The Holly chieftain., 1902-10-03

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carried out religiousIy- he marked
that down ~ Article Number One, of
the nrst importance.
Then came the kidnapping OF the
heiress. with her ultimate rescue by
himself. and. Of course. .. marriage to
follow. for . Frenchman could not
conceive Of q romantic girl turning
. deaf ear to . son OF chivalry who.
at the risk of life and limb. had
saved her from . nest Of desperats
bandits, Staying half their number
and escaping amid storm Of hail.
Last of ali was the securing of the
man whom he had reason to believe
carried the precious key to Darragh's
inimitable system upon his person.
Count Leon evidently believed in
Jumping things.
Jones became . little more active
now. as though he realized that mat
ters were reaching an acute stage.
and required more attention than At
any period in the past.
In all probability an encounter
might be brought about At any mo-
ment, and with desperate results.
A trio OF men attracted his atten-
tion. standing at retired spot.
Two OF them might have passed
unnoticed. but that the third some
how caught his attention, and despite
the evident desire of the party to
keep his identity concealed, Jones
guessed 1t.
my God!" he muttered hastily, at
is the president visiting Monaco in
cog, to see what manner of witch 1t
is that lures SO many from the gay
capital all through the winter"
Having overcome the uneasiness
produced by his discovery he began
to put two and two together.
The royalists undoubtedly knew
the French president meant to se-
cretly take flying trip under cover
of an assumed name to the Rivera
perhaps the assault on the train had
been made with the bold idea Of cap
turing this illustrious parsonage.
These valiant sons of France, how
they love a sudden, bold stroke that
wins admiration from friend and foe
alike-as Louis Napoleon seized the
reins of government and fought his
way to the throne. SO others aspire to
follow the example thus set.
There are many who declare all the
designs Of the times point that way,
yet the sincere friends of the repub-
lie are just as vehement in asserting
that 1t can never be.
Had those same partisans been
present at Monte Carlo on this night,
when for the second time the Amer
lean adventurer broke the bank that
had seemed to be AZ stable a. the
rock Of Gibraltar itself, and could
they have witnessed the mysterious
and hurried consultations between
little knots Of men who were many
of them well-known personages in
the recent life Of France, they might
have shuddered to contemplte the dis
aster that seemed so imminent, and
have realized that. q secret under
standing with the army generals
might be possible whereby under GER
tain conditions the military forces
would be wheeled into. line like magic
and with the disappearance of the
president mighty shout go up for
the old empire and new emperor!
Doubtless 1t was singular freak
Of fortune that had arranged matters
so that Merrick should play his little
game Of hide and seek in the name
OF love, surrounded by all the disturb
ing elements that went to make up
revolutionary upheaval.
Circumstances govern the condi-
tions in all such cases, and poor NOR
tails must rest content to accept what.
ever the Fates bestow.
Jones' had missed the valorous
count from the scene Of action.
This did not come about through
any delinquency on the part of Vile
bois, who. on the contrary. had never
known buster hour In the whole
course of his checkered career.
II he could secure possession of
the secret document, which, he felt
sure. was somewhere about the per-
son of Mark Merrick, and at the
S"uo eAMC CARRY oA Inc 6Hl WHO rep
resented those South African dia-
mond mines in tho sovereign state
OF Dom Paul Kruger, he would be
killing two birds with one stone and
feathering his own Individual nest,
whether the revolution came about or
not.
Merrick's search continued. Not
until the last spark Of hope had gone