, 1912-06-20
CHAPTER XII.
THE PIRATES LAIR LOCATED.

III EAhA AAAh ia AAo.
"HAT night we tool the express
for Buffalo. arriving In the
morning. and Mr.. Grayman
conducted al at once to the
office of Henry Garland. one of the
great bankers OF the town. who was
in h Grayman combination and who
had been notified by telegraph Of our
coming.
Mr.. Garland was delighted to oblige
b millionaire by giving him the ex
elusive use OF his private office.
In half an hour had made all my
arrangements. and again we waited
Payton was faithful to his appoint.
ment and everything worked like a
charm As before. my needle indi-
Gated every break In his talk and set
itself while the waves were planning
In a perfectly definite direction.
The distance and bearing Of Buffalo
from New York being known. l now
had all the elements Of the problem in
my bands. and II only remained to
solve II on paper. the matter of a min
ute or two.
But the reader may be interested in
hho ihE u WdS bdIu ny Buytou
and Mr. Grayman on this occasion.
Payton opened by saying: Good
morning. Mr.. Grayman Helen and |
have lust been out catching a string
of trout that II would do your eyes
good to iook upon. The lear girl be-
comes more fascinated with her SUI,
roundings here every hour anG really
I am beginning to regret my ngree-
men to exchange her societv ever for
so large a sum IS S1O.cJ0.O0O. How
ever. a bargain IA p bargain. and I
shall stand by my word"
well. WELL" replied Mr.. Grayman.
Il have heard enough of this. Are
You ready TO talk businessT'
"Quite ready. Mr.. Grayman. But
10 begin. let me warn you that l Know
al atout our vaccinations. and I ad-
Use you In a friendly spirit to drop
them. If yo6 do not / shall refuse to
part with Helen o any terms. Make
90 mistake about the place that l al
ready occupy in her esteem. You a
aever arrest this II you let It 60 ON
oRger."
Payton was playing his master a r
COR all that he thought It worth.
what do you proposeT' asked Mr..
9rayman.
IL propose that you meet me with
the money on Friday Of this week on
she top of a bare hill. which you will
ave no difficulty in recognizing. near
Utica. N. Y. If any question should
krtse in your mind as to the precise
locality you a recognize It by seeing
the Chameleon lowering over the bill.
II you prefer you can send forward q
representative. keeping at a safe dis
lance yourself. But you know what
will be the result Of any attempted
trap. I will deliver Helen In exchange
for the money"
Mr.. Grayman pretended to hesitate.
while he held a consultation with the
secretary.
Friday of this week." said the lat
ter. sit is now Wednesday. That gives
Us two DAYS. which I think will be
enough. I'm sure Allan must nov have
all the data he needs. Tell him you'n
ne there"
Mr.. Grayman did SO, and the pirate
responded as usual. 'Goodr' adding.
Drop your game this time: l am
ready for everything of that kind"
And so the conversation ended
The moment I appeared Mr.. Gray
nan and the secretary eagerly de
handed the result.
tits all right" ! said. 81 ave now
nuly a little figuring to do"
And Immediately I sat down to do
IL. The lines from Buffalo and New
York. as Indicated by the needle. were
by no means SO divergent as | had ex-
pected. but the angle was easily a
ageable. I made the necessary caicu-
lations. the result Of which much sur
prised me. without saying a word !
went over my figures again. the two
men leaning over my shoulder In
breathless expectancy. At last. salts
fed with the accuracy of my work. !
called for a large scale atlas. One was
brought and. opening the North Amer
lean sheet. % should have seen the
establishment of the two man Whan i