not specified in the papers. It even seemed had been careas if this There was a reason, fully intended. then, for keeping the thing secret r secret of state. Was it likely, however, that the poor wretch, wdiose body lay yonder awaiting burial, would murder a man for the sake of a secret of state? Nothing was less likely. What good could the secret do the murderer? Was it a thing be colli I sell? Some .secrets were salable, no doubt. But Maurice, an authorized agent on his way to America, must have been coming to impart the secret to the government here; therefore no sale could have been Besides, the dead man contemplated. had said something about a treasure millions of money. That might have been tho mere ravings of insanity; but possibly it was not. A mui .ler committed for millions of money was comprehensible, and this would account for the murderer's strange behavior. On the other hand, if those millions had stolon, wdiere were they? Wer they about the premises? ICUNTIM i;l.) |