The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1901-03-02

afternoon, paEing the dsposlt. ME.
Snuyaer's name was ais down on the
list OF passengers, which was a con-
fort to me, for / saw that he was con-
hdent OF success In his present mis-
sion. If he Intercepted the yacht and
rescued Willie, we need not start,
mother and i. and ] would gladly Tor.
:eit the deposit. What Willie would
do there was no saying. q
But the days passed, Friday, then
Saturday, without II word of news.
How 1 got through the time I can
hardly say. Mother saw that ! was
wretched and. thinking l was fussing
and fretting over our rash expedltion.
tried timidly-sweet mother.-to get
me to give it up.
But / was only the more determined
to go. The day wore on. l was hop
Ing against hope. and in my own Sc
cret heart was becoming terribly
frightened. almost out of my wits, put
I fought hard against that. | knew
that If l gave way n little bit L
should break down utterly.
CHAPTER VIII.
The S. .sChattahoochee.
I never felt so deserted and forlorn
as when 1 stood on the platform az
Waterloo on the Sunday morning
waiting for the special train for
Southampton. There was q great mob
OF people crowding n clamor1ng
around passengers and their friends to
see them or-all strangers to me,
many of them talking an upcouth, I'M
Ineligible language. The porters We're
too much overpowered with lusgage 70
attend to me, and l had Roy to look
after.
He was very fractions, dragging at
his chain, yeIping in snort. angry
Snaps. With fierce shows of teeth, and
keeping every one at a distance. l
cannot say what | should nave done
but for the Kindness of a man. a gem
tIe1nan who spoke with a strong Yam
kee twang and who found lis seats.
He persuaded the guard to allow Roy
to remain in the carriage with us, ana
the dog was for the moment good. l
don't know why / burdeaed myself
with him, but I clung to him feeDly,
desperately, for no other reason than
that he was Willie's, the only real lN-
ing link left me with my dear missing
frined.
This new acquaintance was a youth.
little more, in q straw hat and a light
check suit; he wore no gloves and had
a diamond ring on finger and u
great diamond brooch in his sipknot
tie. He was not handsome, far from
it--frccsled face, red hair and ferrety
eyes-apd yet there were kindness,
good feeling, chivairy III his face, that
.sNAiNA -
have envied him.
Guess you're new to this kind OF
thing he said affabiy as we started.
Never been across beforc?'
Mother froWned ct me from her cor
ner as though to check this forward
stranger, but ! was 50 sure lie meant
we'll and SO grateful to him for his
Kindness that / smiled and let him
talk on.
You see, there are a lot of big toada
in this puddle, ana outsiders are left
g long way behind. Quite a number of
sweljs on board the train-du'tes and
ducliesses, young r~,iitionaires, that
CroesLs British captain"
My heart bounded at the names he
mentioned, tor / knew that he was re-
ferrinGs to the conspirators. and l asked
him, rathcr n~eryously, il lie knew any
of these people By sight. dared not
tell him, OF course, how deeply they
Interested 1ne.
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 o her her duke.
She was on the boards once-some
Boston variety show. The dukes like
a bit of dried root and black as sars-
aparilla.f'
b.. r ANU Eltlls llllLIloiihltS - F ... ..IarH
wood. You have heard of him. Is
that so? The young f.ng!ish captain
who got all the MctFaught millions. I
needn't show him you: guess you know
him by sight?"
How was i to answer this mostsem-
Harvesting question? Was it put quite
irnocentiy? Had this man any sus-
picion? I looked into his little pale
blue eyes. but they never faltered, and
replied that, like the rest of the
World, l had heard the story.
Hes no great shakes, you'll say,
not for a British officer, Don't fit his
fortune quite. It's q good deal to live
up to-
When the train ran into .%Southamp-
ton and we left it for the wharf where
lay the little lender that was to con-
vey us to the big liner. Mr.. Rossiter
Qny friends new nane) showed us the
people he had named. We We're
crowded now into a marrow space, and
sat almost in each others pockets. 1t
was easy to make out every one, and I
soon learned ell / wanted to know.
First, there was the arch impostor,
the villain who was masauerading as
my dear Willie Wood. l saw a short.
thickset, vulgar looking man, very
much overdressed, smoking long
| cigar, holding his head high, as though
arrogance ana hauteur were in his
lJGJl. ne WdS l!pl ulJiie, ms TWO CONF
panio1s. the only persons to whom he
| spoke, were the duke and duchess of
TERRA Sagrada. as my friend whis-
| rered me.
/ confess I stared at them with all
my eyes my heart beating tulnultuous-
~. If / only knew what they did!
They had been with Willie-were&t the
last to see him. probably, in the Vic
toria dock.
The man, a small man. thin, twisted,
snake,ike and venonlous, was no
doubt the .ringlcaGer, one of the prime
movers in the plot. AS l looked ut
his dark, saliow face, heavy, brooding,
With duh, q bloodshot eyes, /
trcmbled to think I might have to
II easure strength With hira-tiat Ia
weak, helpless woman, might he called
upon to unfnask him, and bring him TO.
account. What nance should / have
alone against these INSCRIPTIONS,
lnurderous, coldly deliberate villains?
got some little comfort, however,
from my examination of the woman.
Duchess or no duchess, a~cconpiice and
confederate or hapless tool, Willing or
constrained, knew that within her
poor means she had been kind to WIZ
lie, n would have helped him II she
could. She Was not wholly bad. /
felt sure. a handsome m mn
doubtedly; very tail, With a fine figure
ara u DeattlEu lace. dithGuyh wi..i q
SD, worn, anxious expression-tha
face of II who had known some
trouble. Was she Vexed, harassed, tos-
tired ~perchance. by u past that was
irrevocable. at present hateful and in
tolerahle, which Ii vas poweriess to
mend? There could be but. little sym
patty between her and her husband.
They hardly spoke to each other; when
they did, the man seemed to snarl, and
IL she answered at all, 1t was only In
sulien monosyllables. When the false
Willie Wood addressed her, which he
did from tine TO time With am air of
easy familiarity, she disdained no re-
ply at all. 1t was cieai. the conspirtors
were not q happy family.
While l sat looking ~intently at these
people and engrossed with very Sc
rious thoughts, I was disturbed by
Fanshawe, my maid, who came up and
said, i'll Il Very fretful, disappointed
tone:
Please, Miss Frida, I'm Worried to
death with this tiresone dog. Whatever
made o bring him is more than I can
say. I can do nothing With HIM"
Roy had been pretty good till now,
and when We got OF board the tender
I handed him over to F7anshawe. He