Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1901-03-02

$1,000 Va NHS ~
most importance must go. ! cam
not help myself"
1T is something to do with that
w%retched Captain Wood, Of course?
Dear, dear, how I wish o had never
settled II that way. ! don't know what
to think OF him; whether we ought to
trust him. Suppose he Is deceiving
you; suppose he has run away?"
Mother. you must not hint at such
a thing. / have u~nbounded faith In
him, as ! am sure he has In me. 1t Is
for his SAX ] am going, and, mother
forgive me-whatever you say or do, 1
shall CO."
She could say nothirg, and to close
the matter struck while the iron was
hot and secured our passage that very
afternoon, paying the deposit. MIR.
S~nuyZer's name was also down on the
list of passengers, which was a COM
fort to me, for / saw that he was con-
hdent of success in his present mis-
sion. II he intercepted the yacht n
rescued Willie, we need not start,
mother and I, and / would gladly for
felt the deposit. What Willie would
do there was no saying.
But the days passed, Friday, then
Saturday, without one word OF news.
How / got through the time i car
w~retched and, thinking I was fussing
n fretting over u a expedition,
tried ~timidly-sweet mother!-to get
me TO give II W.
But ] was only the more determined
to go. The day wore on. / was hop
Ing against hope, and in my own Sc
cret heart l was becoming terribly
frightened, almost out Of my wits, but
| fought hard against that. | knew
that II i gave way n little bit l
should break down utterly.
CHAPTER VIII.
The S. s. Chattahoochee.
! never felt so deserted n forlorn
as when l stood on the platform at
Waterloo on the Sunday morning
waiting for the special train for
Southampton. There was a great mob
Of people ~Crowding and clamoring
around passengers and their friends to
see them off-all strangers to me,
many OF them talking an uncouth, UNI
Ineligible language. The porters were
too much o~verpowered with luggage to
attend to me, and 1 had Roy TO look
after.
He was very fractions, dragging at
his chain, yelping in short, angry
Snaps, with fierce shows Of teeth, and
keeping every one at a distance.
cannot say what / should have done
but for the kindness of a man, a gen.
tleman who spoke with a strong Yam
kee twang and who found us seats.
He persuaded the guard to allow Roy
tc remain in the carriage with us, and
the dog was for the moment good. l
don't know why | burdened myself
with him, but / chung to him feebly,
desperately, for no other reason than
tEat he was Willie's, the only real liv-
ing link left me with my dear missing
frined.
This new acquaintance was a youth,
nftla moro In 81 OF Fn hat and a light
check suit; he wore no gloves and had
a diamond ring on one finger and a
great diamond brooch in his slipknot
tie. He was not handsome, far from
it-freckled face, red hair and ferrety
eyes-and yet there were kindness.
good feeling, chivalry In his face, that
many q better born gentleman might
have envied him.
Guess you're new to his kind Of
thing" he aid affably as we started.
Never been across before?"
Mother frowned at me from her cor
ner as though to check this W
stranger, but 1 was so sure he meant
we'll and SO grateful to him for his
kindness that / smiled n let him
ak on.
You see, there are n lot of big toads
In this puddle, and outsiders are left
a long way behind. Quite a number of
swells on board the ~train-dukes end
duchesses, young ~millionaires, that
Croesus British captain"
My heart bounded at the names he
mentioned. for / knew that he was re-
ferring to the c~onspirators, and / asked
him, rather ~nervously, If he knew any
of these people by sight. / dared not
tell him. Of course. how deeply they
interested me.
why, certainly: the whole hypothec.
There's the duchess OF TERRA Sagrada.
The title Is Spanish. not much. l take
It, like their castles. But she's an
amazing fine woman. tall and hand
some. Reckon that's won her her duke.
She was on the boards once-some
Boston variety show. The dukes like
o bit Of dried roo and black as sars-
aparilla."
"And this millionaire"
Wood. You have heard OF him. Is
that so? The young English captain
who got all the Mcknight millions. l
needn't show him you; guess you know
him by sight?"
How was / to answer his most en-
barrassing question? Was It put quite
"innocently2 Had this man any sus-
picion? looked into his little pale
blue eyes, but they never faltered, and
l replied that, like the rest Of the
World, l had heard the story.
He's no great shakes. you'll say,
Tot for a British officer. Don't At his
fortune quite. It's a good deal to live
up to-"
When the train ran into Southamp-
tor and we left 1t for the wharf where
lay the little tender that was to on
vey US to the big liner, Mr.. Rossiter
(my friends new name) showed US the
people he had named. We were
crowded now into n narrow space, and
q n aIn,ngt IN aaph, nthnr'o pnclatc II
was easy to make out every one, and l
soon learned all l wanted to know.
First, there was the arch impostor,
the villain who was masquerading as
my lear Willie Wood. l saw q short,
thickset, vulgar looking man, very
much overdressed, smoking q long
cigar. holding his head high. as though
arrogance and hauteur were In his
part. He was not alone; his two COM
panions, the only persons to whom he
spoke, were the duke n duchess of
TERRA Sagrada, as my friend whis-
pered me.
/ confess 1 stared at them with all
eyes, my heart beating tumultuous-
ly. If / only knew what they did,!
They had been with Willie-were the
last to see him. probably, In the Vic
toria dock.
The man. a small man, thin. twisted,
snakelike and venomous, was M
doubt the r~ingleader, n Of the prime
movers in the plot. AS / looked at
his dark, sallow face, heavy. brooding,
with dull. savage, bloodshot eyes, 1
trembled to think / might have to
measure strength with him-that /, a
weak, helpless woman. might be called
upon to unmask him, and bring him to
account. What chance should / have
alone against these unscrupulous,
murderous, coldly deliberate villains?
i got some little comfort, however,
from my examination Of the woman
or no duchess, accomplish and
confederate or hapless tool, willing or
constrained, / knew hat within her
she had been kind to Will
lie, n would have Helped him IL she
could. She was not wholly bad, !