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Show Cfyn Intemation-l Martins Ccaopiny (Continued From Our Last Issue) CHAPTER XVII. THF. Cir.MI'A(;K BOMJJARD-MKN'T BOMJJARD-MKN'T The next morning Lanyard lay luxuriously lux-uriously bedded and with a single problem to nurse. What had her pillow advised Llano Delorme ? Llano was amply able to surprise ' him, and did. It waa without ceremony that she walked In un him at length. "Well, my dear friend!" she said gravely, halting by the bedside, "do you fee) able to travel ?" "Travel9" Lanvard made a face oil dismay. "Are you then Insuch hnsto to he rid of me, Llano?" "Not at all." Llano found horself a chair and uc i epted a clgaret "And where do we go. mademoiselle?" mademoi-selle?" "To Cherbourg, there to take a steamer for New York." "FortUnatelS It wan Lanyard's cue to register shock. "But rny dear friend, why Amor-I Amor-I ica ?" i "You gave me credit for having I some little Influence In this world of Paris. I have usd It What I have learned enables me to assure you that the Montalals jewels are on their way to America " "But if I am to sail for America today " "Tomorrow, from Cherbourg, at eight In the morning." "How am I to get my passport I vised ?" "I have seen to thata You are no ' longer Paul .Martin alias Andre Du-I Du-I chemln, but Paul Delorme. my Invalid brother, still suffering from honorable honor-able wounds sustained in the great war " Liane Delorme threw away her clgaret clg-aret and rose. "You understand, we l;i as soon as you are dressed"" "Perfectly. By what train?" "By no train. YVc motor to Cherbourg Cher-bourg " She was at the door when Lanyard Lan-yard stayed her with, ' One moment, Ll.uv' What about Dupont?" Simple mention of the man was I enough to make the woman wince j and lose color. Well, and what of him?" "Have you realized that, since Du- pont got In after you came home, his accomplice In your household Is most probably one of those who were up St that hour Who were they?" "Only two. The footman. Leon, I and Marthe, my maid " Lanyard said, "Open that door!" in a tone sharp with such authority that Liane Delorme Instinctively obeyed. obey-ed. The woman whom Lanyard had seen that morning coming down the stairs with the lighted candle entered rather precipitately. "Pardon, madamc," she murmured, and paused. "I was about to knock." Martha hinted at rather than exe-; exe-; cuted a courtesy and withdrew Llano ' shut the door behind her, and ie-approached ie-approached the bed, trembling with i anger. "You mean to take her with you?" "I did. until this happened " "And now will you tell me that I Dupont knows nothlnp of your Intention Inten-tion to motor to Cherbourg today?" "No . . ." Disconsolate, Liane sank down Into the chair. "Now I dare not go!" she mused aloud. "Yet I mu9t! - . '. "What :im I to do?" "Courage, little slater! It Is I who have an Idea." Liane lifted a gaze of mute Inquiry- "What automobile are you using for our trip this afternoon""' "My limousine for you and mo " "And Marthe: how Is she to make the journey?" 1 in the touring car, which follows us with our luggage." "Who drives the limousine"" The woman hesitated, looked aside, bit her lip. "As a matter of fact, monsieur." she said hastily, "it Is the boy who drove us through the Cevcnnes Ifon-I Ifon-I sleur Monk asked me to keep him I pending his return to France " Lanyard had the grace to keep a j straight face. He nodded gravely, "You make It all perfectly clear, little sister." "Here is the plan At the last I moment you will decide to take Lean with you. "Toward evening we will let the touring car catch up. We will ex- change cars with Marthe and Leon, ! leaving the latter to bring on the limousine while Jules drives for us. Whatever happens then, we may feel sure the touring car will get off lightly." It was four o'clock when the expedition ex-pedition for Cherbourg left the door of Llane's town-house. The limousine limou-sine was leading with Jules at Its I wheel, the touring car trailing, with the footman. Leon, as driver In St. Germain-en-Layc Lanyard first notice ihe gray tourinf? car. It stood lnconRTUounl round th- cor-ner, cor-ner, at the door of a wine shop; the fat-faced man uf Lyons was lounging loung-ing In the door sucking at a clgaret ' and watching the traffic Lanyard said nothing at the time. I but later, when a long stretch of straight road gave him the chance. I verified his suspicions by looking I back to see the Kr;iy car lurklnp not less than a mile ami a half astern the Delorme touring car driven by : Leon keeping a quarter of a mile In the rear of tht' llmOUSlne. These relative positions remained approximately unchanged during DlOBt Of the light hours of that long evening, despite the terrific paco which Jules set In tho open coun- i try. At about seven they dined from the hamper which, with Llane's lewi l case In Its leather dlsgutso of .a wimple traveling bag, constituted all the limousine's load of luggage. I Lanyard passed sandwiches through the front window to Jules, who munched them while driving like a I speed maniac, and with the same appalling ap-palling nonchalance washed thorn down with a tumbler of champagne. A luminous lilac twilight vied with i the .street lamps of Caen when the limousine rolled through the city. Lanyard conferred with Jules through the window "Reyund the town.'" ho said, 'you will stop. I think It would be advisable advis-able to have a little engine trouble " "Very icood. sir." said Jules without with-out looking round Then he added , in a voice of complete respect: "yulte. so, sir What's the Idea?" j "I presume you set some value on , your skin ! "Plumb crazy about It " ( "Mademoiselle Delorme and I are afflicted with the same Idiosyncrasy Wo want to save our lives and wo don t mind Baving yours at the sunn time In a gray car which has boen following us ever since we left St. Germain, Is the man who I believe murdered Monsieur le ( omte 'de Lnrgnes on tho Lyons express, and i who- -I know tried last night to mur der Mademoiselle Delorme." nd I suppose that. In his big hearted wholesaler's way, he wouldn't mind making a bag of the lot of us tonight." "I'm afraid you are right. Ouri plan Is to change cars with Leon and Marthe; the gray car Will pasa ' lj. JOU ice 1 abb- to travel ?" land go on ahead before we make the i shift: then you. mademoiselle and 1 follow In the touring car. the others In the limousine " "Ah-h!" Jules used the tone of I one who perceives enllghtenemnt as a blinding flush "Marthe and Leon are In on the dlrt work too. eh? I shan't shed a solitary tear If something some-thing sod happens to them In this I bus tonight." The plan was carried out in a 'suburb of Caen; tho gray touring j car tore by in a cloud of dust as i Lanyard and Liane shifted to the j touring car with Jules as driver. Lanyard established himself in tho tonneau. "How long. Jules will Loou 1 , need ?" "Five minutes, madame, if he takes his time about it." They drew away from the limousine limou-sine so quickly that In thirty seconds; i Its headlights were all that marked I Its stand A bend In the road blotted out, these lights. There was no (all-! light visible on the road before them j ' Lanyard tout bed Jules on the Shoulder. Shoul-der. "Switch off your lights,' hi Bald "all of them Then find a plaOQ e can turn off and wait till! Leon and Marthe pass us." Jules picked out the mouth of a I narrow lane, stopped, and backed Into it. in foui- minutes by Lanyard'n watch, a blue-White glare leapt quivering quiv-ering past the bend, and lay horizontal horizon-tal with the road as tho car bored past. "Shoot. Jules follow his rear , lamp," cried Lanyard, Phe car swung out into the main highway. Far ahead the red sardonic sar-donic ej e In the rear of the llmou-i llmou-i sine leered as If mocking their hopes of keeping it In sight. They were swooping down a long gradi With 'i sharp turn at the bot-. bot-. torn, when somewhere on ahead. there sounded a grinding crash, the noise of a stout fabric rent and crushed with the clash and clatter of shivered glass. "Easy," Lanyard cautioned "and ! ready with the llghls " Below, at tho foot of the hill, the headlights of another car. standing I at some distance and to the right of I tho road furnished lurid lllumlna-! lllumlna-! tlon to the theatre of disaster Something, Its nature Just then I mysterious, h id apparently caused 1 Leon to lose control of tho heavy j car so thai It had skidded Into a ditch and capsized. Four men were swarming round the wreck. Two I were helping tho driver out. two Others having their gallantry In performing per-forming like service for the maid rewarded by a torrent of vituperative vitupera-tive denunciation, half hysterical and wholly Infuriated. By the freedom of her gestures, which was rivaled only by that of, her language, the disheveled, Btorm-Ing Btorm-Ing figure of Marthe was manifestly uninjured And in another moment Leon found his foet and limped toward the others. Lanyard drew attention to a dark serpentine lino that lay like a dead ! mmko upon the lighted surfa.ee Oil the road. Liane Delorme breathless-j ly demanded- "What Is It?" "An old trick," Lanyard explained! , "A wire cable stretched across thf road, about as high as the middle of , the windshield ' He foDdled the pistol which Jules b-.d handed him. "Now hfora they waki up. Jules give her nil sh-,-' got'" Julr.s released tho brakes. They were muklng forty miles nn hour when they struck the level ft3d thundered pnst tho group. (Continued In our next Issue) nn |