, 1888-12-27

'atued Hols,Iy away.
. Your room is No. l." dictated the officer,
addressing mo Enter"
I did SO. Joel, sTranc mp, and with his coat
2ristlinS about his neck, Grovlci ominouslv
Il ny companions. ItoJ hna TO l;o down.
1T i the other EnElishman's dog" said orc
# the guards.
Is that so!" replied the officer, glancinS
'.ar7,ly at me. Then how comes it III this
-no.n. Bat TO work. Search"
IN five minutes their s.,ilIful fingers had
ovcrI5aulcd the luggage which was lying
/ .'oH:- They found nothing to the purpose.
! Tile bed" VS. the Text command.
! do not know what seized upon RE then:
whether it was sheer longing 10 give vent to
lv excitement that Carried me away, or the
memory of Ciaut's words, And mems lives
hey VIII cost that inspired me with sono
T,:r that certainly was not my own. | can
/ lot say. Only know that when the order
/ Now the bed was given I sprauS betwccnit
| and the searchers.
Mo- l shouted, waving them back,
/ 'Waitr1
II l hs-d dim notion OF delaying them and
gaining time the attempt was rs vain as it
vas foolish
'.Madman.' cried the leader, dropping the
! rage; ''stand back. Juan, Felipe, do your
! iutyl"
flung one from me! another! had n mo-
mentIs awful consciousness of Il Carbino
ieveled ut my chest, OF finger pressing on
The trigger, of a sheathed sword that struck
up the weapon Il second before it exploded, Of
the officer shouting in Il voice of thunder
above the tunlult, 'No aqui! Despucs." and
then strong arm flung me forcibIy against
the wall | saw Jock leap forward, his teeth
nared-Saw some one fire hastily-saw the dog
fall bleeding by the bed. The room grew
thick with smoke.
''Oh, my God!nI cried, and covered my
face. | was trembling i'll every limb. Some
one not ungeItly drew the dog aside. In
EinCtivcly l knclt down and tried to inch
the blood. Poor JOckI
Pfisently-in the meantime l was taking
no heed Of their doiugs-I heard cry Of sat
isfaction and looked up. They had discov-
cred the two rolls and bending over then. as
they lay on the bed were unfastcniug the
wrappers. Iwcnt and looked Gn alphabetically
/ waited no longer with any feeling that it
concerned mo to sec the muster rolls, and
loyal autographs, and promises that were &,
cost so dearly, of which Client had spokep
But what was thiss The Spagnoletto! Oh,
yes! l understood how that came to be here
But thcsc-the5e pictures which foliowedl
Canld it be that all tho subscriptions took
thu form OF paintings: Or what was this
delicate Moro, fit for royal gallery, doing
mere! And that possible Murillo: That
portrait which might have been by Velas-
quez! That San Sebastian that was at least
by pupil of Caravaggiol Ny head reeled.
] passed nv hand over nv eyes and looked
Gss.Iu. IL was not a deiuslon. lneIe, the
canvaSes lay one on the other, their edges
strangely rough, their corners frayed-can-
vases worth = kings ransom.
The other roll was full OF odds and ends,
vslueleSs. but equally strange; picture backs
and rough pieces of cloth and opened letters.
Among these last 1 saw, with scarcely any
added wonder, envelopes and letters directed
to myself.
81 do not understand said feebly, look
ing from one guard to another They had all
turned 10 ma to see how took their dis
coveries. "He told me that he was Carlist
"a spy sent hero to bribe the trocps. Rnt
T1at arc these C.}in.;: +s-ei donot under
starA.i
"syho told you--and Bhatr' cried tho
leader
'Clenti Clert told mo" and then stop
pod dazed &nd beTildered. Two or thres
laughed; the officer, gazing fredly at mo,
did not. ! met his gazs vacantly; then my
eyes wandered TO the corner and FELL upon
poor Jock A mist passed from my mind,
my brain cleared; ! spoke aloud and sharply, |
"He has fooled Us sll,' said, ''you - well |
IS me! ana not Client am Rouse Lynton,
tbs artist He told me'-
"Who; whof whoF' cried the officer, with |
fierce impatienee
Client, the man whom you waat-the man |
ln No. l. He told me that he was Carlist |
In danger of arrest. 1 gave him my passport; |
took his room and he mine What is it hs |
has done."
"Done!' cried the man, stamping about the |
room i'll furious rage. Can you not sect |
He is robber OF museums-tho captain of a |
gang! Done, blocIshead of an Englishman? |
Aadre de Dios! did he not kill civil guard |
1T Valladolid ten months ago! He is now q |
German, now an Englishmnn. He is the |
devil himself, whom, for all that, we had net
ted finely but for youl Yet, fool that Was.
feared something when the dog obeyeCi |
you"
remembered that l had read in tho Eng /
Iish newspapers Of picture robberies in vari- |
Gus parts OF Spain, in which it was supposed |
that German was engaged. BY this light I |
understood it all. The mans terror when I |
discovered him gloating over the Spagno- |
Ietto which had been stolen from monastery |
ct Seville; his letters from distant dealers; |
his studied appeal to my sympathies; his |
greedy reluctance, which had thought pure |
uusel1ishness, to part with his spols; even the |
casual lob" which had made him master of |
my G50l understood them row. Yes, had !
this been all-had Jock not beon lying bleed |
ing in a corner-I would havs let the man 60 |
As i. was, l cried out 10 them, Quick! will |
tell you where you Will find himI He will |
make for Almonacid. You know the placer |
'Did he tell you that also:" asked the officer |
Ecornfully.
'No," exclaimed, II had ID from ono of |
his gang in the street-ons who took me for |
him rs you did. Almonacid is their rendoz- |
vous You are watching the raj l1ay station |
bore! Yes. Then be sure he viii $lnke across |
country for Almonacid, which Is only a mile |
from Torrijos station OIL ths other railway"
There was sense IN my words and the |
police saw it. The ring Of scowlins faces |
round me frightened. a few hasty sentences
were exchanged, and an order was CURLY |
given, and in two minutes the officer and his |
following trooped down stairs, no doubt TO |
get TO horse and start after the fugitives; |
leaving me in charge Of a couple of town |
police, who good naturedly helped ma to do |
what could for Jock. Jock WAS not dead, |
nor going to die, am glad to say, OF that |
wound, although he walks lame to this day, |
the bullet having cut the tendons at the root |
OF the fore leg.
When found that this was so, began to |
be sorry that l had betrayed Clients trust, |
though in fact ho had never trusted me- II |
wish that had not spoken so sooH," said to |
one Of my guards as we sat over the brascro, |
wondering what WIS doing at Almonacid.
1T il i'll work standing behind kicking |
mule" he answered dryly.
but second thoughts are best"
He considered this; then said briefly: 'sThe |
last orange the frost nips.n
Tho full meaning of which only came home |
10 me next morning. About 10 o'clock tho |
officer OF police came Gathering up the stairs |
to discharge me from custody He told NE |
politely that owing TO the amends l had
made 10 notice would be taken Of my vain
attempt TO mislead justice
Vain attempt! Vain, Then you have
caPtured himr'
"So, senor."
"So! He has escapadT1 | cried in aston,