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Show WfcCfie. IASH of I J j CIMMSIANCE Pf lut & ItoRT Irving Greene HmWQ Aulhor of" Yosonde of 1bc Wilderness" Ji'HLK i IlhisTroLtioria Ty Magnus Q. lUttner period, and It was seldom Indeed that his last quotation waa not -higher than the one of say half an hour before. It went darting skyward In the eccentric zig-zags with which a kite mounts in a gale, and within a fortnight I found myself richer by thousands added to thousands. The glittering heights of fortune seemingly hung close over me; the end of the rainbow with its great bag of gold was within mathematical mathe-matical striking distance; and taking greater chances than ever for the sake of greater gains, T plunged wildly wild-ly as I restaked my winnings on every throw. And day by day the Midas touch was mine and I won, won, won. Then grown money reckless by my constant con-stant success, 1 permitted myself another anoth-er piece of extravagance for the allurement allure-ment of the woman I loved and the greater opportunities it would give me to be with her. I bought a handsome motor car upon which I had had my eyes for some time, housing it in a public garage and telling nobody hut her that I had purchased it. I took Mrs. Dace out on the first evening after I had mastered my new acquirement for a long ride country-ward. country-ward. The weather was ideal, the roads in splendid condition and we sped along to the low whir of the machine with the soft night air fanning fan-ning our faces. It had long been understood un-derstood between us that she was to carefully guard all my confidences, and I kept few things from her. Exultantly Ex-ultantly I spoke of my increasing wealth and magnificent prospects. Her arm slipped under mine. "Good, good," she cried with a schoolgirl's enthusiasm. "I congratulate congratu-late you from the bottom of my heart. It makes me happy to know about It I told you that I should exercise my sorcery to command your success. When you win I feel that I have won also." Her tacit confession that she considered con-sidered herself as a close partner of mine, and that she was backing me to the winning of a prize which we should share together In the Ions time to come, combined with the delicious de-licious sense of comradeship awakened awaken-ed by her arm pressure, became as an intoxicant. In that moment I would have pawned my soul to have possessed pos-sessed her. I threw my arms about her and held her to my breast almost fiercely. "My God, how I love you, Matie. Tell me that you will marry me you must," I cried, as I found her lips and drained them as a drunkard drains his cup. Her arm hung upon my shoulder; her upturned lips seemed seem-ed to be clinging to mine; I could feel the ebb ;and swell of her bosom so closely was she drawn to me, and in that position I held her until a slight warning swerve of the machine temporarily restored my sanity. I quickly removed my right arm and clutched the wheel, but still kept the other around her waist as I begged her in the name of my great passion to make me the happiest man on earth by her answer. Impassion-edly Impassion-edly I recalled to her my long nights and days of torture when I was half Dick with despair of ever possessing her. For the first time since our ac- gasped it out with the unbelief of ernfl who by a seeming miracle sees the dead restored to life. She patted my cheek. "You- may so consider us if you wish under that conditicn. Dut it must for the time being remain strictly our secret." Half doubting that I was still of this earth I steered onward as in a trance. Then, unless my senses were tricking me, this most glorious of women was to become my close companion com-panion through all the days to come; the one whose head should rest upon my shoulder through the long nights; whose bosom should pillow my face in hours of weariness; who should be my wife, the mother of my children. My eyes filled with the moisture of happiness and through the mist the chalky roadway blurred before me. A feeling almost of awe filled my soul. Never again will such a great thankfulness thank-fulness possess me, and silently I blessed God that in his infinite goodness good-ness he had permitted me to be born. In front of an out-of-doors garden frequented by the better class we stopped and dismounted. Long lines of motor cars and carriages extended away on either side, and the music of an European orchestra floated over the walls of the- enclosure. We passed through the palm-lined entrance and took our seats at a table beneath a tree whose low hanging limbs almost brushed it. A thousand well-dressed people were eating and drinking around us as they idly chatted or listen' ed to the music. It was the soul of Beethoven throbbing in our ears out of his grave. I ordered champagne In honor of our bethrothal. I seemed to be floating in the air. All weight, all consciousness of the physical left me, and the music was ethereal vibrations wafted to me from infinite distance. I could only liken r"y sensations to those of one occasion occa-sion long before when feeling badly I had by mistake taken a slight overdose over-dose of a drug, and for some hours thereafter had soared amongst the clouds in an ecstasy which the earthly horn are incapable of experiencing except ex-cept through the wizardry of the chemist. Her hand lay idly upon the table close beside mine, and with a quick glance around to make sure that no one was observing us I covered cov-ered it with my own. "The ring, sweetheart, you shall have tomorrow. During my day dreams I have sometimes some-times amused myself by looking at them In the diamond shops as in my imagination I selected one for you. And only the other day I found the one you shall have. It is flawless; as perfect in its beauty as a gem as as you are as a woman. In the uncountable un-countable centuries of the past when the world was being molded this stone was created for you, and yours It shall be. But you must loan me one of yours for a few day3 that I 1 may huve it fitted to you." She laughed in her low, delicious way as I slipped a diamond from her finger. "Of course, I shall be proud to wear it proud and happy. But please don't be too extravagant, Tom. Remember I do not want you to go SYNOPSIS. Abner Halllday, . miserly millionaire. Is found gagged, bound and Insensible in hl room, his safe rifled and J-fO.000 missing. miss-ing. The thread of the story is taken up by his nephew Tom. Living In the same House are other relatives: reckless Bruce Halllday and pretty Clare Wlnton. Bruce, . who is a bond broker, has been trying to raise $10,000 to put through a deal and save himself from financial ruin. He has applied to his miserly uncle and to others tor the loan but has been refused. Tom Sends for William LeDuc. an old-time friend connected with a detective agency. In relating the story Tom reverts to his acquaintance with a Mrs. Dace, a wealthy fvlUow, whose business agent Is Richard Mackay, a boodler and political boss. Tom is jealous of Mackay and is deeply In love with Mrs. Dace. Bruce Halllday warns him to shun her as an adventuress. Tom sees Mrs. Dace and Mackay togeth-fr. togeth-fr. Ho afterwards meets the woman at a horae race, and, happening to mention that Bruce had a tip on the winner, she fives him $500 to place on the race. The tip foes wrong and she loses her money, tjater Torn invests in stocks. Ha makes ome monu.jr and returns the lost $500 to Mrs. Dace. Tt Is at this Juncture that the theft of tht fW.000 from old Abner Halllday Halll-day occurs. Le Due meets Clare and Bruce. He learns that the key which Clare had to the house is missing. Mac-Kay's Mac-Kay's dealings with Mrs. Dace make Tom more jealous. . The detective intimates a suspicion against Bruce Halllday as the thief. This Clare Wlnton Indignantly repudiates. re-pudiates. CHAPTER XII. (Continued.) "Aad the door at the head of the stairs which leads from here into the kitchen, was that disturbed?" I asked ar as my first sensations faded. She was panting from excitement and the baste of her movements. "No, th,e door was locked and just is I left it last night with the key still on the inside. He could not have gone up higher than the head of the basement stair. I just happened hap-pened to remember that I had left a broom down here yesterday, and when t came down after it I noticed this door right away. Who on earth do rou suppose could have done it?" She was wringing her hands weakly, the perspiration of nervousness popping trom her forehead. Being In total darkiwss myself, 1 made no attempt to enlighten her as I carefully examined the place. Outside Out-side of the scanty supply of coal that remained from last winter's supply the basement contained little save an iccumulatlon of odds and ends and m old chest of mine that contained ixtlcles that I had stored away years before. However, I still retained the key to It, and I now opened it and made a careful .Inspection of its interior. in-terior. So far as I could discover by t minute scrutiny the articles within It had remained untouched since I had last placed them there, and satisfied on that point I shut and locked it sgatn without having as yet received the faintest ray of light to assist m w a an T- Vt T m not ha tta rjnoTtf f 1 i- taken an active interest iu the case and I had heard his low whistle at the mention of Mackay's name, curiosity curi-osity had filled my mind as to what his researches would be in that direction. di-rection. I had gone to Mrs. Dace's with the mention of LeDuc's name that she might understand why I had repeated to him conversations which had occurred between herself and myself, that she might not feel that I had tattle-taled our private talks without explaining the reason to her. But though J had paved the way by which he might have had a confidential confiden-tial business chat with her, if he had availed himself of the opportunity it had not come to my knowledge. That LeDuc might now have full information informa-tion of what I had done and feel at liberty to interview her should he desire, I now told him of my talk upon the subject with her; telling him that she had denied absolutely having repeated my half confidences to any one, and had seemed to be amused at the idea that Janet was anything more or less than an automaton. This information in-formation he received without comment com-ment beyond the paradoxial remark that he could not remember that he had forgotten anything. "What else have you got to tell me?" I urged in finishing. He closed his lips so tightly around his cigar that it resembled re-sembled a nail driven into a crack and appeared to be filling himself to his toes with smoke as he reflected. Presently he expelled the smoke from his mouth after the manner of a nursery nur-sery dragon. "I don't know whether I am acting wisely or not, but under your promise to divulge nothing you may learn from me without my consent 1 am going go-ing to risk it. I know that you believe be-lieve in your cousin Bruce's honesty." "Implicity." "But do you happen to know that he has Bomehow or other managed to come Into active control of enough money to resume his operations on 'change on a rather liberal scale?" he queried with a thin smile. I was astonished as-tonished and told him so ' "Well, he has," he pursued assertively. assert-ively. "Furthermore, he Is carrying on his operations under some name which does not sound at all like his own. You look surprised. That's tie way I felt when I first found this out." 1 ruminated. "But certainly he would not be fool enough to openly and notoriously and under our very noses begin the use of money dishonestly dishon-estly obtained almost the day after the commission of a crime which he knows he has not absolved himself of?" I cried. LeDuc looked at me "And of Course the Car Is Yours," I Went on With the Recklessness of a Croesus. playmate. She looked up at me with a start. "Do you really mean to give it to me, dearest?" she inquired with a quick intake of her breath. "Dearest!" The word ran through me like wine. My clasp tightened around the warm hand I held and my reason ran riot. "I most certainly do. I bought it merely to please you. Perhaps you had better keep It at the Arcadia where it will be handy for us on pleasant evenings." She leaned forward and looked at me. her magnificent mag-nificent eyes glowing softly. "You are very good to me better than I deserve," she murmured in a momentary lull of the music. "I shall not tell you how much I appreciate your generosity; I shall show you instead." Nothing but the presence of the crowd restrained me from repeating repeat-ing my physical demonstration of the hour before. "And I will always be good to you. an1 you will be happy with me, won't you?" I breathed, full of anxiety. Her long lashes fell until they swept her cheeks and screened the royal blue eyes from mine. "I think so given certain conditions." condi-tions." "And those?" She looked at me again, smiling now. "If we should be married, Tom, dear, I should demand nearly all your time as my own. I should want you nearly always where I could reach out my hand and touch you. That privilege you could not grant me if you were engaged in some occupation which demanded much of your phyis-ical phyis-ical attention. Also, in order to make me contented, you would have to be able to take me where I wanted to go and at such times as I cared to be there. I don't care for Italy in the summer and I despise St. Petersburg in winter. Furthermore, we both love the beautiful things of this world, its flowers, its music and its luxuries, and could we enjoy them together l believe be-lieve that I would be a. happy woman. But I don't believe that we would ever be content were we lied down to a flat in a narrow street. Therefore, 1 want you to understand mo, dear, if you wish our lives to be rich and filled wilh the joys of living you must succeed. And in this age success means money. Having tusde your fortune for-tune the world will cheerfully admit that you have brain.", and a man who at your age has achieved wealth and the consequent respect of the world has few other difficulties to overcome. over-come. These are the reasons why I so earnestly beseech you lo make the most of your opportunities now lhat you are well on the road which lead. 5 to all that both of us crave. Whip your I talents and courage to the uttennost ; ride them mercilessly, but wisely and with patience." ! I followed her quickly and anxious-ly. anxious-ly. "But suppose, d -nrest, that I ; should be unfortunate: suppose through some financial nMpynn , which man is as unable to loin--- as j he is to prevent I should beeo;. ? ruined and left dependent upon wlr.t I could earn by work. Would you J then love me anv th" less?" She I i for many reasons. You have been devoted to me and believe in me; you are strong and handsome and have an alert mind. But to make our lifelong life-long happiness assured you must lift us above the sordid vexations of the world. We are both hopeful and ambitious, am-bitious, and I doubt if we could be content should we have to give up our ideals for commonplaces. I do not say that I should not love you in adversity, ad-versity, but I abhor it and I know that our lives would be greatly marred if you had to slave for me and 1 had to cook for you. I am speaking frankly to you as my prospective husband. For our mutual happiness you uiust win." The realization of all this had ridden rid-den me like an old man of the sea from almost the beginning of my acquaintance ac-quaintance with her, and it was because be-cause of its realization that I had played so desperately. And now confronted con-fronted bo vividly by the consciousness conscious-ness that she also realized it I fell from the clouds like a plummet to solid earth again. Once more 1 sat before her a normal human being, correcious that I had weight and much of it, and that instead of floating ideal-Istically ideal-Istically I must tread the earth liku any other man. The dream faded and grim actuality took its place Instead In-stead of soaring to the glittering mountain peak in eagle-like flight 1 must climb there. Yet by abandoning the winding and beaten roads I could short cut It over the cliffs and the journey would not be long. I would offset the added danger of the bee line by courage and skill. 1 would leave the plodders to the longer, saier mart as I mounted steadily up the precipices preci-pices while they wandered through the canyons in their gradual ascent. I sPt my teeth as I swore to i.y:c!t that I should not fall. I do riot be-lieve be-lieve thai any man was more eo'dly determined to win. no matter the danger dan-ger or difficulty, than I was that moment. mo-ment. I emptied the remainder of the contents of my wine f;lass upon the gravel at my feet and saw faint wonder come creeping into her race as she watched. 1 stiffened my shuul-ders shuul-ders and sat erect in my chair. "1 am glad that you spoke to me as you did. You have awakened me to a fuller realization that I have no right to ask you to entrust yourself to my keeping until I have proven Ihnt with my 'arms around you. you will be protected from the vulgiirh ies and petty troubles of lite as a woman of your kind should be protected. Therefore until I have proven this my wine glass shall remain turned down." She clapped hep hands softly soft-ly and picked up her own inss by its reed-like stem. "Hravo. 1 give you my moral support sup-port by following your good example'." She pushed It, half filled, lo one side as I expostulated. "Hut it is not nec-'ssa ry ' thai you should deny yourself simply because I do. Yours, is not the ntn:i;';!e, it in but the waiting." Her hand slid over mine in a fleeting caress. (TO UK l 'ONTIN't' Kl .) half an hour in my examination of the place and my questions of the housekeeper, house-keeper, but at the end of that time waa compelled to give up with absolutely abso-lutely nothing learned that I had not fcnown to start with. Another thing lhat perplexed me somewhat wag as to whether or not I should inform my ancle of this new crime. I did not see that anything would be gained by telling him, while it would most certainly cer-tainly agitate him and lead to further outbursts; therefore I decided to teare him in Ignorance of it and requested re-quested Mrs. Tebbets to do the same, t also decided to see LeDuc and get Us opinion on the matter, and repairing repair-ing the outraged doors as best I 'could with bamrner, boards and nails, and ; soothing the housekeeper by my as surances that the incident was a trivially triv-ially to which she need pay no further attention, I went upstairs and sat lown to my breakfast with Uncle Abner Ab-ner as usual. But an hour later when had reached my office I telephoned the detectiv with the request that he meet me at the noon hour. He readily Lssented and I then went about my lally work. He met me at luncheon and I explained ex-plained the matter to him without I prelude. He looked serious minded is I finished. "What do you thick of U?" I askd. In his aistrtctton he 5layed his reply for perhaps SO seconds. sec-onds. "It seems peculiar. But I am more Inclined to consider It as a separate ind distinct offence rather than as in aftermath of the original happening. happen-ing. Further than that I don't believe be-lieve I have any theory to advance as ret. However, it may all come out in the f.nal solution, provided there is ane. and in the meantime I would dismiss dis-miss It from my mind if I were you. tf you find that difficult, you may look upon it in this light. If I remember, re-member, we bad a sharp shower last night the thunder awoke me. It is , not unreasonable to assume that some back-yards prowler caught in the storm may have forced his way In merely to secure a dry nest in which to sleep." While I did not take much stock In that explanation and so informed in-formed bim, I added that being in a receptive mood I would file it in my mind fr future reference, and then began Interrogating him as to his own movements since we had last fore-rathered. fore-rathered. But when it came to that he had little to say and at first seemed disinclined to part with even that. Later on as we ate, however, he became p. trifle more communicative. communi-cative. Under the warming influence of tobacco and coffee he began to nake more satisfactory replies tt my julsainit", but if he had learned anything any-thing cf importance he did not betray I Since file day upon which he had queerly. "That is what almost any one would think under first impulse. But when you are dealing with criminals you must remember that they do not reason and act Just as do honest men. When a sane man taker, his life and liberty in his hand and commits a desperate crime, he is of necessity more or less regardless of consequences, conse-quences, as well as being driven by strong pressure. And in nearly all Cases it is because of this recklessness reckless-ness that we catch him. He may commit the crime itself with a skill and caution that is almost more than human, yet the next day is apt to go out and do something so foolish that it instantly attracts attention to him. For instance, having had no money before, he now begins to spend it lavishly; or becoming under the influence in-fluence of liquor boast or let things drop that sound queer. If It were not for these peculiarities of the criminal make up, and the fact that he generally general-ly makes a confident of some womuJ who betrays him, the road of the criminal would be comparatively safe and that of the detective an unhappy one." "But I cannot believe that there is anything crooked about Bruce. Deceit De-ceit Is foreign to his whole nature." My friend thrust one hand in his pocket. "Does he ever smoke cigarettes?" he smiled. "Frequently." "Any particular brand?" I paused to reflect. "I think so. As I remember, those that I have seen were invariably a Turkish abomination abomina-tion with a serrated gilt band for a mouthpiece. What is your reason for asking me that?" He withdrew his hand from beneath the table and tossed a half-smoked specimen of the species which I had been describing on the table before me. I looked at him inquiringly. "I found that in the hallway of your house near the closet where your uncle had been confined. Perhaps Per-haps you noticed at the time that I picked up something which I did not show you." Silently I sat trying to read his blank eyes. But as for divining what lay behind them I might as well have gazed at windows back of which the shades were drawn. CHAPTER Xllt. Directly after this seance with Lo-Due Lo-Due the stock which I had margined began that series of kangaroo leaps upward which will never be forgotten by those, who by reason of their interest, in-terest, watched the marvel. I probably called my broker up not less than half a dozen times a day during this "Furthermore, He Is Carrying on His Operations Under Some Name Which Does Not Sound at All Like His Own." smoothed the rose upon her bosom, her eyes failing. "I have not meant to intimate that life in a cottage would make me love you the less. Neither would I expect you to believe me If I said that it would have a tendency to make me love you the more. Anyway, 1 uo not feel that such an existence is essential essen-tial to my happiness, which you say is of the utmost solicitude to you. Therefore, I mention these things not as a condition to govt rn our future relations, but as incentives for you to strain yourself to your best efforts as though you were fighting for your life; to overlook nothing which you may turn to your advantage; to think; to act; to succeed succeed. I am fonder of you than of any other man qualntance began ,sbe was visibly agitated by my pleadings. "You say that you love me with all this great love and tell me that I must answer your question, Tom, dear," she said very softly. "Very well, I will answer you. I will marry you upon one condition." "And that?" I cried wildly, feeling myself grow weak in the suspense. "That you will not importune me now to fix the date. You must leave that entirely to my discretion. When I think the right time has come I will manage In some way to let you know that I am ready. Until then you must be patient with me like the dear boy that you have always been." "Then we are really engaged T" I to extremes." she cautioned. In my then state of mind money was but glittering dross, worthless except in its power to bring her pleasure. Had I possessed a million I would have poured it over her as prodigally as Bruce deluged Clare with roses. "And of course the car Is yours," 1 went on with the recklessness of a Croesus. "I will so Instruct them at the garage, and when you wish It you will have but to telephone and have it brought to you." It waa a present made under the impulse of the moment mo-ment and absolutely without thought of the future; bestowed as a child in a spontaneous outburst of generosity generosi-ty and affection thrusts his most priceless toys into the hands of a |