The Washington herald., 1912-03-24
tCopyrisht toII.)

see the inquire oil young woman at my
side, who was CHASTITY pale.
What do you wishP | asked her
but before she could answer, I
was startled by loud cry. The duke
leaped to his feet, was pointing at the
figure and was trembling eonyulsively.
In a moment he turned and walked--no
ran--away, and ! was left alone. When
next l looked III the direction of the
woman. to my absolute surprise, saw
that it, too, had vanished. | was the
only person in the garden
"Truly!' said, This is an ex-
traordinary tale
at has left ME absolutely weak and
subsequent events have made me feel
no better, for this morning, my dear
aunt, I found this note at my plate at
table She handed me scrap OF pa
per and | read.
"My dearest Helen: Events, un-
forseen and unlocked for, have made
it imperative that ! return to town i'm
mediately. | will come back within a
week and will explain my conduct of
last night to your satisfaction. | regret
extremely that must depart at once.
Yours very hurriedly,
Perhaps | said, this figure may
have been that of some one who had
come to warn you Of impending danger
'Impossiblep said Helen.
"I do not know | replied. Let me
have time to think the matter over.
Then / will tell YOU And | set about
to unravel the mystery.
But | could find out nothing from
the duke himself. as he was not heard
from. and did not come back, in spite
of the statement in his letter. My niece
departed fer her home, and. as l was
in constant communication with her, I
found that she had never received even
a line from her former admirer. He
had fnysteriously and suddenly disap-
peared
From those who had known him
in the past, | made busy inquiries into
his earlier life. He had been a good
fellow, they said, and fond of sport, of
travel, and fast horses. As for his
first wife, they had not lived happily
together. Some remarked-here there
would be a shrug Of the shoulders
that she had. died too suddenly, and
that the duke had shown no particular
agitation at her demise But why
should / ask them, they said, and why
not go to his native town if were to
play the detectivel
so followed this advice, and, with
all the keenness of sleuth from Scoot-
land Yard / set out one fine spring day
to find out what was 10 be known in
the Duke de Chaveaux's own demesne
Il was not difficult to find the road
that led to the Chateau of M. lie Due,
for every one that met at the station
of Quatre Foir could tell me in what
direction | should go. The residence
was a moss-grown pile of gray stone
and looked as ancient as it was, for il
had been in the family for five genera
tions.
Not far from the entrance I met a
jolly-looking peasant with basket of
flowers, and, after / had bought clus-
ter from him, | engaged in conversa-
ton which turned upon the object of
my visit, with little effort on my part.
Did he know the duke? oh, yes, for
many years, Madam. He was such a
nice man, favorite among his people,
and so kind. He was away now Did
he know where? No. He had been abb
sent for a long time and no one had
seen him. Did he know his wife when
she was alive? Oh he knew Madame
we'll She bought flowers often, but
she was so sad, was Madame, and she
had died so suddenly. Here his face
fell and thought | saw a tear in his
eye 1t was told by some he said, that
she and her husband used to argue
loudly with one another. A maid who
had left their employ had told him sad
tales OF Madame's alterations with the
duke. 1t was even said-here there
was sly wink-that Monsieur used to
beat his wife
But this was enough for me, and l
was soon again upon my journey
Not long after had hidden my gar
rulous friend good-by | had passed the
Chateau of the Chaveaux, and, what
was my surprise when gazing at It about
100 yards from the fence which sur
rounded the grounds to feel the same
Juggling sensation at my wrist which l
had before experienced at the Chateau
Robervai. | followed the gentle pres
sure, and it led me across a sloping
lawn, by wall or two, and into fam
lily burying ground. 1t propelled me