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Show 1 T . 0 By Richard Parker ! V I "Ul"! Q) $"13 TJCS' Roi Cooper Megrue g i Xh Jl iLALJL iL, JLJL "UNDER COVER" g Sy and Co-Authorof iH Copyright, 1916. By The Mictulay Company 'IT PAYS TO ADVERTISE" CHAPTER XIX. Continued. 14 "What a delightful triangle we present!" pre-sent!" Streetman remarked with a nasty smile. He adopted the pose of forgetting the revolver in Captain Redmond's Red-mond's hand. And he moved, tentatively, tenta-tively, to see what 'would happen. He found out quickly. "I wouldn't move If I were you," Larry told him sharply. "No?" Streetman inquired with a sarcastic smile. "Permit me to point out that when someone enters this room " "When someone does, if you say one word, or do one thing, I'll kill you so help me God I will!" Larry promised him. But the threat was far from alarming alarm-ing the fellow. "Afterward, you and the lady will follow me," he pointed out to his enemy. "Perhaps!" Larry granted. "But you'll go first. Remember that! If they find me in this uniform, I'm done for anyhow, so I've nothing to lose. . . You have. You don't want to die. You're a coward or you -wouldn't have treated her like that cheated, robbed her!" "It was a way to serve my country and my country is above all. For nothing noth-ing else do I care," he announced piously. His hypocritical answer roused Ethel to ineffable scorn. "Why, be isn't a German!" she scoffed. "He's a Russian in the. German Ger-man pay." "A Russian, eh?" said Larry. "What If I am?" Streetman retorted. retort-ed. "I am loyal to Germany." "So you're a traitor, too a traitor to your own country!" Larry taunted him. "A renegade! Why, you're a disgrace dis-grace even to that uniform. You've got a yellow streak, Strassman, and that's what'll save us." The telephone sergeant stepped in side tne aoor, in ooeaience to carry's late command. Streetman - was between be-tween the fellow and Larry. And the soldier did not see Captain Redmond's revolver. "It is fifteen minutes " he began. But Streetman gave him no time to finish. fin-ish. " "Sergeant!" he exclaimed eagerly. "Remember, you go first!" Larry warned him in an undertone. And to the "noncom" he said, "You've interrupted inter-rupted us, sergeant, on some important business. There have been no messages." mes-sages." . The sergeant saluted and retired. "Yes, Captain Karl!" he had said as he turned. "So you are Captain Karl!" Street-tnan Street-tnan gasped. He wondered what further fur-ther revelations would take place. "Now hand over your military papers!" pa-pers!" Larry ordered him. "I will not!'' "Yes, youwill! A German would rather die than betray his country to the enemy; but you're not a German, you dirty coward: You're not man enough to stand up and take your medicine. Come on!" After that Streetman reached for his papers. But Larry stopped him suddenly. sud-denly. He reflected that possibly the fellow carried another revolver. "No, on second thought, I'll get 'em myself,,: be said. And he quickly appropriated ap-propriated Streetmau's treasured documents. doc-uments. Among them he found a map of the British intrenchments. "You've marked Trench 27!" Larry exclaimed. ."What mischief have you afoot for Trench 27?" Streetman dived for Larry then. But Captain Redmond was ready for him. He threw the unhappy rascal into a chair. And thereupon Street-man Street-man thought better of his intentions. Handing the revolver to Ethel, Larry bade her keep their prisoner covered. And then the resourceful Irishman proceeded pro-ceeded to bind his captive. "When someone comes in to find me like this, what do you think will happen hap-pen to you?" Streetman snarled. "Nothing!" was the captain's blithe answer. "For I'll be proving with my own English papers I'll say I found on yon, that you're an English spy, and that I captured you for the fatherland." father-land." "You dog!" the other cried. He was thorousrhlv alarmed now. ns be saw the plausibility of the Irishman's ruse. " "Us best you don;t talk too much, either," Larry cautioned him humorously. humor-ously. And he proceeded to gag the helpless man. Then, to Ethel's surprise, sur-prise, no less than the reuegnde Russian's, Rus-sian's, he opened the trapdoor and dragged Streetman. whom he had tied, seated, to the chair, across the room toward the stairs that led to the wine cellar. It was only a few seconds' work to lower his victim to the bottom of the short flight. As the chair bumped from step to step, Larry could not refrain re-frain from a parting Jest. " 'Tis many a long day, I'll warrant, since you rode In a jaunting car," he remarked. CHAPTER XX. Little Jeanne Squares Accounts. With the venomous Streetman safely disposed of, Captain Redmond swiftly shuffled through the packet of papers he had tilched from the fellow. "Ah! His pass!" he exclaimed joy ously. And then he gave an exclamation exclama-tion of surprise. "A copy of their orders!" or-ders!" he exulted. "The whole plan against the British army!" Larry said breathlessly as he scanned one of the documents. "The crown prince is to march against Paris while Von Kluck 'is flanking us from Tournay and Le Cateau. If they succeed, it will clear the road to Paris. ... Do you see what It means?" he asked Ethel. "It means everything if we can only let the British know," she answered. "Now take his car that's outside you must know how to drive it," Larry said. "His pass will get you through to Tourville." "Oh, Larry! Come with me! She could not bear the thought of leaving him. "The pass says 'For bearer!' 'Tis no good for two. I'd not get twenty yards till I was stopped. . . ' . You must go alone for England!" he urged her. "Then I've got to," she said. "That's the brave girl!" he praised hef warmly. "And listen! At Tourville Tour-ville go to -the mayoii's house. Waft for me. Somehow tonight under cover of darkness I'll manage to get there to you, and there we'll find the English lines together. . . . Now, hurry!" he added. "For every second counts for England." There was no time even for the shortest goodby. But Ethel took one fleeting look into his honest, loving eyes. Then he opened the door for her and she left him. Captain Redmond, as he turned away from the door that shut even the view of her departure away from him, found that the German sergeant had slipped in by means of another entrance. en-trance. Larry told him there had been no messages, and a look of vast relief came over the gallant Irishman's face as he heard the cough of a motor starting start-ing outside. There followed the notes of a horn, which grew rapidly fainter. And he knew then that Ethel had made her escape unhindered. "Do you know which is my room?" he asked the sergeant. . The fellow told him; and Larry was on the point of leaving him when Lieutenant Lieu-tenant Baum brought word that Major von Brenig wished to see Captain Karl at once. "Any news, sergeant?" the lieutenant lieuten-ant inquired, after Larry had gone. "None, Herr Lieutenant." "What Is that?" Baum asked presently. pres-ently. A curious, persistent tapping caught their attention, coming, apparently, appar-ently, from beneath their feet. "Why it is the code!" the sergeant exclaimed. "What does it say?" Baum continued. contin-ued. The sergeant listened intently, while he spelled out the signal. "Help!" he Interpreted. "Oh it is the woman spy," the lieu- "The Whole Plan Against the British Army!" tenant said contemptuously. And their interest ceased for the time being. But soon the alert ear of the sergeant heard something that startled him. "It is from one of our men." he declared, de-clared, as the tapping continued. "He has the password." "Then open the door, quickly!" Baum commanded. The sergeant obeyed, and, - looking down into the cellar he cried: "Gott in Himmel! It Is Herr Captain Strassman, bound and gagged!" In a few moments they had released Streetman. "I was taken at a great disadvantage disadvan-tage and unexpectedly attacked by an Englishman," Streetman told them, in response to their anxious questioning. "Have either ot you seen Captain Karl?" "He Is with Major von Brenig," Lieutenant Baum replied. A sinister gleam came into Street-man's Street-man's eyes. "Lieuteuant, go to Captain Karl at once. Say that someone is here with a message from Tourville," he said. "And as soon as Captain Karl leaves the room, inform Major von Brenig that I alone, single-handed, have captured cap-tured an English spy." Already Street-man Street-man was gloating over his intended reprisal. re-prisal. Before executing his errand Lieutenant Lieuten-ant Baum at Streetman's request handed bis revolver to the spy from the Wilhelmstrasse. "Sergeant send for a military automobile. auto-mobile. Have it come here at once. I have a little matter at Tourville to attend to, personally," Streetman said. As he lay bound in the cellar he had heard almost every word of Larry's instructions to the pseudo Madame de Lorde. "Your hands up this time!" Street-man Street-man snapped the moment Captain Redmond Red-mond stepped inside the public room of the Lion d'Or. Larry obeyed with lightning alacrity. alac-rity. And he gaze.d at Streetman open-mouthed. open-mouthed. 'IHow the devil did you get loose?" he asked. "You are going to die, my friend," the other said. He was in no mood for footless explanations. Essentials were all that interested him at the moment. mo-ment. "Well, go ahead, and hurry!" Larry-said Larry-said somewhat bitterly. It was hard to lose, when he had come so near to winning the game. " 'Tis not so pleasant pleas-ant stadin' here waitin' for d"jth as you seem to think," he told Strtman. But his enemy was not yet ready. "No, you shall not die as a soldier, but as a spy," he threatened. "I could have shot you as you came in that door, but I wanted to give you a chance." "This is a hell of a chance!" Larry retorted. ' "At least your information will never reach the English," Streetman informed him. "I have sent for a motor mo-tor and I shall find the lady of Tourville. Tour-ville. And as you die, I want you to take with you the thought that not only has that lady " What taunt lay upon the fellow's lips Larry never knew. For the moment, Captain Redmond forgot his own danger dan-ger as he caught sight of a small, light figure that crept up behind Street-man. Street-man. It was Jeanne Christophe but not the quaint little Jeanne whom Charlie Brown had known. Pale, intense, in-tense, silent, she stole up to Street-man Street-man like some avenging fate: In her hand gleamed a long knife. And it was already raised when Larry gave a smothered shout. "Look out, Streetman! Look out behind be-hind you!" he called. But Henry Streetman only smiled complacently. "Oh, that is an old trick!" he answered. an-swered. "I do not take my eyes from you." . . Something stayed Jeanne's hand even as it lingered in the air. Perhaps she quailed at the thought of what she was about to do. Perhaps it was that she paused to gloat over her victim. vic-tim. "My God, girl! What are you doing? do-ing? No not like that! Give him a chance!" Larry begged her. But little Jeanne did not seem to hear him. "Very dramatic!" Streetman said with a contemptuous curl of his lip. He was positive that Larry was shamming. sham-ming. And then Jeanne Christophe struck. With all her strength she sheathed the knife in Streetman's back. He gave one groan and toppled forward for-ward upon the floor at Larry's feet. "What have you done?'.' Larry cried, horrified at the tragedy. Little Jeanne was quite calm. She was no longer frightened. Something akin to an ecstasy filled her with a strange elation. Her great eyes seemed not to see Captain Redmond. And with her white, pathetic face raised heavenward she said "He killed my father. ... A life for a life! . . . Father, you are avenged." Larry took one swift look at that figure huddled upon the floor. Street-man Street-man had not moved. "Hurry, girl, hurry! They'll shoot yon!" he said. Her answer filled him with amazement. amaze-ment. "No, m'sieu, they will not," she told him. "They will think you did it I was there listening. He has sent a soldier to Inform them that he has captured cap-tured you, Captain Karl." "And the girl did he tell him about the girl at Tourville?" Larry asked her. while a horrid fear clutched his throat. "No, m'sieu he did not. He had sent for an automobile to go there. He would attend to that matter himself." Captain Redmond breathed a prayer of thanksgiving. Ethel was still safe. Jeanne Christophe urged him to hide. But Larry's first thoughts were of the little Belgian girl. Hurriedly he directed di-rected her to go to Tourville, where Madame de Lorde would aid her. "Tell madame not to wait for me," Larry said, "but to go on alone." Even as he spoke he heard footsteps. "Say J j have escaped that I went that way!" he whispered to Jeanne, pointing down the road in the opposite direction from that in which Tourville lay. Then Captain Redmond crouched behind the counter, where Ethel had successfully hidden. When the major and his men found the stricken spy in a heap on the floor Jeanne Christophe explained that as she came into the room another officef had pulled out a knife and stabbed Streetman. The man was not dead. As his friends bent over him he raised himself him-self on his elbow and tried to speak. He Gave One Groan and Toppled For-ward. For-ward. But he could only , mutter a few disconnected dis-connected words. "The English spy? Where did he go?" Von Brenig asked him. By a mighty effort Streetman managed man-aged to answer him. "Tourville!" he said. The Germans lost no time in calling call-ing out the guard. They did not intend in-tend to let their quarry escape. And they at once rushed out of the inn and hurried down the street. Finding himself alone in the room, Captain Redmond picked up the telephone tele-phone the instrument that Ethel had tried so unsuccessfully to use. "Hello, hello! This is Courvoisier!" he said to the person who immediately answered him in French. "They're marching by the left fork, at midnight!" mid-night!" He dropped the telephone then. And he glanced at Streetman, who lay quite still. "Trench 27 eh?" Larry said reflectively. Already he was altering his plans to suit the requirements re-quirements of the occasion. Then his hand traveled swiftly to his revolver butt as a German soldier-chauffeur threw open the door and saluted. "What is it?" Larry asked. "An officer here ordered an automobile. auto-mobile. For whom is it?" "Ah, yes it is for me." Captain Redmond said. He remembered then that Streetman had sent for a car, with the Intention of following Ethel. "To Tourville?" the .driver inquired, as they both turned toward the door. "No! To the British lines!" the Irishman answered. He sprang into the car. And the driver promptly engaged en-gaged his clutch. "Drive like hell!" Captain Redmond cried. The chauffeur proceeded to follow those instructions so far as his limitations limi-tations would allow him. With mulller wide open, they went tearing up the road. And back there In the Lion d'Or Streetman struggled to rise. Failing that, he endeavored to drag himself to the door. But he was not equal to the ordeal. lie could only murmur "Stop him! Stop him!" in a weak voice. "And since there was none to hear him, he soon ceased his frantic efforts and lay quietly in the middle CHAPTER XXI. An Interrupted Game of Cards. While the oncoming horde of Germans Ger-mans bad been pushing their way through Belgium, smashing forts, burning villages, terrorizing the peace-loving peace-loving inhabitants of that little country, coun-try, the French and English had done what they could to prepare for the impending shock of the Teuton attack. The worst of It was, the German were ready, and the allies were not. The British expeditionary force numbered num-bered but a handful of men, ,'ompared to the hosts from across the Rhine. But that ."thin red line of 'eroes" only they were uniformed in khaki now set about its superhuman task with bulldog determination. They had swept out as far as they dared to meet the invader. And then they Intrenched In-trenched themselves; and there they waited. (TO BE CONTINUED, |
