The age-herald., 1901-11-03

1 it was, not an old erection, but of quite re- cent date. It was this which reused my suspicious, If it had been built by Schlich it must be for some sinister purpose. What could It be? I was so full of this discovery that 1 did not pursue my in- vestigations any further that night.
 The next day I rode out again to The Films. As I went slowly past a little party of gentlemen came down the drive and out of the gates. An elderly gentle 1 man-evidently the owner-chatted with them as they got into a dog-cart that was waiting, but could only catch his 1 last words.
 1 Until tomorrow, then"
 And with a wave of the hand he went towards the house, while the dog-cart | was turned in the direction 1 was going. | On the impulse of the moment deter mined to follow 1t. After a drive of some miles along a country road 1t turned off at Eastnor. and made for the barracks on top of the hill. I was not very much surprised. There was a smart, military look about the men; evidently they were officers from the regiment stationed | there. They knew the owner of The | Films and had driven over to see him. There was nothing strange in that. l saw l a private soldier salute them, and l stopped and asked him casually who they were.
 | | eral Won Scheven." he replied. | The German Generals name set me | thinking. I recognized 1t as that of a well | known officer, an enthusiast in his pro- I fession, always on the lookout for any new discovery in military science fa- vorite of the Kaisers What was he doing at The Films? Had its owner made some important invention that was att tracting the attention of the service? ? That might explain his possession of the gunpowder. Musing over this and that, vaguely uneasy without knowing why, l rode back the way had come.
 That night I made my way again into MT. Schlich's demesne. and seeing light | in one of the lower windows I concealed myself in a clump of laurels close by, | hoping to hear or see something that might give me a. guide. The light came | from an. open French window, and I could hear the murmur of voices, though could not distinguish a word.
 Presently some one stepped outside and was immediately joined by another man. | MT. Terah Schlich. It was fortunate that a slight breeze was blowing or the move ment made might have betrayed me. | for I started irresistibly when saw that Schlich was walking quite easily, without even a limp. The broken leg had been a | feint theni
 They were standing in the moonlight and could see them both distinctly. The | stranger was none other than the owner of The Films, the man I had seen taking farewell of the officers that same morn | ing. What could he want here? In the | fleeting glimpse had had of him earlier in the day. something in his face had struck me as faintly familiar. I recog- nized now what 1t was. There was a | likeness between him and Terah Schlich. | He was, apparently, much older man, and Instead of a beard he wore a heavy white moustache, but 1t was the same | pleasant German type of face, and when | he put bis pince-nez to his eyes, as he | did once, the likeness was increased. | Everything is running smoothly, | then?" he said.
 ..Yes," schlich replied. ''The broken leg was a good dodge, 1t gave me all the pri- vacy wanted, and 1t puzzled my fair | opponent. I do not think we have any thing to fear from her."
 And you understand exactly what you
 have to do? There will be no difficulty about your escape; you have only to be yourself and no one will recognize you. As for me, shall be safe enough in the
 balloon"
 ''Its all right. There isn't hitch any
 where. How many visitors do you ex-
 pectT'
 About half dozen A Serene High ness incog., two or three other bigwigs,
 besides Won Scheven. I shall be particu-
 larly pleased to see him. There is an old
 score against him I have long wanted to settle. t
 The pleasant, rather handsome old face
 underwent curious change as he spoke
 It became cold and hard as a mask; the thin lips parted over the white teeth in
 a wolfsh snarl and the eyes glittered