The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1904-03-24
Copyrisht b>r
Dodd.
Mead ca Co.

Now llma's instantly perceived intention
to change the subject at Fortescue's APP
proach, by its implied want of confidence.
came as a sharp little heart-stab to honest
Laura, and she determined TO put that
matter right at oace for all. So far. by
mutual agreement, she and her lover had
kept their perllous adventure at Boulogne
TO themselves, and, as natural conse-
quence. the events that led to it. the only
exception being Nolborth, to whom Fortes-
cue had forwarded a full report TO Copen-
hagen. But IL had been thought safer in
llmas OWE interest TO write nothing OF
/ what happened 70 her, and she was there
/ fore ignorant of what had been done TO
divert Dubrowslki's peril.
So when Fortescue came up, Laura
/ said: lima has been telling me that moth
ing jumpy happened at Copenhagen, and L
| think she ought TO know TO whcsn that is
/ due And turning To lima she added:
! do you know. dear that by an extraordi-
/ In the train, and this astute young man
! played her so automatically that | doubt
! Captain Dubrowski Established a funk.
you know And Laura proceeded to de-
scribe how Fortescue had impaired to the
arch nihilist the rumor of a staff officer of
the Tsar being under suspicion. There she
/ stopped short, leaving IL TO her lover, if he
chose, to narrate the scene in the Rue st.
Pol
! But the immediate effect was for the mo-
ment 10 increase Ilma's alarm. She knew
that she had not mentioned Olga PalitZin
by name in her letter to Laura. and the
!
senger with her own unnamed rival could
only have one signifcance-that FortesCue
was deep In the counsels of Volborth, and
was TO be proportionately mistrusted.
The look which she cast at her friends
| lover was In truth a mute appeal 10 re-
move her doubts of him.
Inat was indeed most generous, most
Skillful-if only" she was beginning when
Fortescue, who, with quick intuition. had
! OWNED the cause of her fear. cut her short.
In plain English, if only 1 did it in your
/ in hot of he cello
secret police" he said genially. lone mo-
| ment Mademoiselle Vassili," he went on,
as lima raised her hand in protest at having
been read so literally Il am glad of an
opportunity of making this quite clear. My
nrst OBJECT in all that l have done in this
matter has been to help you, as Laura's
friend, TO the attainment Of your purpose
! The relief of Captain Dubrowski from
further implication and suspicion My sec
ond object has been TO help my own old
| friend Paul Nolborth to the attainment of
! his purpose, but always in such a way that
| II would not clash with yours. On that ]
give YOU my word as a gentleman"
And L trust you entirely" cried lima,
all her doubts broken down by his frank
declaration. You must forgive my alarm,
put 1t was your acquaintance with NJ. Vol
borth that l mistrusted-not yourself"
After that there was no more mlsunder-
| standing, and Fortescue went on to explain
| that from all points of view the best thing
that could happen would be for Volborth
to prevent attempts during the tour. and
at the end to capture the conspira tors in
some scheme In which neither directly nor
indirectly was Boris Dubrowski concerned
! lima in turn told how. after leaving Bres-
Tau, Dubrowsh had been first excitable,
then anxious and uneasy. and at last to-
| wards the end OF the Danish visit had be-
come unusually quiet and thoughtful-as a
| result, she now believed, of the sudden
termination OF letters and kilograms from
the princess. Fortescue said nothing of the
| Boulogne incident, ii solely affected Vol
! borthS conduct of the case
An hours chat with her two English
friends left lima composed and cheerful, so
| catching was Laura's happy optimism.
One thing only l beg OF you BOTH she
| said, as they rose at the ringing of the
luncheon bell. neither for my sake. nor
| Russian intrigue. They are deadly people,
those who are working with Olga Paitzin,
and 1 would not have you brave their
| vengeance openly"
The two girls moved off arm in arm, and
did not see the unwonted shadow that
crossed Fortescue's face.
Il am afraid we have braved their ven
geance-or what is worse, their sense of
self-protection already" he muttered as he
ran up TO his room What would she say
if she knew that Laura and l were be-
lieved and rightly, by the conspiratOrs TO
be the only persons able TO legally prove
their identity. | mustn't lose a moment
in comparing notes with my little girl after
lunch"
He had only arrived at Blairgeldie on the
previous night, and as the house was full
he had not yet had a tete-a-tete with Laura
certain happenings to himself during the
three weeks that had elapsed since their
stoppage at Boulogne had brought home to
MN pretty forcibly. He had spent, the time
in London, after seeing Lady Metcalf and
her daughter off to Scotland. and he had
not been three days in the metropolis when
he began to have a vague impression that
he was being followed. There was nothing
definite to catch hold of But he had a
quick eye for faces. and there had been
several curious condolences One night or
| Junior Carlton he cd
in the cab-tout who closed the doors of his
hanson man whom he had seen, differ
emily dressed, loating on the previous day
in the hall of the Mansions" in Victoria
street, where his fiat was situated And
again, another individual who, sleek and
well-dressed, had called one day at the
Foreign Office to see him on a matter that
proved TO be trumpet up, was certainly
travelling in the next carriage to his on the
underground three days later in workman'S
attire. He had no intention of alarming
Laura. but. realizing that she shared witt
him that dangerous knowledge, he wanted
TO ascertain if she had noticed anything
abnormal in her surroundings, and in tha
case to take measures for her protection.
Blairgeldie Castle being close to the RICH
shoulder of Glen Muck. opposite to 'th'
longing to the charmed circle of thos,
select ones whom the Queen speaks of al
her Highland ''neighbors," the converse
ton at luncheon naturally ran on he
Majestys guests. The Tsar was shootin,
with the Prince of Wales in the neighbor
hood of Birkhall, Sir James was able I,
inform the company; and Laura supplied
the information that the Queen and tn
Tsarina were to drive out TO the GlasSal
Shiel. ForteScue, who had come in to,
, late to secure a seat near Laura. remem
| bered with satisfaction a hint that ne hat
included in his letter to Nolborth anent tn
selection of the Tsar's gillies and leaders.
| For Laura herself the doings of princi
palities and powers had for the time fade
taken a back seat she would hav
called it-in face of the superior attraction
of a new bicycle. And in this respect for
tune favored her that she was seated mex
another devotee Of the wheel. TO whom sh
could enlarge without risk of boredom ol
, of the thirty-guinea safety which sh
had brought from London Mr.. Fitz Hard
ing. retired indian judge, had taken TO tn
exercise late in life for the sake of hi
liver. and though he took good deal NOR
. interest in his damaged vital organ than i
the machine which was to cure it, he wa
/ able To listen sympathetically and tech
! nically to her enthusiasm.
Lets go for a spin after lunch sal
Laura, who knew that lima was booked 70
e an inspection of the dairies under Lad
Metcalf's personal guidance. II can TAX
you to place where we shall very iikel
get a sight of some of the royalties I hav
been there every day for a week and hav
? been uncommonlv lucky. The day befor
yesterday when | was up there on Blk
that's my bike. YOU know, christened attic
/ the German Emperor nearly cannone
/ the prince on TO old WOrOnzoff, the Russia
chamberlain's pet corn"
And she went on TO explain that the road
on the Queens property on the left sid
of the glen were closed even TO the favore
| few who had DerrnisSiOD n use tbe-o 6triu