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Show I We CZARS SPY H The Mystery of a SilentS Love " I Chevalier WILLIAM U QUEUX p ' '6 author "mcaojra book," etc- xSaFJH , ILLUSTRATIONS iSy C-D-IinODD ; J 1 W W 0""1piS H 8YNOPSI8. j 7 (Ionian Ore irs Is culled upon In l-vx- IJH horn by Hornby, tho yncht Iain's owner, H and dining aboard with him and his H friend. Hyllon Chator, accidentally seen IJH a torn photOKrnnh of a young jjlrl. That IJM nUjht tho consul's safo In rohbod. Tho IJH poll co find that Hornby la a fraud and V tho l.ola's nurno a fnlso onn. Gregg vis- V Its dipt. Jack Ournford or tho murine V bourd hln vwtucl. IJurnford knows, but Vj will not rovral, tho niyatory of tho Lola. V U conccrrm u woman." In London W UiTKif h trapped nearly to hlH death by V former sorvHnt, Ollnto. Visiting In V Oumfrli'H OroRK meols Murlnl lelthcourt. V Hornby uppours and Murlol Introduces V him as Martin WoodrofTo, her futhor's V friend, a root II n tl.i that nho la enirsKod V' to WoodrofTo. OrcRif neon a oopy of tho W torn photograph on tho fola and finds V that thn young girl la Muriel's friend. V Woodmffo disappears. OroRff discovers BV thn body of n murdorcd woman In linn- V noch wood. The body disappears and In W Its placo Is found tho body of Ollnto. BV I'niKK talks to tho pnllco but conceals his BV own knowledge of tho woman. Muriel V rails serrotly on Gregg and tolls hlrn that BV ho Is certain that a woman as woll as VJ man has beon murdorod. They search BW luinnoch wood togotlior. and find tho V body or tho woman. Orogg recognizes V tor us Armlda, Ollnto's wlfo. Orogg tells k ;" police, but when thoy bo to tho wood EH thn body tins dlsuppoarod. H CHAPTER VII Continued. H Thnt night, nftor culling upon tho H tlotoctlvo, Mackenzie, I took tho sloop- H ing car ozprcBB to Euston. Tho res- H taurant which HutchCBon hud Indicated H was, I found, situated about halfway H up Wostboumo Qrovo, nearly oppo- H alto Whltoloy's. it wns Boon after nlno H o'clock whon I ontorod tho long shop H with its rows of marblo-toppcd tables H i antl gronsy lounges of rod pIuhIi. An unhealthy-looking lad was sweeping H out tho pluco with wot sawdust, and a B big, dnrk-boardod, flabby-faced man In H Hhlrt Bloovos stood bohlnd tho amall H countor polishing Bonio forks. H "I wish to soo Slgnor Ferrari," I said, H addrcsHlng him. H "There Ib no Forrarl, ho Ib dead," ro- H npondod tho man In broken English. H "My uamo Is Odlnzolf. I bought tho H placo from madamo." H "I havo como to Inquire nftcr a H waiter you hnvo In your service an H Italian named Santlnl. Ho wno my H servant for somo years, nnd I naturally H tako an IntoroBt In him." K'" "Santlnl t" ho ropoatod. "Oh, you H'' me" Ollnto? Ho Is not hero yet. IIu H( cornea at ton o'clock." H Thia reply surprised mo. I had ox- H poctod tho roatnurant kuepor to ox- H press regret at his dlsappcaranco, yet lSB ho spoko as though ho had beon at H work ns usual on tho provloua day. H "You find Ollnto n good servant, I H suppose?" I said, for want of some H thing elso to say. H "Excellent. Tho Italians aro the bent B waiters In tho world. I am Ilusslan, H but I daro not employ a RuhhIuii wait H er Theso EugllBh would not cotno to H my shop If I did." H "How long has Ollnto been with H you?" I inquired. H "About a year porhnpB a little H moro. I trust him implicitly, and I H leave him In chargo when I go away H for holidays. Ho docs not got along H very well with tho cook who la Ml- H lunette. These Italians from different H provinces always quarrel," ho added. H laughing. "If you live in Ituly you H know that, no doubt." H I laughed In chorus nnd then, glnnc- H ing at my watch, said: "I'll wait for H him, if ho will bo hero at ton. I'd H much like to boo htm ugain." H Thu RusBlan was by no means non- H plused, but merely remarked: "Ho Is H lato Bomctlmea, but not often, 'ilo lives M on tho other Bldo of Loudon over at M Cambcrwoll." H Suddenly a side door opened nnd tho H cook put his head in to speak with M his maator In lYonch. Ho was a typl- H cal Italian, about forty, with dark mun- H tachca turned upwards, and an easy- H going, curoIcBu iimnner. Seeing me, m however, and bellovlng mo to bo a cub- H tomer, ho turned and closed tho door H quickly. In that Instant I noticed thn H high broadness of hla shoulders, and H his back struck mo as Btrangely olmi H lar to thnt of tho man In brown whom H wo had Boon disappearing In Uannoch 1 wood. H Tho suspicion held mo breathless. H Presontly Odinzoff went outsldo, car- H rytug with him two boards upon which H tho menu or (ho "Glghtponny Lunch- H eon! This Day!" was written in H scrawly charactem, nnd proceeded to H afllx thorn to tho ehop front. H This waa my opportunity, and quick H as thought I movod towards where tho WM unhealthy youth- was at work, and H syhlspered: H "I'll g(vo you half-a-soverolgn If H you'll answer my questions truthfully H K()v. (ell mo, was the cook, tho mun H I've Jut seen, lioro yestorduy?" H "Etnlllo? Yea. nlr." H "Was ho hore the day botorn?" SH "No, Blr. Ho's beon away ill for tmjk tmr days." HH "And your mastor?" H I had no time to put any further jB quoatlon, for tho Uuaslau re-entered at H that moment, and tho youth busied B hlmsolf rubbing tho front of tho coun- B tor In protcnao that I had not spoken HI to hlni, Indeod, I had somo difficulty H in slipping tho promised coin Into his H hand at a moment whon his mastor B was not looking. H - While I stood there a rather thin, ro-H ro-H " upoctiibly drcased man ontorod and B seated himself upon one of tho plush 1 . lounges at tho farther oud, removed his bowler hat and ordored from tho proprietor a chop and a pot of tea. Then, taking a nowspaper from hla pockot, ho Bottled hlmsolf to read, apparently ap-parently oblivious to his surroundings, And yot as I watched I saw that over tho top of hla paper ho waa carefully taking in tho general appearance of tho placo, and hla oyoa wcro koenly following tho ItUBslan'a movements. So doop wna his Intoroat In tho placo, and so keon thoBo dark oyes of his, that tho truth suddonly dawned upon mo. Muckenzlo had telegraphed to Scotland Yard nnd tho customer sitting thoro was a dotectlvo who had cotno to Investigate. I had advanced to tho counter to chat again with tho proprietor proprie-tor whon a quick Btop behind mo caused mo to turn. Uoforo mo stood tho slim figure of a man In a straw hat and rathor seedy black Jacket. "Dlo Plgnor I'ndrono!" ho cried. I staggorod us though I had received a blow. Ollnto Suntlnl in tho flesh, Binding and well, stood there beforo mo! CHAPTER VIII. Life's Counter-Clalm. No word of mlno enn express my nb aoluto and abject amazemont when I fnced tho man, -whom I had Boon lying ly-ing cold and dead upon that gray stono slab In tiTo mortuary of Duinfrlos. My eyo caught tho customer who, on tho entry of Ollnto. had dropped his paper and snt Blnrlng at him In wondermont. Tho dotectlvo had evidently evi-dently been furnished with a photograph photo-graph of tho dead man. and now, Jlko myself, discovered him nllvo and living- "Slgnor Padrono!" cried tho man whoso appearance was bo absolutely bowildoring. "How did you find mo horo? I admit that I decolvod you whon I told you I worked at tho MI-lano." MI-lano." ho went on rapidly In Italian. "Hut It waa under compulsion my notions no-tions that night wore not my own-but own-but thoso of others." "Yes, I understand." I Bald. "But como out Into tho strcot. I don't wish to speak beforo thoso people. Your pndrono knows Italian, no doubt." And turning with n Binllo to tho Polo, I apologized for tnklng away his servant serv-ant for a few minutes. And when wo woro outsldo, Ollnto walking by my sldo in wondermont, I nBked suddenly: "Tell mo. Havo you over been In Scotlnnd at Dumfries?" "Nover, slgnor, In my llfo. Why?" "Answer mo nnothor question," I said quickly. "You married Armlda at thu Italian consulate. Whero Is sho now whero is she this morning?" morn-ing?" Ho turned i-alo, and I saw a complete com-plete change In hla counteuonco. "Ah, Blgnore!" ho roBponded. "I only wish I could toll." "I cast no reflection whatever upon you, Ollnto; I havo mcroly inquired after your wlfo. and .you do not glvo mo n direct reply." Wo had walked to tho Royal Oak. and stood talking on tho curb outsldo. "I glvo you no roply, because I can't," ho said In Italian. "Armlda my poor Armlda lias .loft honje." "Why did you tell mo such a talo of distress regarding her?" "As I havo already explained, slg. nore, I wna not then maator of my own actions. I was ruled by othors. Hut I saved your llfo at risk of my own. Somo day, when It 1st safe. I will roveal to you everything." "Lot ua allow tho past to remain," I said. "Whore Is your wlfo now?" Ho hesitated n moment, looking straight Into my face. "The truth la. Slgnor Commenda-tore, Commenda-tore, that my wife has mysteriously disappeared. Last Saturday at eleven o'clock sho was talking over the garden gar-den wall with a neighbor, and was then dressed to go out. Sho apparently apparent-ly went out, but from that moment no one has seen or heard of her." It was on tho tip of my tongue to tell him thu ghastly truth, yet so utrango was tho circumstance that his own doublo, even to tho mole upon his faco, should bo lying dead and burled In Scotland that I hesitated to relate what I know. , "She spoko English, I Btipposo?" "She could make herself understood very woll," ho suld with a Blgh, and I saw a heavy, thoughtful look upon his brow. That ho was reully dovoted to her, 1 know. With tho Italian or whate-rer station in life, lovo is all consuming it is either pivfoct lovo or gonulno hatred. Tho Tuscan character char-acter Is one of two extromes. I glanced across the road, and saw that tho detective who had ordered his chop and coffoo had stoppod to light his pipe aud was watching us. "Hut why haven't you told tho po-llco?" po-llco?" "I profer to mako iuqulrlos for myself." my-self." "And In what havo your Inquiries resulted?" re-sulted?" "Nothing absolutely nothing," ho said gravely. "You do not suspect any plot? I rocollect that night in Lambotb you told mo you had ouoinloB?" "Ahl bo I havo, algnoro and so have you!" ha exclaimed hoarsely. "Yes, my poor Armlda may have been entrapped by them." "And lf-ontrappod, what thonT "They would kill her with as little lit-tle compunction as thoy would a fly," ho said. "Ahl you do not know tho callousness of those people. I ouly hope und pray that she may havo es-capod es-capod and la In hiding somewhere, and will arrive unexpectedly and give me a startling aurprlao. Sho delights In startling mo," ho added with a laugh. "Thon you think sho must have been called away from homo by some urgent urg-ent message?" I suggested. "By tho manner In which sho left things, It seemed as though she went away hurriedly. There wore five sovereigns sov-ereigns In a drawor that wo had saved for thu rent, and she took them with her" I paused, hesitating whether to tell him tho terrlblo truth. I recollected that tho body had disappeared, therefore there-fore what proof had I of my allegation allega-tion that she had beon murdered? "Toll me, Ollnto,' I xuld as we moved forward again in i.t t! ctlon of Paddlngton station, "havo you any knowlodge of a man named Lelth-court?" Lelth-court?" He started suddenly and looked at mo. "I hnvo heard of him," ho answered very lamely. "And of hla daughter Murlol?" "And also of her. Hut I am not acquainted ac-quainted with them nor, to toll tho truth, do I wIbIi to be." "Why?" "Hecauso thoy aro enemies or mlno bitter onemlcs." His declaration wns strange, for It threw soma light upon tho tragedy in Uannoch wood. "And or your wlfo, also?" "I do not know that," ho responded. respond-ed. "My enemies nro my wife's also. I Buppotw." "You havo Hot told mo tho secrot of that dastardly attempt upon mo when wo last met," I said In a low volco. "Why not toll mo tho truth? I surely ought to know who my enomloB really are, so as to bo warned against any future plot." "You shall know somo day, Blgnore. I daro not toll you now." "You said that boforo," J exclaimed with dissatisfaction. "If you aro II 111 IS S""-:?383 r ilf!lPjil iQii ,'i WSMw, IF Ollnto Santlnl in the Flesh, Smiting and Well, Stood There Before Me. faithful to mo, you ought at least to tell mo the rcnBon they wished to kill mo In secret." "Hecauso thoy fear you," wns his answer. an-swer. "Why should thoy fenr mo?" Hut ho shrugged his shoulders, nnd mado a gesturo with tils hands Indicative Indica-tive of uttor Ignoranco, "I nak you ono quoatlon. Answer yes or no. Is fho mun Lelthcourt my enemy?" Tho young Italian paused, and then nnswored: "Ha Is not your friend. I nm quite woll nwaro of that. I havo known him aoverat ycara. When we first met he nas poor," "Suddenly became rich eh?" "Hought a flno houao in tho country: Hve8 mostly at tho Carlton whon ho and hla wife and daughter are In London ulthough I believe they now hnvo a house somewhere In tho Weat ond nnd ho often makes long cruises In his steam yacht," "And how dld-ho make his monoy?" Again Ollnto olovnted his shoulders without replying, Ho watkod with mo as far as the ond of Bishop's road, endeavoring with all thn Italian's exquisite diplomacy to obtain from me what 1 know concerning con-cerning tho Lelthcourta. Hut I told him nothing, nor did I reveal that 1 had only that morning returned from Scotland. Then at last wo parted, and ho rotraced hla stops to tho little restaurant res-taurant In WeBtbourno Qrovo, whllo I ontorod a hansom aud drove to tho well-known photographer's In Now nond street, whoso name had been upon tho torn photograph of tho young girl In tho whlto plquo blouso and her hair tastoncd with a bow of ribbon, tho plcturo thnt I had found on board tho Lola on that memorable night in tho Modlterranoan. and a duullcato of 4 which I had neon In Muriel's coey little room up at Hannoch. I recollected that cho had told tae tho uamo of tho original was Elma Heath, aad that be had been a schoolfellow school-fellow of hers at Chichester. Therefore There-fore I Inquired of tho photographer's lady clerk whether she could supply mo with a print of the negative. Kor a considerable time she searched lu her books for the namo, and at last discovered It. Then she said: "1 regret, sir, that we can't give you u print, for the customer purchased the negative at the time." "Ah, I'm" very sorry for that." I said. "To what address did you Bend it?" "The customer who ordered it was apparently a foreigner," she said, at the same time turning round the ledger so that I could read, and I saw that the entry was: "Heath MUr Elnni three dozen cabinets and negative. Address: Daron Xavlor Oberg, Vos-ueseuskl Vos-ueseuskl Prospect 48, Bt Petersburg, Kussla." Who was this Baron Oberg? Tho name wus Herman undoubtedly, yet he lived In the Russian cnpltal. From London to St. Petersburg la a far cry, yet I resolved If It were necessary I would travel there and Investigate. At the Uerman embassy, In the Carlton Carl-ton House Terrace, 1 found my friend, Captain Nlcberdlng, the second secretary, sec-retary, of whom I Inquired whother the name of Baron Oberg was known, but having referred to a number of Gorman books In his excellency's library, li-brary, he returned and told mo that tho name did not appear in the lists of the German nobility. "He may bo Russian PoIIbIi, most probably," added tho captain. Hla opinion waa that It waa not a Uerman name, for thoro wna a little placo called Oberg, ho said, on the railway between Lodz and Lowlcz. Next day I ran down to Chichester, und after somo difficulty found tho Chevcrton Collcgo for Ladles, a big old-fashioned houso about half a mile out of tho town of tho Drayton road. Tho seminary was evidently a first-cIubb first-cIubb ono, for when 1 ontorcd I no ticed how well overythlng was kept, To tho principal, an elderly lndy of Bomowhnt severe aspect, I said: "I regret, madam, to trouble you, but 1 am In search of Information you can supply. It is with regard to a certain Elma Heath whom you hnd aa pupil here, and who left, I bcllcvo, nbout two ycara ago. Her parents-lived parents-lived In Durham. There has been somo j llttlo friction In the family, and I am making Inquiries on behalf of another branch of ft an aunt who desires to ascertain tho girl's whorcaboutB." "Ah, I rcgrot, sir, that I cannot tell you thnt Tho baron, her uncle, camo hero ono day and took her away suddenly sud-denly abroad, I think." "Had sho no school friends to whom sho would probablr wrlto?" "There waa n girl named Lelthcourt Muriel Lelthcourt who was her friend, but who has also left." "And no ono olso?" I asked. "GIr)a often wrlto to each other after leay1-ing leay1-ing school, until thoy get married, and then tho correspondence usually ceases." Tho principal wna silent and roflec- tlvc. "Woll," sho Bald at lost, "thero waa another pupil who was uIbo on friendly terms with Elma a girl named Lydla Moroton. She mny havo written to her. If you really dcslro to know, sir, I dnro Bay I could find her address ad-dress Sho left us about nlno months nrtor Elma." "1 should esteem It a groat ravor IT you would glvo mo that young lady's I address," I said, whereupon she unlocked un-locked a drawer In her writing-table and took therefrom a thick, leather-bound leather-bound book which sho consulted for a few minutes, at last exclaiming: "Yes, hero It Is 'Lydla Moroton. daughter of Sir Hamilton Moroton. K C. M O., Whlston Grange. Doncas-ter.' Doncas-ter.' " And with that I took my leave, thanking her, nnd returned to London. Lon-don. Could Lydla Moreton furnish any Information? If so, I might find this girl whoso photograph hud aroused tho lrato Jealousy of tho mysterious unknown. un-known. Tho ten o'clock Edinburgh oxpress from Klng'a Cross next morning took mo up to Doncastor, and hiring u musty old fly at tho station, I drovo throe miles out of tho town on tho Rother ham rond, fl:-dlng Whlston Orange to bo a flno old Elizabethan mansion In tho center of a great park, with tall old twisted chimneys, nnd beautifully kept gardens. When 1 descended at tho door and rang, tho footman wus not aware whether Miss Lydla was In. He looked nt mo somewhat suspiciously, I thought, until I gave him my card and Impressed upon him meaningly that I had come from Ixindou purposely to hco his young mistress upon a very important im-portant matter. "Tell her," I said, "that I wish to se her regarding hor rrlend, Miss Elma I Heath." "Miss Elma 'Eath." rcnentod the man. "Very well, sir. Will you walk this way?" I followed him across tho big old onlf-panelcd hall, filled with trophies of tho chaso and arms of tho civil wars, lno a small panele'l room on tho left, tho dcop-sot window with Its diamond panes giving out upon tho old bowling-green and tho flower garden beyond. Presently tho door opened, nnd a tall, dark-haired girl in whlto entered with an inquiring expression upon her faco as she halted and bowed to mo. "MIsb Lydla Moroton, I bellovo?" I commenced, and as sho replied in tho afllnnatlvo, I wont on: "I have first to apologize for coming to you, but Misa Sotheby, tho principal of the school at Chichester, referred me to you for Information an to the present whereabouts of Miss Elma Heath, who. I believe, was one of your most Intimate Inti-mate friends at scbooL" And I added a He, saying: "I am trying, on behalf of an aunt of hers, to discover her.'' "Well," responded tho girl "I hare only one or two letters. She's in her unclo's hands, I believe, and he won't let her write, poor girl. 8be dreaded leaving us." "Why?" "Ahl she would never say. She had Bome deep-rooted terror of her uncle. Baron Oberg, who lived In BL Petersburg, Peters-burg, and who camo over at long intervals inter-vals to see her. But possibly you know tho whole story?" "I know nothing," I cried eagerly. "You will be furthering her interests, as well as doing me a great personal favor, if you will tell me what you know." "it is very llttlo," she answered, leaning back agalnttt the edgo of the table and regarding me seriously. "Poor Elma! Her people treated her very badly ludced. They sent her no money, and allowed her no holidays, nnd yet sho was tho sweetest-tempered and most patient girl in the whole school." "Woll and the story regarding her?" "It wub supposed that her peoplo nt Durham did not exist," sho explained "Elma had evidently lived a greater part of her llfo abroad, for she could speak French nnd Italian better than tho professor himself, nnd thcroforo always won tho prizes. Tho cIobb revolted, re-volted, and then Bho did not compete any moro. Yet sho nover told us of where sho had lived when a child. Sho camo from Durham, sho said that was all." "You had a letter from hor after tho baron camo and took her away?" "Three or four, I think. Thoy wore all from places abroad. Ono wns from Vienna, ono was from Milan, and ono from somo placo with an unpronounceable unpronounce-able namo In Hungary. The last" "Yes, tho last!" I gasped eagerly, interrupting in-terrupting her. (TO BR CONTINUED.) |