The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1909-06-11
| |keUenge
BY GUY RNE
SSweet i revenge, especially to
wo;nan."-Lord Byron.


duchess and Michael Grant, Michael
| Grant himself had entered the club.
All these thoughts flashed through
his brain in a single second of time.
Disconnected as they seemed to be-
coming from a whole series Of impress
sions-now, with the suddenness Of a
rife shot, they all seemed fused into
connected whole. The pieces of the
puzzle came together, and he saw the
picture.
The thing was SO swift and so COM
plete that he trembled as he lay.
His eyes fell once more upon the
paper Here were the details. The
little duke,it appeared, had mysteri-
ously vanished--no one knew how
from 1OA, Piccadilly.
The details were very difficulty to
get, but 1t was known that Scotland
Yard had been busy the whole night,
that the duke of Perth and Sir An
thony HELLER had been summoned,
| and that Mr.. Michael Grant, who was
| in the house at the time Of the discov-
cry of the dukes disappearance, was
more or less In charge of the investi-
| cations
There had not yet been time for any
leader or editorial comment upon the
subject. The news was too recent,
and only the barest outlines were
printed in the paper. At the same
time, after such facts as had been
collected were briefly summarized In
large type, an editorial note in bour-
geois type appeared. It was to this
effect:
"The news of this extraordinary oc-
currence has only just come to hand
Comment upon 1t Is, therefore, USE
less at the present stage of affairs.
It may. after all, prove to be capable
Of a very simple explanation, though
the information at present in our pos
session certainly seems to point to
the fact that this Is not so. II, as our
later editions will explain, the little
duke of London has really been spir-
tied away or kidnapped by some mys-
| terious agency, then the United King
dom and. indeed, all Europe will have
a sensation unparalleled in the his
| tory of modern times.
1T must be remembered by our
readers that the duke of London Is a
more important factor In the life Of
our day than many q royal prince;
and that the child for whom the fu-
ture has such vast possibilities-such
enormous and almost unthinkable re-
| sponsibilities-is, indeed, very cen
ter and focus of interest"
Marriott read these words with a
curious quickening of his heart BEATS
The arteries of his temples beat like
distant drums. He found, to his sur
prise, that the hand which held the
paper was not only trembling, but wet
| with perspiration.
What did 1t all mean? How was
it that, in some mysterious. inexplica-
! BILE way, he, the naval of1cer upon
| leave, seemed destined to be caught
| up in this great affair?
In the afternoon he had seen the
| little duke with the young duchess,
| coming from the house of the prince
of Wales. Both of them had recog-
nized his father. His father was a
friend Of both. A few minutes after
wards he had seen Michael Grant en-
ter the club. BY curious train Of
circumstances, and quite beyond his
own wish, he and Sir Hercules had
| seen the remains of note from the
duchess, and now It appeared that the
control of this strange affair was
placed In the hands OF Michael Grant.
Finally, there was one great fact
which loomed far back in his con-
science. the fact Of the black, swing
ing burden he had seen descending
from the upper window of great
house in Piccadilly, before he had
been struck down BY some unseen
agency,
He now had no longer any doubt
that he had been deprived Of con-
sciousness exactly opposite 100A, Pic.
cadilly.
He felt sure that he himself held
the key to the whole situation.
What was to be done?
His head was still sick and giddy
He felt very far from we'll. The great
shock he had experienced had its way
with his physical capacities, yet, new
ertheless, his brain was stung and
| whipped into IN enormous activity
This strange thing that had come to
him possessed his whole mind and
| soul. Again he asked himself, what
was to be done?
The answer came swiftly. obviously
almost. At any cost, see Michael
Grant. He must see him Immediately
and tell him what he knew.
He rang the bell, and the valet en-
tered. Fetch me a copy Of Who's
VINO, !" he said.
The man brought the fat, red vol
ume. and Marriott hurriedly turned
the pages. After columns of Grants.
ali more or less distinguished, he
found the name he sought. michael
Grant," and at the bottom of the
closely-written paragraph was the ad-
dress. "St. Anselm's Mansions, victo-
ria Street" A telephone number also