The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1903-01-14

ransan with his daughter Eve and his private sec
rotary, Dick knight. clever fellow. but with
no prospects. he girl. understanding the reti |
cence Of the yonng man. induces him to make |
love to her,. Her father hears the confession |
for which the girl takes the responsibility. The |
father, who made his money In South Africa. |
however, discourages the idea. as Knight Is !
neither rich nor genius. 1t is arranged that
the private secretary shall leave at Tangier.
In the meantime, the yacht comes across a
strange craft. There appears to he no one on
board. and Sir Peter and the secretary, with vol
nuteers from their crew. resolve to board this
mysterious vessel Dick leads the way. The
yacht proves to he cNqnisitey furnished. and
some of the cabins had lately been in the occu-
patton Of woman. There is a gold repeater
watch with n diamond monogram. and some other
belongings apparently OF wealthy gentleman.
Rut there signs of crew, or indeed,
OF departures from this spell-bound ship. At last,
however. attention is directed to a big packing
case. This for the time heing affords no
clue, but the mystery Is deepened by the discov
cry Of large iron cage broken open. Sir Peter
Markham. who has been strangely moved be-
comes terrified. He explains the reason. On the
yacht he has found trace Of lady after whom
his daughter Eva was named. to whom he was
attached in early life, and who dlsa ppeared on
the day liked for their wedding. The trace is a
portrait In watch on a mans dressing table.
Knight undertakes to pursue investigation. They
return to Gibraltar and report to the captain OF
the port.
Chapter IV.-Contlnued.
They breakfasted finally at the house
strange story at the same time The
captain of the port half inclined to doubt
the fact to which they certified that there
were no papers by which the yacht could
he identified. There would have to be an
inquest on the derelict. lie Informed them,
and at first he was disposed to insist thai
Sir Peter must remain to bear witness.
But when the millionaire argued that it
extremely important for various rea-
sons that he should set away within the
course Of a few hours, and that Mr..
Knight. his secretary, knew as much as
he did, if not more. about the matter, he
consented to let Sir Peter and the Lily
Maid go. He consented also to the plan
that knight should live on board while the
yacht was in harbor. A couple Of his
men must be there as we'll. as a mere
matter of form: but no hindrance what
ever would be placed In the way Of Mr..
Knights proceedings. So long he re-
moved nothing from the dereliot he could
do as he pleased. The Xenia. would be
practically at his service and none save
official visits would be made to the yacht
Presently the captain Of the port went on
over the Xenia, accompanied by them, and
at last announced that. If it were abso-
lutely necessary for Sir Peter to be off he
would no longer seek to detain him.
The millionaire drew Dick aside. and
having asked for telegram at Tangier,
where the Lily Maid would stay for two
or three days, If the weather remained
good, and another wire at Lisbon, he held
out his hand.
well, Knight, good-by,'' he said. IT
believe there's nothing owing to you at
present. Rather odd you happened to be
paid for your secretarial services up to
date Yesterday: but, Of course, that settled
everything until you can let me know
and hope to Heaven it. may be soon
that haverto pay you e 20, 600. depend
upon you now. and when I say that you
know it means a good DEAL
Let me remind you that I'm working
for love, not money" said Dick, as he had
the Lily Maid for few minutes and see
about my luggage. It's packed already
"That is all right my dear fellow. To
save you trouble have had your luggage
taken off. No doubt they'll allow you to
live on board. Now I must go off, You
will not neglect to keep me informed OF
everything?"
The Lily Maid was actually under way
before Eve knew that her father had come
on board. She ran up on deck and found
him standing near the bow. Sir Peter
turned. and seeing her smiling, expectan,
face. made up his mind that he had some
disagreeable moments before him.
CHAPTER V.
What Knight Found Under the Table
The inquest on the xenia was over
and nobody concerned was any wiser thar
before. Never had a verdict been 50 diff
1icult to arrive at. It was impossible tt
say whether the passengers and crew O.
the yacht had been murdered, had com
mltted suicide, whether there had been {
bloodless mutiny, or whether one and al
had been the victims Of some tremendou.
and mysterious catastrophe.
The arrival Of the derelict and her al
most incredibly strange story created
sensa ton at Gibraltar. Many people
begged permission to go on board and sh,
would have become a kind Of floating mI
seum-a sea chamber Of horrors-had no
the captain OF the port rigidly refused t.
allow anyone save persons having officia
business even to set foot on the Xenia
deck. But those officials had tongues
and the magnificent appointments Of tn
yacht, the wonderful jewels. the gold ia
BILE service. the exquisite wardrobe left b,
; the mysterious lady, and the fact that n
papers were to be found, were soon tn
subjects of universal discussion All sort
of theories were brought forward. TIL
favorite was that the Xenia had been at
tackled by Riff pirates. and every human
being board had been made to wall
the plank. The. presence of valuable
worth a fortune presented an obstacle t
this theory. but 1t was agreed by it
adherents that the pirates might hay
taken alarm and been obliged to leav
the yacht without their spoil Other
advanced the idea that monster &C
topus might have risen from the sea an
seized with its great tentacles several {
the people on board; whereupon. struc
with horror at the awful sight, those VIII
remained, had gone mad and leaped over
board. I've.
Some curiosity was felt concerning Die
Knight. but one knew very niue
about him. the story began to go aroun
that he was a professional detective, en-
gagged to ferret out the mystery.
Dick had to make up his mind to idle
ness until after the inquest on the zach
But meanwhile his brain had been bus,
and he was eager to get to work at prov
ing or disproving the truth of the ide
which had leaped into his thoughts lik
: an inspiration. "a - X i
Literally, 1t was merely the germ {
an idea: and he was aware that unles
he found it could be freely fertilized wit
die. and he would be left digging in MOI
or less barren ground for another MOI
promising. - .@..-.
BY his request everything aboard tt
Xenia had been left in exactly the sam
position or state In which he and S
Peter Markham had found 1t when the
had paid their eventful first visit to IL
tossing dereict. Even the table II
manned untouched. and the galleys. wit
the remains of food. specimens Of whic
Il had now been unfruitfully analysed /
a chemist of Gibraltar. No poison hs