Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1915-01-01

ment I'm going to bid every one
goodnight, then I'm going to investi
gate. When l leave you will quietly
send men to all exits to the building
| want the man who sneezed, and
want him badly"
Olga departed with Bra1ne, only she
Immediately sought the taxi that
brought her and was driven home. 1t
was always understood that when any
serious exploit was under way here
abouts she was to make her depart
ure at once.
Vroon stationed his men at the sew
eral exits and Braine went upstairs.
The man who had sneezed, however,
had vanished as completely as if he
had worn that invisible cloak one
reads about in the Persian tales. AS
a matter of fact, after the second
sneeze he had gone up to the roof,
got out by the trap, and jumped
rather risky business, too-to the next
roof and had clambered down the fire
escape of the second building. He
was swearing inaudibly. After all
these days of care and planning, after
all his cleverness in locating the rem
devious of the Black Hundred, and
now to lose his advantage because
of an uncomfortable sneeze! He would
never dare go back, and just when he
was beginning to pick up fine bits of
information, So Florence Hargreave
was going to have a new father in a
day or so? There were some clever
rogues among this band of theirs; but
their cleverness was well Offset by an
equal number of fools.
Yes, there were some clever rogues,
and to prove this assertion Braine
secured a taxicab and drove furiously
away, his destination the home of his
ancient enemy He dropped the cab
/ a block or two away and presently
slowed himself away in the. summer
house at the left of the lawn. 1t would
have been a capital idea-that is, If
the other man had not thought Of and
anticipated this very thing So he
used a public pay station telephone;
and Braine waited in vain, waited
till the lights in the Hargreave house
went out one by one and it became
shine without.
Braine was a philosopher He re-
turned to his waiting taxicab, drove
home, paid the bill, smiling grimly,
and went to bed. 1t was going to be
wonderful game of blind mans buff,
and it was going to be sport to watch
this fool Paroff blunder into a pit.
The next afternoon Florence and
Norton sat in the summer house talk
! ing of the future. Lovers are prone
to talk of that. AS If anything else
| in the world ever equals the present.
They talked of nice little apartments
| and vacations in the summer and how
much they would save out of his
| salary, and thousand and one other
i things which would not interest you
| at all If l recounted them in detail.
| But they did love each other, and they
were going to be married; you may be
certain of that They did not care
| snap of the finger what Jones
thought. They were going to be mar
| ried, and that was all there was to it.
| Of course, Florence couldn't touch a
penny Of her fathers money. If he,
| Norton, couldn't take care OF her with
out help, why, he wouldn't be worth
the powder to blow him up with.
But, my dear, you must be very
careful he said. Jones and I will
always be about somewhere. II they
really get hold of you once, God alone
| knows what will happen. 1t is moi
you, it is your poor father they want
| to bring out into the open If they
knew where he was they would not
bother you in the least"
Have I really father? Sometimes
l doubt Why couldn't he steal into
the house and see me, just once?''
Perhaps he dares not. This house
| is always watched, night and day
| though you'll look in vain to discover
any one. Your father knows best what
he is doing, my dear girl. You see,