f AGS EIGHT
GREENBNCY-
1
A
' 1
'f l rr T
i
L
, ""Without divulging the name of the royal household arrived In New Tort,
kouse I wilt My that Its sympathies Through hlui I learned that the daugh
ter been from the outset friendly to ter of the gentleman In whose house
khe entente allies especially with the senior Mr. Curtis waa a frequent
france. There are two branchea of guest had been la the United States
h ruling family, one In power, the
ether practically In exile. The state
la ainull one, but Hi Integrity la of
the behest. Ita sons and daughter
ItM married Into the royal families
f nearly all of the great natioua of
the continent. The present or I
hoald say, the late ruler, for he died
Q a Held of battle not many months
ago, bad do direct heir. He was
young and unmarried. I am not per
Snltted to state with what army he
avaa fighting, nor on which front be
T
""! r-H J- II! VI n H
t
1 ;
i -
01 .feAM Nfj
Six Months Ago a Royal Houa Waa
Despoiled of Ita Crown Jewels, Seal
i and Charter."
i
s killed. It Is only necessary to
ay thnt his little tute was gobbled
tip by the Teutonic allies. The brunch
f the f ii mlly mentioned or being In
Jfxlle lent Its support to the cause of
JfJermany, not for tnontl rensons but
to the hope and with the understand
ing, I am to believe, that the crown
lands would be the reward. The di
ked heir to the crown Is a cousin of
jttw late prince. He Is now a prisoner !
itf war In Austria. Oilier members of
the family are held by the Bulgarians
x prisoners of war. It Is not stretch
Irg the Imagination very fnr to pic
ture thciu us already dead and out of
the way. At the close of the wnr, If
' IfJermmiy Is victorious, the crown will
lie plae tion the head of the pre
tender brunch. Are. you following
fc-er
; "Yes Mild Barnes, his nerves tin
gling. He was beginning to see a
treat lU-ht.
J "Almoht under the noses of the
forcex left by the Teutonic allies to
liold the Invaded, territory the crown
Jewels, charter and no forth, hereto
fore mentioned, as they say In legnl
fairlanee, were surreptitiously removed
from the palace and spirited away by
Thtsoiis loyal to the ruling branch of
the family., As t have stated, I am en
gaged in the effort to recover them,
i "Now we come to the present situ
ation. Some months ago a member of
the aforesaid royal house arrived lu
fh country by way of Jiipnn. He Is
'a distant Cousin of the ennui, and III
)a way remotely looked upon as the
tieir nppurrnt. Later on he seques
tered himself In Cauitdii. Our agents
In Kurope learned but recently that
LilM he preleieU to ht loal itt tlie
ru::ri: l;.nio w U urtui.Iiy Kh. iuh.if ,
opsins It. I have been ordered to
run him to earth, for there Is every
fvaMm to believe that the men who
securwl the treasure have been duped
into regarding ti t ill as the avowed
champion of the crown. Now, Mr.
:.mcx, without telling you how I have
rrlved at the conclusion, I am pre
t'red to Mate that I believe this man
stobe at Green Fancy, and that In time
;tlie Umt to use a harsh, word will be
delivered to him there, I tin here to
krt it, one way or another, when that
jcotnes to pass."
j "What led you to suspect that he
Ss at tJreen Fancy, Mr. Sprouse?"
I "History. It Is known that this Mr.
'Curtis has spent a great deal of t'tne
in the country alluded to. As a mat
, of fact, his son, who lived In Lon
don, had rather extensive business In-terei-tH
there. This mm was killed lu
ihe Itiiiknri wnr several years sgo. It
'ft said that the man I am looking for
ws friend of young Curtis, who
iiuirrki u Mis Oiowd ill Ididou
(the HiitMM-nbi MiM O'liowd. daughter
kit an Irish peer and sister of the chap
'am hue ne t at Cm ii Fancy. About
si i weeks afo a former equerry In the
mmm
n w e -.-
$ GIOM BARR
v- AutU "CRAUSTARK THE
H &)t HOLLOW OF HFR HAND ""TUP"
-
,U tVLVJL Wf UIVUil ATUS, tit.
i-r rvr Sn A t U1 n.
since some time prior to the beginning I
of the war. She win visiting friends
In the Stnws and hun been unable to
return to her own land, for reasons
that must be obvious. I may as well
confess that her futher was, by mar-1
rinse, an uncle of the lute, ruler.
"Since the Invasion and overthrow
of her country by the Teutonic allies
she has been endeavoring to raise
money hire for the purpose of equip
ping and supporting the remnants of
the small army that fought so valiant
ly In defense of the crown. These
men, a few thousand only, are at pres
ent Interned In a neutrul country. I
leave you to guess what will happen If
she surceeda In supplying them with
arms and ammunition, tier work Ii
being carried on with the greatest se
crecy. To bring the story to a close,
I was instructed to keep close watch
on the man O'Dowd. I traced him
to this place. I was on the point of
reporting to my superiors thnt he was
In no way associated with the much-sought-after
crown-cousin, and that
(ireen Fancy was as free from taint
as the village chapel, when out of a
clear sky and almost under my very
nose two men were mysteriously done
away with at the very gales of the
place. The killing of those two men
changed the asiect completely. You
will certainly agree with me after I
huve explained to you thnt the one
known as Andrew Boon was no other
thnn the equerry who had undertaken
to find the young wotrfun."
Barnes drew a long breath. Ills
mlud was made up. He had decided
to pool Issues with the secret agent,
but not until he was convinced that
the result of their co-operntlon would
In no way Inflict a hardship upon the
young womnn who had appealed to
him for help. Ho was certain thnt she
was the fulr propagandist described
by Sprouse,
"And the young womnn, what of
her? She would, n any case, be held
for examination and"
"My dear sir, I may as well tcll"you
now that she Is a loyal subject, and,
fur from being In bad grace at court,
Is nn object of extreme solicitude to
the ambassador. From what I cun
gather she has disappeared complete
ly. Boon was sent over here for the
sole puntoso of finding her and Indue-
hpr 1r",turn, wl,n hlm to '"ftr,s"
"And to take the treasure with her,
I supiHise," suld Burnes dryly.
"Naturally."
"Well," began Barnes, Introducing a
harsh note Into his voice, "I should
say tlmt if she Is guilty of receiving
this stolen property she ought to be
punished. Jail Is the place for her,
Mr. Sprouse."
Sprouse put down his coffee cup
rather suddenly. A queer pallor came
Into his face.
I "You do not understand the sltua
I tlnn. Haven't I made It plain to yon
; that she Is Innocent of any Intent to
do wrong?"
"You have suld so, Mr. Sprouse, but
your Idea of wrong and mine nmy not
Jibe."
"There cannot he two ways of look-'
ing at ii, sir. sum wprouse, after a
Hereupon Humes reached his hand from an attachment made In the eel
across the table and laid It on ! ir f ,he .Tavern. He closed the door
t-iimisrn, ins eyes were untieing.
"That's Just what I want to be sure
about," he suld, "It was my way of
finding out your Intentions concerning
her."
"What do you nicaiiT'
"Come with me to my room," said
Burnes, iresslng his excitement.
"I think I cmi tell you where flie Is
mill u ,,t.,ut it.,.. ......I., i
.... ".. M ' .
In the little room upstairs he told I
the whole story. The little man lis-
ten.il without so much as a single
. . . . .. !
-r'l inifrrupiton or interrogation.
Somewhat breathlessly Barnes cam.
to the end.
"And now. Mr. Sprons,. what do
youmakeof Italir h. inquired.
...KrJ.?.in bB:;k ln h"
-.,.,,,, inn.Nu. urn iviiHneieiy
at sea," h said, and Barnes hsiked J
m una in surprise. ing. louui all this be real?
"By Jove, I thought It would all he j Ten minutes later he was ln
as clear as day to you. Here Is your . Spmuse's room, calling for Green
limn and also your woman, and the Fancy over an extension wire that had
traveling bag full of" est tho company nothing and yielded
"Bight you are," Interrupted Sproiw. nothing in return. After some delay
"That Is all simple enough. But, my O'lViwd'a mellow voice sung out:
dear Barnes, can you tell me what Mr. , "Hello! How are you this morn
Secretary Uieb's real name Is? Why ing?"
has he established hln.self so close to ! Grievously lonesome." replied
Mm, i w liui. muu "MJ lif lllt i
blllHition? I refer to bis army of
huskies."
"Heirs apparent usually have some
sort of a bodyguard, don't theyP
Sprouse wss stsrlng thoughtfully at
the celling. When be finally lowered
his eyes It was to ftvor Barnes with
a gali,;fcniu:-lt' sma
,
THE DAILY CAPITAL JOURNAL, SALEM, OREGON,
'"i Isr sy the. first" thing for me
to do. la to advise the Canadian au
thorities to keep a sharp lookout along
the border."
CHAPTER XII.
The First Wayfarer Accept an Invi
tation. Barnes Insisted that the first thing
to be considered was the release of
Miss Cameron.
"If we cant think of any other way
to get her out of thla devilish predica
ment, Sprouse, I ahall apply to Wash
ington for help."
"And be laughed at, my friend," said
the secret agent. "It la not a matter
for the government to meddle In at
all.
"Well, something bat to be done at
once," aid Barnes doggedly. "She la
depending on me. If you could have
seen the light that leaped Into her glo
rious eyes when I"
"Tea, I know. I've beard she la
quite a pretty girl. You needn't"
"Quite a pretty girl!" exclaimed
Barnes. "Why, she Is the loveliest
thing that God ever created. She haa
the face of "
"I am beginning to understand
O'Dowd's Interest in her, Mr. Barnes.
He has probably fiillen In lore with
her with as little difficulty as you have
experienced, and almost as expedi
tiously. Be baa seen a little more of
ber than you, but "
"Don't talk nonsense. I'm not In
love with her."
"Can you speak with equal author
ity for Mr. O'Dowd T He Is a very sus
ceptible Irishman, I am told."
"I don't believe be will get much en
couragement from her, Mr. Sprquse,"
Said Barnes stiffly.
"If she Is as clever as I think she
Is she will encourage him tremendous
ly. I would If I were In her place.
Mr. O'Dowd Is only human. He Isn't
Immune."
"I catch the point, Mr. Sprouse,"
Suld Barnes, rather gloomily. He did
not like to think of the methods that
might have to be employed In the sub
jugation of Mr. O'Dowd. "There Is a
rather Important question I'd like to
ask. Is she even remotely eligible to
her country's throne J"
"llenfotely, yes," said Sprouse.
"So remotely thnt she could marry
a chap like O'Dowd without giving
much thought to future complica
tions T' he ventured.
"She'd be Just as snfe In mnrrylng
O'Dowd us she would in marrying
you," was Sprotise's unsatisfactory re
sponse. The mnu's brow wns wrin
kled In thought. "See here, Mr.
Barnes, I am planning a visit to (Ireen
Fancy tonight. How would you like
to accompany me?"
"I'd like nothing better," said
Barnes, with enthusiasm.
"Will you agree to obey Instruc
tions? I can't have you muddling
things up, you know."
"The grounds ure carefully guard
ed," said Barnes, after they had dis
cussed the project for some time.
"Miss Cameron Is constantly under
the watchful eye of one or more of
the crowd."
"I know. I passed a couple of them
last night," said Sprouse calmly. "By
tho way, don't you thluk It would be
very polite of you to invite the Green
Fancy party over here to have an old
fashioned country dinner with you to-
night t"
"It would be useless, Mr. Sprouse,
They will not come."
"I am perfectly n ware of that, but
It won't do any harm to ask them,
will It?"
Barnes chuckled. "I sec. Establish
ing myself as an Innocent bystander,
eh?"
"Get O'Dowd on tho telephone and
ask hlm If they can Come," said
Sprouse.
"But there Is Jones to consider. The
telephone Is In his ofllce. What will
he think"
"Jones Is all right," said Sprouse
briefly. "Come along. You can call
up from my room." He grinned slyly.
sucti a thing as tupping the wire,
you know."
Sprouse had Installed a telephone In
" v5'' " V'f T""?
to his little room on the ton floor. i
, , ? '? ai)"rov"1' h
"nn Ii T'
h t unknown to the telephone com- !
pany you may sure Call him up
bout ha f past en O'Dowd may he j
uiiimmv ii, Mir, out noi sne.
Now I must he off to discuss literature
wlta Sirs. Jim CVnlo). The hardest
. . . ...
i"',T jno w Krrp mi xroiu
I siitiserihlin; for not of l)i,irun i
ley's house Is not far from nJ !
F.uie, Savvl?" Gr,u
n,,TL, tn tn v.. . . . . i
"rnC. left tO MS own deTlceS,
huiuWtviI tmm I.,.-.-,... ... . .
Cm
I . . , . S ' fW ,0
LTC LT 1
lead and as light a, air by turns. I
?K"- xhamw h Mt ,,k i
10 wcji-nttown expe.llcut to ete
mine whether he was n like or dream-
I arA. n.l m-.......t J , .
' """ nm viriiio, Ul UOie
eful ac
count of himself by Imploring O'Dowd
to save his life by bringing the entire
Green Fancy party over to Umuer
that ntht.
O'Dowd was tienrtbroken. Tersnrt
aljy .l.t yiuultl o to srjr rxixtjjf .to
eave so valuabira llfeTCufirfor the
rest of the party, they begged him to
say they were sorry to hear of the ex
pected death of so promising a chap
and that, while they couldnl come to
his party they would be delighted to
come to his funeral. In short, It would
he Impossible for them to accept hla
kind invitation. The Irishman waa
so gay and good humored that Barnes
took hope.
"By the way, O'Dowd. Ti like to
speak with Miss Cameron If she can
come to the telephone."
"Don't be surprised If you are cot
off suddenly. The coast Is clear for
the moment, but Here, Miss Cam
eron. Careful now."
Her voice, soft and clear and trem
bling with eagerness, caressed Barnes
eager ear.
"Mr. OTJowa win see that no evil
befalls me here, but be refuses to help
sne to get away. I quite understand
and appreciate bis position. I cannot
ask bint to go so far as that. Help
"Hellol How Arc You This Morning?"
will have to come from the outside.
It will be dungerous terribly danger-1
"You say O'Dowd will not assist
you to escnpe?"
"He urges me to stay here and take
my chances. He believes that every
thing will turn out well for me In the
end, but I am frightened. I must get
away from this place."
"Then keep your eyes and eats open
for the next night or two. Can you
tell me where your room Is located?"
-it is one nignt up ; the nrst ir tne
two windows In my room Is the third
to the right of tho entrance. I am
confident that someone Is stationed
below my windows all night long."
"You still Insist that I am not to
call on the authorities for hejp?"
"Yes, yes I That must not even be
considered. I have not only myself to
consider, Mr. Barnes. I am a very
small atom In "
"AH right I We'll get along without
them," he said cheerily. "Afterward
we will discuss the Importance of
atoms."
"And your reward as well, Mr.
Burnes," she said. Her voice trailed
off Into an Indistinct murmur. He
heard the receiver click on the hook,
and after calling "hello" twice hung
up his own with a sigh. Evidently
O'Dowd had warned her of the ap
proach of a less considerate person
than himself. ,
CHAPTER XIII.
The Second Wayfarer Receives Two
Visitors at Midnight,
The coroner's Inquest over the bod
ies of Boon and I'uul was held that
afternoon at St. Elizabeth. Witnesses
from Hart's Tavern were among those
to testify. The verdict was "Murder
at the hands of parties unknown."
Sprouse did not appear at the Tav
ern until long after nightfall. The se-
rt agent listened somewhat Indlffer-
ently to tho Intter'a account of his
. .. .! ' ., i I
thnt he was going to bed, greatly to
"Vr of Mr. Barnes who fol- i
,WH hm frpn, , BnJ no. ,
fln ,; j
u , t0 M llt n,,.llti j
don't they?" said Sprouse patiently. '
"It Is expected, I believe." !
"But, my dear man, we ere to un- I
.1. ...,!..
. .
1 80,"e CHUW fr l,,,l,'Tl,,t I
that one of those chaps In there I. j
irom 0rwB FncT- o to bed at ten ;
n'Hm - lr n, rl,l ,l nut tr
" ' '
1 d,m,t luS,st 00 J"F tMnS
n clothe, however. I will nip
!l ' o'clock. By
in your pocket " I
there !
caIue
door
a gentle tapping ou Barnes'
He sprang to hla feet and
opened It, presenting himself before
Sproue fully dressed and, as the se
cret agent said later on. "fit to kill."
The Bight was as black as pitch.
Barnes, trusting to the little man's
eyes and hanging close upou his coat
tails, followed blindly but gallantly
In the tracks of the leader. It seemed
to hlm that they stumbled alons? par
alll to the road for miles before
Sprouse came to a halt. "This Is the
short cut to Green Fancy," he whis
pered, laying his hand on Barnes
arm, "We save four or five miles,
coming this way. In you know w here
we nreP
"L hl'VeJlt 'he remotest Idea," .
SATURDAY, SLAY 24. 1919.
"Aooura" qoTirtePbr a inlTe below
rtls house. Are you an rghtr
"Fine as a fiddle, except for a
barked knee and a skinned elbow, a
couple of more or less basted ribs.
I've banged into more trees than
"Sh!" After a moment of silence.
Intensified by the mournful squawk of
night birds and the chorus of katy
dids, Sprouse whispered, "Did you
bear that?"
Barnes thrilled. This was real mel
odrama. "Hear what?" be whispered
slillly.
"Listen P After a second or two:
"There P
"It's a woodpecker hammerirg on
the limb of a"
"Woodpeckers don't hammer st
night, my lad. Don't stir I Keep your
ears open."
Sprouse clutched bis companion's
arm and, dropping to his knees In the
i thick underbrush, pulled the other
! down after him.
r recently neavy footsteps ap-
proached. An unseen pedestrian
nnssed utthin t0n h. Thu.
i -
scarcely breathed until the sounds
passed entirely out of hearing. Sprouse
put his lips close to Barnes' ear.
"Telegraph," he whispered. "It's a
system they have of reporting to each
other. There are two men patrolling
the grounds near the house. You see
what we're up against, Barnes. Do
you still want to go on with It?" .
"I'll stay by you," replied Burnes
Sturdily,
Several minutes went by. There
was not a sound save the restless pat
ter of rain In the tree tops. At last
the faraway thud of footsteps came to
the ears of the lense listener. They
drew nearer, louder, and once more
seemed to be approaching the very
spot where he crouched.
Then came the sound of a dull,
heavy blow, a hoarse gasp, a niomen-
tnry commotion In the shrubbery,
and again silence. Barnes' blood ran
cold. He wulted for the next footfull
of the pttsshig imin. It never came.
A sharp whisper reached his ears.
"Come here quick P
He floundered through the brush and
almost fell prostrate over the kneel
ing figure of a man.
"Take carel Lend a hand," whis
pered Sprouse.
Dropping to his knees, Burnes felt
for and touched wet, course garments,
and gasped:
"My God! Have you killed hlm?"
"Temporarily," said Sprouse, be
tween his teeth. "Here, unwind the
rope I've got around my waist. Take
1
"My Godl Have You Killed Hlm?"
the end here. Got a knife? Cut off
a section about three feet long. I'll
get the gag in his mouth while you're
doing It. Hangmen always carry their
own ropes," he concluded, with grew
some humor.- "Got It cut? Well, cut
two more sections, sume length."
With Incredible swiftness the two
of them bound the feet, knees and
arms of the Inert victim.
"I came prepared," sold Sprouse, so
calmly that Barnes marveled at the
Iron nerve of the man.
"By heaven, Sprouse, I I believe
he's dead. We we haven't any right
to kill a"
"Don't be finicky," snapped Sprouse.
"It wasn't much of a crack, and It
whs necessary." Straightening up,
with a sigh of satisfaction, he laid his
hand on Panics' shoulder. "We've
Just got to go through with It now,
Barnes, We'll never get another
chance. Butting that fellow out of
business queers us forever afterward."
He dnipjied to his knees and began
searching over the ground with his
hands. "Here It Is, You can't see It,
of course, so I'll tell you what It Is.
A nice little block of sandalwood. I've
already got his nice little hammer, so
we'll see what we can raise In the Way
of wireless chit-chat."
Without the slightest hesitation he
struck a succession of quick, confident
blows upon the block of wood.
"By gad, you are a wonder!"
"Walt till tomorrow before you sny
that," replied Sprouse. sententlonsly.
"Come along now. Stick to the trail.
We've got to land the other one."
Turning shandy to Hie right,
Sprouse guided his companion throuch
the brush for some distance, and once
more dime to a tialt. Again he stole
on ahead, and as before the ,slow, con
fident, even careless progress of a
man ceased as abruptly as that of the
comrade who lay helpless In the
thicket below.
Iff
- n .y - ;iii jMSk 7 ii
Barnes laid a firm, detaining band
on the man's shoulder.
"See here, Sprouse," be whispered,
"It's all very well for you, knocking
men over like this, but just what is
your object? What does all this lead
up to?"
Sprouse broke In. and there was
not the slightest trace of emotion in
his whisper.
"Quite right You ought to know.
I suppose yon thought I was bringing
I you up here for a Borneo and Juliet
! tete-a-tete with the beautiful Miss
Cameron and for nothing else. Well,
I In a way, you are right. But, first of
. all, my business Is to recover the
crown jewels and parchments. I am
going Into that house and take them
away from the man you know as Loeb,
If he has them. If he hasn't them my
work here Is a failure."
I "Going Into the house?" gasped
, Barnes. "Why, my God, man. tlmt Is
; Impossible. You would be shot down
. . ....
i" "n oru,nary ourgiar ami-tne taw
(Would Justify them for killing you. I
must insist "
"I am not asking you to go Into the
house, my friend. I 6hall go alone,"
said Sprouse coolly.
"On the other hand. I came up here
to rescue a helpless "
"Keep cool! It's the only way.
Now listen. She hns designated her
room nnd the windows that ate hers.
j She Is lying awake up there now, take
It from me, hoping that you will come
tonight. I shall lead you directly to
her window. And then comes the only
chance we take the only instance
where we gamble. There will not be
a light In her window, but that won't
make any difference. This nobby
cane I'm carrying is In reality a col
lapsible fishing rod. First we use It
! to top gently on her window ledge or
j shade or whatever we find. Then you
i pass up a little note to her. Here Is
paper and pencil. Say that you ore
below her window nnd all ready to
take her away. Tell her to lower her
valuables, some clothes, etc, from the
window by means of the rope we'll
pass up on the pole. There Is a re
mote possibility that she may have the
Jewels In her room. For certain ren
sons they may have permitted her to
retain them. If such Is the cose our
work Is easy. If they hnve taken
them away from her she'll say so,
some way or another and 'she will
not leave! Now I've had a good look
at the front of that house. It Is cov
ered with a lottlee work and huge
vlrops. I can shin up like a squirrel
and go through her room to the"
"Are you cruzy, Sprouse? Tou'd
take your life In your hands and"
I "See here," snld Sprouse shortly,
j "I am not risking my life for the fun
of the thing. I am risking It for her,
bear thnt In mind for her and her
people. And If I am killed they won't
even sny 'Well done, good un1 .faith
ful servant So let's not argue the
point Are you going to gland by
me orback out?"
Barnes wns shamed. "I'll stand by
you," he said, nnd they stole forward.
There were no lights visible. The
house was even darker than the night
Itself; It was vaguely outlined by a
deeper shade of black.
At last they were within a few
yards of the entrance nnd at the erge
of a small space that had been cleared
of shrubbery. Here Sprouse stopped
and began to adjust the sections of
his fishing rod.
"Write," he whispered. "There is a
faint glow of light up there to the.
right. The third wludow, did you say?
Well, that's about where I should
locate It."
The tiny metallic tip of the rod,
held In the upstretched hand of
Barnes, much the taller of the two
men, barely reached the window ledge.
He tapped gently, persistently on the
hard surface. Just as they were be
ginning to think that she was asleep
and that their efforts were In vain
their straining eyes made out a shnd
owy object projecting slightly beyond
the Sill.
After a moment or two of suspense,
Barnes experienced a peculiar, almost
electric shock. t Someone had seized
the tip of the rod; It stiffened sud
denly, the vibrations due to Its flex
ibility ceasing. Someone was untying
the bit of paper he had fastened to
the rod, and with fingers thnt shook
and were clumsy with eagerness.
He had written : "I am outside with
a trusted friend, ready to do your
bidding. Two of the guards are safely
bound and out of the way. Now Is
our chance. We will never hnve an
other. If you are prepared to come
with mc now wrlto me a word or two
and drop It to the ground, I will pnss
up a rope to you and you may lower
anything you wish to carry away with
you. But be exceedingly careful. Take
time. Don't hurry a single one of
your movements," He signed It with a
large "B."
It seemed an hour before their eyes
distinguished the shadowy head ubove.
As a matter of fact but a few min
utes had passed. During the wait
Sprouse had noiselessly removed his
coat, a proceeding thnt puzzled Barnes.
Something light fell to the ground. It
w as Sprouse who stooped and searched J
for it In the grass. When he resumed
an upright posture be put his lips
close to Barnes' ear and whispered:
"I will put my coat over youf head.
Here Is a little electric torch. Don't
flash It until I am sure the coat Is
arranged so that you can do so with
out a gleam of light getting out from
under." He press.il the torch and a
hit of closely folded paper In the
other's hand and carefully draped the
conl over his head.
itarncs read : l nans: God i i was '
afraid you would wait until tomorrow j
ibhjt. J3ieJt-jsQ.uld have hf-jx pa
later I "must get away" tonight but I
cannot leave I dare not leave without 1
something that Is concealed ' In an
other part of the house. I do not
know how to secure It. My door is
locked from the outside. What am I
to do? I would rather die than to go
away wlthoutlt"
Hastily he wrote: "If yon do not
come at once, we will force our way ,
into the house and 'fight It out witn
them all. My friend Is coming up tho
vines. Let him enter the window. Tell
htm where to go and he will do the '
rest. He Is a miracle man. Nothing
Is Impossible tohira. If he does not
return In ten minutes, I shall follow."
There was no response to this. The
bead reappeared ln the window, but no ,
word came down.
Sprouse whispered: "I am going trpl
Stay here. If you hear a commotion,
ln the bouse, run for It Don't watt ,
for me. I'll probably be done for."
"I'll do just as 1 please about run- ,
nlng," said Burnes, snd there was a ;
deep thrill In his whisper. "Good luck,
God help you if they catch you."
"Not even he could help me then. '
Good-by. I'll do what I can to Indue ;
her to drop out of the window If any- '
thing goes wrong with me downstairs."
A moment later he was silently
scaling the wall of the house, feeling
his way carefully, testing every pre
carious foothold, dragging himself
painfully upwards by means of the
ntost uncanny, animal-like strength '
and stealth.
Barnes could not recall drawing a
single breath from the Instant the man
left his side until the faintly luminous
square above his head was obliterated
by the black of his body as it wriggled
over the ledge. f
We will follow Sprouse, When hea
crawled through the window and stood
erect Inside the room, he found hlm-lj
Bi.1 f in F-fiii t iH hv .nil cli u (1 1 . tw ir !
ure, standing hulf-way between him ;
and the door. '
lie uuvauceu a step or iwo ana ut
tered a soft hiss of warning.
"Not a sound," he whispered, draw
ing still nearer. "I have come four
"Not a Sound," Hs Whispered.
thousand miles to help you, countess.
This Is not the time or place to ex
plain. We havr n't a moment to waste.
I need only say that I have been sent
from Tarls by persous you know to aid
you ln delivering the crown jewels Into
the custody of your country's minister
In Tarls. We must net swiftly. Tell
me where they are. I will get them."
"Who are you?" she whispered
tensely.
"My name Is Theodore Sprouse. I
have been loaned to your embassy by
my own government. I beg of you do
not ask questions now. Tell me where
the prince sleeps, how I may get to his
room "
"You know that he Is the prince?"
"And that you are his cousin."
She was silent for a moment "Not
only Is It Impossible for you to enter
his room but It Is equally Impossible
for you to get out of this one except
by the way you entered. If I thought
there was the slightest chance for you
to"
"Let me be the Judge of thnt, coun
tess. Where Is his room?"
"The last lo the rluht as you leave
this door at the extreme end of tho
corridor. Across the hall from his
room you will see on open door. A
man sit In Ihere all night long, keep
Ing watch. You could not npproach
I'rlnce I'go's door without being seen
by that watcher.
"You said In your note to Barnes
that the something was In Curtis'
study."
"The prince sleeps In Mr. Curtis
room. The study adjoins It and can
only be entered from the bedroom.
There Is no other door. What are you""
doing?"
"I am going to take a peep over tho
transom, first of all. If the coast is
clear, I shall take a little stroll down
the hall. Do not be alarmed, I will"
come back with the things we both
want I'ardon me." He sat down on
the edge of the bed and removed his
shoes. She watched him as if fasci
nated while he opened the bosom of
his soft shirt and stuffed the wet shoes
Inside,
(Continued next Saturday.)
You eipeet the local mer
rhn!)i to take your produce.
Help then do it with your pat
ronage Bnild up Marion eooa-
.
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