The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1903-02-04

THE M
carriage which heshimself drove. 50 that
no tales might be told and went straight
to his steam yacht. which was lying in
the Thames. Then he took her to Scot
land by sea, and almost forced her to
marry shim there-a simple marriage by
consent before witnesses provided by him.
He was one Of the handsomest and most
fascinating men on EARTH 50 that perhaps
she was not quite reluctant as she wished
to make herself believe, for she really 4
loved him, and some women like to be
taken by storm. But afterwards, when
she heard that her aunt had not tainted
but died suddenly of heart disease in ter
ror at seeing her niece drugged and alb
Quoted. the girl was horribly shocked
And she heard, too, that Sir Peter Mark
ham had brain fever and no doubt she
felt very guilty, though she was not really !
to blame, except perhaps for cowardice
in not letting him know afterwards what /
had really become Of her. But she dared
not do that lest the. two men should fight, |
and one or both be killed. She was too
unhappy to be a pleasant companion, and
her husband thought she hated him forI
what he had done; they had constant mis-
understandings and even quarrels; for
both were. high and finally,
after several miserable years, she left
him, carrying with her their little boy. |
two years Old She was always afraid
that her husband would take the child
away, so she hid. going from place to
place. That child was l. And as my
mother died under an assumed name. when
l was only 5. no one knew that the
wretched little penniless waif was the
son Of the famous Man Without Coun-
try, who scandalized the world with his
mad adventures in various lands. 1t was
only very short time ago that learnt
a off hut how n
that. or what use I intend to make of the
knowledge. is not part of this story,
and is nothing to you now.
The years went on and your father
and mother were always in difficulties.
They did not know that The Man Without
Country had a son and heir somewhere;
therefore they very naturally wished him
Dead so that, as the only living relative,
they might have the great fortune which
| ne had cleverly managed to keep for him
self, even in his Punishment. Still,
| don't suppose they ever planned to murder
| him until YOU, Prince, had grown up and
t plunged yourself and your parents into
deeper difficulties than they had ever
known before. BY this. time the Man
| without Country was morn than fifty
| years Old, but he was as handsome and as
| fascinating as ever, and as adventurous
Long ago he had sold the steam yacht on
which he had eloped with Eve Desmond,
| but he had had a beautiful sailing yacht
| built, and now made his home upon her
almost entirely She changed her name
| often; that was freak of her owners
who had many strange whims, one of
which was to carry with him on board a
| valet who had been a tailor, and who
made all his clothes, without giving him
the trouble of going ON land to be fitted.
| Oftep your father and mother heard of
! their strange cousin OH his wanderings,
and wished that he might die, so that
there might be hope of getting a for
tune large enough to content even you.
But he showed no sign of dying, 50 far
! as they could find out: and never yet had
| he taken that Threatened revenge upon
them for the past, except to keep them
| out of the money. Then, few months
| ago, they arranged a marriage for you
with pretty American girl travelling
abroad with hired chaperon. Miss
Arnold was immensely rich, and if she
| could have been secured as your wife the
Man Without a Country might have lived
1 on in peace. But it was through him
that you lost her; and at last he took his
I revenge.
! He was not supposed to go with his
4 yacht into Italian waters, nevertheless
i he sometimes did SO. He met Miss Ar
/ mold on the French Riviera, heard that
she was engaged to you, followed her to
/ Naples, where she was to be married in
I month, and despite her ambitious desire
4 to be a princess, SO dazzled her with his
thing over and ran away with him. Once
again he stole bride almost on the eve
4 Of her wedding. This girl he did not love
but she was pretty and amusing, and it
was a satisfaction to his revengeful nature
to know that he was robbing the traitors
son of millions of american dollars. He
believed that his wife and son had both
q died years ago in a fire which destroyed
a hotel in Paris, to which he had traced
: them; therefore he had no hesitation in
marrying for the second time; and he and
Il Miss Arnold were married in Athens. It
was while lying at the Piraeus that the
yacht was rechristened the Xenia: for of
all his adopted lands the Man Without a
Country loved Greece the best And it
was While the yacht was cruising among
II the Greek isles that your father and
mother concOcted their plot for murder
: The cook on board the Xenia was bribed
: to leave suddenly, your father, perfectly
, disguised, appeared with wonderful Gre
dent1als from famous people, all forged,
t applying for the vacant BERTH
1.-THE Man Without a Country might
have remembered that in old days his
3 cousin used jokingly to be called THE
e Chef, because he had such a remarkable
. taste for cookery, and could give points
l. to most professional chefs. But if he did
remember, the recollection raised no sus-
: picion in his mind concerning Monsieur
Anatole. ~.
Now. great many men in the history
of the world have planned murder for re-
Venge or avarice-or both. But usually
they are content with single murder.
Your father, however, had larger mind,
and was ready to do what must be done
on grand scale. If he made use of the
poison which he and your mother had
prepared merely upon their cousin, and
the young wife he had stolen from you,
ne, al cook on board their yacht would
certainly be suspected of causing their
death by means of poison in the food
therefore, to save him, every one on
board must die, apparently including him
self. Then the fate of passengers and
crew would remain in impenetrable mys-
terry. He would escape; no one on earth
would suspect that the Due di Ravelle had
been on board his banished cousin S
yacht.
Go be continued Tomorrow
REAL ESTATE TRANSFERS.
i Pauline Y. to r.