, 1912-04-18

Inc lace OF laura drifted past him
as In a dream and then again that OF
the other woman No. no. He re
GREETED nothing. absolutely nothing.
But he had been a fool there. He had
wasted time and lent himself to a
despicable intrigue. For ali that he
outcried ii. There was a touch OF
shame on his cheeks when he remem
have given him that scrap of paper the
frst hour OF their meeting. Some
where in Hildegarde Won Mitter lay
dormant the spirit of heroes. He had
made a mistake.
Two millions of shining money. gold.
silver and English notes. And he
laughed again as he recalled NJ Fer
raud. caught in a trap He was clev
or. blu not clever enough What a
stroke-to mak prisoners of the par
~ on their return. to carry the girl
away into the mountains. Would any
of them think of treasures. Of con
spiracies. with her as a hostage7 he
thought lot In the hue and cry for
her these elements In the game would
fall to a minor place. Well he knew
M. Ferraud- he would call to heav-
en- for the safety Of Laura. Love herr
Yes She was the one woman But
men did not make captives of women
and obtain their love. He knew the
futlity Of such coercion. He had com
mitted two or three .scoundrelly acts,
but never would he or could he sink
to such a level. No. He meant no
narm at all. Brighten her, perhaps.
and terrorize the others. and mahap
a a kiss as he left her to the com
GUS h a that.
Two millions in gold and silver n
English notes! He would have his re-
venge for all these years of struggle
and failure, for the cold and callous
policies of state which had driven him
to this piece Of roguery. On their heads
be 1t. Two thousand in Marseilles,
ready at his beck and call. a thousand
more in Avignon. in Lyons. in DIXON.
and so on up to Paris. the Paris he
had cursed one night from under his
mansard In a week he would have
them shaking in their boots. The un
employed. the idlers. thieves, his to
a man. II he saw his own death at
the end little he cared. He would
nave one great moment. pay off the
score. France as well as Germany. He
would at least live to see them har-
rying each others throat To de
clare to France that he was only Ger
many's tool, put forward for the sole
purpose Of destroying peace in the
midst of a great military crisis. He
had other papers. and the prying lit
tie Frenchman had never seer those
clever ~forgeries. bearing the signature
of certain great German ~personages
These should they find at the selected
moment Let them rip one another's
threats, the dogs. Two million OF
francs-enough to purchase 1000
men.
"Ah. my great-grandsire. If spirits
have eyes ours will see something
presently. And that poor little secret
agent thinks | want a crown on my
head! There was time Curse these
Internal headachesl"
On, on; hurry. hurry The driver was
faithful. a some time brigand and later
a harbor boatman. and Of all his con
federates this one was the only man
he dared trust on an errand of this
kind.
Evisa. They did not pause. They
ate their supper on the way. With
three Sandman donkeys, strong and
patient little brutes, with lanterns and
shovels and sacks. the two Jared into
sha rtnn- o-o -x III -.tg.
ground to the Corsican. who. in young
er days, had taken his illegal 1.-THE from
these hills. They found the range soon
enough. but made a dozen mistakes in
measurements. and 1t vas long toward
midnight. when the oil of the lantern
ran low. that their shovels bore down
into the precious pocket The earth
few. They worked like madmen, with
nervous energy and power of will. and
when the chest finally came into sight,
rotten with age and the soak of earth.
they fell back against a tree, on the
verge of collapse. The hair was damp
on their foreheads, their breath came
harshly. almost In sobs.
Suddenly Breitmann fell upon bis
knees and laughed Historically. plung
ed his bl;stered hands into the shining
heap 1t played through his fingers In
little musical cascades. He rose.
"Pietro. o have beer faithful to
me. Put your two hands In thereI'
~. master?" stupefied.
$50 on! Go on! AS much as your
two hands "a hold is yours. Dig
them In deep. man, dig them in deep!"
With a cry Pietro dropped and bur
rowed int the gold and silver A
dozen times he started to withdraw his
hands. but they trembled so that ONE
of the coins would slip and fall. Al
last. with one desperate plunge. the