Los Angeles herald., 1907-03-10


had come to save her On the whole
n seemed to Mary that she had an ally here
'I am afraid you are mistaken" she whisper
ed "I am not Beatrice Richford. But ! am
doing. my best for the young lady all the same.
She is"
Don't say that she is in the houseY the
man said in a mufaed tone.
"Alas, that l can say nothing else" Mary re-
piled. '1 was Just too late. Mrs. Richford had
just entered the doorway l came up. If you
will tell me you name"
Perhaps had better" the stranger said after
minutes hesitation. "T am Mark Nentmore;
perhaps you have heard of me-"
Mary gave little sigh of relief She knew
all about Mark Ventmore. Here indeed was a
man who would be ready to help her She drew
little nearer to him.
"And am Mary Sartors," she said. "lf you
have heard of me"
ooh yes. you are the sister Of that mean
Carl Sartoris' is your brother. But surely you
are altogether innocent Of the-the strange Things
that"
"I am innocent Of everything" said Mary pas
sionately. "I have wasted my life clinging TO
man in the faint hope of bringing him back 10
truth and honor again. / am beginning 10 see
now that I am having my trouble for my pains,
Mr.. Ventmore. Suffice it for the present to say
that Mrs. Richford stands in great peril"
"Oh, l know that" Ventmore said hoarsely.
'T got that information from Brentwood, the
scoundrel At the instigation of Inspector Field,
] have been following that rascal pretty well all
day We won't say anything about Bennington
who | understand is more or less OF prisoner
in your brothers house, because Bennington IS
the kind of man who can take care OF himself
But Beatrice is in peril--Bentwood told me that
The fellows brains are in state of muddle so
/ could not get the truth from him. 1t was
something about of diamonds.
YES yes" Mary said. "The diamonds that
Mr.. Richford gave his wife for wedding pres
ent Mr.. Richford has got himself into severe
trouble"
"Rchford is dsgraced and ruined man. The
police are after him."
$50 | gathered. He is now in the disguise OF
an elderly clergyman, and at present he is"
'cHding in that house at Edward street,
Mark cried. "I saw him with Brentwood. But
what has he to do with those diamonds?"'
Everything. 1 overheard the plot laid" and
Mary proceeded to explain.
But in the name of fortune, why she
to come here?" Mark asked.
There is not much more to tell" Mary went
letter to Mrs. Richford asking her to come
here and see my brother"
bennington must have been mad to think of
such thing!''
"No, he did it at my instigation. 1 managed
to communicate with him and assure him that no
harm should come of it. No harm would have
come of it if had only kept my head and done
the right thing. But the fact remains that Mrs.
Richford is in there; she has those diamonds in
her pocket and the thieves are on the track It
seems to me-"
Mary did not finish the sentence for Mark held
out hand and pulled her behind bush, Just
in time, as two other people came up the path.
The man Reggie and the woman Cora were stand
ing on the doorstep whispering together.
80 far, good, the man was saying We've
got here and we pretty sure that our bird
is securely Gagged, but what next?"
"Wait our chance" the woman said with al
certain fierce indrawing of her breath. 1--WE can
appear to have come here by accident for in
structions anything. So long as Sartoris does
not know about those stones we are safe. When
we get them"
"When we get them, Richford can whistle
for his share Of the money" the man said coolly.
1eBy this time tomorrow we shall be in possession
of more money than we have ever had before
don't like this present business, it's far too
dangerous. Unless we go so far as to murder
that fellow Bennington and get him out of the
way"
"Don't" the woman said with shudder. ''I
hate that kind of work. Anything clever or cum
ming, anything requiring audacity, I can do with.
But violence!'
She shuddered again, and the man laughed
softly as if greatly pleased with some idea of his
"There is going to be no violence or any,
thing else" he said ''Ths game has got far
too dangerous, Well change those stones into
money and then we'll quietly vanish and leave
our good friend Sartons to his own devices What
do you say to that?"
"Amen, with all my heart" the girl said
"The sooner the better. But don't forget that
we have not yet settled on plan of action"
leave 1t to chance" the man replied. owe
have all the knowledge that is necessary to the
success of our scheme, and the girl knows moth
ing. She will not stay very long, it is getting
late already. Suppose we pretend that we have
a cab waiting to take us back to town, and sup
pose that we offer to give her lift. Then that
scent of yours" The woman called Cora laugh
ed and capped her hands gleefully 1t was an
idea after her own heart. She patted her COM
panion affectionately on the shoulder
Come along then,' she said, "Open the door
longing for something to eat This kind of thing
makes me hungry"
The door opened and then closed again softly
and the conspirators had vanished. With a ges-
ture Of anger Mark strobe towards the house.
Mary following.
"What on earth are you going to dof she
said anxiousy, "Will you spoil everything by
your impatence? If you only realized the dan,
gers that lie hidden yonderl"
Mark paused abruptly and bit his lip. The
trouble was not over vet