The Spectator., 1915-07-02

which had seen in Muriel's cozy little room up at Rannoch
 l recollected that she had told me the name of the original was Elma | Heath, and that she had been a school | fellow of hers at Chichester. There fore l inquired of the photographers | lady clerk whether she could supply me with a print of the negative. | For considerable time she searched | in her books for the name, and at last | discovered it. Then she said | T regret, sir, that we can't give you a print, for the customer purchased | the negative at the time." "Ah. I'm very sorry for that said.
 ITO what address did you send it?"
 The customer who ordered it was apparently a foreigner" she said, at the same time turning round the ledger so that I could read, and I saw that the entry was; 'Heath-Miss Elma- three dozen cabinets and negative. Address: Baron Xavier Oberg, Vos- nesenski Prospect AS. St Petersburg, Russia"
 Who was this Baron Oberg? The name was German undoubtedly, yet he lived in the Russian capital. From London to St Petersburg is far cry, yet l resolved if it were necessary l
 would travel there and investigate.
 At the German embassy. in the Carl
 ton House Terrace, found my friend,
 Captain Nieberding, the second sec
 a nf uh I iDuniraI whpthpf.
 the name of Baron Oberg was known,
 but having referred to number of
 German books in his excellency's li-
 brary, he returned and told me that
 the name did not appear in the lists of
 the German nobility.
 He may be Russian-Polish, most
 probably added the captain. His
 name, for there was little place
 called Oberg, he said, on the railway
 between Lodz and LowicZ.
 Next day ran down to Chichester
 and after some difficulty found the
 Cheverton College for Ladies. a big
 old-fashioned house about half mile
 out of the town of the Drayton road. The seminary was evidently a first
 class one, for when I entered I mo-
 ticed how we'll everything was kept. To the principal. an elderly lady of
 somewhat severe aspect, l said: T regret, madam. to trouble you,
 but am in search of information you
 can supply. It is with regard to a
 certain Elma Heath whom you had as pupil here, and who left, I believe, , about two years ago Her parents
 lived in Durham. There has been some little friction in the family, and l am making inquiries on behalf of another
 branch of it-an aunt who desires to ascertain the girls whereabouts. 'Ah, regret. sir, that I cannot tell you that. The baron, her uncle, came
 here one day and took her away sud
 denly-abroad, l think Had she no school friends to whom ] she would probabl.' write?" I There was a girl named Leithcourt -Muriel Leithcourt-who was her friend. but who has also left And no one else?" l asked Girls often write to each other after leav. ing school. until they get married,
 and then the correspondence usually ceases"
 The principal was silent and refec-
 tive.
 Well" she said at last, there was another pupil who was also on friendly
 terms with Elma-a girl named Lydia Moreton. She may have written to I her, If you really desire to know,
 sir, dare say l could find her ad- dress She left us about nine months l after Elma."
 'I should esteem it great favor if l you would give me that young lady 8 | address" I said, whereupon she un- locked a drawer in her writing -ta ble
 and took therefrom a thick, leather. bound book which she consulted for a
 few minutes. at last exclaiming: Yes, here it is-Lydia Moreton. daughter of Sir Hamilton Moreton. K. c. M. C.. Winston Grange. Doncas- ter"
 And with that I took my leave,
 thanking her. and returned to Lon don.
 Could Lydia Moreton furnish any
 information7 If so, l might find this : girl whose photograph had aroused the
 irate jealousy of the mysterious un-
 known.
 The ten o'clock Edinburgh express
 from Kings Cross next morning took
 me up to Doncaster. and hiring musty old fly at the station, I drove three
 miles out of the town on the Rother.
 ham road, finding Winston Grange to be fine old Elizabethan mansion in
 the center of great park. with tall
 old twisted chimneys. and beautifully kept gardens
 Myhor | dnccondod aA ha