Camas Prairie chronicle. [volume] (Cottonwood, Idaho) 1901-1917, 1906-11-09
CHAPTER x.


OF the door. / turned to Mossel with a
demand for an explanation.
Wait till Herr Graden returns" he
grunted sulkily.
| have the strongest objection to those
silly tricks Of secrecy with which the
professional police endeavor to magnify
their most simple discoveries. / was
speaking my mind strongly on the subject
when my cousin reappeared.
HalloI what's the matterY' he asked.
explained the position, while the fat
German chuckled In an oily, irritating
manner.
rs not the official always the same2"
said Graden, with a grim smile. "Come
to the light, Robert, and I'll explain"
1t was certainly an ingenious discovery
they had made. Upon the page upon
which the map should have rested were
several slight indentations, evidently the
result of marks made upon the lost paper
by pencil with fine point. With great
care my cousin tore out the correspond
ing map from his guide book and fitted
It into the vacant place. Then, turning
1t slowly back, he drove a pin through
the thin paper at the spots Immediately
above the indentations on the page be-
low.
'"rhe devil take himw he cried. Look,
Mossel. This doesn't help us, after all. !"
It was true enough. The pin-pricks
showed, hrst Lemsdorf; then a cross
road some ten miles to the east; and
then Bromberg, to the NORTH on the
Berlin-Thorn, and Gnesen, to the south,
on the POsen-Frankfurt railways. He
had evidently been measuring and calcu-
lating indecisively.
"DO not trouble yourself, Herr Gra-
den," said Mossel, with a wave of the
hand that had more than a suggestion
Of patronage. "There are still telegraphs.
1 will have him detained at whichever
place he reaches. shall return in half
an hour-tO good supper, trust, Mr..
Landlord"
We followed him to tbs outer door,
which opened to a writing wilderness
Of snowhakes, for the fall had recon-
menced. The policeman turned up his
collar with a grunt Of disgust and melted
into the darkness. We turned to meet
the face of the landlord, white and drawn
with a terrible anxiety.
My sonP' he gasped. What Of my
SOM"
Heaven pardon mep cried Graden,
II had forgotten himv"
'This man he drove, that Is about to
be arrested-is he a criminal2 Do not
spare me, mein Herr"
"Your servant-our driver to-day-will
be telling the tale in your kitchen, Of
the death of the Prof. Mechersky, of
Castle Oster. This man, whose name is
Marnac, killed him. That is why we
pursue. Yet, my friend, see no dan
ger for your son, unless"
hTIniasa what main HarF ~
"Unless he refused to assist in the
escape Of a murderer"
He is an honest boy, a good boy, but
very stubborn. His horses were borrow
ed; he had promised to return them to-
night. He would never consent to drive
this man to Bromberg or Gnesen which
Is at least an eighteen hours journey
oh, mein Herr, mein Herr! what is hap
pening-Out there in the snow?"
"We are in the hands of Providence,
my friend" said my cousin gravely lay
ing his hand on the landlords arm. "You
can do nothing but pray that 1t may be
we'll with the boy"
was very sorry for Reskl. As l
made my toilet in my room upstairs, the
danger Of his son grew upon me. Fate,
accident, Providence-whAtever you
choose to call it's a strange thing, for
Indeed 1t chooses its victim with a fine
impartiality. When entered our supper
room, found my cousin equally disturb
ed.
"This is a bad business about the
landlords son." he said. "I've a good
mind to follow the sleigh, though it's
little good that would do"
"It's an awful night" / grumbled, for
indeed the wind was shrieking in the roof
like a lost soul.
"You're a queer chap, Robert with
your COMPOUNDED mannerisms," he said
"Yet I'll wager you'd be the first to be
of into the storm in a matter of life
and DEATH"
1t was not exactly complimentary, but
let 1t pass,
Mossel was delayed. 1t was close upon
twenty minutes more before he arrived.
a snow-swathed, stamping bear of a
man, whose curses preceded him as he
rolled down the passage to our room.
whats up, MosselT Graden demand
ed sharply.
1.-THE wires, mein Herr Graden, the
wiresl Potztausendl but this storm has
brought them down like clothes lines"
"a special train, then"
''They have not an engine In the shed.
/ have been to see; it was that which
delayed me-"
Graden drew a sheet of paper from
his pocket and glanced at 1t swiftly.
''There il not a train till ten in the
morning." he said. "He will be at Brom-
berg, which Is the nearer town, by eleven
at latest. This Is a branch line, and we
could not get there under three hours
It Is now seven. An old man as he Ia
could hardly travel through such a Digbt
without stops for food. Again, this lad
who drove him may have refused TO pro-
coed. We must chance It, my friends.
and follow"
II thought you had already SO decided
when / saw the sleighs at the door"
said Mossel.
"slelghs, MOssell ordered no
sleighsw
sWen, they're there Two troikas
with three good horses apiece. Come and
see for yourself"
The policeman had spoken the truth.
on the leeward side Of the porch two
aieighs were waiting. The light from the
oman door behind us shimmered ON IN