Mexico weekly ledger., 1889-07-18
CHAPTER XIII.


The head of the police-departmen at st.
Malo received the note sent him by Lydia.
1t arrived perhaps a half hour earlier
than did that to the similar official at st.
Brieux.
The effect upon both men was electrical.
They were rivals. Paris was goal for the
hopes of each, and, when successor to the
chief of the police-department of that great
city was mentioned, the two names most
prominent were those Of Jean Leroi and
Jean Louvait, of st. Brieux and st. Malo, re-
spectively.
Leroi was tall and finely proportioned;
man of great strength Of body and will;
with a noticeably keen blue eye. Louvait
was short and slender, with a mass of thick,
dark, wavy hair, erowning remarkably
well developed head; finely chiseled face
of almost waxy pallor, which, at viii, he
could render absolutely expressionless;
piercingly brilliant gray eye, and person.
al magnetism few men could resist.
Both were remarkable men. and each,
knowing the extraordinary abilities of his
adversary, feared the other.
Fortune seemed rather to smile upon
Louvait, who, like Bonaparte, while not re-
mitting his own unusual exertions, consid-
cred himself the child of fate, the creature
Of destiny. Indeed, Lomvait's personal ap-
pearance was remarkably like that of the
great Emperor-so much SO that no stranger
failed to remark upon the resemblance;
while, singular to relate, Leroi, On the other
hand, born Of an English mother, bore a
| strong likeness to the Iron Duke.
In this matter of the Princess Natalie
| fortune again favored Louvait. He had re-
ceived his note first in point of time, and in
an instant perceived the windfall of good
| luck to him. A Princess abducted! All
Europe and England would be thrilled by
| the news, and the detective who discotered
and caught the abductors would make his
| fortune!
Orders were at once issued to keep an
outlook of the most extraordinary vigilance; {;
| to make inquiries along the coast under his
! jurisdiction as to all strange vessels, to in.
quire what boats had left or arrived within
| the last three days, and to Immediately ar
| rest all suspicious persons.
'.Now for Chateau D'Orr' quoth Louvait
'.But what if Leroi has heard of it, tooa And
arrives there before me!''
'sHo! Jaaues!' exclaimed he, with en-
ergy, as he jumped from his chair and
| hastened to the door, 'sun down to old
| Blanc's and bring his mare, L'Oiseau, here
| at ossce."
Once more he looked over Lydia's note
| with care.
'SThe girl is right,n muttered he to him.
self. ''They must have taken their prize to
| the sea-shorel Alas that the storm should
have come just when it did! Nothing could
| more have favored them.n
With this he took down a map of Cote du
! Nord from the shelf and unrolled it.
| '.If they escaped by sea-" continued he,
''there is the place where they embarked. :"
I H,y TOD 20, l.%r at <I,<, hoo r>R
| which stands Chateau Neuf.
"Mireille! HoI Mireilie,r he suddenly
| shouted.
His first lieutenant quickly appeared.
''Mireille, 1 want you to go to Chateau
| Neuf and find out what you can there about
| any and all vessels of whatever description
| that have been there within q week"
| He then informed his lieutenant of what
had happened.
J MIreille, himself, was a remarkable man
and hoped, in the advent Of his chiefs ad-
| Tancement, to step into the latter's shoes.
| All of his work was characterized by
shrewdness, care, vigilance and-more es-
| pecially His eye glowed with
delight Here, indeed, was noble oppor-
tunity for fame. He at once departed for
| Chateau Neuf.
Returning to his train of thought, Louvais
1 continued:
..Of course, too, such clever fellows must
have ehloroformed her. But how did they
carry her 10 the shorei Ahi there's clue
number onei The vehicle, II not destroyed,
must have been hidden or returned to Hs
| usual quarters.
| 81 As to the farmer and ihuntsman and, In
fact, all of the abductors. they were in dis.
| guise, Of course. One thing is certain.
was done by persons knowing wen the
haunts and habits of the Princess. And
yet, none Of the people about here would
or, for that matter, could have been eleve,
| enough--to have done IT, Therefore, theJ
were strangers aud yet men who had
studied the customs Of the Princess. 6t