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Show l TheTTysHeryofaSilenUovG U AUTHOR "WCttOJtDDOOK," ETC- x?& ILLUSTRATIONS fy C-D-RHODESR$i copmiorr or tmc smart- ser rvousHrff co votPvVt W w w oHpel I' SYNOPSIS. Gordon a roKR Is called upon In I.es- I L r.n V',,,or",'y' tno yncht Ilia's owner, and dfnltiK nboard with him nnd his Mend. Hylton Chater. accidentally sees .t0.rn nhotoKraph of a younK Klrl. That '. I!'?,"' e consul's safe Is robbed. Tho police And that Hornby Is a fraud nnd ! trio Lola's name a false one. UreRg vls- ! !.Ki"n.",.-.,',u:k OurnforU of the marines I ?MarU "I" vessel. Durnford knows, but ; will not levcnl, the mystery of tho Lola. i u concerns a woman." In London , -aroRK Is trapped nearly to his death by I a former kervant. Ollnto. Visiting In t numfrlfs OrpRK meets Muriel Lclthcourt. 3 liornby appears and Muriel Introduces I Tilm as Martin Woodroffe. her father's t J,1,'? .(5rpKtf "no's that she Is engaged f jo WoodiofTe. aregg sees a copy of tho 1 :?".' Photograph on tho Lola and finds hat the young girl Is Muriel's friend. k woodroffe disappears. Gregg discovers I thfl'body of a murdered woman In Run- , noch wood Tho body disappears nnd In ts place Is found tho body of Ollnto. i "Oregg talks to the police but conceals his -own knowledge of thu woman. Muriel i calls secretly on Gregg and tells him that f she Is certain that n woman as well as u man has been murdered. They search liannocli wood together, and find tho noiiy of tho woman. Grogg recognises !,r ns A"nlda, Ollnto's wife. Gregg tells in police, but whon thoy go to the wood the body has disappeared. In London ! flregg meets Ollnto. allvo and well. Fall ing to get any clue from Ollnto. Gregg traces the young girl of the torn photograph, photo-graph, and llnds that she Is Elma Heath, niece of Baron Oucrg, who has taken her to Abo. Finland, and that sho holds a secret affecting Woodroffe. On his return .iwnnocli Gregg finds the Lelthcourts fled after drugging Hylton Chator. who iad called there. CHAPTER IX Continued. "Yes, sir. Ho called here In a fly on I -tho day he carao out, and at his re- iuest I took him over tho castle. He went Into tho library and spent half an hour In pacing acrosB It, taking measurements and examining tho big cupboard In which ho was found in- -sensible. It was a strango affair, sir," added tho young woman, "wusn't It?'' "Very," I replied. "Tho gentleman might havo been In there now had I not gone Into tho library li-brary and round a lot of Illustrated papers, which I alwnys put In tho cupboard to keep tho place tidy, thrown out on to tho floor. 1 wont to !-put them back, but discovered tho door locked. Tho koy I afterwards und 1n tho grato, where Mr. Lclthcourt had evidently thrown it, nnd on opening tho door lmaglno tho shock I had -when I found the visitor lying doubled up. """" 1. of course thought ho was dead." "And when he returned hero on hlB recovery, did ho question you?" "Oh, yes. Ho asked about tho Lelthcourts, and especially about Miss .Muriel. I bellovo he's rather Bweet on her, by tho way he spoke. And Teally no better or kinder lady over breathed, I'm sure. We're all very eorry indeed for her." "Ho canlo into this room, 1 bup-poso?" bup-poso?" "Yes, sir," sho responded, with Just a slight hesitation, I thought. "This J ' was tho room where ho stayed tho 1 ' longest. Thero was a photograph In i that frame over thero," sho added, In- ; v"j bleating the frame that had held tho plcturo of Elma Heath, "a portrait of xl young lady, which ho begged mo to , lvo him." ti "Aud you gave it ,to him?" I cried i quickly. I "Well yes, sir. He begged so hard for It, saying that it was the portrait of a friend of his." "And ho gave you something handsome hand-some for It oh?" Tho young woman, whom I knew could not refuso half-a-ooverelgn, colored col-ored slightly and smiled. "He didn't tell you who tho young lady was, I suppose?1' "No, sir. Ho only said that that was the only photograph that existed, and that sho was dead." "Dead I " I gasped, staring at her. ,! "Yes, sir. That was why ho was so jf. anxIouB for tho plcturo." f ! Elma Heath dcadl Could it bo true? v i That sweet-pictured faco haunted me I! b no other faco had over impressed itself upon my memory. It somehow i aoomed to Impel mo to endeavor to - I penetrate the mystery, and yet Hylton I Chater had declared that she was 1 ' dead! I recollected tho remarkablo - f lotter from Abo, and her own declare- tlon that her end was near. That lot-ti lot-ti tor was, sho said, tho last sho should K write to her friend. B "After he had put the photograph in 1 Ms pocket, tho gentloman made a most u mlnuto search in this room," tho do-r do-r mesttc went on. "Ho consulted his y plan, took several measurements, and . then tappod on tho paneling all along i H M this wall, as though he were searching , B " for some hidden cupboard or hiding i I placo. I looked at tho plan, and saw a ' I mark in red Ink upon it. Ho was try- r, I ing- to discover that spot, and was r -3 greatly disappointed at not being ablo I to do so. He was In hero ovor an hour, ', I and made a most careful search all I around." ( I "And what explanation did he give?" I "He only said, 'If I find what I want, , I Ann, I shall mako you a present of a I I ten-pound note.' That naturally made I mo anxious." I "He mado no other remark about tho I young lady's death?" I inquired anx- iously, "No. Only ho sighed, and looked. K steadily for a long tlmo at tho photo m graph. I saw his lips moving, but his words were Inaudible," I ' "Ydu haven't uny Idea of tho ronson f why ho ,calcd upon Mr. Lelthcourt, I I HIIHwfr?" v "From what he said, I've formed my own conclusions," was her answer. "And what Is your opinion?" "Well, I feel certain that thero Is, or was, somothing concealed In this house that ho's very anxious to obtain Ho enmo to demand it of Mr. Lclthcourt, Lclth-court, but what happened In tho library li-brary wo don't know. He, howover, believes that Mr. Lelthcourt has not taken It away, nnd that, whatever It may be, it is still hidden here." CHAPTER X. I Show My Hand. On my- return to London next day I made inquiry at tho admiralty and learned that tho battleship Bulwark was lying at Palermo, thoreforo I telegraphed tele-graphed to Jack Durnford, and late the same afternoon his reply came at tho Cecil: Duo In London twentieth. Dine with me at club that evening. Jack. The twentieth! That meant nearly a month of Inactivity. In that time 1 could cross to Abo, make Inquiries thero, aud ascertain, perhaps, If Elma Heath wore actually dead as Chater had declared. Two facts struck me as remarkable: Haron Oberg was said to bo Polish, while the dark-bearded proprietor of tho restaurant in Westbourno Grove wus also of tho same nationality. Then I recollected that pretty little enameled cro3s thnt Mackenzie had found in Ranuoch Wood, nnd it suddenly sud-denly occurred to mo that It might possibly bo tho miniature of one of the Europenn orders of chivalry. In the club library at midnight I found a copy of Cappellottl's Storla degll Ordlnl Cavallereschl, tho standard work on tho subject, and on searching the Illustrations Illus-trations I at length discovered a picture pic-ture of it It was a Russian order tho coveted Order of Saint Anno, bo-stowed bo-stowed by the czar only upon persons who havo rendered eminent services to the state and to tho sovereign. Ono fact was now certain, namely, that tho owner of that tiny cross, tho small replica re-plica of the lino decoration, must bo a person of high official standing. The autumn days wcro dull and rainy, and the streets wore muddy and unpleasant, as thoy always are at tho fall of tho year. Compelled to remain inactive, I Idled in tho club with tho recollection of that pictured faco over before mo tho faco of tho unfortunate girl who wished her last message to bo convoyed to Philip Hornby. What, I wondered, was hor secret? What was really her fate? This latter question troubled mo until I could bear it no longer. I felt that It was my duty to go to Finland and endeavor to learn somothing regarding re-garding this Bnron Oberg and his niece. Duty tho duty of a man who had learned strango facts and knew that a defenseless woman was a victim called me. Therefore, with my passport pass-port properly vised and my papers all In order, I ono night loft Hull for Stockholm, whence on tho following day I took the small steamer which piles across tho Oulf of Bothnia to Korpo, and through tho intricate channels and among those low-lying islands to tho gray lethargic town of Abo. It was not tho first occasion on which I bad trod Russian soil, and I know too well tho annoyances of the bureaucracy. Finland, however, Is perhaps tho most severely governed of any of tho czar's dominions, and I had my first taste of Us stern, relentless officialdom at tho moment of landing on tho hnlf-desorted quay. In tho wooden Passport office tho uniformed official, on examining my passport, discovered that at tho Russian Rus-sian consulato genoral they had forgotten forgot-ten to date the vise which had been impressed with a rubber stamp. It was signed by tho consul general, but the dato was missing, whereupon tho man shook his head and handed back tho document curtly, saying in Russian, which I understood fairly well, although I spoko badly: "This 1b not In order. It must be returned to London and dated before you can proceed." "But it Is not my fault," I protested. "It is tho fault of the clerk at the consulato con-sulato general." "You should have examined It be-foro be-foro leaving. You must send It to London, Lon-don, and return to Stockholm by tonight's to-night's boat." "But this Is outrageous!" I cried, as he had already taken the papers of a passenger behind mo and was looking at them with unconcern. "Enough!" ho exclaimed, glaring at mo. "You will return tonight, or if you chooso to stay you will bo arrested for landing without a passport." "I shall not go back!" I declared do-flantly. do-flantly. "Your conaul general vised my passport, and I claim, under International Interna-tional law, to be nllowed to proceed without hindrance." "Tho stenmor leaves ,at six o'clock," he remarked without looking up. "If you are In Abo after that remember It will bo at your own risk." "Yes," I said menacingly, "I shall recollect it." And 1 turned and went out of thu Utile wooden olllco. Six 6olock came. I heard the steam siren of the departing boat bound for Bwodon, but I was determined to remain re-main there at whatovor cost, therefore I returned to tho hotel, and at soven dined comfortably In company with a Gorman who had been my fellow-passenger across from Stockholm. At eight o'clock, however, JuBt as we were Idling ovor dessert, two gray-coated gray-coated pollco officers entered and arrested ar-rested me on the serious chargo of landing without a passport. I accompanied them to the pollco office, of-fice, where I was ushered Into tho presence of (ho big, bristly Russian the chief of pollco. Tho officials which Russia sends Into Finland aro selected for their harsh discipline nnd hlbe-bound hlbe-bound burenucracyr and this human machine In uniform was no exception. Had ho been tho minister of tho Interior In-terior himself, he could not have been more self-opinionated. "Well?" he snapped, looking up at mo as I was placed before him. "Your name is Gordon Gregg, English, from Stockholm. No passport, and decline to lenvo even though warned eh?" "1 havo a passport," I said flrraly, producing it Ho looked at It, and pointing with his finger, said: "It has no date, and Is thereforo worthless." "The fnult Is not mine, but that of a Russian official. If you wish It to bo dated, you may Bond It to your consulate con-sulate general In London." "I shall not," ho cried, glaring nt me angrily. "And for your Insult to tho law, 1 shall commit you to prison for one mouth. Perhaps you will then learn Russian manners." "Oh! so you will commit nn Englishman English-man to prison for a month, without trial eh? That's very Interesting! Perhaps if you attempt such a thing ns that they may havo something to say about it in Petersburg." "You dofy mo!" "Porhnps you will kindly tell mo who you are?" I asked in as quiet a voice as I could command. "With pleasure I am Michael Bo-ranski, Bo-ranski, chief of pollco of tho provlnco of Abo-BIornebourg." "Ah I Well, Michael Boranskl," 1 said, reopening my pocketbook and taking out an open letter, "perhaps you will kindly glance at that. It Is In Russian, so you can read it" Ho snatched it from mo with ill grace, but not without curiosity. And then, ns he rend tho lines, his faco changed and he went paler. Raising "You Will Return Tonight, or Bo Arrested Ar-rested for Landing Without a Passport." Pass-port." his head, ho stood staring at mo open-mouthod open-mouthod in amazement . "I apologize to your excellency!" he gasped, blanched to the lips. "I most humbly apologize. I I did not know. You told me nothing!" "Porhapa you will now kindly give my passport a propor viso." In an instant he gave it tho proper vise, affixing tho stamps. "I trust, excellency," ho said, bowing low as he handed it to me, "I trust that this affair will not troublo you further. I assure you I had no intention of Insulting In-sulting you." Ho held the letter I had given him gingerly with trembling Angers. And well he might, for It was headed: Minister of the Imperial Household, Palaco of I'eterhof. The bearer of this Is one Gordon Francis Fran-cis Gregg, Drltlsh subject, whom tt Is Our will and command that he shall be Our guest during his Journey through our dominion. And we hcroby command all Governors of Provinces and minor officials of-ficials to afford htm all the facilities he requires and privileges and Immunities as Our guest Beneath was the sprawling slgnaturo of tho ruler of ono hundred and thirty millions of people, that slgnaturo that was all-powerful from the Gulf of Bothnia Both-nia to tho Pacltlc "Nicholas.' Tho document was the one furnished to mo a year beforo whon, at tho invitation invi-tation of the Russian government, I had gone on a mission of inquiry Into the stato of tho prisons in order to see, on behalf of tho British public, whether wheth-er things were as black as some writer had painted them. Sight of it had changed the chief of pollco from n burly bully Into a whining whin-ing coward, for ho saw that he had torn up tho passport of a guest of the czar, and tho consequonco was most serious It 1 complained. Ho begged of mo to pardon him, urging all manner of oxcuses, and humbling himself before be-fore mo aa woll as before his two Inferiors, In-feriors, who now regarded mo with awe. "I will atono for tho insult in any wny your high excellency desires," declared de-clared tho official. "I will servo your oxcelloncy in any way ho may command." com-mand." Ills words suggested a brilliant Idea, I had this man in my power; ho feared me. "Well," I said after somo reluctnnco, "thoro 1b a little matter In which you might ho of some assistance. If you will, I will reconsider my decision of complaining to Pctorsburg." "And what Is that, oxcelloncy?" ho gasped eagerly. "I desire to know tho whereabouts of a young 'English lady named Elma Henth," 1 said, and I wrote down tho name for him upon a plcco of paper "Ago about twenty, nnd was nt school at Chichester, In England. Sho Is a nloco of a certain Baron Oberg." "Baron Oberg!" ho repeated, looking look-ing at me rathor strangely, I thought. "Yes, as she Is a forolgnor alio will bo rogistored In your books. Sho Is somewhero In your provlnco, but whero I do not know. Tell me whero sho is, and I will say nothing more about my passport," I added. "Then your excellency wlBhes to see tho young lady?" ho said reflectively, with tho paper In his hand. "Yes." "In thnt case, It being commanded by tho omporor that I shall servo your excellency, I will havo immediate inquiries in-quiries made," was his answer. "When I discover hor whorcabouts, I will do myself tho pleasuro of calling at your oxcolloncy's hotol." And I left tho follow, very satisfied that I had turned his officlousness and hatred of the English to very good nc-count. nc-count. On tho morning of tho third day after aft-er my arrival nt Abo, while sitting on tho hotol veranda rending an old copy of tho Paris Journal, many portions of which had been "blacked out" by tho censor, tho chief of police, In his dark green uniform, entered and salutod beforo me. "Your excellency, may I bo permitted permit-ted to speakwlth you in private?" "Certainly," I responded, rising and conducting him to my bedroom, whoro I closed tho door, invited him to n seat, and myself sat upon tho edgo of tho bed. "I havo made various Inquiries," ho said, "and I think I havo found tho lady your excellency is seeking. My Information, howover, must bo furnished fur-nished to you In strictest confidence," ho added, "because there aro reasons why I should withhold her whoro-abouta whoro-abouta from you." "What do you mean?" I Inquired. "Whnt reasonB?" "Well tho lady Is living In Finland In secret" "Then sho Ib alive!" I exclaimed quickly. "I thought sho was dead." "To tho world she is dead," responded respond-ed Michael Boranskl, stroking his red beard. "For that reason tho'lnforma-tlon tho'lnforma-tlon I glvo you must bo treated as confidential." con-fidential." "Why should Bho bo In hiding? Sho Is guilty of no offense Is Bhe?" Tho man shrugged his shoulders, but did not roply. "And this Baron Oberg? You tell mo nothing of him," I said with dissatisfaction. dis-satisfaction. "now can I whon I know nothing, oxcelloncy?" was his response. I felt certain thnt tho follow was not speaking tho truth, for I had noticed his surpriso whon I had first uttered tho mysterlouB nobleman's nnmo. "As I havo already said, excellency. I am desirous of atoning for my Insult, In-sult, and will servo you In every manner man-ner I can. For that reason I had sought news of tho young English lady tho Madomolsollo Heath." "But you have all foreigners registered regis-tered In your books," I snld. "Tho search was surely not a difficult one. I know your police methods in Russia too well." I laughed. "I rogrot that much as I deslro, I dare not appear to havo any connection connec-tion with your quest. But I will direct di-rect you. Indeed, I will glvo you a person to take you to hor. If I could find tho man, you might go today. Yet it is a long wny, and you would not return before tomorrow." "Tho roads aro safe, I suppose? I don't mind driving In tho night" Tho official glanced at tho clock, aud rising exclaimed: "Very woll, I will send for tho man. If wo find him, then tho carrlago will bo at tho eastern east-ern end of tho quay In two hours." "At noon. Very woll. I shall keep the appointment." "And after scolng her, you will of course keep your promise of secrecy regarding our little misunderstanding?" misunderstand-ing?" ho asked anxiously. "I have already given my word," was tho response; and tho man bowed and left, much, I think, to tho surpriso of the hotel proprietor and his staff. It wan an unusual thing for such a high official as the chief of pollco to vUIt one of their guests in porson. If ho desired to Intervlow any of thorn, he commanded thorn to attond at hh office, or they wore escorted thore by his gray-coated agents. I think I must havo waited half an hour on tho quay when my attention was suddenly attracted by tho rattle of wheels over tho stones, and turning I saw an old closed carrlago drawn by threo horses abreast, with bolls upon tho harness, approaching mo rapidly. Whon It draw up, tho driver, a burly-looking, fair-headed Finn In n huge sheepskin overcoat, motioned mo to enter, urging In broken Russian: Rus-sian: "Quickly, excellency quickly yojt must not he seen!" And then the Instant I was seated, and beforo 1 could closs tho door, the horses plunged forward and we were tearing at full gallop out of the town. After five miles or so, the driver pullod up and descended to readjust his harness, whereupon I got out and asked him in tho best Russian I could command: "Tho chief of pollco has given you directions?" I asked. "His high excellency has told mo exactly ex-actly what to do," was tho man's answer, an-swer, ns ho took out his hugo wooden plpo nnd filled It. "You wish to boo tho young lady?" "Yes," I answered, "to first boo hor, and 1 do not know whether tt will be neccflsnry for mo to mako myself known to her. Whero Is Bho?" "Beyond Nystad," was his vnguo answer an-swer with a wave of his big fat hand In tho direction of tho dark plno for-eat for-eat that stretched beforo us. "Wo shall bo thoro about an hour aftor sundown." Tho abort day quickly drew to a cIobo, the sun sank yellow and watory ovor the towering pines through which wo went mllo aftor mile, a donso, interminable in-terminable forest whoreln tho wolves lurked in winter, often rendering the road dangerous. When night drew on we changed horses again at a small, dirty posthoUBQ In tho forest, at tho edgo of a lako, and thon pushed forward for-ward again, although It was already long past tho hour nt which ho had said wo should arrlvo. Tlmo passed slowly In the uarknosn, I suppose I must havo slept, for I was awakened by a light shining Into my fac6 nnd tho driver shaking mo by the shoulder. When I roused myself ho placed his flngor mystorlouBly upon my lips, saying: "Hush, your high nobility, hush I Como with mo. But mako no nolso. If wo arc discovered, it means death for us death. Como, glvo mo your hand. Slowly. Trend softly. Seo, hero Is tho boat. I will got in first Wo shall not bo heard upon tho water. So." And tho follow led mo, half-dazed, down to tho bank of a broad, dark river which I could not distinguish ho led mo to an unknown bourno. (TO BB CONTINUED.) |