Show ard alic in M I 1 dollar aste ry by HAROLD MAC GRATH illustrated from scenes its in trio me photo drama of 0 tho alio same name by th the 1 e flint falm company 1914 by aarold bucl macgrath raab CHAPTER A packet of papers papera jim said nothing at first about tits ills adventure to jones whom lie ho met halt half an hour later was it necessary to keep keel that invisible letter lie ho naked asked no said jonos jones would it havo have given our affairs a serious aeilous turn it if it had fallen into alit alien it hands decidedly dodly answered jones it would mean flight for tile black hundred or a long under cover it j our friend draino dealno learned that hat russia hussla was now taking in an active interest in tho the doings of tho 00 black hundred and eventually all our work would have to be 10 dono done over again ali ah 1 you look a bit mussed up anything thing happened asked tile tho reen keen eyed butler nothing much I 1 made a cigarette garetto cl out of the letter and smoked it jonos chuckled 1 I 1 see bee that you havo have had bad an adventure of some sort but it can wait it can Deen He causo uso I 1 want you to pack off to washington wash washington ington T yes I 1 want you to interview those choso officials who aro are most familiar with the extradition laws A new kink what I 1 wish to learn Is tills this can a man mail formerly undesirable take out naturalization papers and hold to ilia lie protection of the united states gov orn ornament ment that Is to say a menaced by siberia Sl borla becomes nit nil american citizen lie he la in abducted and carried back to russia could lie look to tilts this government for protection that Is what I 1 want you to find out eliat will be easy when shall I 1 T start I 1 As soon as you can pack your 11 always packed replied the reporter you see BOO im in eternally shunted hither atti yon nt at a moments notice BO I 1 always have an extra grip anc packed ed for quick travel the russian Ilu agent wants draine ond and tile ho countess and tonight im going to its try to point chent out to him it would satisfy tile ino mare moro than anything I 1 know to eliminate this precious trio alo in russian fashion its ita thorough and once onca accomplished good day to tile the black hundred in america ai it 1 the organization in russia has still somo some political signi fleance but on this side aldo of tile the water it Is merely nn an aggregation of merciless mer elless thugs ill take the first train out nut but vou all will tell florence surely and take care of your own heels beets you yoju watched at the hotel 4 it but tho the watcher could learn nothing as a will bj suggest 9 e gt nothing to the tool fool who followed me besides we both know that lie ho wili was trying to peek peck through lie keyhole koy hoje that hotel you on know stirl berh retains tho the old fashioned keyholes to keep the maids in good humor 1 I laughed jim well I 1 must be on my way to make that flyer dyer tho iha two shook hands and jim hurtled off tho the butler watched him till disappeared lift down the tha subway lies a good lad lie he murmured and fi a brave lad and androney money Is only nn an incident in human affairs after all ill bo ba a good angel and let the two bo be happy since they love each other and have proved it in a thousand ways meanwhile the russian agent sett settled leI down before his writing portfolio arid and once or twice as ho he wrote ile he thought lio lie heard a sound outside tile door no doubt this butler of hargreaves Hargreave a had boen been watched anti and followed by find and by he roso rose drew ills revolver and tiptoed to tile the door obliquely so that the watcher outside might not become aware of tits his approach swiftly he be swung back tho the door and the member of iho black hundred stumbled into the room almost instantly the rus ilus elan caught him by the collar and held him up what were you doing outside my door the man did not answer lie ile was trying to collect hn hla thoughts A spy of some sort eli eh iro im a detective t said the roan man finally thin thinking hing he saw hla his way clear and what wha did you expect to learn by ivolena through tile tho keyhole of my iny door laughed show me your badge of authority the man mail fumbled in ills hla upper pocket against hope chopo that tile the muzzle ot of the revolver would waver youre ari ad ordinary thief declared uie the russian and as such I 1 shall instantly hand you over to the hotel unless you toll tell me exactly nho ho and what you are the roan man remained dumb lie ile hung the devil and the deep sea bea i i he be told tile the truth the organization would moor BOOC learn the truth it if lie he kept till he be would be lodged in jail perv ja afsa tor for ho he had hac dar ory cry police icord tc ord presently Pres presently enily ills his nerve gave way in face of tile steady oyo eye and hand and lio lie confessed the why and wherefore lie had sought bought the keyhole of Ser vans dooin roo nl wo anre after tills butler here lie goes we follow Well youve wasted your time my man mail all I 1 nin am here for Is to tako take over some property properly mr liar greave left in franco france for or sale I 1 know nothing about your private leads now ret get out but keep out of my way I 1 am not a peaceful man tho spy tuni tumbled bled out alit as lie ho had tumbled in by an net act of gravity rind and was alone lie apont two days lit in comparative idleness tile then things began to wake up for a long time tile the leather box across which was inscribed stanley Itar greave lay lit in pence und undisturbed stubbed bed A busy spider woven a trap across tile handle to tile quaint lock tile the box was still it badly adly stained from its immersion lit in tile salt bait water at a certain time it was quietly withdrawn front from its hiding place it was g stealthily opened A land hand reached in and when it withdrew withdraw a packet of papers was also withdrawn the box wils aps again locked and lowered and presently the spider to find that tits his cunning trap had been totally destroyed with tile the infinite pa thence of lilt his klud kind lie lio began beean the weaving of another trap imp perhaps t tills ills would be more successful than its predecessor later received a telephone call lie ho was vaa informed that tits ills purpose in america would be realized by ills his presence at such and such stich a box that night at the opera further ther information could not bo be given 1 over the telephone seemed well weil satisfied ile ho dressed carefully that evening calad cal pa up tip the office clerk and inquired it ills his hex box tickets tor tho the opera had arrived ile he wnm informed that ali at they tied had instantly the spy who had dared to lineer about the hotel botel overhearing this conversation determined to notify bragne at once an and at tile the sanie same time norton in disguise determined not to logo light bight of tills this man mail whom lie ho had set himself to watch the spy left by ono one bentram 0 o and jim by another jim had stained what lie ho desired that the I 1 issaan agent would bo be followell foll follo ovod weil to th i opera and that it was going to liti I 1 to hand the documents to ilia the spy en esterell terell a dru drug g store and telephoned jim waited outside when tile tho man came out lie ho strolled up the street atut and entered the nearest saloon jims work nork was done it was Bral dragnea Dr alnea nos lieutenant however who took tho the news to braine wo we haye have succeeded good said draine lie ile will go to tho the opera Us ile will havu a box doubtless they have arranged to deliver the papers there and the hie next thing Is to get tho the number of ills his box this brit ine had no difficulty in doing so all 1 it was wa stealthily opened fixed lie ho calls calla Idin himself self and registers from paris ill show tho the tool fool that he has no to deal with this time and what are theao documents asked olga ah what we are so anxious to find out some papers are going to bo be exchanged between this russian spy and jones or his agents that these papers concern us vitally I 1 sin am certain that la Is why I 1 am going to get them it there has to be a murder nt at the opera tonight norton has been to washington ile ha was vas seen coming out of the russian embassy from the be secretaries of state rind war and a dozen other offices ive got to find out just ahat diat all this means it means that the lie time has como come tor for us to fly said olga we have failed I 1 bave ha c warned ou oti we lieve still plenty of money left it la Is time we folded our tonta tents and stole atole away quietly I 1 toll you I 1 feel I 1 in my bones that there Is a pit beare us as somewhere and if you force bissu is we shall all fall into it the white feather my dear there Is altogether some difference between the white feather and com mon sense caution j ahall never give elve up you are ar free to pack up and go if you wish As aa for roe me im going to fight this out to the bitter end and take my word for it the end W will 11 1 be bitter well veil oh I 1 shall stay you know that my future la Is bound up in n yours in tho the old days my m advice generally appealed to you as aa sound and when you yon followed it you were successful from the first drat I 1 advised you not to pursue Ilar greave see what hat has hall happened happen pen ed enough of ahli chatter ive got to die sonic some time it will ile be with my lily face to ward this man mail I 1 hate with all tny illy soul you trust trial to me ill pull out of tills all r right ight you aust fix yourself up stunningly for the opera tonight and leavo leave tile lie rest to me olga shrug shrugged she was vaa something of a fatalist this man of liers hers had suddenly gone road mad and one did not reason with alth mad people what shall I 1 wear she asked ca calmly linly emeralds your our good luck stones you will go to tho the box before I 1 do ive got to spend somo some time at tile the curb to bo be 1 ur j that his flits chap arrives and it la is quite possible that our friend jones jonca will C orno conio later it if not jones then norton I 1 was a fool not to shoot him when I 1 lind had tho the chance we could have covered it up without fit the least difficulty put but I 1 needed the lie information about that pa per with norton going to washing ton toil and jonos jones conferring with this till ive got to strike aulk it concerns us that im I 1 m certain perk up wove weve lots of cards in our belac sleeves g yet vet ile at the opera at eight thirty pay no attention to any one wait tor for me remember I 1 shant write or send any phone messages tie be wary of any trap like that to get you ou outside now im I 1 m off jones approached florence rio ienco mined abely after dinner 1 I have important business in tho the city tonight under no circumstances leave the house I 1 shall probably be ba followed and our enemies will have need eed of you tar far more tonight than at any previous time I 1 shall not send you phone or written message you have your revolver shoot any strange man who enters lvell make inquiries after we aro are near the end whispered florenco florence epry near the end and I 1 shall see bee my father jones bent hla his head bead it if we succeed there Is danger thinking of her lover there Is always danger when I 1 leave this hoube so bo be good the butler I 1 e added with a smile and jim lie ile has proved that lie he can take care of himself tell him to be very c careful ill to io so BO but it will biot 10 be necessary and with this jones jonea set forth upon what he considered tho the c culminating u I 1 aminat adventure th tb usual brilliant crowd began to pour pou r into the opera braine took tits hla stand by tile the entrance lie ile waltee waited a 1 long time bat hla his patience wal wai rewarded A limousine drove up and out of tho the door carne came his man mail who looked about with casual interest lie ile distills dismissed E ed tho the limousine v aich wheeled slowly around the corner where it could bo be conveniently parked then entered tho the opera bragne hurried around to the limousine the lights save tise pose demanded it by traffic regulation regulator A were out the chauffeur was huddled in his seat coat my man said bouli you like to make some money ilow how much listlessly the voice i was muffled twenty good night sir fifty good night and good worn morning A hundred now youve got me interested what kind of 0 a joy rido ride do you want no joy rido ride listen briefly the conspirator outlined ills his needs needa and windily the iho chauffeur nodded five twenties were pressed into his hand and ho he curled up in lilt hid beat again entered ills hla box in the box next to hla his sat a handsomely gowned young woman lie he throw threw her an idle glance which was repaid in kind later draino draine came cama in and bat down beside olga everything looks like plain salting sailing he whispered olga shrugged slightly during the intermission between the first and second acts took the rear chair of his box near the curtains Bra irre watching with the eyes of a lynx suddenly observed tl the it curtains stirring A hand was waa thrust through in that hand was a packet of papers with seeming indifference reached back and took the papers stowing them away in L pocket bragne rose roae at the beginning of 0 the second net act where arri you going asked olga nervously to see otto A bold attempt was made to rob while in the tha box but tho the timely arrival of jim frustrated tills plan so blaino wua was forced to rely on tho the chauffeur of 0 the limousine As farkars Farr arB ars last thrilling note died away bragne and olga rose do careful aird come to the apartments just as soon na as you can ill be careful braine declared easily you can ann watch the play it if you wish when entered the limousine he be was quietly but forcibly seized by two men who hail bail been lying in watt wait for him due to tho the apparent treachery of at tho the chauffeur fought val faulty bantly for all that ho he knew what M end of this exploit was going to be one of the men succeeded in gett liall the documents from Ser vans pocket done my boyl boy cried the victor give him a crack on the coco and well beat it 11 just a minute gentl gentlemen emeril said a voice from tho the seat scat at the side of the chauffeur ill take those Im papers peral and the owner of the voice backed by a cold sinister looking automatic reached lit in and confiscated the spoils of war and I 1 make any attempt to slip out by the side door 1 thanks my friend said shaking himself free front from ills captors dont mention it said norton amiably wo we thought bought something like hk this would happen keep perfectly 46 braine bragne and his accomplice plan capture of quiet you ou chaps drive on chauffeur drive on yes my lord to what particular police station shall I 1 head this omnibus the nearest jones ilin very nearest you on can can think off of some day when im rich ill hire you for my chaut beur but for the present I 1 shall expect at least a box of out of that hundred jones jonea chuckled ill buy you a box out of my own pocket that hundred goes to charity here we arel are out with you said jim to tits his prisoners ile ho shouldered them into the police station to the captains desk deak this demanded the captain holdup men said jim entered this mans car and tried to rob him an anthore whore you jim showed his badge and card oho iley hey there I 1 mean youl you said id the captain leveling a linger finger nt at otto lift up that hat lift it up sure its fountain pon pen otto well well an weve o bren boon lookin tor for you for ten months on the last forgery case mr norton my thanks take I 1 em below sergeant be here hera to make the compIn complaint Int in th moraln sir lie he added to it if it Is necessary it may |