| Show iash millio dollard M ys ry by HAROLD MAC GRATH illustrated from scenes in the photo drama of th the sama me name by 0 the Than Thanh housar flirts film company Com party lill by aarold SYNOPSIS stanley millionaire after a miraculous escape from the den of the cang ang of brilliant thieves known as the vack hundred lives the life of a recluse alusa clusa for eighteen years hargreave Harg reava ono one night enters a broadway restaurant and there cornea comes face to face with alth the gangs leader bragne Bri ilna after the meeting during which neither man apparently recognizes the he other hurries to ills mag mae home and lays plans for or making lite ilg escape from the country lie writes a letter to the girls school in new jersey where eighteen years before fie ie had mysteriously left on the doorstep x 1 Ms I baby daughter li llorence lorence gray ile he also 0 pays a visit to the hangar 0 of a daredevil e aviator bragne and members tf of hla amid surround home tt sit night but as they enter the house tho the watchers outside seo see a balloon leave the root the sate safe Is found empt the million which Ilare flar greave reave was waa known to have drawn that day gone then some one announced the balloon had bad been punctured and nd dropped to the bottom of the sea florence arrives from tile girls school princess olga braines Hr Br atnes alnes companion compact n visits visita and claims to lo be 10 a relative two bo iua us detectives call but their plot Is foiled by norton a newspaper man CHAPTER ill III tho the safe in the lonely warehouse the princess did not remain long after the departure of tho the police with the bogus detectives it had been a very difficult corner to wriggle out of all because arnine had added to his plans after sho she had loft left the apartment gut but tor for the advent of the meddling reporter the coup would have succeeded herself apparently perfectly innocent of complicity that must be the keynote ot of all her plans to appear quite innocent and leave no trail behind I 1 her ier she had gained the confidence of florence and her companion and sho she was rather certain that slie she had impressed this lazy eyed reporter and the tha stolid butler she had told nothing but the truth regarding oer ner relationship they would find that out dut she was katrina Push kins cousin flut blood with her counted as naught she had room in her heart but for two things braille and money to spend on her ier ca prices how flow long has your highness known air braille asked the reporter idly ts s he smoothed abuy all signs of ills his recent conflict 0 the better part of a year mr ilar hargreave greave did not recognize me the ather night that was quite excusable for when ho last saw me I 1 was not more than twelve my bly child she laid to florence flarence build no hopes retarding regarding your mother she Is doubtless dead upon some trivial matter it 1 do not know what it was she was to the fortress forties S that was seventeen years ago when you enter tile the fortress at st petersburg you tease to bo be that Is true enough 1 i 1 I lid did not recall myself to your father I 1 did not enro caro at that moment 0 lo 10 o shock him with the remembrance of tho the past Ts Is not mr air braine a kable man all this thil in her charm ng ig broken english ile he Is indeed affirmed norton WB a superb linguist knows every and has traveled everywhere no matter what subject you bring up tie ba seems beema well informed come often urged florence 1 I shall my child and any time you need me call tor for me after oil all I 1 am nearly your aunt you will find fife ife in the city far different from that which you have been accustomed to she limped down to her limousine in tripping up norton lie he had stepped upon tier her toot foot heavily sho she la Is love lovely lyl cried florence well I 1 must bo be on my way also aai albl norton 1 I am a worldly wise man miss florence so Is jones here never go any place without letting him know not even to the corner brug storo I 1 am going to find your father some ore ono was rescued im going to find out whether it was waa the aviator or mr Ilar hargreave greave jones drew in a deep breath and hla his eyes closed tor for it ft moment at the coor no ne spore to ine reporter what do you yett think of mat woman 7 1 I believe that sho she told the truth she Is charming charrol ng she sha la in out but for all her charm and truth I 1 cannot help trusting distrusting dis nor hor I 1 have an idea I 1 eliell call up your office at the end of each day it a day comes without a call you will know that something Is wrong I 1 A very good idea norton shook lianda bands with everyone and departed depart dd what a brave pleasant young mant man murmured susan 1 I like hini him too and id like him for or a friend said tho the guileless girl it Is very good goad to havo a friend like mr air norton added jones and passed out into the kitchen all tile the help had been discharged ind and upon ills his shoulders lay tho the burden burdea of at the cooking till such BUCK time when he could tho the ccok there was waa a stormy scene between fi rallie and th taji 9 princess that night arb an you in your dotage oho asked vehemently Tl ioro ther bring lour our voice awo D it bit ahers tile tho girl tr ie her bonia oharo did you suu pose would be atter after that botch batch work of letting me go to do one thing while you had in mind another and an ordinary pair of cutthroats cut throats at thail the thought came to me atter after you left I 1 knew recognize the men and understand I 1 see no reason why it work it would have been all right it if you had consulted a clairvoyant what the deuce do you mean by that brains demanded roughly 1 I mean that then you would have learned your friend the reporter was waa to arrive upon the scene at its most vital ital v moment NV what hat norton yes the trouble Is with you you have 11 ave been so ao successful all these years that you have grown overconfident I 1 tell you that there is a desperately shrewd man somewhere back of 0 all this mark me I 1 do not bellevo believe hargreave 9 reave Is dead lie ile la Is in hiding it may be near by ile ho may have dropped from the balloon before it left land the man mail they picked up may be orts orta the aeronaut the five thousand might have been his fee tor for rescuing hargreave here Is the greatest thing weve ever been up against and you start in with every day methods odst little woman dont let your tongue run away with you too far im not the least bit atrall of you leo you yon need me and it has never been more apparent than at this moment all right I 1 fell by the wayside this trip truthfully I 1 realized it five minutes after the men were gone the only clever thing I 1 did was to keep the mask on my face they cant come back at me gut but the thing looked so BO easy and it would have worked but for nortons Nor tons appearance yon all but compromised me that butler worries mo me a little iler her expression lost its anger and grew thoughtful iles hes always about somewhere do you think Ilar hargreave greave took him into his confidence cant tell iles hes been watched straight for 40 hours ile he mailed a letter or telephoned honel I 1 to any place but the grocery there have been no telegrams some one in that house knows where the money la Is and its ten to one that it will be the girl she loodea enough like katrina to bo be her ghost braille wont went over to the window and stared up at the stars you have made a good impression on the girl with his bis back still toward her 1 I had tier her in my arms olga ray my hat Is oft off to you on 11 turning urn it now that his bis face was wae again in repose your very frankness regarding your relationship will pull the wool over their eyes of 0 course make inquiries and find out that you lied its perfect not even that newspaper weasel will seo anything wrong toward you they will eventually ease up and you on can act without their even dreaming your part in ill tho the business we must not be seen in public any more this butler may know where I 1 stand even though lie he cannot prove it it now I 1 im m going to tell you something perhaps youve long since guessed it katrina was mine till haagn ave never mind what life his name was then till hargreave came into tile the fold so sure of her was I 1 that I 1 used liet her as a lure to bring him to us she tell fell in love with him but too lato late to warn him I 1 had the satisfaction of seeing him cast her aside aide curse climso her he r and leave her in one thing she fooled us all I 1 never knew of the child till you told me ile HB paused to light a cigarette Illar hargreave Harg reava greave was madly it in love with her ile he cursed her but he be came back to the house to forgive her to find that she had been seized by tile he secret pollee police and entombed in the fortress I 1 had my revenge it was I 1 who sent in tile the information practically bogus b ogus but in russia they never question they ret act and forget so ho he had bad a dau daugh 1 I terl lie ho began pacing tho the floor his hands behind his hie back and the woman watched him oscillating between love and fear ear ile iia came to a halt abruptly and looked down at her dont worry you havo have no rival ill leave tho the daughter to your tender mercies the butler she sald said has haa full fo p ow ers era of attorney to act for while absent up to the ily day tile the girl becomes of legal age ill keep keel an eye on our friend jonos jones front from now on day and night thero there will bo be a cat at the knothole and icaro waro mouse could you make up anything like this girl suddenly A fair likeness do it go to tile the ship which picked up tile the nian man at sea find and quiz tile the captain either tho the aviator or liar greave Is alive it Is important to learn which at once be very careful play the game only us as you know how to play it and it to in alive we win tomorrow morning early tears ot of anguish and all that sailors are easy when a woman weeps no color remember just tho the yellow wig and tho the salient features now sybyl arent you going to kiss rne rae leot leol ile he caught her hands there is a species of delilah about you olga A kiss tonight from your lips would snip nay my locks and I 1 need a clear head i whether we fall or win when this game Is played you shall be my wife lie ile kissed the bands and strode out into the hall the woman gazed down at her small white hands and smiled tenderly the tigress has her tender ilo ile meant ill it I 1 she went into her dressing room and for or an hour or more worked over her face and hair till she was certain that ll 11 1 the captain of the ship described her to anyone else elee he could not fall all to give a fair description of florence hargreave dut but norton reached the captain first other reporters had besieged him but they had succeeded in gathering the vaguest kind hind of information they had no description ot of Ilar greave while norton had before going down to the oat however lie he had delved into the past of the princess olga Pe Perl goff it cost him a pocketful of money but the end justified justl ned the means the princess had no past worth mentioning dy by piecing this and that together ho he became assured that she had fiad told the simple truth regarding the relationship to florences mother A cablegram had given him all the facts in tier her history there were no gaps or discrepancies it read clear and frank trust a russian secret agent to know what lie he was talking about so nortons Nor tons suspicions and lie ho had entertained sone some were completely lulled to sleep and he have doubted tier her at all except for the fact that braina had been with her when lie he had introduced Ilar hargreave greave liar ilar oreave had feared bragne that much the reporter had elicited from the butler but there the slightest evidence braine had been in new york for nearly six years the princess had arrived in the city but a year gone and bragne was wae a member of several fashionable clubs never touched cards and seldom drank ile he was an expert chess player and a wonderful amateur perhaps jones tho the taciturn and inscrutable had bad not told him all lie he knew regarding his masters past well well lie he had in ills his time untangled worse snarls the office had turned him loose a free lanee lanc e to h handle a adle t the C case a 86 as lie he saw fit t to a turn lu in the story when it was complete but what a story it was waa going to bo be when lie he cleared it cupl up the more mystifying it was wai the greater the zest and sport for or him norton was like a gambler who played for big stakes and only big stakes stirred his arav ings tile the captain of the tramp steamer orient told him the same tale lie he had told the ocher reporters he had picked up a man at sea the man had been brought aboard totally exhausted was there another body any where no what became of 0 him 1 I sent a wireless and that seemed to bother him it looked so that he did 14 I 1 am not afraid of you leo not want anybody to learn that he had bad been rescued the moment the boat touched the pier ho he lost himself in the crowd fifty reporters came aboard but tie ho was gone and I 1 could but tell them just what flat im telling lulling you ile ho had money about live five thousand please describe him tile the captain did so BO it was the same description lie had given to all tile tho reporters norton looked over tile rail at tle me big warehouse was it an all ordinary balloon there youve got me my aly marconi alarcon man says the balloon part was like ilka any other balloon but the pass passenger euger car was a new business busl nees to him it could bo be driven against the wind driven against the wind did you tell this to the othar mothr chaps dont think I 1 did just remembered it it probably somo some now invention and now its at the bottom of the tha sea two men as I 1 understand it went oft off in this contraption ono one la Is gono gone for or good fur for good echoed tile the reporter gravely gono gone for or good indeed poor debilt norton took out A roll of at bills theres two hundred in this roll well veil said ald the captain vastly astonished toni tonia shed lied ila Its youra yours if you will do we me a small favor it it got get me mixed up with tho the police im only captain of a tramp and some borne of tile the harbor police have taken a dislike to me what do you want me to do the police will not bother you this man Ilar greave had some enemies they vv want nt either his life or his money maybe may boboth both it la Is a peculiar case with russia in the background lie ile might have laid the whole business before the police but lie he chose to fight it out himself and to tell the truth I 1 dont believe the police would have done any tood good Il heave leave her over what do you want me to do for that handsome roll of money it if any man or woman who la Is not a reporter comes to pump you tell them the man went ashore with a packet under his arm tie a knot in that say that the roan man was gray haired clean shaven straight with a scar high up on oil ills forehead generally covered up by his bis hair battened down my lad go on say that you saw him enter yonder warehouse and later depart without his packet easy as dropping my mud hook all norton gave the captain the money goodby good by and many thanks dont mention it left the slip and proceeded to the office of the warehouse lie approached pro Proa ached clied the nian managers agero desk hello grannis old top the man mail looked up from ills hla work then his face brightened norton brought you on here 0 yes that balloon business sit down what kind of a man Is the captain of that old hooker in the slip shifty in ID gun running but otherwise as square as a die looks funny to see an old tub like that fixed up with is but that has |
