Show jimr I 1 LOCK CO y FUl londis r A or of t 1 ahe tc evler baade Z a log 0 ac low awa 2 C V ct cu SYNOPSIS It udolph van vechten a young mia nu ot of leisure is 1 astonished to see e man enter no 1113 1313 a hour house across the s art frt rum the Ilow hatan club long unoccupied and spoken boken of a as the ibous of matery my several ral persons IL at regular int interval enter no 1313 van vechten expresses concern to his hi friend tom phinney regarding dinc the of his hi cousin aal fiancee pale carew A man in 1 formbly ejected from the houe house van vechten and tom follow the man and find him dead in the treet street van vechten in attracted by the face we of a et I 1 in the crowd of onlooker onlookers th the e bo body later he discoe 0 rs r the girl baxi n x at hl him m with a look of corn from the window windows ot of the mysterious cu house hou detective hint flint call calls on van vechten to his hi version of the tragedy ed torn TOM goes lone alone on a ing 1 trip he lie recognizes among some peron sons in a passing motor boat two men whom he had en seen enter the houe house of matery terY if lie seen on one of them a mr cal allm 11 on hore shore later and follow follows him tots tom I 1 aled blindfolded and taken to a house lie hear heam a tirl named jele jessie evidently the daughter of the man in authority question ht his raptor captors A sweet voiced girl later protests against the lie u ahnes of if his hi raptor van vechten caro rail ln on hi uncle theodore van vechten bi roan man 1 wall wait air tr et abd known as a the I 1 h man I 1 an of iron tn in march search of information regarding ihn of or paige carew detec alx flint briw van vechten a gold liine found in ine house hou of mystery van an it an belonging belond nir to P pele A age carew the wet sweet voiced girl irl help helps tf tom M phinney escape detective hint flint celip van vechten he be has ha a theory that ale has he been messages a are sent ent to eurove in an effort ta to free rare P alge tom tell tells van an vechten he hit is I 1 in 1 love ve and relate a hia his adventure A message from loridon report reports that two ladle ladies minis r miss ml crow carew and her heir companion mm devereaux ailed for new now tork york some time previously A reward of 2600 Is I 1 offered it develop develops that the ladle ladies s alt the en ovah home of temple nl n n r owner owne r of the house of mystery 11 nt has ha a theory that they are con nested with ur jbv mystery of 0 no UIL BOOK 11 CHAPTER VIII VI the ghost of romance van Vech vechten tens aft lasion was wa accepted by mr air flint quite its a a matter of coure course aa if it be he ouid bould bare have been exceedingly surprised if it tho the young man bad identified Iden tined the lady of the taxi tail cab with some other entirely different person said he be it hall shall ketch sketch briefly aa an much of the schuyler donner bonner history ai as I 1 have learned then mr van vechten ten you will iee see what I 1 want tu to know in the seventies Bc and early eighties elgh tle compton schuyler huyler Bc wa was a prominent figure a man of affairs faire af la in the new york commercial world and aa an for tune went wont in those daye a wealthy man loan besides Deel dei he waa wall of the old dutch tock stock vaa a center of the fashionable life of the city two beau ufus charm charming log daughters daugh tera grealy greatly enhanced tal attraction so 10 that the aaa waa was really better known dally socially than in a business way at that period hia his was joked upon as a a man loa mon and that young man who stood in 10 the good gracea counted to indeed it waa was only an inevitable conee conse ance that the two schuyler altiers liter carried a long tring string b A t suitors in their train they were octal social favorites and enjoyed the supremacy which for everal several yeara years discouraged diacou raged all a idea of matrimony then than condolon cond condl llon tons began to change one ono misfortune mia fortune no followed another ao so that in ft a remarkably hort short time the ilk A 1 I the door swung open at his HI touch family sank into comparative obscure ity and in the cruel way society has ha ol 01 giving her erstwhile erat while favorites the cold rh speedily first through a series 1 of bad investments vt menti schuyler lot lost the bulk of hie his fortune tortu ae A few month months previously Jose bad had married t tr drist her fathera consent and her bar husband bui band percy devereaux Uever eaux showed the sort of specimen he be waa was by promptly afert lag ing her when the loea lose became known kt nest mra mrs schuyler died suddenly ud denly hope of rehabilitating the family C anil sail of recouping ita its dwindling for tunes waa was now all centered in the re r ablog loil ata tag abr henrletta among her attora waa was me two young man who waa was r so 4 oh only br her social equal but heir 1 to ow oa mit t ado margeatt targe att fortune in the every mother in new now tork york a marriageable daughter to aay say L nothing of many abroad esp especially la in england bad had marked this young man tor for her legitimate prey but be he loved henrietta schuyler and waa was so devoted and open in hi his preference that the matrimonial schemers ch emera were one and all discouraged out but v with ith all bit his wealth and superior position lon the course of true lore love did not run smooth for temple donner bonner the facto facts would make ft a plot for a novel 1 there waa was yet another young mm among those who came courting a at the old brownstone brow natone mandli but one vastly different in many respects ecta from bonner thia this mana mans name waa was willard max willard ive heard the name muttered van vechten it viam aa an irony of fate pursued mr flint int that bonner and willard holud not only be frienda friends but the this closest wit port of intimacy existed between them a genuine damon and pythias attachment willard Wll lard lacked about every advantage possessed by bla his rival he be wae wits poor unattractive in appearance and bad had many peculiar trait traits which made enemies where templer bonner won frienda friends he ile waa was regarded ae as a it visionary a crank a man who would never make bla his mark however he be must have possessed some unusual quality because temple bonner bad had implicit faith in him believed that be wae was a genius of ome some sort but it waa was characteristic of willard that he would accept no assistance from bla his more fortunate rival conner donnar it seem felt his own position lon keenly he lie realized that hie his friend was almost overwhelmingly handicapped and aa an well aa an I 1 can piece out from what actually happened he withdrew ith drew temporarily from the field and gave max willard every opportunity to advance his hi ault suit I 1 suppose the idea waa was that it willard waa was successful cess ful bonner would abide by the consequences li it not then willard was to stand aside and give bonner his chance much of this thin la Is work it la Is hard to arrive at the truth at this late day but certain stances exist which indicate that what I 1 am telling you la Is whet actually happened it would appear from the sequel that max willard had been the favored one all along temple bonner went abroad within two montha months willard and miss henrietta henrletta had eloped and were married within tea ten minutes aft er he received newsom the runaway wedding compton schuyler bad blown out his hi brains there are the naked batts Pl temple bonner never returned to america and max willard Wll lard instead of justifying his frienda friends confidence in a hia his talent talents whatever their bent bout might have been had hail dropped entirely from might his wit eyou tell me baa ban been dead a long time but were there no children la Is max willard till still alive where la to he be haa has he any family what Is 1 bla his occupation those are the thing things I 1 want you to find and out 1 I fancy the runaway match with all if it at circumstances created ome some thing of a stir at the time ome some of your older friend friends hould should be able and witling willing to supply you with the facts oh I 1 have no to doubt that I 1 can learn all you want to know greed agreed van vechten ten moat most of what you have juat just told me la Is not exactly new news but I 1 had forgotten atit all happened before raft time you know josephine la is generally regarded ded by her friend friends aa as p enman waft wh han h ni fr ma bauch ach ene pity and sympathy ym pathy but heavens and earth ehe he la is no martyr to tribulation hes the Jolt JoIl leat lest sort imaginable but how will this help you to solve your murder problem or abat more nearly concern concerns m me e find ome some trace of my cousin cou aint for ome some moments mr felat sat at allana gazing meditatively th through rough the windo number dingy front loomed dingier than ever in the late noon 0 unadine una hine but mr flint bad no eyes for the old house juit just at present after a bit he turned to van vechten before answering anew cring your question que atlon mr van achten I 1 am going to lay jay another matter before you aid said he gravly it may seem impertinently pets perona onal but there are occasions when the ordin ordinary atry civilities and amenities amentt Jen must be laid aside and disregarded I 1 know that you and tilts carew are en to be married I 1 donot do abot mention the sentiment that usually Ac comps died auch such a conventionality for per pet hap haps I 1 hall shall pain you but tint there a possibility that ehe she haa has become in te rested in another more recent love affairs I 1 flint waa was the prompt response you m are col not upon my ray foul ing af in tazo th latt ast l I att and I 1 am m going to be frank with you the encasement engage munt you peak of baa has alwa alway been more or lea of a tacit understanding undemanding in to our family paige la is only a it dystant cousin you know but we are a clannish clann lih atil t we wp van Vach tons and she he and I 1 have 1 1 waya ways been awfully fond food of each other otheir but as for love another in tritt fit pin I 1 have an idea that we ball shall never marry simply I 1 am convinced be cauce I 1 could not insist without forcing myself upon her no DO no I 1 am much too fond of her for that and aa an for another love affair what earthly reason to Is there for her making a secret of it bhe she la to not a girl given to romantic fancies or schoolgirl gentl mentality she he li in of age her own mia MIS tress and were she to learn aa an I 1 have that it li to possible for either of us to care for somebody ome body else in a way different from our present feelings toward each other why ebe she let me know it fast enough that a paige if anybody mut must be hurt have it over and dono done with aa as soon as an poa pos sible iam I 1 am beginning to form a pretty fair idea of your cousin observed mr flint her intelligence courage and independent character make it all the more necessary that I 1 learn everything possible about max willard Wll lard I 1 suppose that ebe she and mrs devereaux are lire very much attached to each other paige and josephine I 1 cant say may they are like mother and daughter josephl neg heart is much too young for that churns chums would be more nojir nearly ly accurate yet mrs mm devereaux has been a mother to paige and the ve very ry strongest ties of affect affection lon and conal dence bind them together mr flint slowly nodded his head aa as it these disclosures disclosure a were right fight in h harmony ar with whatever theory h he waa was evolving one thing more said be ho it la Is strange that it haa ban never occurred to you with your intimate understanding of your cousin that nothing at all haa has happened to her that her prolonged absence without communicating with relatives or friends is in aa an act of her own free will but it did occur to me van vechten contradicted and it Is my know knowl edge of paige that renders such a hypothesis wholly absurd again mr M r flint fa int nodded understand lally now aid said he be ill answer your question aa an to why I 1 attach so go much importance to finding max willard Wll lard although what I 1 have already told you should supply the explanation I 1 wa want ut to discover the motive that influenced temple bonner to disregard bla his own iron bound system of doing business and establish a precedent by interposing personally in the case of the house across the street it is in remarkable that he should do such a thing for anybody it max willard la in alive tho old friendship would supply that motive then it would be high time to get in touch with willard and ira wa what he hes a up to perhaps van vechten reflectively offered temple bonners Bon nera sentiment about the house extended to preserving everything just ae an it was when be TBS attentive to miss henrietta but B ut he haa has never hever come back to IV it that vias as precisely prec leely the impression Im preast on I 1 gathered aside from the gold vu purse met I 1 found nothing whatever of any I 1 inter liter sm eat to my investigation van vechten asked careless carelessly lyt t it one were minded to cowd one get in the detective smiled are you thinking or ot attempting it maybe I 1 shall it the obstacle obstacles itt 10 the way are not insurmountable you see flint I 1 may stumble upon something of value AS a clue something that waa was meaningless to you with your cant meant knowledge of family traditions the detective passed a flat key across the table saying merely t the back door you reach it through the alley van vechten pocketed the key turning to tom mr flint had just asked him to recount bis his rocky cove experience when the arrival of an other messenger boy with a fresh fresh bundle of cablegrams interrupted him these messages message were the remaining replies to those sent by van vechten in the morning and la in addition a notification from the telegraph comp company say ot of failure to balver the cablegram to paige at paris parts they proved to be similar in tenor to those received earlier in the day one and all they declared entire ignorance ot of palle whereabouts CHAPTER IX un infant t perdu whether mr flint attached any particular importance to anything in tom phinneys recital van vechten waa was un unable able to either elther from the detectives fixed expression or ah ab sence of expression or the lew few quo gues eions he asked when tom bad had finished these interrogations wre were aimed solely at aiding siding tom to remember the no mo torcoata tor boata a occupants but exCept excepting IlIg the suppositious servant and the sandy complexioned man now identified as a john balits tome description was exceedingly vague before leaving mr air flint eald said to vaa valk Vec tien 1 I 11 am liable to be looking you up al most any minute of the day or night I 1 expect to be pretty busy but it la Is am in possible to foretell precisely in what way my efforts will be directed may I 1 count on you spending as much ot of your time here am you cana can the young man nodded it I 1 am not act here I 1 shall leave ord so you may know where to find me tom after the detective wae aas gone reverted to a topic torte which be he had broached earlier in the day aro are ou going to use the motor for a while ruddy buddy I 1 want to take a run down to maiden lane if it you re not nol the other roused sufficiently from his hl pauling reflections reflect lona to give the speaker a questioning loning look maiden lane he repeated tom amplified chap down there wealthy dia mond importer waa was wanting a kipper tor for his team steam yacht brownlowe Drown Brown lows low his name met him at the payne frenchs last week he lie was asking me about it suppose he heard that I 1 wa was interested lu in yachting I 1 have a matters certificate |