Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1914-06-30

risk the labor these nine entailed for the
sake of the tenth.
At length Braine glanced at has watch,
and the princess nodded. Adieux were
said. Inside the taxicab Braine leaned
back with a deep. audible sigh.
"What J. it," she asked.
''The luck az the devils own" he said.
"Child Of the >teppe~. for years I've fiown
about seas and continents, through valleys
and over mouniains-ior what. For the
sight of the face of that man We have Just
left. At first glance wa~n't sure. but the
sound of his voice was enough. Olga, the
next time YOU see that reporter. throw Your
arms around his meek and kiss HIM. What
did | tell you! Without Norton's help !
would not nave been sure. I'm going to
leave YOU al your apartment
..The man of the Black Hundred!- she
whispered.
..The man who deserted and defled the
Black hundred, who broke hi~ vows and
never paid a koIHck for the privilege; the
man who had been appointed for the sn-
preme work and who ran away. In those
DAYS We needed men of his stamp, and TO
accomplish this end. :"
There was a woman she interrupted,
with a touch of bitterness.
ALWAYS the woman. And she vas a.
clever and handsome a you are"
Thanks. sometimes. !"
"Ah, yes.' ironically. sometimes YOU
wish Won could settle down, marry. and
have a family Your domesticiiy would
last about a month";
She made no retort because she recog-
nized the truth of this statement.
"There's an emerald | know Of" he said
rnminatively. Its quite possible that Won
may be wearing it within a few days"
Il am mad over them. There j. some
thing IN the green stone that faseinates me.
! can't resist it,"
"That'~ because, somewhere IN the far
past, your ancestors were orientals. Here
We are. Ill see YOU tomorrow. | must
hurry. Good night"
She stood on the curb for n moment and
watched the taxicab till il whirled round a
corner. The man held her with a fascina
ton more terrible than any jewel. She
knew him 10 be- a great daring rogue, cum
ming, patient, fearless. Packed away IN
that mind of his there were a thousand ac-
compliShed deeds which had reused ~futilely
the police of two continents. Brainel She
could have laughed. The very name he had
chosen was an insolence directed AT 20
ciety.
The subject of her thoughts soon arrived
nj his destination. A flight of stairs ear
rled HIM into a dimlv lighted hall. smelling
evilly of escaping gas. He donned a black
mask and struck the door with a series Of
light blows; two, then one, then three. and
again one. The door opened and he slipped
inside. Round a table sat several men.
also masked. They were all tried and
trusted rogues; but not one of them knew
what Braine looked like. He alone re-
NAMED unknown save 10 the man desig-
mated a chief, who was only Braine's
lieutenant. The mask was the insignia
Of the Black Hundred, an organization
with all the ramification Of the Camorra
without their abiding stupidity. From the
assassination of a king, down 20 the rob
berry of a country post office, nothing was
too great or too small for their nets. Their
god dwells in the hearts OF all men and Is
called Greed.
The ordinary business over. the chief
dismissed the men, and he and Braine alone
remained.
"Nroon, ! have found him." said Braine.
There are but few which onePr
eElplfaap van 80. a.. -. n-- %
Il remember. The m~illionaire's son. Did
he recognize you."
Il don't know. Probably he did. But
he always had good nerves. lie i being
followed at this moment. We shall strike
quick Tor n he recognized me be will act
quick. He j. cool and brave. You re-
member how he braved IA that night in
Russia. Jumped boldly from rhe window
at the risk of breaking his neck. He landed
safely; that j. the only reason he eluded
n. Millions: and they slipped through
our fingers. IL ] could only find some
route To his heart. The lare we hold ont
TO him J. dead
"or in the fortress. which i the same
thing. What are your planss"
Il have IN mind something like this
And Hargreave was working out his
plans. too; and he was just a. much of a
general a. Braine. lie sat al his library
table, the maxIllary muscles in his Jaws
working. SO they had found himf Well.
he had broken the Law of his own making
and he must suffer the consequences
Braine, who was Menshikoff in Russia.