The Washington herald., 1914-07-05

not been in danger before-yes, on the train.
And the reason was because Thompson knew she
held the ruby necklace. Thompson was one to Be
feared and respected. He had well nigh proven
himself able to cope with the mighty Loubeque
himself.
She unlocked the door very softly and slipped
down the vestibuled aisle. She had reasoned out
the answer. Thompson had escaped Joubeque
and, foiled in his attempt to gain the necklace,
was still one of the pursuit.
Swiftly she stepped down the aisle through
car after car until she halted abruptly and
moved back again. For, doing against a pillow
in the tourist car, long cash over his eye rem
Ier-thief.
Lucille sought her compartment, her brain
a-whirL 1t was three cornered fight now.
Loubeque to retain the papers and to protect her
lace and revenge himself upon his master. But
she-Lucille only sought the papers. Nothing else
counted as against that. And Loubeque held the
papers.
Let the three cornered fight 20 on. All the
parties to it save herself had double motives.
She wanted but the papers that would lead to
the fulfllment of her hearts desire. Nothing
could divert her from that. And she was 30 close
to them-so close-so close that she must win
CHAPTER xxxXU
Lucille INDUCES Feminine Instinct.
I UCILLE thrilled with inexpressible delight
when she found herself once more in San
Francisco. Somehow, 1t seemed harbinger of
where last she had seen her sweetheart She
imagined him rowing the city, using every means
in his power to find her. She knew he had read
Alright the message she shot him from the win
dow of Loubeques mysterious house. that he had
led the assault upon that house, and that not
even the secret exit made by the occupants could
divert him from his purpose of finding her. All
woman at that thought, she fought against the
natural instinct to hunt him up and rely upon
him. She had far better chance than he with
Loubeque She only caught herself hoping that
the international spy would return to his home
She knew the hope was foolish as il immed-
lately turned out to be. Not for the cunning
! brain of such the spy to go back to a
place from which he had been driven and which
he had every reason to believe would be under
surveillance. Instead Of doing this he promptly
took motor to the St. Francis, relying upon the
very audacity of his move to protect him.
Lucille followed him quietly, almost meekly.
They had but little to say to each other. Both
knew the others thoughts too well to waste time
in words; both knew the others relentlessness
Of purpose. And, more than anything and every
thing else, both knew that the fght between
them must be settled very shortly that any move
must be made quickly.
Lucille slipped out of the hotel her second
day, undecided as TO what to do and caring little
to plan plot Before this opportunities had pre-
scented themselves, Providential opportunities
which no one could have foreseen. Only at such
times had she been enabled to make a satisfsc-
tory move And she felt convinced that the very
Justice Of her cause would permit her to win
when the last hands were dealt in this strange
game. And always there Thompson to be
reckoned with.
Thompson was the man who had been capa-
bic enough to be the right hand of Hugo Lou
beque; Thompson the who, when he
turned against his former master, was the one
who excited such alarm in the spy that he took
the most elaborate precautions against him;
Thompson was the man upon whom she con-
vinced herself with feminine intuition she must
depend. Thompson would lay open a way. And
the hate Of Thompson would turn itself against
thn hate st Ilp,rh H.
Love would have its innings.
Somehow this utterly illogical, unreasonable
viewpoint upon the situation buoyed her hopes
to such extent that she went out the great
doors of the hotel, fairly beaming with satisfac-
ton. And in this mood, for the first time since
leaving Manila abruptly in the aeroplane of
Harley, her thought turned from the sweetheart
she felt was in the city to the thought of meet
ing him. And simultaneously with this thought
came a dismayed alarm.
She stopped short, the song upon her lips
frozen there as she looked down at herself For
the first time in months an idea recurred to her,
idea that seemed to have formed a major
portion of her ideas in life before that time
clothes.
Clothes! She fairly blushed as she looked
upon the beautiful dressed women upon the
street. Clothes! Why she looked a perfect rag
amuffn. She became frightfully self-conscious,
ascribing the glances of admiration bestowed upon
her from pedestrians to her shabbiness. Uncon-
sciously her hands sought the precious necklace.
She shuddered ana drew into an areaway. Sup
pose she should meet Lieutenant Gibson here.
Would he not be bit ashamed of her?
She speeded swiftly and furtively down the
street. Self-reliance had become part of her
from her experiences but the thought Of obtain
ing money was something that appalled, her. She
had never known anything of money in her life.
Things had always seemed to just come to her
without the necessity for worrying.
Resolutely she bit her lips and forced her
way through the doors of jewelry establish
ment, fighting her resolution to the point of ap-
preaching the bespectacled. important looking
man behind the counter. Somehow, she could not
repress faint smile at sight of the glittering
baubles so temptingly outlined beneath the glass.
She found her amusement intensified by the
obvious lack of impression she made upon the
salesman as he looked her over.
As he bent forward politely, questioning her
as to her pleasure, her hand sought the necklace
and brought it forth, laying it quietly upon the
counter.
81 wished to sell" she murmured bashfully
The salesman stared from her to the neck
lace, his eyes growing wider and wider with be-
wilderment as he looked upon such stones as he
had never before in his life
"The proprietor" he muttered
Lucille followed the direction of his pointed
finger, on the verge of bursting into laughter at
the change in his demeanor With added con- ,
fdence she pushed open the ground glass door
upon which was marked a caution for all out
siders to keep out.