The Meridian times. (Meridian, Idaho) 1909-1938, 1914-07-31

you want to know, and it's no business
of mine who he is, because | 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. 1T was
a deucedly clever scheme to pretend
to be strangers to one another. 1t
made your flight look so much more
spontaneous. OF course. | shall not
press you"
Wont you please take back this
money!" l pleaded. Indeed. you are
under Misrepresentation"
win not madame keep it and hand |
it to monsieur, II she should happen
to encounter him?" asked the secre'l
tary, blandly
Evidently he refused to believe that
| was ~: -. the wife Of the cheyalier-
the very man whom | haIeo moTe Dit
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
| filled me with loathing. / 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 / sank down into my seat,
still clutching the envelope. l looked
| inside; there were five bank notes, Of
| the value of one hundred pounds
apiece. / thrust them into my hand
bag.
Estelle had packed my suitcase for
me, and, when | opened it, little
later, what do you suppose | 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
finftely far away. And it was only
two weeks before that / had been
teaching a class of overgrown boys
: and girls the principles of arithmetic!
If they knew CT my subsequent ad-
venturesi / smiled, and then | felt
the moisture in my eyes. l thrust the
envelope containing the money into
the cover of Mr.. Spratt's book and
gave myself up to somewhat painful
meditation until l reached Dover.
The night passage was calm and !
slept well 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-I 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 | awoke il
was past twelve o'clock, and the noise
and stir of the great city was in full
swing beneath my windows.
couldn't bring myself to the per
Torrance of my mission for 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
!, me that doubt whether l should eve
q have brought myself to carry out my
q purpose of visiting the banker but TO
j. serious incident which suddenly
o recalled me to sense of duty.
~ ~ AI,a,
9 fourth time, reveling in the beauty o
, the sculpture there. l had paused be
n fore a statue of Praxiteles, an eS
e quisite piece of work depicting tn
d ideal of beauty, the Greek Hermes
# fell into a train of speculation. Wer
a the modern Greeks, l thought, of tn
q same physical type? | unused; had
q ever seen a Greek? There must b
IS Greeks in Winnipeg, but An
D. suddenly felt pair of eyes regard
ing me from across the gallery
ID looked up with a start, to see man 1
}" SLOUGH hat, attired like guide, an
t. yet evidently not one, since he lacke
the official badge regarding me wit
intense penetration.
1t was the Greek Zeuxis, the hange
on of villainous scoundrelly Leopol
Magniff!
But was it? Was not l. rather, tn
victim of an overweighted imagini
ton? AS I stared at him in conste
nation he moved with stealthy, gill
ing steps into another chamber Whe
had recovered my self-possessio
and followed him, he was nowhere
be seen.
j The shock of this incident recalle
I me to the duty that lay before me.
indeed | were under espionage, 1t wa
my task to obtain my bonds with tt
least possible delay. l should new
feel satisfied until l had disposed
them and taken the train and DO;
back to England For the first tin
l regretted Estelle's absence. N
loneliness was appalling; | felt
though some dark, ominous clou