Show the recluse of fifth avenue CHAPTER X continued SO 20 instantly he drove to a western union office and dispatched a cable with answer prepaid pre paid to the countess counters of horsham Hor sharn horsham Hor shani england until the reply came he was nas hardly a successful or niu amiable lable guest lady horsham he be read has bai never heard beard of agatha brown und and recommends robin Mc McKIm Kimber her to put the matter in the hands of the police there remained that great french noblewoman the duchess duc liess of something or another ills his mother saw him peering uncertainly at a piece of weats that look like to you yon he asked lie ile did not know french and the name was indistinct mrs me mc kimber read the language easily lie he did not want to make a mistake he determined to describe agatha tilts this time possibly she had adopted a dom doin de guerre it means said mrs Mc KImber the duchess of green cheese coulbo couldn t there be such a person robin wits flu flushing lhing red with anger of course not where are you going to in such buch a hurry he hadano had no time to answer lie ile wanted very much to see the viscount but here again he met disappointment sneed informed him that he had gone and left no forwarding address for his mall A friend at his club advised robin to consult the new Allun nacil de bruxelles in chose w liose pages the nobility of continental europe Is described there was no mention of any count or viscount de gull lain robin went back to great rock a disillusioned young man filled with bitterness there was no such thing in the world as honor or truth agatha was an adventuress the take viscount an accomplice ile he wondered why there was not already a robbery of 0 jew jewels it must be be because cause mrs MM braxon had dismissed her before the day of the COUP ills his inquiries about miss brown had frightened the discount Is away ile he was particularly anxious to meet the swindler mrs McKlin Mc KImber ber saw that her son was worried but for tile moment she was more disturbed at her hub husbands bands condition ile he barl aged for no reason that was comprehensible to his wife ile he had spoken vaguely about gh ahing ing up the senatorial race and living quietly away from his business robin was to be given complete charge McKi Mc Kimber niber hinted that he might indorse rason secretly she was mas not sorry borry to relinquish the washington idea the prospect had been less alluring to her than to him mrs me kimber was uns more in her lome bome city than the nations capital with its jealousies intrigues and constant entertaining CHAPTER XI peter milman received the transcription nita had made from her rough notes without showing the tremendous ruen dous eagerness that possessed him you have done splendidly lie he said and then hesitated a little 1 I am almost afraid to read it you need not be she said slowly 01 1 I think you will find that you have baad bour our home ihen it la is complete success he be cried there Is 19 still more to be done she said bald but I 1 think we have succeeded she could not bear to talk any more in ills his library peter milman read the document carefully ile he taw saw exactly with what a deadly grip paul baxon held Mc lUmber iut but peter milican was not yet in a position to turn this knowledge to account so far Mc Kluiber was the sufferer sulli in that whereas only one man had known his secret now it was shared by many milman thought of the thing impartially as though he were tin an arbitrator and McKin Kimbers Mc ibers case had come before him on one side bide Mc KImber and rason baxon on the other himself barnes bradney and millet malet ile he persuaded himself that it was justice against injustice right against wrung wrong ile he had bad brooded blooded too long over the prospect of losing his home to have any qualms left ile he waited impatiently until the hour when he expected bradney and barnes they could not leave great roc rock A until past pam ten and it was wag midnight when lie he passed them re port the next thing to do Is to obtain that envelope milman said guld we ve knew they are in that room somewhere theres a big wall safe of a modern type barnes said and therefore absolutely immune from us bradney commented 1 have long felt that there must be an ap to tilts this sort of enterprise safe blowing Is practiced successfully by almost all the beggs who wander up and down our country I 1 know bow it t la is rinne done but I 1 do it myself roy we dam not hire anyone to do it for or us barnes sald thoughtfully it seems to nie me wo we are up against it if you enough to hold him up with ai already ready I 1 dont see what bat else la Is to be done theres a way out said peter mil bill m and ft a simp simple leone one I 1 admit wo we carmot crack a sate safe why not permit paul braxon to open even it for us ile he would nL burnes cried tor tire wull would riot not matte inane him do that you sont tinder understand stand said peter ieter ud lilly 1 I mean simply tills this why bould not baxon own ouen the die batea he by WYNDHAM MARTYN la in the th united saw stai W X SV U service must do frequently quite unaware that someone Is reedy ready to spring nt at him tie him up and examine its contents at leisure by gad carnei Par nei t said gald excitedly it might work theres danger in it but its an even chance it might succeed I 1 see the whole thing thine I 1 could be hiding where nita was theres plenty of room boorn and watch him lie ile be carryl rg that gun of his because lie would have locked himself in and felt free from intrusion if you can make that end nia of the bookcase bookma e movable so that it can be opened without warning baxon I 1 believe I 1 can get him at the prospect of 0 action and danger neeland names barnes seemed another man lie ile had indeed visualized the whole thing what was the risk of 0 a bullet compared with getting from baxon what would bay him the in california give me two uninterrupted hours bradney asserted and I 1 can make A very workmanlike job of it not a word before nita her father cautioned she might want to come in on it and theres just a chance it may turn out badly illow how often does a financier open ills his safe bradney asked 1 I can see enry lying there entombed to fo periods of uncomfortable duration enry has forgotten he be will be helping me to attend to the baxon guests 1 I shant be there said barnes 1 I shall hall dismiss myself tomorrow morning and then corre come back to my old room when it la Is dark only sneed and you ever come up our flight of stairs so it will be safe earnes chuckled have to smuggle my meals up someone will come to take your you P place lace sneed will attend to that hell fiell p probably work you double tides the three malet had bad not come talked the thing over if once the letters were in milhans Mil mans possession he did not think it likely that baxon would quarrel at the price enormous though it was that lie he would b be e called upon to pay would suffer stiffer but they could not grieve about that the tha main thing was that baxon would have to acknowledge lie he was beaten and to maintain his hold on Mc McKim Kimber lier he be must pay out a million dollars they told nita of it when she came in slie she did not vent venture lire to disagree ree cut but her depression was noticeable it was so unlike the cheerful and laughing girl she gave as a reason a headache but it was a heartache that troubled her the father of robin was to be dl disgraced graced she and her 0 o alti ulti ered activities were the direct cause for a moment she thought oi 0 pleading with them to fill find some other way but she refrained when she saw no other way was possible to make baxon pay she tried to harden herself against this weakness her father had bad been disgraced through baxon malet and bradney had been robbed of their opportunities and their careers r clouded peter milman had lost his fortune and might lose his home if braxon were not compelled to pay she must be loyal to those with whom she had begun this adventure but it was very hard all her world had been changed in that moment when she had bad seen robin looking at her from the big car that had swerved so 90 perilously ile he would never see her again to the day of his death lie he would believe the bhe had played with him used him for a summer flirtation arid and then forgotten him 1 I think it is more than headache peter milman observed when blie had gone from the room was she unhappy at great rock unhappy slie she had a good time tor for a month and came away with a hundred dollars more than the she expected if let mn me enjoy it lie ile turned again to bradney not realizing for an instant that lie he was the sort of usual father who rarely understands der stands ills daughter when women sold said little liitle and were difficult to comprehend pre liend lie he set it down to headache it was an easy solution so laUon enry gae notice next morning lie ile did not hesitate to suy buy that mrs baxon did not domestic problems ue ile was lofty and not to be persuaded not until too late did he perceive elve how much more financially beneficial it would have been to get himself dismissed with a months salary lo in place of a longer notice by nightfall lie was back in his own room ile he had find purchased a dark sweater end and black sneakers and by bv the we use of those devices which lie he had bad learned in amateur theatricals theatric alg had disguised ills his face bradney had em his leisure by doing some surreptitious carpentering work in the room sneed had arranged to give instant warning if returned unexpectedly from the city tut rut as a chauffeur lind had been told ti in meet the train arriving at halt balf past six there seemed no reason to tear fear interruption the boo bookcase book kence cae was wag six bit feet in height and contained five shelves the lower behind which nita had hidden wits was given up to volumes whose average height eighteen inches the shelves were very deep made to accommodate books of more than everage average width ninny many of which were deeper th lhnn nn their height they rested on a baard seven inches above the floor fradley had ingeniously split this so that while the books were not dis the man hiding had an additional seven indies inches of shelter lie he had bad vie tie craft of a cabinetmaker cabinet maker maher tind and the me oiled and hidden hinges moved noiselessly lis sly it was as dinner drew drem to a close that the disguised barnes crawled feet first t b ills hla shelter lie ile had arranged things 9 si that he could see the safe without moving there war nothing in his hl garments to catch on any projection lie ile found lie could move inove his limbs without attracting any noise lie ile tried it when bradney Cr adney directly the dinner wa was s finished and hla his employer settled to a game of auction hurried to the room bradney sat in radons chair and looked hard at the lower shelf but could detect nothing unusual it was not so difficult for barnes to remain immobile and patient as for some ile he had the hunters instinct highly developed ile he was not tile man to forsake a pool it if the fish did not immediately rise to hla his fly this was a game after ills his own heart lie he thought of po poor or fleming bradney overtaxed owing oming to the defection of enry scurrying here and there with his grave face and rather grand manner mander and smiled at ten lie was tired but sanguine at midnight he be began to huffer buffer from the hardness of the floor but the longer he waited ile he told himself the sooner would the quarry come into view it was nearly one when paul baxon entered ile he took a seat at the center table and put on it some small change and bills bridge winnings no doubt then he lighted a cigar and went to the door leading to his bedroom soon to reappear with a velvet smoking jacket it seemed to barnes that he ha paced up and down domn before the bookcase tor for hours then sud suddenly donly he went to the safe turned the well known combination swiftly and flung it open ile he seemed to be se searching archino feverishly tor for some one thing in ais its deep recesses very quietly barnes pushed open tile the oaken side of ills prison it made no sound then as noiselessly he emer emerged ed i ills his next move was to crawl to the shelter of the table here he felt safe ile he could sea se that baxon was baill searching stealthily the man who aho had been enry rose to hla his knees then he rose to his feet and came nearer inch by inch to the unconscious man ile he covered the last few intervening feet in a leap raiona head twisted sideways with tile the fearful and agonizing force of a blow oo on the jaw caught sight of a face wholly y unknown to him the disguise was palpable but sufficient clent he was thrown forward on the heavily padded lounge it was aas while he was lighting fighting for breath that ills his hands were tied behind him then a loop of rope was forced into his mouth and something pulled down over his head so BO that he be could see nothing next nest he be was dropped to the floor and pushed through a narrow door after that he was not molested but lie he could hear someone at the safe papers rustled drawers were opened then the steel doors swung to later hla his locked door was opened and shut after that for hours there was as blackness and cramp rage and despair TO BE CONTINUED |