Show elk T DI CA MV on AUTHORS of J THE LIGHTNING CONDUCTOR ETC dramatized PRODUCED in PICTURES by THE viTA GRAPH COMPANY con pAny COPYRIGHT 1316 FIRST EPISODE the car and his majesty it was such an unusually beautiful and striking car that everyone looked at it then turned to io look again this was what christopher race had bad counted upon good old scarlet runner I 1 lie he solid said amaie as he drove good old girl youre making your youn impression slowly the red car moved up regent street as far as oxford circus where lt turned to roll back like some great splendid beast lin pricing cing the length of 0 a vast cage he drove almin I 1 ae 0 o was dressed like a gentled gent lem lew 0 ii i t L la III the glorified livery of a chaam the white ele electric ciric light was full now of silhouettes of men in evening dress who darted here and there I 1 alertly like small dark fish in a great globe of sparkling writer water twice in the minute the motorists hand was raised in invitation to someone whose eye s reached his across the chasm of roadway out but always with disappio disappointing int results no one responded to his agreeable agre pable signals and lie he arrived at the corner of charles street without stopping once in this quiet thoroughfare of respectable spec table private hotels and better class lodging houses was draw drawn up an automobile handsome enough to rival the red car it was dark green in color and it stood silent before n dis creet acet looking doorway the chauffeur dressed in a smart but inconspicuous bottle green livery with brown leather collar colla had left his seat opened one of the side doors of the bonnet and was anxiously tickling the carburetor with his hand christopher race had not meant to enter quiet charles street which apparently ly JR rold of nothing to offer him but at sight of the car in distress he paused and gently swung beung round lound the corner from regent street As he slowed down to pass the green car the discreet door opened and a gentleman tame came out on the pavement never before had the young man in the red car car behold beheld that face in the flesh save once when as a little boy he had been taken to a grand pageant to gaze in awe at those same clean cut features or others exactly like thom them under a glittering silver helmet i could it be the real face he asked himself with a quickening throb of excitement then he remembered reading a day or two ago that it might presently be expected in england on an all unofficial visit during which for alt all save its distinguished friends it desired to be for a moment christopher race forgot all about his car his errand with the car and his interest in the car that hat was disabled but the first words spoken by the gentleman with the shining hat and neat overcoat reminded him forcibly of nil all three no better success asked a clear voice in perfect english enriched by a slight foreign accent 1 I am very sorry indeed sir apologized the chauffeur but I 1 gm fa Y Z an 1 I will ride with the drivell DrI verl been able yet to make out the matters matter something ling wrong wooing with the carburetor or the ignition vrn im late already broke in tho the gentleman visibly bolstering up ills his patience lt it was its this moment that the driver of the red car chose for or making his habitual habit ifill gesture which he accompanied with the usual inviting smile and questioning lift of the eyebrows instantly the th keen gaze of the man with the waxed mustache fixed his bis why do dodou you hold up your hand inquired the clear tones with the till accent 1 I hold up my hand band because im plying for hire answered christopher race ell eh plying for hire with that car you are joking I 1 suppose not at all said christopher race unless life Is a joke ill smout out to gain a livelihood I 1 have no license to live but I 1 have a license to drive 5 if you 1 ou would care to see it you look like a gentleman remarked the str stranger auger CI 1 I almost believe I 1 am one rl replied plied christopher 1 I should be delighted to think that you are right very well said the other 1 I will engage you for the evening you can take me where I 1 wish to go and watt walt if f my chauffeur can bring my ca car round later you can go but lit in any case you shall have the same money what are your charges for the entire evening five guineas s said a id christopher good that Is settled the gentleman stepped forward and the owner of the red car and the chauffeur of the green oue one both s sprang p rang to open the door for him but he waved them back 1 I shall sit with wih the driver he announced noun ced with the air of one accustomed to quick decisions and never to have them gainsaid gain said do you know desmond house lie he asked when lie he was in ills his place and christopher ready to start christopher replied quietly that he did know desmond house then drive me there if you please and as quickly fuiell ly as you can said his employer 1 I am late in keeping an appointment and yet t hae added 1 I 11 am in not sorry that with the best driving we shall be at least twenty minutes in reaching desmond house do you take my mean meaning yes but you pay me the compliment of feeling some slight curl curiosity olty as to my reason for touting with my car in the streets for passengers suggested christopher you have it I 1 should be pleased if you would tell me how such a strange thing came about but of course if you do not choose P why not laughed the young man you shall ano know W the whole story if it amuses you and not a penny extra over the fare the trouble Is that be disappointed for except in one particular its a very ordinary tale suppose that you begin with the one since you are so obliging said passenger it Is that if I 1 had failed to earn at least the sum of five guineas before twelve tonight nothing could prevent me from losing another sum amounting approximately to one hundred and severity five thousand pounds you are right agreed the other that one particular Is not ordinary he invited christopher to go on with the story the hundred and seventy five thousand pounds or thereabouts are my uncles said he also a rather nice house in the country and a few other things which I 1 was brought up to belleve believe would eventually be mine but my uncle heard stories about my life which please him and they were rill all true so he sent for me and all my deceitful meekness and sweetness of manner was of no use he saw through tile me and told me I 1 was an incorrigible young scoundrel also he be told me tits his plan for my future it was to cut down my allowance from eight to one hundred pounds it a year just enough to io keep me fed clothed land and housed in decency which in his opinion and in mine when I 1 came to think of it was more than I 1 dej j served As for the bulk of ills his money my uncle had not quite made up his mind where to leave it the one thing lie he thought he had decided upon was not to leave it to me 1 I heard him through to the end and then proposed a substitute plan 11 I 1 admitted the young scoundrel andrel but denied the incorrigible I 1 said I 1 thought that he might give me a chance to show that I 1 had a backbone As proof of its existence I 1 re fused the allowance asking my uncle to keep his money and reserve his judgment said I 1 if within a year im a reformed character that is if ive shown that im able abie not only to make my own way in the world but to make it like a gentleman will you reconsider and not leave the family house and the money away from the last representative of your name i all right said lie he its a bargain but I 1 dont believe you can do it 1 I believed I 1 could so I 1 sold the furniture books pictures ules and ornaments in my chambers and got a tidy enough sum I 1 also sold my motor car borwhat for what I 1 could ebule get and bought another for what I 1 hoped to get already I 1 was a fair driver but I 1 disappeared ils for months from public life and learned in a good school for chauffeurs how to be a first rate one and an all round practical mechanic na as well the end of the trial year and the end of my money were drawing to a close when to pile pellon on ossa I 1 had a letter from my uncle fie le wished to know how much I 1 had earned during my mk probation nothing yet ct said 1 I in my answer then came a wire if 1 I could no not tear earn n and prave prove to him that I 1 had earned by my own exertion tit at least the small sum of five guineas gul neni before the years cauthe end the bargain was dr 0 lt und and lie he need wait no longer before deciding on what worthy institution lie he would bestow tits his money that wire hassent was sent on two days ngo ago from my last lodgings I 1 nearly missed getting it but when I 1 did get gee it K input I 1 put lit bildo ida in my lily pocket started out procured a license turned my beautiful scarlet runner into a con vey veince arice for public convenience and had bad had two to hours bad luck when I 1 ran across you sou I 1 hope I 1 bored you ou on the contrary you have entertained me replied the other but we are in kensington already are we not hot it seems impossible in three minutes I 1 shall land you at desmond house said christopher Chil stopher you are at my disposal for the alie evening I 1 believe said passenger as scarlet runner entered the drive and slowed down for its approach to the door my car may come or it may riot not in any case I 1 wish you to wait and there la Is a question I 1 could ask only of a gentleman I 1 have shown some curiosity la in regard to you do you let allate te 1 I have no curiosity said Chrls christopher to you menn mean P 1 I mean whatever you would prefer me to mean sir thank you im sure you are as discreet fis as you are original au revoir 11 ten minutes passed may be and the thoughts of christopher race had glided from the affairs of his late passenger to ills his own ile he was wondering when lie he might expect to get tits his dinner when the one thing which of all others ho he did not expect happened close to scarlet runner appealed tho the figure which a few minutes ago had been ceremoniously ushered into the house surprised but hiding surprise at sight of of the guest of the evening unescorted escorted d and out of doors alien he ought to have been engaged with hla his oysters ou christopher sprang from his sent seat and awaited orders saunders hotel charles street pall mall quick 1 said the crisp voice with tile the foreign accent christopher drove on in a reflective mood and at a pace to suit it until hl he had reached charles street there at tho the door which had given him his fare and his adventure he stopped go in and inquire if lord thanet and lady ivy de lisle have ame come ll 11 tile the foreign voice directed brusquely face made no comment on these instructions but that was because lie he had bad the habits of a man of the world within lie he was excited and curious for the earl of thanet and his daughter were distant cousins of christopher race and naturally lie he would have liked to know the why and wherefore of his maje interest la in their movements his majesty had a consort to whom he was devoted and he was not to be tempted to a flirtation even by such a beauty as lord Tha nets twenty year old daughter who had been one of the successes es of last season but then a man highly placed Is occasionally unselfish enough to interest himself in a girl for the sake of another man who needs an advocate ado cate and there were two men whose names christopher had hearol coupled with lady ivy de deLl lisles either might have persuaded tills this sovereign to plead his cause with the girls father for both could claim his country as the land of their birth one was baron von hess the enormously rich inventor of the latest quick firing gun adopted by the triple alliance the other was young max lina whom christopher had known slightly and admired greatly at oxford the son of a notorious socialist who had adopted england for a country when banished from his own A year or two ago there had been a rapprochement between max the elder and an outraged monarch and a place in the diplomatic service for young max mas had been held out as an olive branch As christopher started to obey orders lie he hoped that this mysterious visit had to do with max mas land and ivy de lisle ills his hand was on the door when a call from his employer gave him pause said the great man 1 I left a letter here for let rue me see was it for lord th thanet anet or ills his daughter one of the two I 1 really forget to which I 1 addressed it that letter I 1 want back I 1 have changed my mind and prefer to write a different one if lord thanet has not arrived or it if he has arrived but has not yet read the letter I 1 wish to have it again should you learn on the other liand hand that the letter has alre already fady been received I 1 will send a message christopher went in somewhat bewildered wil dered but bui knowing that somehow lie he must succeed in accomplishing his bis errand in the entrance hall stood an old man had and a girl obsequiously attended by all the hotel authorities from the elderly manager down to the still more elderly headwaiter the mans back was turned to christopher but there was no mistaking the silver sheen of the hair or the soldierly set of the shoulders shoulders the girl however faced the front door and looked up from a hunch bunch of letters which she held in her hand as the man entered christopher was only a poor relation a more mere forty second cousin and moreover was under the ban of family disapproval nevertheless lady ivy gave him a lovely smile of 0 surprised recognition why fai father ther its christopher I 1 she said naughty cousin kitt kit I 1 have you ou come here to see us 1 I came to see if you were here 11 lie he replied lint hat in hand for her and for lord thanet who had only the gliot of a smile with no emphasizing dil dimples Ples 1 I 1 was sent seat lie be added adud by it gentleman who not long ago left a letter berto to await your arrival lord Tha nets eyet eyes hushed surprise do you yau nican mean that tits his ina majesty jesty has haa asked you to tako take him hack back his letter lie has changed tits his mind it seems and will write another lord Tha nets proud old face flushed flashed faintly give we me tho the letter ivy lie ho said 1 I must see him if lie is here 11 Chris christopher took the letter and carried it out to ills iiii passenger who fill all but snatched it in ills his eagerness good I 1 exclaimed the mysterious one I 1 now let us get away lut but sir SIP suld said christopher lord thanet has cot come no and the gentleman in the hastily examined the em envelope elope it Is still unopened lie muttered lord thanet has not yet had time to read lead the letter lie wishes to know if lie way may have the honor of comi coming ng out to P no sali said ills majesty imperatively then with less abruptness go back give lord thanet my lily compliments and say that I 1 regret not having tho the time to speak with him this evening as J I 1 have an important engagement for which I 1 am already in danger of being late ile he did not doubt that the import ant engagement for which tits his fare had declared himself in danger of being late was a continuation of the unfortunate dinner party at desmond house therefore the order which came from the gave him a double surprise the wood no thoroughfare street hammersmith the words struck sharply on ears ills majesty was not going back to i the dinner party he was going to the house of max mas lind land the elder max lind the long ago banished socialist max senior was away from home and out of england christopher race had read only a few days ago in III the paper that the famous socialist had gone to america on a lecturing tour and young max mas so far as christopher knew was somewhere in the east on a diplomatic mission for ills his |