The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1914-10-30

suspicious Of this sleepy-eyed reporter. 0ha
never could tell now much he knew. But of
Florence she was reasonably certain; and 70
long as she could fool the pretty infant the
suspicious Of the reporter were Of neg-
ligible quantity. She greeted them ehuaiysly
and offered them chairs. For half an hour
they sat there, chatting inanities, Ill tho
while each mind busy with deeper concerns.
When the man in search Of Florence even
tually arrived and asked the manager Of the
garden If he knew Miss Harsreave BY sight
the manager pointed toward the box. The
man wound his way in and out Of the idlers
and BY the time he reached the box Jim and
Florence had made their departure. The
man bowed, approached, and asked II she
was Miss Harsreave For q moment the
countess suspected 4 trap. Then It appealed
to her mind that II there was no trap It mishSf.
be well to pose ~ Florence, only to learn
what the outcome might b..
Yes. What ID wantedf" she asked.
The man took . letter from his pocket and
handed It to Olga, saying: "Give this to
your father. He knows how to read It."
Before she could reply the man had turned
and was hurryins away.
Olga opened the note, her heart BEATING
furiously. 1t was utterly blank. At first
she thought It was 4 noax. Then she hap
pened to remember that there was such .
thing ~ invisible ink. At last! Hargreave
was alive; this letter settled all doubt in her
mind on this question. Alive! And not only
that. but the girl and Jones were evidently
In communication with him. She summoned
q waiter, made q secret sign and he bowed
and approached. She slipped the letter into
his hand and whispered: "Show that at
the cave tomorrow. It is In invisible ink and
meant for Harsreave."
"He's alive7"
Positively"
Every we'll" Tho waiter bowed and
strolled away nonchalantly.
Braine was in Boston over night, other
wise the countess would have taken the mys-
FERROUS note at once to him. She remained
for perhaps q quarter of an hour longer and
then left the garden. She would have taken
the letter to her own apartment but for the
fact that the chemicals needed were hidden
In the cave.
Now it happened that Florence went out
ava AACA carly EAOC luo ucAI 1uOKAu&, du0
crossing a field she saw a man with bundle
under his arm. The struck his profile
and imned it plainly, and Florence uttered =
low cry. The man had not observed her.
So, very quietly, she slipped from the horse,
tethered it to tree, and started after tho
man to learn what he was doing to far from
the city. She would never forget That face.
She had seen it that dreadful night when the
note had lured her into the hands of ner
enemies. The face belonged to the man who
had impersonated her father. Il
1t occurred to her that she might just as
well do a little detective work on her own
hook. She had passed through so many terri
flying episodes that she was beginning to
crave for the excitement, strange rs this may
seem. Like 4 gambler VINO has once played
for high stakes, she no longer found pleasure
in thimbles and needles and pins. She fol-
lowed the man with little skill and at
length saw him approach a knoll, stoop,
apparently press . spring, and hole sud-
denly yawned. The man vanished quickly,
and the spot took again its virginia. APP
pearance. A cave! Florence had the patience
to wait BY and BY the man appeared again
and skunk away.
When she was sure that he was beyond
range, she came out from the place Of con-
cealment, crept up tho knoll, and searcne1
about for the magic Handle Of this strange