Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-10-25

l had merely to cable Capt. Won Schier-
brand, whom you met in Vera Cruz few
evenings ago. and since your devilfsh ana
ineXplcable cleverness hes brought you
straight to my door. here are the captain
and his friends close on your heels,
brought here by my sapiencY.'
There was a rustic at the curtains OF
the door leading into the main body of
the house. There entered the Baroness
Won Schierbrand, Capt. Won Schierbrand
and my erstwhile friend, the Swedish en-
gineer. AS | looked away from them |
saw I was covered with a heavy revolver
by an Indian, who had entered from an
other door and stood behind Gonzales
the same man who had tried to kill me In
Orizaba AS the baroness passed me l
rose and bowed with what grace and ease
l could summon. The baroness inclined
her head coldly, the captain glowered on
me. ard the Swede's expression was all
lost in the glitter of the heavy lenses of
his spectacles. Gonzales rendered them
seats on his side of the table. The Sweda
sat down near me in an attitude of watch
fulness.
Complete silence fell for brief mo-
ment then Gonzales continued: LAS Capt.
Won Schierbrand was already his
way. as the representative of his govern
ment. to conclude the purchase of this
valuable bit of information'-he drew
from his breast pocket the box containing
the Cochrane secret. and as he laid 1t on
the table l saw the seals had not been
broken-"there is no reason why this
tracking you here should not be merely an
incident and we should not proceed with
the transfer. / wish you to witness as
a reward for prying into other peoples
affairs, the contamination of what you
tried to prevent.
Then they went on with the transaction.
1t was very brief The Swede was carry
ing for the captain a small quantity Of
gold and large quantity of British Sc
curities. These the captain took and gave
to Gonzales, who. not to be outdone in
Indifference. passed them to the Indian be-
hind him. When Won Schierbrand received
the precious box he gave it to the Swede
without word just as he would give 1t
to a hired guard / could put out my fin
gers and touch it with ease as it protruded
from his side coat pocket. OF what words
were then uttered / was not aware. My
brain worked like mad to plan some move,
no matter how daring. II seemed to me
that the baroness was looking at me with
interest and sympathy In her eyes. Con
Zales turned to the Indian behind him and
pointed to me, saying:
Pablo. take that fool into the Gala
boose and keep him till tomorrow evening.
and then do what / sent you to do in ORR
zaba. My dear Mr. Rand when you are
dead I shall be on board steamer at Vera
Cruz, bound for a land that will appreci-
ate my ability. Goodbye. my clever gen.
tleman." He waved his hand at me with
inSolent smile.
Out came my Luger In my right hand
My left snatched the box from the Swede's
pocket. and just as | was ready to shoot
the Indian behind Gonzales the slow
SWede seemed to catch on fire He seized
the wrist of my gun hand with a terribls
grip. In an instant he had the gun. He
had drawn one of his own. The others in
the room were on their feet. and another
armed Indian sprang through the cur
tainS of the other door. lie raised his
machete as he advanced on me. but ii was
the baroness who interviewed. She threw
herself before me. The second Indian
turned to his master for orders. The bar
oness burst forth on her brother in a tor
rent of scorn.
is this what your high-mnded patri-
otism. your desire to do great service to
the Fatherland. means? Is this what the
noble object you have held up before me
cold-booded murder OF
man guilty of nothing but bravely doing
his duty? / shall not be a party to it an
instant longer l have made you no prom
ises. If you murder this man you must
kill your own sister to protect yourself
from the laws consequences
There spoke the true noblewoman but
fortunately your sacrifice is not needed
observed Rand's quiet voice at my elbow.
and l turned to see that it issued from the
off the battling heavy-lensed glasses and
was covering our foes with his weapon and
mine. This game has been played far
enough 10 develop your reserve Indian
my cautious Senior Gonzales Duncan
kindly relieve those two servants of their
revolvers. See II they are ready for your
use and step to this door to the right.
Gentlemen, / give you warning IL either
of you attempts 10 summon other servants
l will pull the trigger
The captain was brave man at least.
AS | passed him to take my post at the
door he threw himself on me to try TO
wrest the box from me. meanwhile hold
ing me between him and Rand. Gonzales
was too astounded to stir a step The big
German was too much for me. In a second
he had me worsted l could not under
stand Rand's forbearince. Van Shier-
brand was actually dragging me away
with him when / saw all arm above me
deal him a crushing blow with a dubbed
pistol. and when the mist cleared from
before my eyes and I began to get my
breath as Won Schierbrand's throttling
grip was released | saw the captain living
on the floor and over him stood Tom
Baroness I deeply regret your brothers
rashness," said Rand. rapidly. but the
result simplifics matters You dog Pablo
if you do not want to snend the rest of
your life in prison for your dirty work in
Orizaba go with Mr.. Duncan to the sta
bles and bring here carrejo to take
Capt. Won Sutherland to the station to