Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1911-01-13

H6du, the skill Oh WHICH pore the scars
OF ancient wounds and more than one
jagged cut. A goats beard, long and
unkempt and shaggy. depended from a
chin as sharp as a wedge; the nose was
prominent, but not without a sugges-
ton of power; the hands were old and
tremulous, but quivering still with the
desire OF life. So much a glare Of the
furnaces light showed me at a glance.
When II died down / was left alone in
the darkness with this revolving figure,
and had but the dread suggestion Of
its presence for my companion.
"Dr. Fabos, Of London! Is it not DR..
Fabos? l am an old man, and my
eyes do not help me as once they did.
But / think it is DIR. Fabos!"
/ turned upon him INC declared my
self, since any other course would
have made me out afraid of him.
I am DR.. Fabos-yes, that is so.
And you, l think, are the man they call
Val Imroth?"
He laughed. a horrible, dry, throatly
laugh, and drew a little nearer to me.
Il expected you b~efore-three days
ago." he said, just in the ton of a cat
purring; you made a very slow pas
sage. doctor, a very slow passage in
deed. All Is we'll that ends Well, how
ever. Here you are at Santa Maria,
and there is you yacht down yonder.
Let me welcome you to the villa"
SO he stood, fawning before me, his
voice almost a whisper in my ear.
What to make of it, / Knew not at all.
Harry Avenhill, the young thief 1 cap
tured at Newmarket, had spoken of
this dread figure, but always in on
nection with Paris, or Vienna, or Rome.
Yet here he was at Santa Maria, his
very presence tainting the air as with
a chill breath of menac and of death.
My W rashness in coming to the
island never appeared so utterly to be
condemned, so entirely without excuse.
This fearful old man might be deaf to
every argument I had to offer. There
was no crime in all the story he had
not committed or would not commit.
With General Fordibras / could have
dealt but with him!
Yes" I said quite calmly, that ia
my yacht. She will start for Gibraltar
tomorrow IL l do not return to her. It
viii depend upon my friend, General
Fordibras."
l said 1T with what composure / could
c~ommand--for this was all my defense.
His reply vas a low laugh and a bony
finger which touched my hand as with
q die Of Ice.
TT is a dangerous passage to Gibral-
tar, DR.. Fabos: 10 not dwell too much
upon it. There are ships which never
see the shore again. Yours might be
one Of them"
"Unberufen. The German language
Is your own. If my BOAT does not re-
turn to England, and after HI to Lon
don, In that case, Herr Imroth, you
may nave many ships at Santa Maria,
and they will fly the white ensign. Be
go1d enough to credit me with some
small share Of prudence. I should
scarcely stand here as / do, had / not
measured the danger-and provided
against 1t. You were not then in my
calculations. Believe me, they are not
to be destroyed even by your presence"
Now he listened to this with much
interest and evident patience; and I
perceived instantly that it had not
failed to make an impression upon him.
To be frank, I feared nothing from
design, but only from accident, and al
though / had him covered by my re-
volver, / never once came near to
touching the trigger of 1t. So mutual
ly In accord, indeed, were our thoughts
that when next he spoke he might have
been giving tongue to my apprehen-
stems.
"A clever man. who relies upon the
accident OF papers. My dear friend,
would all the books In our great
library In Rome ave you from yonder
men IL l raised my voice to call them?
Come. DR.. Fabos, you are either a fool
or a hero. You hunt me, Valentine
Imroth, whom the police of 20 cities
have hunted In vain. You visit us as
a schoolboy might have done, and vet
you are as well acquainted with your
responsibilities as I am. What shall I
say OF you? What do you say of your
self when you ask the question: viii
these men let me go free? Will they
permit my yacht to make Europe
againT Allow me to answer that, and
In my urn I will tell you why you
stand here safe beside me when at a
word Of mine. at a nod one &c these
white doors would open and you would
be but a little whiff of ashes before a
mar could number 10. No, my friend,
i do not understand you. Some day I
shall do so-and then God help you!"
Herr Imroth," I said quietly.
whether you understand me or no is
the smallest concern to me. Why I
came to Santa Maria you will know In
due eason Meanwhile, 1 have a little
information for your a and for your
ear alone. There is In Paris, Rue
Gloire de Marie, No. 20, a young wom-
an of the name Of"
I paused. for the light, shining anew.
showed me upon the old mans face
something I would have paid half my
fortune TO see there. Fear, and not
fear alone, dread, and yet something
more than dread-human love, inhu-
man passion. the evil spirit OF all
malice, all desire, all hate.
Dewitt" he cried. devil. what have
you to do with herr"
I clutched his arm Inc drew him
down oward me.
Life for a life. Shall she know the
truth OF this old mans story, the old
man who goes to her as a husband clad
m benevolence and well-doing? Shall
she know the truth or shall my friends
in Paris keep silence? Answer. old
man, or. they shall tell it to her to-
morrow"
He did not utter a single word. PAS
sion or fear has mastered him utterly.
and robbed him OF both speech and
action. n herein the danger Law. for
no sooner had / spoken tha the light
or a lantern shone full upon my face.
while deep down. as 1t were, in the
very bowels OF the earth. an alarm bell
was ringing.
The unknown were coming up out of
the pit And the man who could have
saved me from them had been struck
dumb as though by a Judgment OF God.
CHAPTER TX.
Imroth seemed unable to utter a
sound; but the men who came Ii, out