Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-04-09

PiozZi put in an appearance was Vande-
leur's grave answer.
He paused for an instant, and then he
burst out in vehemence:
Il owe Sara a debt of gratitude. Hunt
Ing her as a recreation is as good as hunt
ing man-eating tiger. l am getting at
her now by watching the movements of her
victim
who is the victim?" l interrupted.
mo less person than Prof. Piozzi.'
Impossible" l answered.
Fact, all the same he replied. THE
professor. notwithstanding his genius, is in
easily imposed upon"
Nevertheless, l fail to understand" l
said
Have you ever heard of the subtle power
of love?'
AS Vandeleur spoke he stared hard at
me, then burst into an uneasy laugh
The professor is in love-" he said. Mad
ame's last move is truly prompted by gen.
ius. She has taken to exploiting one of the
most OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES girls who have
electrified society for many day. 1t ism
her mere beauty that draws every one to
Donna Marta; it is her popularity, She has
all the ways of an unconscious siren; for
never was any one less self-conscious or
mere apparently indifferent to admiration.
II have not heard of her." / said.
"Then you have allowed the talk of the
town to slip past you, Druce," was Van
deleur's answer. Donna Marta is the talk
of the town. No one knows where she has
sprung from; no one can confidently assert
that this country or the other has had the
honor of her nationality. She belongs to
Nine. Sara; she accompanies her wherever
she goes, and Professor Piozsi Is the vic
tim.
Are you surey' I asked.
Certain. He follows them about like a
shadow. Madame is keeping more or less
in the background for the present Donna
Marta is the lure. We shall next hear of
an engagement between our young friend
and this girl. whose antecedents no one
knows anything about Madame has an OBJ
ject, of course. She means mischief.
It was my custom never to interrupt
Vandeleur when he was explaining one of
his theories. so l sat back in my chair
and allowed him to proceed without COM
ment on my part
AT the present moment" he continued.
81 happen to know that the professor has
run to earth another of his amazing dis
coveries in the carbon compounds. No one
but himself knows what it is as yet, not
even his assistants. Next week he is going
to explode the bombshell in the scientific
world at a lecture at the Royal Institution.
Every one will flock there on the tiptoe of
expectation and curiosity. The thing is at
present dead secret, and the title of the
lecture not even mentioned. He means TO
electrify the world. 1t is his little amuse-
ment to do this, as he did the ethylene
light affair. The man is of course, phe-
nomenon, a genius, probably the most
brilliant of our times. He Is absolutely I'M
suspicious and absolutely unworldly. | am
not going 10 see him ruin himself II L can
help it,
II perceive that you are in earnest" 1
said; but how are you to prevent man
who is his own master from adopting his
own methods, even in the subtle cause of
love? Suppose your young professor loves
Donna Marta, how are you to stop him."
Thine will prove how he remarked;
but stop him l will"
The bell whirred. and the next moment
Professor Piozzi entered. / looked at him
with keen interest. From his photographs.
reproduced freely in the illustrated papers,
looking man, with a keen, intelligent face;
but l was scarcely prepared for his juvenile
appearance. He was tall in figure, well
made somewhat slender; his hair was of a
fair fiaxen shade; his eyes were wide open
and a clear blue. He had massive fore
head. dark eyes and clean shaver face.
His whole appearance was that of an ordi-
nary, good-looking. everyday sort of young
man, and I examined his features with ex-
IRENE curiosity. endeavoring to detect any
where a sign of genius. L could not do so.
The professors whole appearance was
everyday; not doubt of II. He was well
dressed and had easy, courteous manners.
and upon a finger of his left hand there
CLEANED ring. royal gift from the king
of his native land.
We sat down to dinner, and the converse
ton was light, pleasant and sufficiently
witty to cause the moments to fly. No one
knew better than Vandeleur how to make
man feel at home In his own house, and
could see that Piozzi was enjoying him.
self in boyish way.
1t was not until the meal was nearly over
that the professor caused us both to start
and listen with extreme attention. He be-
gan to talk of Nine. Sara. He spoke OF
her with enthusiasm. She was the cleverest
woman In London, and. with one exception