Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-11-06

unoeteceeQ where command. Immediate
search shah be uEAcis through the district
la compfete baftue. ssYour Prince Char
| nant must be syeIE facurely hidden II he
escapes our penpaeS iitx3ot shall be found,
! whether alive orsdeAd
He was not f0lnd:oneyertheleas But a
| day or two latetp thee baron sent for me,
and said they lad mid hands upon the
two rogues, Picpss ara Della Croce.
They are both in Anglers. known to and
identified by the. police. No doubt they
| await your arrival With the magot, the
great prize for vcAichathey have angled so
cleyerly. Now w6IshAn arrest them. am
| writing to beg that this be done at once
| for by interrogaafon tehey may be got to
confess what THY have done with the
prince-at least, when in custody they can
rot carry out their pr6gram. They will not
be silenced by the payments they demand.
but they cannot Every well communicate
with the press % NJ 8
This news in a measure ended my mis-
sion. which did NOT extend beyond laying
| bare and neutralizing a clever attempt at
extortfon. But / could not rest satisfied
| with that-I had still to fulfil duty to my
employer. must unravel the more serious
mystery Of the princes disappearance.
So prepared to return without delay to
Algfers and assist. 50 far as I might be
permitted, in the examination of the con-
| spirators.
Then luck interposed in my favor, and in
no profession does the action Of blind
chance go further than in that of the de-
tective. The strange fact has been proven
again and again, and might be illustrated
| by many curious examples.
The very day before that fixed for my
departure I was wandering aimessly
through the little town of Biskra, when
chance-the detectives good fortune, rather
took me into an Arab caravanserai on the
outskirts near where the road comes in
from Touggourt and Ell Wayla, the farthes.
confines of the French territory.
1t was of the same character as those I
had seen In the far east, great square
| Enclosure the center filled with nd
garbage, among which stood the camels
horses and other animals. while on the
four sides were low doors opening upon the
travellers rooms.
one of those old-fashioned hooded vans
seldom seen out of France, and only there
in out-of-the-way districts remote from
railways and large towns. They are used
by quack doct tors, cheap jacks, wandering
photographers, and the like. The proprie-
tors of this van seemed to combine all
these callings with that of horse dealer. for
a number of promisng-looking colts stood
around tethered by their fetlocks, and an
old man in blue blouse and sabots was CIV
Ing them water. Suddenly I saw him look
toward the back of the van, give a low,
shrill whistle, and whisper:
Care! La patrOnne. Eft patiti--et pa
titai''
Following the direction of his signal 1
saw two young people flying apart with
haste that showed they were doing wrong
| It was the old. old story: love was not
! running smoothly. and the chief obstacle
was, no doubt, this stalwart female in the
| mans red beret who had just entered the
caravanserai
l drew near, amused, as I saw the youth
snatch up a water bucket the girl hur-
riedly resume her task of shredding cab
bages In the pot-a-feu. while the woman
mistress or mother, probably both-called
| one an idle vagabond and the other a
shameless mink.
Then caught the lads face and was held
| instantly spelbound.
1t was undoubtedly Prince Stanislas de
| Medea.
For all his ragged. dusty clothes, his i'll
kempt locks and grimy face, 1 recognized
him beyond all question as the original of
| the photograph now held in my hand.
Surely, it is time, prince" 1 said, ac-
costing him at once in. English-"tme that
| this masquerade should end? 1 come from
your father; he fears that you are dead;
| he almost wishes 1t. for by some mad folly
you have nearly brought an indelible stain
| Upon an ancient Manner
He had meant, I saw clearly, to deny his
identity, but as I went on his eyes filled
with tears, and he stammered out:
Il DO not understand. 1 have done moth
| ing very wrong. love her to distraction
Then 1 led him straight out of the in
closure, and. much to- the surprise of all
who met us thus arm-in-ar arm took the
princely stable boy to my hotel, and heard
all he had to tell.
There was nothing very new in his story
DSNAA "eiucfihS up lIOu the coast
incoSnito meaning to seek adventure in
the farthest limits, when he had fallen in
with these vagabend traders and had been
attracted by the pretty Yvette, who had
laughed him to scorn, then dragged him at
her tail. hopeless +and love-sick youth
prepared to play any part, accept any
rough and ignoble work, only to be near
| her and press his still unrequited suit.
Della Croce must have seen him when
passing through Biskra. Prince Stanislas
remembered the man, had met him one day
| in the bazaar, and had some difficulty in
shaking him off,
Out of this the whole plot had grown
! 1t originated, no doubt, with Della Croce:
| but it must have been aided and developed
| by the EOtary's clerk.
But my task was not quite ended yet I
had extreme difficulty in weaving Prince
Stanslas from the inamorata. He refused
at first point blank to leave the van 1t
was not until l took these good folk-true
Bohemfans, yet i'll their way honorable
| fair-dealing Biscayans-into my confidence
that l succeeded in getting him away
The mother, with her strong, harsh voice
c.inched the matter at once.
He could not marry her. That would
| not be suitable. Anything else-merci, mon
sieur; trop dhonneurw
L believe Yvette eventually married a
founier (pay sergeanD in the Zouaves and
was handsomely lowered by Prince Cas-
| imir.
AS for Prince -Stanisias, he went down
| Ike lamb to Algiers, where l left him
| to bear witness against the rogues who had
| tried to ruin him, and returned home
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