The Tupelo journal., 1911-09-15

may I ask, was this demand ad-
dressed?v
ITO Madame B%oissegur," replied Miss
Thorne. Il have the envelope in
which it came. 1t vas mailed ut the
general post ONCE At half-pAst q
o'clock this afternoon, SO the cancel.
ing stamp shows. and the envelope
was addressed, rs the letter was writ
ten, on = typewriter"
And how" inquired Mr.. Grimm,
after q long pause, how did 1t come
into your possession" He waited .
little. Why didn't Monsieur Rigolct
report this development to me this
afternoon when I was here!"
Monsieur Rfsolot did nots inform
you of 1t because he did not know of
it himself" she replied, answering the
last question hrst. 1T came into my
possession directly from the hands
of Madame Boissegur-she gave it to
me-"
WHY"
Mr.. Grimm was peering through the
inscrutable darkness, straight into her
face-a white daub in the gloom.
shapeless, indistinct.
IT have known Madame Boissegur
for half 4 dozen years." Miss sThorne
continued, in explanation. We have
been friends that long. l met her In
Toxic, later in Berlin, and within .
few weeks, here in Washington. You
see | have travelled in the time l
have been an agent for my govern
ment. Well, Madame Boissegur re
ceiyed this letter about half-past four
o'clock this afternoon; and about hall
past five she sent for me and placed
it in my hands, together with the
singular details following upon the am
bassador's disappearance. So, II
would seem that you and l are allies
for this once, and the problem is al
ready solved. There merely remains
the task of finding and releasing the
ambassador"
Mr.. Grimm sat perfectly still.
And why" he asked, slowly, are
you here now"
For the same reaso that you are
here" she replied readily, ito see for
myself If the-the person who twice
came here at night-once for the am
bassador's letters and once for his
cigarettes-would, by any chance,
make another trip. / knew you were
here. of course"
You knew I was here" repeated
Mr.. Grimm m~usingly. And may r!
Just as you knew that l, or some
one, at least, had entered this house
a few minutes ago." she Interrupted.
1.-THE automobile horn outside was .
signal, wasn't it? Hastings was IN the
car? Or was it Blair or Johnson?
Mr.. Grimm did not say.
Didn't you anticipate any person
al danger when you entered?" he
oueried instead. Weren't you afraid
I might shoot?"
No"
There was q long silence. Mr..
Grimm still sat with his elbows on his
knees, staring at the vague white
spotch which was Miss Thorne's face
and bare neck. One of her white arms
hung at her side like a pallid serpent,
and her hand was at rest on the seat
of the couch.
TT seems, Miss Thorne," he said
at length casually, that our paths OF
duty are inextricably tangled. Twice
previously we have@sMet under cir
cumstances that were more than
strange, and now-this! Whatever in
Justice l may have done you in the
past by my suspicious has, | hope,
been forgiven; and in each instance
we were able to work side by side to-
ward a conclusion. | am wondering
now If this singular affair will take
a similar course" !
He paused. Miss Thorne started to
speak. but he silenced her with q
slight gesture of hi9 hand.
1T is only fair to you to say that
we-that IL, the Secret Service--have
learned many things about YOU" he
resuyned In the same casual toAs. we
have. through our fcrsign agents.
traced YOU step by step from Rome
to Washington. We know that you
are, in q way. 4 represent ative o. .
sovereign Of Europe, We know that
you were on Z secret missitG to the
Spanish court. perhaps for this sover-
sign. and remained In Madrid for .
month: We know that from there you
went to Paris. also On = secret mis-
eion-perhaps the same-And re-