The Republican., 1891-11-06

T.
should fail to bring some news Of her;
and quite as much if she were dead 6 ii
she were alive. How could a peHo4l
and a girl of striking beauty at hAt-~
vanish SO utterly and suddenly that no
one of the millions of her fellow Great
ures, their senses sharpened and their
cupidity aroused by the promRe Of
wealth to a fabulous amount, should be
able to give n single scrap of Information
concerning her? Had no one seen her
pass? Had no one received herwhexH
she was gone? If no longer in this life,
did earth and water so effectualH CON
ceal her remains that no eye cokld be
drawn to the spot? If she had beenfoully
dealt with, was there no acconpliee
whose greed would tempt him u open
his lips? Be thatas it might, no Sllable
of news was received. If Olymtks lad
gone out Of existence Ike tho SsHAtStt tss.k
candle, she could not have left less trace
behind her. The whole world had been
asked where she was, and, cudgcl its
brains as it would, it had been able to
frame no reply.
Early in the proceedings Tom Ban
nick mal followed up his notion as to
Garciil, and hlsinvestigations had ended
/ in discovering the man in Philadelphia
| When found he was i'll Il drunken stu
| por, and the proprietor Of the hotel at
which he was staying said that he had
been there since the night Of April SO
| twelve hours before Olympia disap-
peared. On coming to his proper senses
Garcia had little to say for himself. He
intiInated that drink had been his demon
| from the beginning, and that an occa-
I sional spree he must have. When queS-
toned as to Olympia he merely shook
his head and remarked that he was sorry
for the count. Tell him. he added,
''that he will never see me again. | have
/ lived a decent life longer than ever did
! before, and / am tired of it. | shall re-
lapse into the tl.Inp [ was when he
found me. | followed him up to the al
! tar; now | shall follow my own nose to
the devil, and that will be my address,
/ Saying which this enigmatical person
/ age turned over in his bed and went to
/ sleep.
/ Meanwhile it had not escaped the
/ count that if Sallie Matchin had wished
/ to avenge herself upon him in the most
effective manner conceivable, she could
not have hit upon method so effective
as this. No doubt she would willingly
have spirited Olympia away had she
been able to do so, but it was impossible
to imagine how she could find the means.
/ Investigation showed tNat no person had
been admitted to the house during the
period between ten and eleven o'clock on
the first of May. Olympia must there
| fore have gone forth of her own voli-
| ton. Nor was it creditable that suppOs-
ing her to have intended going to the
church, she could have been waylaid
i upon the way thither: The distance was
but quarter of q mile, the sun was
| shining, the avenue was full Of people.
No, the idea was not to be entertained,
and yet it was just as difficult to sup
pose that the girl had hidden herself
away. Only downright insanity could
account for her doing such thing, and
even assuming that she had done it,
some one must be aware of the fact. and
the reward that had been offered would
long since have led to her bringing back.
He was obliged, consequently, to ac-
quit Sallie of having had any hand in
the Disappearance, and where else to
look he knew not. But on Saturday, the
ninth day after the calamity, he received
a letter from Sallie herself, which he
read with a mixture of hope and fear
that almost broke his heart.
Dear sir" it ran, II have, of course,
heard of your loss, and I can say, with
out fear of your misunderstanding me,
that it interested me. Let me also re-
mark at the outset that the rewards you
offer would not be acceptable to me,
even were | to become entitled to them.
But, as You may easily imagine, my
mind, since our last meeting, has not
been entirely at ease; and if were able
to forward your efforts in this affair 1
should feel justified in hoping that any
hostile designs yCumay have against me
would undergo some modification. 1t is
for this reason that address you. l do
not wish to exaggerate the value of the
information 1 possess-it may lead to
nothing. But, at any rate, l believe 1
have come into possession of something
that may turn out a clew; and if you
will call at my house alone at noon to-
morrow l will tell you what it is. Imust
stipulate, however, that You show this
letter to no one, nor intimate that you
have received it, for l will not run the
risk of being forestalled or interfered
with in the matter. You can, of course,
disregard this letter if you choose, or you
can attempt to draw my secret from me
by force; but if you know me well you
will do neither of these things, but ac-
cept my invitation under the conditions
that have imposed"
There might, no doubt, be personal
danger to the count in going to this rem
devious. Sallie Matchin and he were
on terms Of deadly enmity, and moth
ing would suit her better than to