Show 1 1 by JACQUES FUT RELLE chy 6 y COPYRIGHT 1908 ty b THE ME associated arday copyright 1909 1900 by y THE MERRILL COMPANY SYNOPSIS hiie at f th tho a nil lit illi inci n wit with van nieam itt un inions min to in th 1 fin i runny Y where a W youna w kowun 3 ah a for 4 ticket to the alti bull ball rim ticket 1 lii mada nd out 1 in th it of meliin chorna rh orna rue ahlf C of f neat ne at iier vios bixl ixl mr grunit tr unit nad hl noail head d t br ri war wn 11 lint it 11 vot plot I 1 in h 1 ienir in unal 1 01 in to in the die tato lintl for ilia att 1 in 11 to in all ibi thorne who nino nn cpr colip lon ar cliot lut 1 lii in hmiel 41 tind st amor nor alvares vt tit the it melr 1 aai in foniri at A n ir all alm chono did W II 11 ah 1 lih 0 HIB ji frair anti arrests llila A visits an old id bomb makri anil they allman a wonderful wonder rul mona mo n fifty ua t in from the U fit T f senor the I 1 he fr from wn ia ta ahll hit are in tint tho robbery miss ml thorlo op p j jr ioard r ax as a guest of the AM ackim aci im h if f the theft and threaten hr with ill CHAPTER XI continued put it I 1 am innocent she protested you must prove prova it continued mr gritzan mercil mercilessly ensly personally I 1 bm a convinced and count ill nostril has haa practically assured nio me that its un unjustly justl she interrupted pa paa a mon glona tely its its you ha have ve proved nothing lne its un livard oft off I 1 lt t beyond W suddenly alb be became saleal A mill ute two HO minutes three minutes minute passed pasi ird mr crimm waited aly will you give ma ine time and unity to prove prova my mf innocence she eho demanded finally nally I and it I 1 do vani coni v n ce you V 1 I 81 tie be delighted to bellove bellevo that I 1 havo have made a ull luls tahe stake mr grimm assured her how much time one day two days daya 1 I will let yoli yoi know within an aa hour nt at your our office she ha told him mr grimm rose rosa anil and meanwhile in iii case cane of 0 ident I 1 ashall look to count dl for ad ho be added pointedly good ni rn lii one oily hour and ten tell in inores uler later he be re celvid ed life note it unsigned nag carriage will stop for you at rout roulac ast corner of 0 pennsylvania avenue and fourteenth to cigut i at one lie was waa thre there the carriage carr laBo was on stakes are ur she bhe played and won and played abitt won and on and OD oa until her winnings were about eight thousand dollars lolli irn then luck lack till dud fied shu she began to lose loaf tier noey went but she continued to play desperately ff filially nally leonle old family faintly jewila jewels la were without her fathers tal herti knowledge arid and ultimately they were lost loat one day site awoke to tn I 1 the ho fuel fact that she owed some boina nine little or ten thousand dollars in bridge debts they were pressing and there was no way any to meet cheru thid alila mount exposure und and utter ruin anti anil women do strange things lings ti mr air crimin to lo postpone an epding to social acx lal aspirations I 1 know tills this much lunch Is if true for she aha related it all to me lue herself herbolt at last it iti way wayn waya a misplaced letter ju or a word overheard she learned that arty thousand dollars bollara would be antho in legation batik bank overnight mid antly she learned the ho precise night she pati paused sed it a moment here to la the address of it ninn man tit in hal flat olinore tl inore thomas Q griswold Orl awold and she nhe passed it curd card to ti mr ramm grimm who sat motionless listening about tour four years hgo ago the combination on oil the tha legation safe was wag changed this man wall waa sent hero here to ranks the therefore tome one beside ii senor rodriguez does know the combination I 1 have buys communicated communicate with this thin man today for I 1 saw the possibility of just such a thing thine OB as this Ina instead tead ot of your ily hy a trick and a forged letter t A r this girl abt obtained the combination from this man mr air grinik drew a long breath she intended to take taka perhaps only what sho bho desperately needed but nt at sight of ll it all do you see bee what must have been the temptation then thant we set got out here there were binany unanswered lions in mr grimms mind ile he repressed them for the time stepped out and assisted mils thorne to allahl the carriage carr lage hid had turned out of pennsylvania syl vanta avenue and ot at the moment lie ho quite place pious himself hI A narrow passageway opened before them evidently the reer entrance to a house possibly in the next street miss thorne thorna led the tha way unhesitatingly cautiously unlocked alio llio be door and to A A r 11 e 7 7 but if I 1 am innocent time and rny my lady of mystery was inside lie ile stepped in nod and they swung out into pennsylvania avenue dolse lessly over tho asphalt should the gold be placed in your I 1 hands ands now within the hour she queried kulil would it be nee i biary for you to know who was tho the the tha talef it would mr grimm without hesitation even if it destroyed a reputation 7 she dho pleaded the secret service rarely destroys a reputation miss thorne although it holds itself in readiness to do so BO I 1 dare jv bay in this case cage there would be ba no arrest or prosecution because of 0 of reasons which appear to be good there and there was wan a no note to of eagerness in her voice the tha identity of the guilty person would never appear it would become a matter 0 of record in our office but beyond that I 1 think not at least in this ono one In stanco miss thorne sat ant silent fot fair a mock block or more admit mr grimm that you bave forced mo me into a most remarkable position you seemed beamed convinced of 0 my iny guilt and it pardon me w without reason then you niada made it com compulsory upon me to establish my innocence the only way for rue me to do that wa was to find the guilty one I 1 have bare done it and im sorry because its tg a little tragedy mr dir grisim wilted its a girl high in coa clety ety tier her fat liera tiers position Is an aa honorable rather than a one n 0 bo be has no fortune this girl movas ov as in a certain set devoted to bridge and gether they entered it a hall then there was a short flight of stairs Bt silra and they stepped into a room one of a sulla suite she closed the door suit anil turn turned e d on the lolelita the bags ot of gold are in tho next room she tad said with the utmost composure mr grimm drugged them out of a dark closet opened one there were ten and allowed the colas coins to dribble through ills his fingers finally he turned and stared at dalas who pallid lid and wenry weary stood looking on where are wo we he naked asked what house Is 1 this the Veini Kielan legation she ghe answered we are standing less lee than forty feet from the safe that was waa robbed you tea see how bow easy I 1 and whose room inquired mr grimm slowly must I 1 anwer answer she asked appealingly you yon must senorita It ray my hostess dont you see ee what youve mado made me ine do she and mr cadwallader made the trip to in his automobile and and she stopped he known noth lils of it she added yes I 1 know said mr dir grimm lie he stood looking at her in silence for a moment staring deeply into the pleading eyes and a certain tense tenae ex x pre pres eslon slon about his bis lips passed for an instant her hand trembled on his arm and he h caught the fragrance ot of her hair where Is she now ha be asked playing bridge replied miss thorne with a mad bail little smile it Is always so bo tit ot least leant twice a week and the she rarely returns before two or halt half past part 81 ra 1 1 u lily piea please bo be mr Ir 1 j liuni m n i Y you it have the aba iolj dont da stroy her sonar rodriguez the he from venezuela found tho the goldin his cafa baa on bri the th following morning with a brief V no note t 0 from mr minim la in wh which ch wire was no lion of bow or where it had been found arid and two hourn horns later monsieur Mong leur anxo nan bu sandor from franco france to the united states from vani C CHAPTER XII the vanishing diplomatist it was three days alter the nabas fadoir fia dorB that Drou sir lU Iti KOlet golet secretary ot of the rench french emr bibay and temporary cladge daf faires reported the matter to chief cutup liell bell in tb the secret service burbatt Bure att add fair thereto a detailed statement of at several te veral singular Inel incidents dents following close upon it lie told it ir in order concisely and to the point while uri mm and liin ills chier chief listened Morim leur the dor yov you understand Is ii a man whose habits are remarkably rein regular he be legan leban lie ite hat has made it a rule to bo be nt at MB his desk every morning nt at ten delock slid and between that time and one 0 clock he be dictates hla his spon deace and clears up whatever work there Is before jilin him I 1 Q DD 0 now monsieur Mon lur there thera are only two entrance entrances i to the embassy havo have known bilm for m many years and havo have beon secretary of the vm ni bassy under him in a germany and japan and in this country I 1 havo have never known him to lo vary this general order older of 0 work lecluse of t ill III nass ncsa or ri ressar ir absence well monsieur last tuesday this la is friday tho the ambassador was at hla his desk defile na as usual ile ho dictated a dozen or more lot lotters tOrs and it had ad begun another errit rit it private letter to ills hl sister tit in paris lie he was well ft ell along in a this let ter when without ony any appa apparent ref rea eon boa he ha rose frat his k d ite ilc and left the room cloann the bo bor behind him ills impression voa eliat some detail iwAi jid occurred to liisa and lie be find gone eone into the general omco emco to attend to it I 1 may sv eay monsieur that this sion ilon seemed strengthened by the ano fact that he ha left a frost fresh cigarette burning in his ami agh tray and ills hla pen was be hinl his ear it was wag all as it he had bad morely stepped out cut intending to return immediately tho tort sort of thing monsieur that any inan binau might have alone it so BO happened that hat when he went nut aut bo be left A sentence of hid blia letter incomplete I 1 tell you this to show that the impulse to go must haye hae been a sudden one yet there wait waa nothing in ills his manner so Ms his stenographer says 0 to o indicate Ind lents excitement or any other than ills usual frame ot of mind it att about live minutes of twelve delock high noon when he went out when he return immedi alcey the stenographer began tran scribing tho the letters at one Montil Mon stour cur still had not returned and hla his stenographer went to luncheon As AB ho be talked some gome inbred inbred excite seemed to lo tobe be ba growing upon him due dub perhaps to his bis recital of fuels facts ani and he paused eil at last to regain con arol of himself incidentally he won dered it mr grimm Cirl was waa taking the slightest interest it in what he was wag say ing certainly there was waa nothing in hla his face arc to indicate it understand monsieur the secretary continued after a moment that lathat I 1 knew nothing whatever of all this until late that afternoon that Is in tuesday afternoon about five 0 clock I 1 was engaged nil all day upon some borno important work in my office and had bad had no occasion to see nee monsieur SIona leur coln bogur since a word oora or so BO when he ha came in at ten sly my attention was waa culled to the affair finally by his bin stenographer Mons monsieur leur who camo came to me for instructions lie 16 had finished the letters slid and the am baK bas Milor nador had not returned to alga them at this point I 1 began an lc ila monsieur aud anil the further I 1 went the more uneasy I 1 krew grew now bondeur Slon Mon fleur deur there are only two entrances to the the front door where a la Is in constant attendance from nine li in the morning un until tj I 1 te tan U a at t night end and the rear door which can only be reached through the kitchen Ni neither rt if the two men who had bad been stationed at ibe front door bail seen the ambassador since breakfast break therefore he could not have gone out that way it seemed ridiculous monsieur but then I 1 went to the kitchen the chef bad been there all day and he had not seen the ambassador at all I 1 inquired further no one in the embassy not a clerk nor a servant nor a member of at the ambassadors family had seen been him since he left his office again he mused anil and ran one hand band across his troubled brow TO BU CONTINUED CONTIN |