Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1914-12-23

| OF mine who ne Is, because l never
saw him before In my life
But he absolutely declined to be-
lieve me.
"Oh, oh, madame" he said. smiling
and shaking his finger at me. ut was
a deucedly clever scheme to pretend
to be strangers to one another. 1t
made your flight look SO much more
! spontaneous. OF course, l shall not
press you"
Wont you please take back this
money!" l pleaded. Indeed. you are
under a misrepresentation
"Wiu not madame keep 1t and hand
1t to monsieur, If she should happen
| to encounter him." asked the secre-
tary, blandly.
Evidently he refused to believe that
/ was not the wife of the chevalier-
the very man whom / hated more bit
terly than had ever dreamed could
hate anyone. The very mention Of the
| hateful word indicating the relation
ship in which he thought we stood
filed me with loathing. l should have
| flung the money into his face, but sud
denly bells rang, and there was con-
certed rush for the train. The guard
was already signaling to the engine
driver. l dashed into a compartment
| just In time; the wheels began to re-
volve, and I sank down into my seat,
still clutching the envelope. | looked
inside; there we're five bank notes, OF
the value of one hundred pounds
| apiece. | thrust them into my hand
bag.
| Este1le had packed my suitcase for
| me, and. when opened it. a little
later, what do you suppose l found
on top Of everything? Nothing else
than that horrid little Mr.. Spratt's
book on the Code Napoleon, which he
had so eloquently presented to me at
| the moment of my departure from
| Winnipeg. Poor little Mr.. Spratt!
| The sight of it recalled to my mind
wildly Mary Jenner, my best friend,
and the life which now seemed so in
| f1nitely far away. And 1t was only
| two weeks before that l had been
| teaching a class of overgrown boys
and girls the principles Of arithmetic!
| If they knew of my subsequent ad-
| venturesi I smiled, and then / felt
the moisture in my eyes. thrust the
| envelope containing the money into
the cover of Mr.. Spratt's book and
| gave myself up to somewhat painful
meditation until I reached Dover.
The night passage was calm and
slept we'll until awakened at Calais,
where we re-trained for Paris, reach
| ing there at an unearthly hour in the
morning. Through the kindness of an
| old gentleman aboard the train-you
know those old gentlemen who are
bubbling over with altruism toward
the stranger eventually found my
self knocking YEARLY at the doors of
the Pension Anglais. l was assigned
a room by the sleepy night clerk and
| tumbled into bed without even trou-
bling to undress. When I awoke it
was past twelve o'clock, and the noise
and stir of the great city was in full
swing beneath my windows.
Il couldn't bring myself to the per-
| Torrance of my mission for q couple
Of days. l inspected the cathedral,
| the Louvre, the shops; l reveled in my
surroundings. Indeed, the fascination
of the French capital so overwhelmed
have brought myself to carry CIT my
purpose OF visiting the banker but 2or
a serious incident which suddenly
| recalled me to sense of duty.
I was In the Louvre for the third or
| fourth time, revealing in the beauty of
the sculpture there. had paused be-
| fore a statue of Praxiteles, an ex-
quisite piece Of work depicting che
ideal Of beauty, the Greek Hermes.
fell into a train of speculation. Were
the modern Greeks, I thought, of the
same physical type? I unused; had
ever seen Greek? There must be
Greeks in Winnipeg, but And
suddenly felt pair Of eyes regard
ing me from across the gallery
| looked up with start, to see man In
SLOUGH hat, attired like guide, and
yet evidently not one, since he lacked
the official badge, regarding me with
| intense penetration.
1t was the Greek Zeuxis, the hanger
on of villainous scoundrelly Leopold
Magniff!
But was it? Was not I, rather, the
victim of an overweighted imagina-
| ton? AS l stared at him in conster-
nation he moved with stealthy, gid
ing steps into another chamber. When
had recovered my self-posscssion
and followed him, he was nowhere to
be seen.
The shock Of this incident recalled
| me to the duty that lay before me. If
| indeed I were under espionage, it was
my task to obtain my bonds with the
least possible delay. l should never
| feel satisfied until l had disposed of
| them and taken the train and boat
back to England. For the first time
regretted Estelle's absence. My
loneliness was appalling; l felt as
though some dark, ominous cloud
of danger hung over me.
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