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Show H J Coptjriqhr by Dcwbloday. Poland Comparuj LLH ' ' -i B TAKES NO CHANCES ON B MASQUER. H fiyntrl-Durlng tlio helft-ht of the New Orleans carnival Reason Jnrhln Fell, wealthy though nome- what mysterious dtUen, and Dr Ansley, ore discussing a ho lie a of jjBjjB robborlos by on Individual knbwn as I lie Midnight Masquer, who, In- JjPJjB tnrlably attired na an a v In tor. has jBjBjBJ lonit defied the police. Joseph Mull- lard, wealthy banker. Is Klvlnic a jBjBjBjJ ball that nlftht, at which the Mas- q"fr has threatened to nppenr and I rob tha guests. Tell and Analey, jjPJJB on their way to the affair, meet a sin dressed as Columbine, seem BSff mily known to Fell. M CHAPTER I Continued. H 'And Mailiard would do the pnying." ftSJ roll's dry chuckle held n note of bit- t ernes i. "I.ct him. Who cores? Look ftH at his Iiouhu, there, blazing with lights. ftSfl Why poys for thosy lights? Tlie people ftSI hl llnnnclnt tentacles have closed their ftSJ sucker-llko grip upon. Ills wlfo'a Jew- H eta have been purchased with the coin H of oppression and Injustice. 11)8 son's H llfo Is one of roguery nnd drunken H wildncss " H "Mun, nre you mnd?" Ansloy Indl- H ciiled tho Columbine between them. H "We're not ulono here jou must not H toll: thnt way" H Jnehtn Fell only chuckled ngnln, Cot- H umb'.ne's laugh broke In with renewed H "Nonsense, my dear Onion! Wo H masquers may ndmlt among ourselves H , thnt Uoh Mnlllard In " H "Is not the man we would havo our 1 daughters marry, provided we hnd 1 daughters," said Tell. B They had come to a Die of llnimt- H nines nnd cars, nnd approached tho H gateway of the Mnlllard home. They H turned Into tho Kte. Jnchln Fell H touched the arm of Analey nnd Indlcnt- B ed nn Inconspicuous figure to ono sldo 1 of the entrance steps. H "An outer guardian," he murmured. H "Our Iitut, It seams, In neglecting no H precaution I 1 feel sorry for the Hh Masquer. If ho appears here." H They ciinio to tho doorway, Coin in- H blue produced an Invitation, duly iium- H bered, nnd the three entered the house M , , CHAPTER II. PfB Masquers. H Joseph Mulllurd might liavo hope- H fully considered the note from tho Mid- H night Mtisqucr to bo n hoax nerpctrut- B vd by some of his friends, but ho took B mi chances. Two detectives were post- 1 ed In the grounds outside the house; H Inside, two others, mushed nnd cos- H turned, were keeping a quietly elllclent H eye nn all that transpired. B Knch guest upon entering wits con- H ducted directly to thu presence of Jo- H scph Mnlllard himself, or of his wlfo; H was bidden to unmask In thts private B audience, and was then presented with H n f:or and sent forth masked, anew B- to the festivities. These fimrs wero H concealed, In tho case of the dies, in H corsage bouquets; In that of .ho men, 1 Inside fnisc cigars. There was to be H a general opening of tho favors tit mid- H night, the time set for ttnmasklug. All H this ceremony was regarded by the H g icxtp as a delightful Innovation, and V by .loscpli Malllard u a delightful H vuo o assuring hlmseir that only In- B lted guests entered his house. Invito- H tlons might bo forged faces, ucvttr! H I.uclc I.edaitols entered the ptccn'e MVH of her stately relative, and after un- KVAVK masking, dutifully exchanged kisses Hl with Mrs. Malliartl. Until some months B tueviously. until she had cotue Into thu B mtimigement of her own property or SVH what was left of It I.uclu had hceu H the wttnl of tho Malllards. H1 "Mercy, child, how marvelous you H look tonight!" oxclalmed Mrs, Mall- B lard, holding her off nnd examining her B liigh color with obvious suspicion. H "Thank you, inu'am." and I.uclo made H a uiotk tourttyty. "Do you like llttlu H Ci'luti.hlne?" H "Very much. Hero's Aunt Holly; H take MIns Kudo's cloak, Sally." H An old colored servant bobbed her EVB hfitil In greeting to Lucie, who re- BMH ni'ited her cloak. An 8he did so, she B antv thnt Mrs. Malllard'a eyes wero H f n stoned In utter umujcomcnt upon her BBJ "Isn't It pretty, uuntlu?" alio asked, m amlllngly. IHr "My goodness gracious I" Tho stern IHk eyes hardened. "Whew where on H earth did you obtain silch u thing? B Whr-why " H Columbine's features flinched, l.no BB was n poor relation, of course, so the H look In the older woman's eyes and the EB-Bj Implication of the words formed little VH lest tlmn an Insult, Ki Quietly she put one bund to her BB throat hnd removed tho collar, drop- H ping It Into iho hand of Mm. Malllard. BBJj It wna a thing to mnlco any woman's BBH tfea widen ti collar of exquisitely H wniught KOld studtkt) with tea great bluzlng slut- sapphires. Itesldo It the diamonds that hejewclcd Mrs. Mall-lard's Mall-lard's nmplo front looked cold uud lifeless. "1'liut?" queried Lucie, Innocently, producing a scrap of chamois nnd dabbing dab-bing at her nose. "Oh. that's very Interesting! In-teresting! It was mado for Queen Ilor-teivc Ilor-teivc so was thts scarf that keeps my rugged hair from lopping out I They were a present only this morning." "Girl 1" Tho ludy's volco wus bursh. "A present? From whom, If you please?" "Oh, I 'promised not to tell; he's; a particular friend of mine. Aren't tho stones pretty?" Mrs. Mnlllard was speechless. She compressed her firm lips nnd watched t.ucle replace the sapphlru collar without with-out a word to offer. Silently sho extended ex-tended a corsage bouquet from the pile beside her; then, In a trembling voice, forced herself to explain nbout tho favor fa-vor Inside. Slipping her mask Into plnco Lucie was gono, not without relief. Sh6 knew very well thnt within half nn hour Hob Malllard would be Informed that sho had accepted gifts of Jewels from other men, with all the accompanying accompa-nying Implications nnd additions that Imagination could furnish. For, at-rhough at-rhough ltob Mnlllurd wanted very much Indeed to marry her, his mother had no intention of sanctioning such a union. "Neither has Undo Joseph," sho reflected, re-flected, smiling to herself, "and neither have I! So we're all agreed, except Hob." "Columbine!" A hand fell upon her wrist. "Columblnol Turn nnd confess thy nlnsl" She had como to the foot of tho wide, old-fiishloned stairway that led to the floors above, and beside her hud "You Frlrjhten Mo, Holy Man I" She Cried, Gnyly, "Confess to You, Indeed In-deed I Not I." suddenly appeared a Franciscan monk, cowled and gowned In sober brown from head to foot. "You frightened me. holy man I" she cried, gully. "Confess to you. Indeed I Not I." "Never n better chance, butterfly of the world. Haste not to the dunce, fair sister tarry a while nnd Invite the soul In spc-ch of Import I Having pnssed the dragon at the gate, tarri u moment with this man of owh " "Shrive me quickly, then," she said, laughing. "Now, without confession? Would you havo mo rend jour thoughts and give pennnco?" "If you cttn do thnt, holy man, I may confess; so prove It quickly 1" The Franciscan leaned forwnrd. Ills oIce came low, distinct, clear-cut, and be spoke In the French which Lucie understood iih another mother-tongue, us do moat of tho older families of Now Orleans. "See how I read them, mademoiselle! mademoi-selle! One thought ts of uneasy suspicion; sus-picion; It Is typltled by hard-lipped, grasping man. Onu thought Is of profound pro-found regret; It Is tj pilled by a darkly welling stream of oil. One thought" Suddenly Lucie hud shrunk ttwuy from jiliu. "Who who uro you?" sho breathed, with a gasp that wus almost of fear. "Who aro you, monsieur!" "A humblo brother of minor orders," and ho bvved. "Shall I nor continue with my reading? The third, Mademoiselle, Mademoi-selle, Is one of hope; It Is typified by i small mun who ts dressed nil In grayr-" Lucie turned away from him quickly. "I think that you hnve mode some grave error, monsieur," she snlti, IIci vole was cold, charged with dUmlssul and offended dignity. "I pray you, excuse ex-cuse me." ' " Not wnltlng nny response, she hastily has-tily ran up the stairs. After Iter, for n moment, gazed the Franciscan, then shrugged his wide shoulders unit plunged Into the crowd. Wlille she danced, whlto sho chattered chat-tered und laughed and entered Into the mail gaiety of the evening, Lucie Lethal Le-thal ominous Franciscan. (low could tlanols could not banish from her n.lnd he hnve known? How could he bate guessed what only she und one other Itarely'suspected? There was no proof, of course; the very breath of suspl clon ftct'iticd a calumny against an upright up-right limn! Joseph Mnlrtard hnd sold that Terrebonne Terre-bonne litad six months before nny as or oil bail been discovered there, ntid eight months before Lucie had come Into the management of her own affairs. af-fairs. He hail not known about the minerals, of course; It was a case only of bad Judgment. Yet. Indubitably, ho wns now n shnrehohlcr and of liter In the IJnyou Oil company, tho conrern Which hnd bought that strip of land. Luclo strove angrily to banish tho dark thoughts from her mind. Why, Mnlllard was a rich man, n banker, nn honorable gentleman I To doubt his honor, although he was n harsh and a stern man, wns Impossible. Lucie knew him better than most, and could not bellevo "May 1 crave pardon for my error?" came a voice at her elbow, She turned, t6 seo the Franciscan again beshlo her, "With a thousand apologies for Impertinence, mademoiselle; I ntn very sorry for my faults. Will not that admission obtain for me one little dance, one hint of forglvenoss from fair Columbine?" Something In his voice spelt sincerity. sin-cerity. Lucie, smiling, hold out her baud. "You arc pardoned, holy mnn. If rou can danco In that friar's robe, then try It I" Could he dance, Indeed 1 Who could not dance with Columbine for partner? So saying, tho monk proved his word by the deed nnd proved It well. Nor did he again hint that he hnd recognized recog-nized her; until, nu they parted, ho once more left her nstonlslted and pertuibed. As he bowed ho murmured: mur-mured: "llownre, sweet Columbine! Bewnro of tho gay Arumlsl Hownro of his proposals 1" Ho was gone upon tho word. Arumls? Why, that must bo the Musketeer, of course Hob Malliartl! Tho mime, with Its Implications, was n clovgr hit Hut who wus this brown monk, who seemed to know' so much, who danced so divinely, whoso Frcndi was like muslc7 A vague suspicion wns tn tho girl's mind, hut sho lmfl no proof. Half an hour nftcr this Hob Mnlllnnl came to her, nnd with Impatient words mado a path through tho clrclo which surrounded her. "I know you now, Luclo 1" ho murmured. "I must see you ut once In tiio conservatory." Sho was minded to refuse, but assented as-sented briefly. Tho words of tho monk Intrigued her; whnt had tho mnn guessed? If Hob were lodcetl about lo propose, she would this time cut off his hopes for good- Hut wan It that sort of n proposal? Ah she managed to rid herself of her admirers, ami descended to tho conservatory, sho was highly vexed with herself nnd tho Franciscan, nnd so cnmo to her appointment In no equable frame of mind. She found Malllard waiting In tho old-fa'shlonetl conservatory; he hail unmasked, and was pulling a cigarette. 'U) mill. Lucie, you're beautiful tonight. to-night. Where did you get that collar of Jewels?" "Indeed t" The girl proudly drw herself up. "What buslLcss Is flnt of yours, Mr?" "Aren't you one of the finally? D n It Lucie I Don't you know that i mnn in niitrry jou "My dear Itobert, I certainly do not want to marry uny man who swears to my fuce you least of all!" sho coldly Intervened. "I havo already refused re-fused you three times; let this ho the fourth and lust, Now, kindly Inform mo why you wished me to meet ou here." "I havo a chance to make some money for you In a hurry," ho said. "Your father left you u good tleul of limit up llayoti Terrebonne way" "Your fnther sold some of It," she put In, Idly, ills eyes flickered to the thrust. "Yes; but you've plenty left, nenr I'oruills. it's nway from the gas field, hut I'm Interested In nn oil company. We've plenty of money, nnd we're go-lug go-lug to go strong nfter the liquid gold. That land of youra Is good for nothing noth-ing else, nnd If you want to make some money out of It I'll swing the company Into leasing ut a good figure ami drilling there." "You think there's oil oif the land?" "No." Ho made n swift, energetic gesture of dissent. 'To be frank, I don't, Hut I'd like to throw a hit of luck your way, Lucie. That fellow Oramont tho prince, you know him he's an engineer nud a geologist and he's In tho swim." Next week the Midnight Masquer, (TO UE CONTINUED.) |
