The Holly chieftain., 1903-02-13
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By SEWARD w. HOPKINS,
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cHAPTER vl.-(continu.d.y

Amlne0 Tue door, making sure that 1t
was closed. and that any person pass-
ing In. the hall could not .oyerhear our
conversation. Mutterelli, who sat
near . window. smokins- cigarette.
looked atme inssurprfss = ~ se.s I
q am going to tell. ypu sonethlns,
MuttereiIi." said. smiling at ,his sur
prised look. and Iswant to make sure
that no One can hear me but you. /
You need not fear" he reblisN II
do not think, signor,. that there -,
a1nther person In the. hotel who,
beaks English" y
Very good. Now, to begin, Nut,
tefelli, I must tell you that have not
come to Sardinia to- hunt AosAon. In
fact, don't care, . sArdine whether
there are any moufion Here or not"
Muttereiii. opened his eyes wide ana
puffed harder on his cigarette.
1T lis lady, signor.r he said
.ran affair."" ei,
1T is lady" replied, "and good
deal of an affair. Now listen. There
is somewhere in the island Of Sardinia
a man whom must hnd. have rea-
son to believe that he has lived here
some years. You may have heard of
him. His name Is Malisni"
"Mahgni!" exclaimed Mutterelli,
leaping to his feet. "The prefetto!
You came here to find Maligni! Ma
!igni! He is the prefetto! The gov.
ernor of the province of Cagliari! The
most powerful OF the Sandman
judges! The head Of the Order Of
Our Lady. the strongest order in Italy
of the Catholic Church. You came to
Cagliari to nnd him! He owns you
while yoa are in 4Cagliari!"
This was startling MutterelH
sazed at me as IL I was maniac. He
certainly looked like one.
There may be other Malignis," I
said. The name is not an uncommon
one. is it?''
There is but one family Di Ma.
ini," he replied. Their estate is
bout ten miles from here, on the
northern Boulevard. 1t is the finest
country seat in Sardinia. 1t belongs
to the Prefetto, who. although he has
his lega residence in the castle, and
is there every day. spends most of
his time with his family in his coun-
w VIVA. There were two brothers
Di Maigni, and the prefetto is the
elder. The other is in America. He
is not rich like the prefetto."
That's the man am after" said.
"Pacho Maligni, Snowman. He was
In America, but have reason to be-
lieve that he is now in Sardinia. He
has in his possession young woman
about whom there is great mystery.
To solve this mystery l have pursued
him here. To enable me to attain
my object 1t is essential that I OBJ
tain possession of certain red box
that WAS given to Pacho Maligni by
this girls father on his deathbed. /
believe that in that box were papers
or other things throwing some light
upon the birth OF the girl. The man
was an Italian. But she ID not. and |
that is the mystery l want to ret at"
Mutterelli shrugged his shoulders.
You are in love with the young
lady. siguor?' he said. !
mo" replied, Il am not. though /
she is lovely enough for any man to |
fall in love with her. But l am nj.
ready IN love with young lady Of
New York, but l cannot marry her
until the mystery of the red box is
solved"
Bat what about this young sig
nOrinn?" he 6Rked ssVou nil rnt -
tempt TO take her nom Pacha Malig-
ni?"
p "She must be rescued from the
clutches Of this Maligni at all haz-
Isl" ] replied. emphatically. II have
orn n the memory Of one who
red hH. and whom she loved, now
ad, although she does not know 1t,
rescae her, and. II my suspicion is
prrect. restore her to that position
life to which she belongs"
And the name of the signorina ?"
hsked Mutterelli
"Nita Barlotti'
Mutterelli smoked an entire cigar
ette before he answered. sat and
looked out Of the window, giving him
all the time he wanted to study the
matter.
Finally Mutterelli shook himself
and heaved a great sigh.
We'll" l said, what do you think
of it?"
1T is dangerous" he said, slowly.
"Of course 1t is dangerous. In fact
it Ia more dangerous than even you