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Show Be CZAK5 SPY The Mystery of a Silent Love -Chevalier WILLIAM LE QIJEUX '6 AUTHOR uitaoJtD BOOK," ETC- TOftA ILLUSTRATIONS ffr C-l)-ItftODCS oxorxctfr by rnr smart sir pubiishvo- co "''S W W w rSsi& SYNOPSIS. , 11 Gordon Oii'SK. dinini; aboard with llorn-bv. llorn-bv. the yachi Lola's dwih'I', acridcnlnlly fees a turn phntOKiaph of h young Kil l. That nlht The nmsiil's safe ts robbed. TTif police find that Hornby is a fraud ruai the I. (da's name a false one. In Ixmdon Gn-SK Is trapped nearly to his death by a former servant, Olinto. Visit -li.jc in Dumfries GreKK meets Muriel a illK-ourt. Hornby appeal's and Muriel introduces bim as Martin Woodroffe, her fniher's friend. Greg; sees a eopy of tin-toi tin-toi 11 photograph on the 1 .(da and rinds tfctt the young girl is Muriel's friend. Woodroffe disappears. Gregg discovers the body of a murdered woman in Han-rH'h Han-rH'h wood. The body disappears and in lis place is found the body of Olinto. Muriel and Gregg seareh Hannoch wood tiaether. and find the body of Arnilda, Oiinto's wife. When the police go to the whh1 the body has disappeared. In London Lon-don Groan meets Olinto. alive and well, (irepg traces the young girl of the torn photograph, and rinds that she is Klma Heath, niece of Baron oberg. who has taken her to Aho. Finland, and that she holds a secret affecting Woodroffe. On his return to Rannocb Gregg finds the Leirhcouris fled front liylton Dialer, who had called there. He Roes to Abo, and after a tilt with the police chief. Is conducted con-ducted to Kajana. where he finds Klma, Imprisoned. A surgical oper ation has made her deaf and dumb. He escapes with her. CHAPTER XI Continued. The uufortuuate girl whom I was there to rescue drew back in 'fright gainst the wall for a single second, then, seeing that I had closed with the hulking fellow, she sprang forward, and with both hands seized the gun and attempted to wrest it from him. His fingers had lost the trigger, and he was trying to regain it to fire and so raise the alarm. I saw this, and with an old trick learned at Uppingham I tripped him, so that he staggered and nearly fell. An oath escaped him, yet in that moment mo-ment Elma succeeded in twisting the grin from his sinewy hands, which 1 now held with a strength begotten of a knowledge of my imminent peril. He was huge and powerful, with a strength far exceeding my own, yet I hid been reckoned a good wrestler at Vppingham, and now my knowledge of that most ancient form of combat held me in good stead. He shouted for help, his deep, hoarse voice sounding along the stone corridors. As we were struggling desperately, the English girl slipped past us with the carbine in her hand, 'and" w ith" ii quick movement dragged open the heavy door that gave exit to the lake. I heard a splash, and saw that Elma no longer held the sentry's weapon in her hands. Then at the same moment I heard a voice outside cry in a low tone: "Courage, excellency ! Courage! I will come and helj. yov It was the faithful Finn, who had been awaiting me in the deep shadow, and with a few strokes pulled his r"r up to the narrow rickety ledee riiv'jp the door. "Take the lady!'' I succeeded in lasping in Russian. 'Never mind me," and I saw to my satisfaction that lie guided Elma to step into the boat, uich at that moment drifted past the little platform. I struggled valiantly, but I was slowly slow-ly being vanquished. Mine was a fight 'or life. A sudden idea flashed across my mind, and I continued to struggle, t the same time gradually forcing my enemy backward towards the door. He cursed and swore and shouted until, ith a sudden and almost superhuman fETort, I tripped him, bringing bis head into violent contact with the stone intei of the door. There was the sound of the crashing crash-ing of wood as the rotten platform i Eave way, a loud splash, and he sank ''ke a stone, for although I . stood 'atching for him to rise, 1 could only distinguish the woodwork floating aay with the current. As I stood there in horror at my deed of self-defense, the place sudden-'j sudden-'j resounded with shouts of alarm, and In the tower above me the great old rusty bell began to swing, ringing its brazen note across the broad expanse of waters. Behind me in the passage I saw a light and the glitter of arms. A shot rang out, and a bullet whizzed Past me. Then 1 jumped, and nearly "fset the boat, but taking an oar I be-an be-an to row for life, and as we drew aay from those grim, black walls the fire belched forth from three rifles. Again the guards fired upon us, but 10 the darkness their aim was faulty, '-ights appeared in the high windows tf the castle, and we could see that llle greatest commotion had been taused by the escape of the prisoner. men at the door in the tow er w ti e Routing to the patrol boats, calling wem to row us down and capture us, Bt by plying our oars rapidly w e bhot '"'glit across the lake until wo got thunder th-under the deep shadows of the opposite oppo-site shore. Out in the cenler of the 'dke we could just distinguish a long boat will, three rowers going swil'tlv towards the entrance to the river, which we so desired to gain. . 'I he guards were rowing rapidly, the oars sounding in the rowlocks, evidently evi-dently in the belie that we had made for the river. But the Finlander had apparently foreseen this, and for that reason we were lying safe from observation obser-vation in the deep shadow of an overhanging over-hanging tree. A gray mist was slowly rising from the water, and the Finn, noticing it, hoped that it might favor us. "If we disembark we shall be compelled com-pelled to make a deiour of fully four days in the forest, in order to pass the marshes," he pointed out in a low-whisper. low-whisper. "Hut if we can enter the river we can go ashore anywhere and get by foot to some place where the lady can lie in hiding." "What do you advise? We are entirely en-tirely in your hands. The chief of police po-lice told me he could trust you." "1 think it will be best to risk it," he said in Russian after a-brief pause. "We w ill tie up the boat, and I will go along the bank and see what the guards are doing. You will remain here, and I shall not be seen. The rushes and undergrowth are higher further along. But if there is danger while I am absent get out and go straight, westward until you find the marsh, then keep along its banks due south," and drawing up the boat to the bank the shrewd, big-boned fellow tits-appeared tits-appeared into the dark undergrowth. CHAPTER XII. Rescued and Lost. There were no signs yet of the break of day. My ears were strained to catch the dipping of an oar or a voice, but beyond the lapping of the water beneath the boat there was no other sound I took the hand of the fair- 1 13 fiirH 1 1 JSiS i With a Sudden and Almost Superhuman Su-perhuman Effort I Tripped Him. raced girl at my side and pressed it. In return she pressed mine. It was the only means by which we could exchange ex-change confidences. She whom I had sought through all those months sat at my side, yet powerless to utter one single word. Suddenly I heard a stealthy footstep foot-step approaching, and next moment a low voice spoke which I recognized as that of our friend, the Finn. "There is danger, excellency a grave danger!" he said in a low half whisper. "Three boats are in search of us." And scarcely had he uttered those words when there was a flash of a rifle from the haze, a loud report, and a bullet whizzed past just behind my head. "Quick, excellency! Fly! while there is yet time!" gasped the Finn, grasping mv hand and half dragging me' from the boat, while I, in turn, placed Elma upon the bank. The three of us, heedless of the con-aequences, con-aequences, plunged forward iuf; the impenetrable darkness, just as our fierce pursuers came alongside where vve had only a moment ago been seated. seat-ed. They shouted wildly as they sprang to land after us, but our guide, who had been born and bred in these forests, for-ests, knew well how to travel In a circle, and how to conceal himself. It was a race for freedom nav, for very lite. J So dark that we could see before us ! hardly a foot, we were compelled to j place our hands in front of us to avoid collision with the big tree trunks, while ever and anon we found ourselves our-selves entangled in the mass oT dead creepers and vegetable parasites that formed the dense undergrowth. Around us on every side we heard the shouts and curses of our pursuers, while above the rest we heard an authoritative authorita-tive voice, evidently that of a sergeant of the guard, cry: 'Shoot the man, but spare the woman! wom-an! The colonel wants her back. Don't let her escape! We shall be well rewarded. re-warded. So keep on. comrades! Mene edemmaski!" Hut the trembling girl beside me heard nothing, and perhaps indeed it was best that she could not hear. It was an exciting chase in the darkness, dark-ness, as we gradually circled round our prisoners, for we knew not into what treacherous marsh we might fall Once we saw afar through the trees the light of a lantern held by a guard, and already the sweet-faced girl beside be-side me seemed tired and terribly fatigued. fa-tigued. At last, breathless, we halted to listen. We were already in sight of the gray mist where lay the silent lake that held so many secrets. There was not a sound. We crept along the water's wa-ter's edge, until In the gray light we could distinguish two empty boats that of the guards and our own. We were again at the spot where we had disembarked. "Let us row to the head of the lake," suggested the Finn. "We may then land and escape them," And a moment mo-ment later we were all three in the guards' boat, rowing with all our might under the deep shadow of the bank northward, in the opposite direction direc-tion to the town of Xystad. I think we must have rowed several miles, for ere we landed again, upon a low, flat and barren shore, the first gray streak of day was show ing in the east. Elma noticed it, and kept her great brown eyes fixed upon it thoughtfully. It was the dawn for her the dawn of a new life. Our eyes met; she smiled at me. and then gazed again eastward, with silent meaning. Having landed, we drew the boat up and concealed it in the undergrowth so that the guards, on searching, should not know the direction we had taken, and then we went straight on northward across the low-lying lands, to where the forest showed, dark against the morning gray. The mist had now somewhat cleared, but to discover dis-cover a path in a forest forty miles wide is a matter of considerable difficulty, diffi-culty, and for hours we wandered on and on, but alas! always in vain. Faint and hungry, yet we still kept courage. Fortunately we found a little spring, and all three of us drank eagerly ea-gerly with our hands. But of food we had nothing, save a small piece of hard rye bread which the Finn had in his pocket, the remains of his evening meal, and this we gave to Elma, who, half famished, ate it quickly. How many miles we trudged I have no idea. Elma's torn shoe gave her considerable trouble, and noticing her limping, I induced her to sit down while I took it off, hoping to be able to mend it, but, having unlaced it, 1 saw that upon her stocking was a large patch of congealed blood, where her foot itself had also been cut. I managed to beat the nails of the shoe with a stone, so that its sole should not be lost, and she readjusted it, allowing me to lace it up for her and smiling the while. Forward we trudged, ever forward, across that enormous forest where the myriad tree trunks presented the same dismal scene everywhere, a forest untrodden un-trodden save by wild, half-savage lumbermen. lum-bermen. My only fear was that we should be compelled to spend another night without shelter, and what its effect might be upon the delicately reared girl whose hand I held tenderly in mine. Surely my position was a strange one. Her terrible affliction seemed to cause her to be entirely dependent upon me. Suddenly, just as the yellow sunlight sun-light overhead had begun to fade, the flat-faced Finn, whose name he had told me was Felix Estlander, cried joyfully: "Polushaite! Look, excellency! Ah! The road at last!" And as we glanced before us we saw that his quick, well-trained eyes had detected away in the twilight, at some distance, a path traversing our vista among the tree trunks. Elma made a gesture of renewed hope, and all three of us redoubled our pace, expecting every moment to come upon some log hut, the owner of which would surely give us hospitality for the night. But darkness came on quickly, and yet we still pushed forward. for-ward. Poor Elma was limping, and I knew that her Injured foot was paining pain-ing her, even though she could tell tne nothing. At last we saw before us a light shining in a window, and five minutes later Felix was knocking at the door, and asking in Finnish the occupant to give hospitality to a lady lost in the forest. We heard a low growl like a muttered mut-tered Imprecation within, and when the door opened there stood upon the threshold a tall, bearded, muscular muscu-lar old fellow in a dirty red shirt, with a big revolver shining in his hand- ffl I J r," 4"r all1 III I Iflfii -7? A Tall, Bearded, Muscular Old Fellow, With a Big Revolver. A quick glance at us satisfied him that we were not thieves, and he invited us in while Felix explained that we had landed from the lake, and our boat having drifted away we had been compelled com-pelled to take to the woods. The man heard the Finn's picturesque story, and then said something to me which Felix translated into Russian. "Your excellency is welcome to all the poor fare he has. He gives up his bed in the room yonder to the lady, so that she may rest. He is honored by your excellency's presence." pres-ence." And while he was making this explanation ex-planation the wood cutter stirred the red embers whereon a big pot was simmering, and sending forth an appetizing ap-petizing odor, and in five minutes we were all three sitting down to a stew of capercailzie, with a foaming light beer as a fitting beverage. After we had finished our meal 1 asked the sturdy old fellow for a pencil, pen-cil, but the nearest thing he possessed was a stick of thick charcoal, and with that it was surely difficult to communicate commu-nicate with our fair companion. Therefore There-fore she rose, gave me her hand, bowed smilingly, and then passed into the inner room and closed the door, while we threw ourselves wearily upon the wooden benches and slept soundly. Suddenly, however, at early dawn, we w ere startled by a loud banking at the door, the clattering of hoofs, and authoritative shouts in Russian. The old wood cutter sprang up, and, looking look-ing through a chink in the heavy shutters, shut-ters, turned to us with blanched face, whispering breathlessly: "The police! What can they want of me?" "Open!" shouted the horseman outside. out-side. "Open in the name of his majesty!" maj-esty!" Felix made a dash for the door of the inner room, where Elma had retired, re-tired, but next second he reappeared, gasping in Russian: "Excellency! Why, the door is open' the lady has gone!" "Gone!" I cried, dismayed, rushing into the little room, where I found the truckle couch empty and the door leading lead-ing outside wide open. She had actually actu-ally disappeared! The police again battered at the op posite door, threatening loudly to break it in if it were not opened at once, whereupon the old wood cutter drew the bolt and admitted them. Two big, hulking fellows in heavy riding coats and swords strode in, while two others remained mounted outside, holding hold-ing the horses. "Your names?" demanded one of the fellows, glancing at us as we stood together in expectation. Our host told them his name, and asked -why they wished to enter. "We are searching for a woman who has escaped from Kajana," was the reply. "Have you seen any woman here?" "No," responded the wood cutter. "We never see any woman out in these woods." "Who is your chief?" I inquired, as a sudden thought occurred to me. "Melnlkoff, at Helslngfora " "Then this is not in the district of Abo?" "No. But what difference does it make? Who are you?" "Cordon Gregg, British subject," I replied. "And you are the drosky driver from Abo," remarked the fellow, turning turn-ing to Felix. "Exactly as I thought. You are the pair who bribed the nun at Kajana, and succeeded in releasing the Englishwoman. In the name of the czar, I arrest you!" The old wood cutter turned pale as death. We certainly were in grave peril, for I foresaw the danger of falling fall-ing into the hands of Baron Oberg, the Strangle!- of Finland. Yet we had a satisfaction in knowing that, be the mystery what it might, Elma had escaped. "And on what charge, pray, do you presume to arrest me?" I inquired as coolly as I could. "For aiding a prisoner to escape." "Then I wish to say, first, that you have no power to arrest me; and, secondly, sec-ondly, that if you wish me to give you satisfaction, I am perfectly willing wil-ling to do so, providing you first accompany ac-company me down to Abo." "It is outside my district," growled the fellow , but I saw that his hesitancy was due to his uncertainty as to who I really might be. "I desire you to take me to the Chief of Police Boranski, who will make all the explanation necessary. Until we have an interview with him, I refuse to give any information concerning con-cerning myself," I said. "But you have a passport?" 1 drew it from my pocket, saying: "It proves, I think that my name is what I have told you." The fellow, standing astride, read it, and handed it back to me. "Where is the woman?" he demanded. demand-ed. "Tell me." "I don't know," was the reply. "Perhaps you will tell me," he said, turning to the old wood cutter with a sinister expression upon his face. "Remember, "Re-member, these fugitives are found in your house, and you are liable to arrest." "I don't know indeed I don't!" protested pro-tested the old fellow, trembling beneath be-neath the officer's threat. Like all his class, he feared the police, and. held them in dread. "Ah, you don't remember, I suppose!" sup-pose!" he smiled. "Well, perhaps your memory will be refreshed by a month or two in prison. You are also arrested." "But, your excellency, I " "Enough!" blared the bristly officer. "Y'ou have given shelter to conspirators. conspira-tors. You know the penalty in Finland Fin-land for that, surely?" "But these gentlemen are surely not conspirators!" the poor old man protested. pro-tested. "His excellency is English, and the English do not plot." "We shall see afterwards," he laughed. A dozen times was the old wood cutter cut-ter questioned, but he stubbornly refused re-fused to admit that he had ever set eyes upon Elma. I knew, of course, by what we had overheard said by the prison guards, that the governor general gen-eral was extremely anxious to recapture recap-ture the girl with whom, I frankly admit, ad-mit, I had now so utterly fallen in love. And it appeared that no effort was being spared to search for us. But what could be the truth of Elma's disappearance? dis-appearance? Had she fled of her own accord, or had she once more fallen a victim to some ingenious and dastardly das-tardly plot. That gray dress of hers might, I recollected, betray her if she dared to venture near any town, while her affliction would, of itself, be plain evidence of identification. All I hoped was that she had gone and hidden herself in the forest somewhere in the vicinity to wait until the danger of recapture had passed. For as long as possible I succeeded in delaying our departure, but at length, just as the yellow sun began to struggle through the gray clouds, we were all three compelled to depart in sorrowful procession. At nine o'clock I stood in the big, bare office of Michael Boiauski. where only a short time before we had had such a heated argument. As soon as the" chief of police had entered, he recognized me under arrest, and dismissed dis-missed my guards with a wave of the hand all save the officer who had brought me there. He listened to the officer's story of my arrest without saying a word. (TO BE CONTINUED.) |