The Climax-Madisonian. (Richmond, Madison County, Ky.) 1914-1917, 1914-12-16

20, I'm not Gliding you. I've failed.
too"
HAre you turning against met" he
demanded bitterly.
.Do my actions point that way!
she countered. mo. But the more
view what has passed, the more dis
heartened grow. It has been series
Of blind alleys, and all we have sue
ceeded In doing is knocking our heads
can see now that all our failures
are due to one mistake"
"And what the devil Is that!" ne
asked, irritably.
1--WE were In too much of q hurry
at the beginning Hargreave prepared
himself for quick action on your part"
"And II I had not acted quickly he
would have started successfully on one
of his world tours again. and that
would have been the last OF him, and
we should never have learned OF the
girls existence. So there's your argu-
ment"
Perhaps you are right. But for
all that we have not played the game
with any degree Of finesse."
"Bahi" Braine lit q cigarette and
smoked nervously. II can't even get
rid Of that meddling reporter. He has
been as much to blame for our fall
ures as either Jones or Hargreave.
I admit that in his case judged
hastily. 1 believed him to be just an
ordinary newspaper man, and he was
clever enough to lull my suspicious.
But I'm going to get him, Olga. even
- ~ -
man tricks. II there's any final reck-
oning, by the Lord Harry. he shan't
get a chance In the witness stand.
and 1 begin to think that that lit
tie chit of a girl has been hoodwink-
ing me all along. BY the way, did
you find out what that letter said?"
she asked after pause.
letter. What letter."
She sprang from her chair. do you
mean to say that they have not told
you about THAR" Olga became great.
ly excited.
Explain" he said.
why, was at the garden day be-
fore yesterday, and man approached
and asked If I was Miss Hargreave.
Becoming at once suspicious that
something very important was about
to happen, / signif1ed that / was Miss
Hargreave. The man slipped q paper
into my hand and hurried OF. took
a quick glance at it and was dunn
founded to find 1t utterly blank OF
writing. At first I thought some joke
had been played on me, then l
CHANGED to remember the invisible ink
letters you always wrote me. Under
standing that you were to visit the
cave in the morning, had one man
at the garden take the note. And
you never got it,"
Some one shall pay for this care
lessness. I'll call up Vroon and Jack
son at once. Wait just moment"
He went to the telephone. A low
muttering conversation took place
Olga could hear little or none of it
When Braine put the receiver back
on the hook his face was not pleas
ant to see.
THAT grill"
What now%
'Tt seems she had been out horse
back riding that morning. She had
seen one of the boys Cross the field
and suddenly disappear; and she was
curious to learn what had become OF
him. With her usual luck she STUN
bled on the method OF opening the
door of the cave and went in. She
must have been nosing about. She
didn't have much time. though. as the
boys came up to await me. Evidently
she crawled into that old chest and In
some inexplicable manner purloined
the letter from Jackson's pocket They
left to reconnoiter; and It was then
that Jackson discovered his loss.
When Florence heard them returning
she jumped into the well. And lived
through that tunnelI The devil Is in
it,"
COR out of it, since we consider him
our friend"
"And 1 had her in my hands. note
and ALL"
But with all that water there will
not be any writing left on the letter"
Invisible ink is generally indelible
and impervious to the action Of wat
err; at least the kind l use Is. I'd
give a thousand for a sight Of that
letter"
"And it might be worth a million"
Olga suggested.
Not the least doubt of 1t in my
mind. Olga, old girl, 1t does look as If
my star was growing dim. Well never
get our hands on that million. ! feel
1t in my bones. So Let's settle down
to a campaign Of revenge, without any
furbelows. 1 want to twist Har-
greave's heart before the game winds
up"
You wish really to injure herr"
81 do not wish to injure her. Far
from it, he replied. smiling evilly.
You want her dead!"
whispered Olga, paling.
Exactly. / want her dead. And
SO If all my efforts here come to moth
lions will become waste paper to him.
That's revenge. The Persian peach
method"
Poison? You shall not! You shall
not kill herl" vehemently.
Tender hearted?"
mo. If 1 must In the end go to
prison, SO be it; but refuse to die In
the chair"
VERY well, then. We shan't kill
her, but Wen make her wish she was
dead. I was only trying to see how
far you would go. The basket Of
peaches is in the hallway. Every
peach is poisoned. No man in the
country knows more about subtle pol
sons than do. Have I not written
books on the subject?" ironically.
And they will trace 1t back to you
in straight line" she warned. IL
will NOT have fff0