| OCR Text |
Show mam sm , The Nystery of a Silent; Love i Chevalier WILLIAM LL QULUX (J author of -rue cLoro book," rrc- x4 ILLUSTRATIONS y C-l)-RMODE5ii COPr?'GtfT BY rUC SAfART- SfT l0lfSfilV CO XKTpft'' W 1 W -r-K6 SYf 'OPSIS. 11 Gordon Gross, dining aboard with Horn-hv. Horn-hv. the cm-lit Lola's nwm accidentally sees a tern photograph of a yoiins Rirl. That ninht the consul's safe is robbed. The police find that Hornby Is a fraud find the Lola's name n false one. In London Civjj s trapped nearly tu his death by a former servant, Olinto. Visit- j l'1 in lhimtrics Gross meets Muriel i I.elthcourt. Hornby appears and Muriel Introduces him as Martin Wood) oft'e. her father's friend. C.rem; sees a copv of the lorn photograph on the l.ola and Hurts j lhat the v.,,,,,.. i.. VSoodrolTe disappears. Gross discovers the body of a murdered woman in Uan-norh Uan-norh wood. The hotly disappears and In "s place is found the odv of Olinto. Muriel and Gross search Kannoch wood together. . and tin. I the bodv of Armi.la, Ollnto s wife. When the police so to the wood the body lias disappeared. In London Lon-don Gross meets Olinto. alive and well. Gross traces tlio vminjt eirl of the torn photosraph. and finds that she is Klma . H.-ath. niece of Baron Obers. who has laljen hot to Abo. Finland, and that she holds a secret alTectins WVodrofl'o. On his return to Rannoch Gross finds the I eithconrls Tied from Hvlton Gliater. who bad called there Ho soes to Abo. and "'or a tilt with the police chief. Is conducted con-ducted to Kajana. where ho finds Elma. Imprisoned. A sursieal operation has made nor deaf and dumb. He escapes with her. CHAPTER XI Continued. The unfortunate girl whom I was there to rescue drew back in fright against the wall for a single second, then, seeing that I had closed with the hulking fellow, she sprang forward, and with both hands seized the gun and attempted to wrest it from him. His fingers had lost the trigger, and he was trying ;o regain it to fire and so raise the al.irm. I saw this, and with an old trick learned at Uppingham I tripped hirj. so that he staggered and nearly feli, An oath escaped him. yet in that mo- i ment Elma succeeded in twisting the gun from his sinewy hands, which 1 now held with a strength begotten of a ! knowledge of my imminent peril. He i was huge and powerful, with a j sireugtn tar exceeding my own, yet I j had been reckoned a good wrestler at , T'ppingham. and now my knowledge of j that most ancient form of combat held me in good stead. He shouted for help. ! his deep, hoarse voice sounding along i the stone corridors. j As we were struggling desperately, i the English girl slipped past us with the carbine in her hand, and with a quick movement dragged open the heavy door that gave exit to the lake. 1 heard a splash, and saw that Elma no longer held the sentry's weapon in her hands. Then at the same moment J heard a voice outside cry in a Ijw tone: "Courage, excellency! Courage: j 1 will come and help you." j It was the faithful Finn, who had been awaiting me in the dee) shadow, and with a few strokes pulled his boat up to the narrow rickety ledge outside the door. "1 a.e the lady!" J succeeded in 1 f,n.'j.ns. in Russian. "Never mind: mo.' ai d I saw to my satisfaction that ' he guided Elma to step into the boat, j v. k.L h at that moment drifted past the ! little platform. ! struggled valiantlybut I was slow- ly b"ing vanquished. Mine was a light j lor life. A sudden idea .flashed across my mind, and I continued to struggle, i m the same time gradually forcing my ' enemy backward towards the door. He cursed and swore and shouted until. ' with a sudden and almost superhuman j effort, I tripped him, bringing his head ; into violent contact with the stone 1 lintel of the door. J There was the sound of the crash- inp of wood n.4 (hp rntti-n ntthnrm ' gave way, a loud splash, and he sank like a stone, for although I stood watching for him to rise, I could only distinguish the woodwork floating away with the current. As I stood there in horror at my deed of self-defense, the place suddenly sudden-ly resounded w ith shouts of alarm, and in the tower above me the great old rusty bell began to swing, ringing its brazen note across the broad expanse of waters. Behind me in the passage 1 saw a light and the glitler of arms. A.Bhot rang out, and a bullet whizzed past me. 'i hen I jumped, and nearly upset the boat, but taking an oar I lie-an lie-an to row for life, and as we drew uway from those grim, black walls the fire belched forth from three rifles. Again the guards fired upon us, but in the darkness their aim was faulty. LlihU appeared In the high windows; of the castle, and we could see thai 1he greatest commotion had been cam.' d by I In; escape of the prisoner. 'J lie i.if ii at the door in the tower were shouting to the inlrol boats, calling them to roc us down and capture us, but b. plying our nar.t rapidly we shot rtr:1' ' a-r-it-s the lake until we got undo i he deep Hl.adi.wii of the oppo Bite shore. Out In the renter of the lake we rould Just distinguish a long boat with three rowers going nv.iftly towards the enlrance to the river, w hi' h w e no desired to gain. , The guards were rowing rapidly, the oars sounding In the rowlocks, evidently evi-dently In the belief that we had made for the river, lint the Flnlander had Apparently foreseen (IiIh, and for that reason we wen; lying wife from observation obser-vation In the deep shadow of mi overhanging over-hanging tree. A gray mlttl whs slowly rising from tho water, and the Finn, noth ing II, hoped that It might favor 1 "If we disembark we shall be com pelled to make a detour of fully four days, in the forest, in order to pass the marshes," he pointed out in a low whisper. "But if we can enter the river we can go ashore anywhere and get by foot to some place where the lady can lie in hiding." "What do you advise? We are entirely en-tirely in your hands. The chief of police po-lice told me he could trust you." i tniiiK it will be best to risk it, he said in Russian after a brief pause "We will tie up the boat, and 1 will go along the bank and see what the guards are doing. You will remain here, and I shall not be seen. The rushes and undergrowth are higher further along. But if there is danger while 1 am absent get out and go straight, westward until you find the marsh, then keep along its banks due south, " and drawing up the boat to the bank the shrewd, big-boned fellow disappeared dis-appeared into the dark undergrowth. CHAPTER XII. Rescued and Lost. There were no signs yet of the break of day. My ears were strained to catch the dipping of an oar or a voice, but beyond the lapping of the water I beneath the boat there was no other I sound I took the hand of the fair- ! Mil v;Wv? z': 'd, I 13-3 PJ -VS0 rL2V-,-S With a Sudden and Almost Superhuman Su-perhuman Effort I Tripped Him. faced girl at my side and pressed it. In return she pressed mine. It was the only means by which we could exchange ex-change conlidrnces. She whom 1 had sought through all those months sat at my side, yet powerless to utter one single word. Suddenly I heard a stealthy footstep foot-step approarhing. and next moment a low voice spoke which I recognized hs tiiat of our friend, the Finn. "There Is danger, exeellenry-a grave danger!" he said in a low half i whisper. "Three beats are In search ' of us." ; And scarcely had he uttered those I words when there was a flash of a rifle from the haze, a loud report, and a I 1 bullot whizzed past just behind my , j head. I I "Quirk, excellency! Fly! while j there is yet time!" gasped the Finn. ' grasping my hand and half dragging I me from the boat, while I, in turn,! placed Elma upon the bank. I The three of us, heedless of the con , sequences, plunged forward into the Impenetrable darkness, just as our ; llerre pursuers ramo alongside where we had only a moment ago been seat- ! ed. They shouted w ildly as they sprang I to land after us. but oar guide, who had been born and bred In these for ests, knew well how to travel In a j circle, and how to conceal himself. It was a race for freedom nay, for very lite. So dark that we rould see before us J hardly a foot, we were compelled to plare our haiiil.i In front of us to avoid -collision wllli the big tree trunks, 1 I wlill' ever ami anon we found our- f Ices eiilijtig'ed In the mass of dead j (irrperp anil vegetable parasites that formed ilie dense undergrowth. Around us on every side we heard Ihe shouts anil curses of our pursuers, while above the rest wr heard an authoritative authorita-tive voire, evidently that, of a sergeant of the guard, cry : "Shoot Ihe man, but spare the woman! wom-an! The colonel wants her buck. Don't let her escape! We shall be well rewarded. re-warded. Ho keep on, eonmidrs! Mono i'd"inmink I ! " Bui. Ihe trembling girl beside Inn heard nothing, and perhaps Indeed It was best lhat she rould not hear. It was an exciting chase In thn darkness, dark-ness, ii h .we gradually circled round our prisoners, for we knew not into what treacherous marsh we might fall. Once we saw afar through the trees the light of a lantern held by . raurd, and already the sweet-faced girl beside be-side me seemed tired and terribly fanned. fa-nned. At last, breathless, we halted to listen. We were already in sight of the gray mist where luy the silent lake that held so many secrets. There was not a sound. We crept along the water's wa-ter's edge, until in the gray light we could distinguish two enfpty boats that of the guards and our own. We were again at the spot where we had disembarked. "Let us row to the head of the lake." suggested the Finn. "We may then land and escape them," And a moment mo-ment later we were all three in the guards' boat, rowing with all our might under the deep shadow of the bank northward, In the opposite direction direc-tion to the town of Nystad. I think we must have rowed several miles, for ere we landed again, upon a low. flat and barren shore, the first gray streak of day was showing in the east Elma noticed it, and kept her great brown eyes fixed upon it thoughtfully It was 'the dawn for her the dawn if I a new life. Our eyes tin i ; she smiled j at me. and then gazed again eastward, with silent meaning. Having landed, we drew the boat up and concealed it in the undergrowth so that the .guards, on searching, should not know the direction we had I taken, and then we went straight on northward across the low-lying lands. ! to where the forest showed dark j against the morning gray. The mist I had now somewhat cleared, but to dis- ! cover a path in a forest forty miles j wide is a matter of considerable dilli- j culty, and for hours we wandered on : and on, but alas! always in vain. j Faint and hungry, yet we still kept j courage. Fortunately we found a little , spring, and all three of us drank ea- I gerly with our hands. But of food we ' hsd nothing, save a small piece of j hard rye bread which the Finn had in his pocket, the remains of his evening meal, and this we gave to Elma. w ho. : half famished, ate it quickly. j How many miles we trudged I have' no idea. Eima's torn shoe gave her t considerable trouble, and noticing her limping. I induced her to sit down while 1 took it ofl. hoping to be able, to mend it. but. having unlaced it, I saw ijiat upon her stocking was a large patch of congealed blood, where her foot itself had also been cut. I I managed to beat the nails of the shoe I with a stone, so that its sole should i I not be lost, and she readjusted it. ! allow ing me to lac,e it up for her and smiling the w hile. j Forward we trudged, ever forward. J across that enormous forest w here the myriad tree trunks presented the same dismal scene everywhere, a forest untrodden un-trodden save by wild, half-savage lum-i lum-i bernieii. My only fear was that we should be compelled to spend another nisht without shelter, and what lis effect might be upon the delicately roared girl whose hand 1 held tenderly in mine. Surely my position was a strange one. Her terrible affliction seemed to cause her to be entirely ' dependent upon me. Suddenly, just as the yellow ;un-light ;un-light overhead had bosun to fade, the Hut-faced Finn, whose name he had told ii ic was Felix Fstlander, cried joyfully: "Polushaite! Look, excellency ! Ah! The read at hist!" Anil as we glanced before us we ,saw that his quick, w elltruined eyes had 'ded away in the twilisht. at j some d! it: nee, a path traversing our vist.i among the tree trunks Ella:, made a gesture of renewed hope, i.inl all three of is redoubh d our 1 pace, expecting evt ry moment to come upon some log hut, Ihe owner el which would surely give us hospitality for t the night. But darkness ranie on .quickly, and yet we still pushed for ward, l'oor Lima was limping, and I I knew that her Injured foot was paining pain-ing her, even though she could tell me , nothing. At last we saw before us a light shining in a window, and five minutes later Felix was knocking at the door, and asking in Finnish the occupant to give hospitality to a lady lost In the fore" We he.xft'. - low growl like a null tered Imprecation within, and when the floor opened there stootl upon the, threshold a tall, bearded, muscular muscu-lar old fellow In n dirty red shirt, with a big revolver shining In his hand. A quick glance at us satisfied him that we were not thieves, and he Invited vis In while Felix explained that we had landed from ihe hike, and our boat having drifted away we had been com pelled to lake lo Ihe woods. The man heard the Finn's picturesque story, and then said something to me which Felix translated Into Russian. "Your excellency Is welcome to all the poor fare he has. He gives up his bed In the room yonder to ihe lady, so lhat alio may rest He is honored by your excellency's pies epro " And while he was making Ibis e pi -million Ihe wood culler stirred the ted embers whereon a big pot Was si in tnerlng. and sending forth an ap peilzlng odor, nnil In five nilniiles we were nil three silting down to a slew of capercailzie, with a foaming Hht beer as a fitting beverainv After we had finished our meal 1 asked the sturdy old fellow for a pencil, pen-cil, bill the nearest thing he possessed was a slick of thick charcoal, and with lhat II was surely difficult to eominu-nlrale eominu-nlrale wllh our fair companion. Therefore There-fore she rose, gave me her hand, bowed smilingly, and Ihen panned Into the Inner room and closed the door, while wo threw ourselves wearily upon the wooden benches and Hlept soundly. Suddenly, howuver, at early dawu, we w ere startled by a loud banging at the door, the clattering of hoofs, and authoritative shouts in Russian. The old wood cutter sprang up, and, looking look-ing through a chink in the heavy shutters, shut-ters, turned to us with blanched face. , whispering breathlessly: "The police! What can they want of me?" "Open!" shouted the horseman outside. out-side. "Open in the name of his majesty maj-esty !" Felix made a dash for the door of the inner room, where Elma had retired, re-tired, but next second he reappeared, gasping in Russian: "Excellency! Why. the door is open! the lady has gone!" "Gone!" I cried, dismayed, rushing i.ntfl the little room, where I found the truckle conch empty and the door leading lead-ing outside wide open. She had actually actu-ally disappeared! The police again battered at the opposite op-posite door, threatening loudly to break it in if it were not opened at once, whereupon the old wood cutter drew the bolt and admitted them. Two 1 will , Mffid h i - 1 A Tall, Bearded, Muscular Old Fellow, With a Big Revolver. big. hulking fellows in heavy riding reals and swortis strode in, while two others remained mounted outside, holding hold-ing the horses. "Your names?" demanded one of the fellows, glancing at us as we stood together in expectation. Our host told them his name, and a-k d why they w ished, to enter - "We are searching for a woman who has escaped from Kajana." was Ihe reply. "Have you seen any woman here'" "No." responded the wood cutler "We never see any woman out in these w ords." "vvho is your chief?" I inquired, as a sudden thought occurred to me. "MelnikoiT. at llelsingfors." "Then Ibis is iut in the district of Abo?" "No. But what difference does it make ? Who are you ?" "Gordon Gregg, British subject," I replied 'And you are the drosky driver fiom Abo." n iiuu ket the foliow. turning turn-ing to Felix. Exactly as I thought You are the pair w iio bribed .the nun at K.ijuna. and succeeded in releasing the English w oman. In the name of the rzar. I urn st you! " The old wood cutter turned pale us death. We certainly were In grave peril, for I foresaw tie- danger ol tailing tail-ing iiuo the bands of Baron iiberg. Ihe ISt rangier of Finland. Yet we bail a satisfaction in knowing that, he Ihe mystery what II might, l-.imu nan rsraped. "And on what barge, pi ay. do win presume to arrest me?" 1 inquired as coolly as 1 i culd. "For aiding a prisoner lo escape." "Then 1 wish lo say. lirst. that oil have no power lo arrest me: and. sec-jondly. sec-jondly. lhat If ou wish me lo give tin satisfaction. 1 am perieitly wit Hug to do so. providins ou first nc company me down to Abo" j "It Is ouside my district." growled j the lellow. but I saw that his hesitancy was due to his uncertainly us lo who I ii aily might be. "I d'Sitc you to take tue lo Ihe Chief of I'olbe Boranskl. who will (make nil the explanation necessary l nlil we bae tin iu!eriew witli him I rehire lo gie any iuloi mat ion ron crrning ui srlf." I said. "Bui on ha i' a pu -'-port ?" I drew it from my pocket, savinc. "ll 'i'oe'i, I think Ihal my niiiur is I u but 1 h:t e told von." The lellow, standing nslrido. trad it. Mini banded it bar'; to me. "Wbrre Is tlii; e 111 a ii '.'" hr demand cd "Tell me " "I don't know ." w as Ihe reply "Berhaps on will tell me." be said, turning to Ihe old wood cutler with a idnlsler i ipesHlon upon his fare. "Ke-meniber. "Ke-meniber. Hiicc ''jgltivcs are (fond in your ho'ioe, and you lire- liaole lo arrrsl." "I don'' Know - Indeed I don't!" pro lesled the old fellow, trembling be nenth till- (dllcer's threat. Like all his class, he feared the police, and held I hem In dread. "Ah. you don't remember, I suppose!" sup-pose!" hn smiled. "Well, perhaps your memory will bo refreshed by n month or two In nrlsou. Vou am also arrested." "But, your excellency, I " "Enough!" blared the bristly officer. "You have given shelter to conspirators. conspira-tors. You know the penalty In Finland Fin-land for that, surely?" "But these gent'.v!!".;n are surely not conspirators!" the poor old man protested. pro-tested. "His excellency is English, and the English do not plot." "We shall see afterwards," he laughed. A dozen times was the old wood cutter cut-ter questioned, but he stubbornly refused re-fused to admit that he had ever set eyes upon Elma. I knew, of course, by what we had overheard said by the prison guards, that the governor general gen-eral was extremely anxious to recapture recap-ture the girl with whom, I frankly admit, ad-mit, I had now so utterly fallen in love. And it appeared -that no effort was being spared to search for us. But what could be the truth of Eima's disappearance? dis-appearance? Had she fled of her own accord, or had she oW tnore fallen a victim to some ingenious and dastardly das-tardly plot. That gray dress of hers might. I recollected, betray her if she dared to venture near any town, while her affliction would, of itself, be plain evidence of identification. All I hoped was that she had gone and hidden herself in the forest somewhere in the vicinity lo wait until the danger of recapture had passed. For as long as possible I succeeded in delaying our departure, but at length, just as the yellow sun' began to struggle through the gray clouds, we were all three compelled to depart in sorrowful procession. At nine o'clock I stood in the big. bare ollire of Michael Boranski. where only a short time before we had had such a heated argument. As soon as the chief of police had entered, he recognized me under arrest, and dismissed dis-missed my guards with a wave of the hand all save the officer who had brought nie there. He listened to the officer's story of my arrest without saying a word. (TO UK CONTINUED) |
