The Holly chieftain., 1903-01-16

n10 8So4--the kU0uAH uIt18 inc t0pe
for future divulgeEce. stood with
Maubikeck. awaiting the. appearance
Of the trapeze queen.
AZ Nita came from her dressing
room, she wis accompanied by an
ugly Italian woman, who acted prob
ably in the capacity Of maid and at.
tendant. but more particularly.
learned later, q sort of keeper or
watchdog for Nali&na. Upon this
woman's face there was look of
angry protest q u she had held forth
against the departure of Nita with
Maubikeck and myself. But the girl
came forward and was met by the
Ifon-tAmer. who placed her hand on
his arm and led her through a private
hall and exit to the street. had
hesitated about accompanying them,
but Maubikeck had repeated his re-
quest that should assist him, If pos.
sible. to unravel the mystery of the
murderous animosity with whicn the
girl was surrounded.
When Maubikeck spoke Nita turned
turned toward me and said: !
You are the gentleman who a.
sisted In saving my life. thank
you. sir, for the grest kindness. Sure
~. am In some persons way, and
unless the secret 10 discovered. 1
shall. NO doubt, be murdered. II you
can help me, you will win my graft.
tude.",
Thus prettily asked. walked be.
side them, and the old woman came
ambling after. muttering to herself
thinga could not understand, but In
which; | frequently heard the name
! Maligni.
Now. there was more than one req
son why it seemed perfectly proper
for me to accompany Ntta and Maui
bikeck, and lend what assistance
could in this time Of need To begin
| with. was much Interested in the
| girl -personally-because of
her grand beauty. and the romantic
interest always attached to q beautiful
girl in her position.
Secondly, was interested in Nita
Barlotti, as has been shown hereto
the photograph OF Charles Grayis-
courts wife, and because in that re-
semblance there had seemed to be
some shadowy hint that Grayiscourt
was not all that he seemed to be be-
| fore the world. And in striking at
Graviscourt, l was striking blow
for my own love, and this is motive
that will always stir the heart Of a
man whose love is withheld from him
by another's will.
Thirdly. was interested in the
lion-tamer. He impressed me Us be-
ing no ordinary individual-very DIFF
ferent from the average circus at
tache, as was Barlotti herself, and
in the evidences OF love that / had
seen pass between these two, had
seemed to see rejection of my
own, and this claimed my interest,
II nothing else. ~
Fourthly, / had seen the act of the
man who had set fire to the. trapeze
rope. and was, no doubt, the only hui.
man being, save himself, who had
seen 1t. 1t became me, therefore. to
aid Maubikeck and Nita by using the
knowledge possessed, and by iden.
tifying the miscreant who had fred
the rope. ascertain through him his
motive, or. II he had been employed
to do the thing, the name. OF his
cowardly employer.
One OF the facts that I learned, by
this adventure was that the stars of
circus lived. when away from the
glare and tinsel of their profession,
much like other people with plenty
of money to spend.
Leaving the Garden by means Of
one OF the private entrances, Maubi-
keck hailed carriage. It was q
good one, and was drawn by team
of well-fed. sleek-looking horses, and
l thought 1t was probably the one he
used every night for his own convey.
ance; and we all got into 1t. Maubi.
keck and Nita sat together, and the
old hag sat with me, with our backs
toward the driver. She was not a
pleasant carriage companion. and /
would gladly haye exchanged places
with Maubikeck. The old woman
swayed back and forth, moaned,
wrung. her hands. and spoke fiercely
to Maubikeck, who told her with un-
mistakable emphasis to. hold her
tongue. As
"r Will explain this ~oman's We
hemence, signor Wnberton." said the
lion-tamer. "Pacho Maligni is hard
| master and 4 Jealous man He nI1nva