, 1906-01-24
His kiss sent a chill to the very bot
tom of Peggy's heart.
CHAPTER XXXIII.

half conscious. A bitter smile cfept
about his lips as he drew away from
the street car track almost as his hand
touched the rail of a car he had Sig
nailed. He remembered that he did not
have money enough to pay his fare. 1t
was six or seven blocks to the office or
the lawyers, and he was actually run
ming before he stopped at the entrance
of the big building.
Never had an elevator Travelled more
slowly than the one which shot him to
the seventh floor. A light shone through
the transom above the attorneys door,
and he entered without so much as a
rap on the panel. Grant, who was pac-
ing the floor, came to a standstil and
faced his visitor.
"CIose the door, please" came in
steady tones from Ripley. Mr.. Grant
dropped into a chair, n Brewster
mechanically slammed the door.
as it true?" he demanded hoarsely,
his hand still on the knob.
"Sit down, Brewster, and control
yourself" said Ripley.
"Good God, man, can't you see l am
calm?' cried Monty. go on; tell me
all about it. What do you know? What
have you heard?
He cannot be found, that's ALL an
nounced Ripley, with deadly intent
ness. 81 don't know what it means.
There is no explanation. The whole
thing is inconceivable. Sit down, and L
will tell you everything as quickly as
possible"
.'There isn't much to tell" said Grant
mechanically.
81 can take it better standing" de-
clared Brewster, shutting his jaws
tightly.
Zones was last seen in Butte on the
3D. of this month";" said Ripley. 1--WE
sent several kilograms to him after
that day, asking when he expected to
leave for New York. They never were
claimed, and the telegraph company
reported that he could not be found.
We thought he might have gone off to
look after some of his property and
We're mo- uneasy. Finally we began to
wonder why he had not wired us on
leaving for the east. l telegraphed
again and got no answer. It dawned
uDOu us ludL lulS was oOllCIllIS I'LL
usual. We wired his secretary and re-
ceived a response from the chief Of
police. He asked in turn if we could
tell him anything about the where
abouts of Jones. This naturally alarm
ed us, and yesterday we kept the wires
hot. The result of our inquiries is ter
rible, Mr.. Brewster"
"Why didn't you tell me? asked
Brewster.
There can be no doubt that Jones
has fled, accompanied by his secretary
The belief in Butte is that the secretary
has murdered him."
Ripley moistened his lips and went
on.
1--WE have dispatches here from the
police, the banks, the trust companies
and from a half dozen mine managers
You may read them if o like, but l
can tell you what they say. About the
list of this month Jones began to turn
various securities into money. 1t is.
now known that they were once the
property of James T.. Sedgwick, held
in trust for you. The safety deposit
vaults were afterward visited, and in
spection shows that he removed every
scrap of stock, every bond, everything
of value that he could lay his hands
upon. His own papers and effects
were not disturbed. Yours alone have
disappeared. 1t is this fact that con-
vinces the authorities that the secreta-
ry has made away with the old man
and has fed with the property. h
bank people say that Jones drew out
every dollar of the Sedgwick money,
and the police say that he realized ire
mendous sums on the convertible Sc
curities. The strange part of it is that
he sold your mines and your real es-
tate, the purchaser being a man named
Golden. Brewster, tit looks very
much as if he had disappeared with
everything"
Brewster did not take his eyes from
Ripley's face throughout the terrible
speech. He did not nov a fraction of
an inch from the rigid position as
sumed at the beginning.
"Is anything being done?' he asked
mechanically.
1.-The police are Investigating. He is
known to have started off into the
mountains with this secretary on the
Sd of September. Neither has been
seen since that day so far as any n
knows. The earth seems to have swal-
lowed them. The authorities are
searching the mountains and are max
ing every effort to find Jones or his
body. He is known to be eccentric, and