The Miller press. [volume] (Miller, S.D.) 190?-current, 1909-04-29


7 walking In his sleep. Let US iooF
into every room which opens on tt
the gallery"
Eyes, you're right, Miss Decies,'
Grant answered. Come, do not LEI
us waste a moment"
He sprang up the stairs, followed by
the duchess, the old lady, and the two
men detailed to attend on him by the
house steward, while Remington him
self began to organize search parties
among the remaining domestiCs below
II was now a little after 10 o'clock
and for half an hour Grant and his
companions went through the many
rooms opening on to the gallery
Three or four switches were turned
up. a flood of light Illuminated every
recess of the great picture room
where the Rembrandts and Mu'
rillOs hung, and that vas shown TO be
utterly empty. A rabbit could no
have hidden in it. Several state bed
rooms in which princes and ~princesses
Of the Georgian house had stayed took
| lOlSeI 10 examine, Dul DIONtu Nluulis
void of all information.
They came to Miss DeCies' own
apartments, which were three en- suite.
The little marble bathroom was CLEAN
ing and empty. A very short eXami-
nation suliced to show that the big,
prim sitting room, with its Early Vic
tOrian furniture and all that style OF
decoration which she had admired in
her youth. and which the old lady still
chung to. resOlutely, could not harbOr
ever the most mischievous little boy
tempted to play at hide-and-seek. In
the bed room it was the same. 1t
was hardly worth while to open the
big mahogany wardrobes and presses,
to glance behind the hangings of the
vast four-poster bed.
Miss DeCieS had been in the sitting
room, which opened into the bed room,
for more than an hour, and it was
impossible that the child should have
hidden in or been conveyed to her
apartments.
And it was the same with all the
remaining rooms which opened on to
the gallery. The ball room, the yell
low room, the Louis Quatorze ante
room, the great crimson drawing
room, one and all, proved fruitless to
their search.
At half past ten Grant. the duchess
and Miss D~ecies, the various groups Of
servants, and the houekeeper and
house steward met once more in the
great hall.
Now a real terror blanched the faces
of every one; the excited voices of
half an hour ago were hushed. White
faces were turned in mute astonish-
ment to n another. Fear brooded
owe all the s~plendor of the famous
vestibule of 100a, Piccadilly.
Your grace" Remington said, in
a deep voice which trembled with
sorrow and excitement-''your grace.
every nook and corner of the house
has been searched, and it is certain,
as far as human understanding can
say. that his grace has gone"
The duchess looked at the man for
a moment, swayed a little, and then
without a sound, sank back in a dead
faint, being caught just before she
would have fallen upon the purple
floor by Grant and Miss Decies.
They carried her into the small blue
drawing room and laid her on a couch.
where, within a minute, smelling
salts and Eau-de-C Cologne, which Miss
Decies produced with automatic sud
denness, revived her. She came back
into the world of consciousness white
and ~shuddering, and the first person
on whom her eyes fell was Michael
Grant.
She was very quiet and restrained.
Michael" she said, 'Fitzroy has
disappeared; there can be no doubt
of that. My boy has been taken away.
How or why | do not know. Some.
thing sinister and terrible has hap.
pened in this house. We must send
for his two guardians at once. Don't
you think so, Aunt Augusta"
The best and wisest thing to do,
my poor Beatrice" Miss Decies an
swered, her hard old face much moved
and altered by the events of the last
hour.
ITO Be C%ontinued.)