Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1915-10-01
CHAPTER xvI-continued.

vsneral Of Finland, whose habit 1T
gos tc spend part Of the winter in
.hs Mediterranean. From Elma
uoatb's conversation at dinner that
.yaping at Nice l gathered that she
snd her uncle had been guests on the
iris on several occasions. although |
must say that Muriel was extremely
,oticert regarding all that concerned
the yacht"
"Of course" she said quickly. Nov
that I have told you the truth, Jack,
6ont you think it was only natural?"
Most certainly, dear" he answered,
sHI holding her hand. Yours was
not a secret that you could very well
teT TO me until you could thoroughly
trust me. especially as your father
had been implicated in the theft Of
those documents from Malta. The
truth is" he said, turning to me,
"Philip Leithcourt has all along been
The catspaw Of Baron Oberg. A few
years ago he was a well-known money
lender in the city, and in that capacity
met the baron, who, being in disgrace,
required a loan. He was also in the
habit of having certain shady trans
actions with that daring gang of con-
tinental thieves of whom Dick Archer
and Hylton Chatter were leaders. For
this reason he purchased yacht for
their use, so that they might not only
Snv ha 30 cfA khA
stolen goods, but for the purpose Of
sailing from place to place under the
gulse of wealthy Englishmen travel
ing for pleasure. Upon that vessel,
indeed, was stored thousands and
thousands of pounds worth of jewels
and objects of value, the proceeds of
many great robberies in England,
France and Belgium. Sometimes they
travelled for the purpose Of disposing
Of the jewels in various inland towns
where the gems, having been recut,
were not recognized, while at other
times, Chatter and Archer, assisted
BY Macintosh, the captain, and Olinto
Santini, the steward, sailed for a port,
landed, committed a robbery, and then
sailed away again, quite unsupported,
as rich Englishmerl."
"Ant the crew." l asked, after a
pause.
They were, Of course, well paid,
and were kept in ignorance of what
the supposed owner and his friends
did ashore"
But Oberg's connection with it?"
asked, surprised at those revela-
tons
All" exclaimed Muriel. "The in
senuity Of that crafty villain is fiend-
iSh. Before he got into the cars
favor he owed my father large sum,
and then sought how to evade repay
ment. By means of his spies he dis
covered the real purpose of the
cruises of the Iris-for l was often
taken on board with maid in order
TO allay any suspicion that might
arise If only men were cruising. Then
ne not only compelled my father to
cancel the debt. but he impressed the
vessel and those who owned and navi-
gated 1t into the secret service Of
Russia. A dozen times did we make
attempts to obtain secret papers from
italian, French and English dock
yards, but only once in the case Of
Malta and once at Toulon did we sue
coed. All! Mr.. Gregg" she added,
you do not know all the anxiety I
suffered, how at every hour we were
IN danger of betrayal or capture, and
Of the hundred narrow escapes we
nave had of customhouse officers
rammaging the yacht for contraband.
lou viii no doubt recollect the SEN
saUon caused by the theft of the
leWels OF the Princess Wilhelmine of
sehaumbourg-Lippe from the lady's
mald in the rapide between Cannes
ana Les Arcs, the robbery from the
marSeilles branch of the Credit Lyon
nals, and the great haul of plate from
Tue chateau of Bardon, the Paris mill
bonalre, close to Arcachon."
Yes" l said. for they were all rob-
peries Of which had read in the
newspapers couple Of years before.
Well she said, they were all
committed by Archer or Woodroffe
and his gang - with accomplices
ashore, Of course-and never once did
seem that any suspicion fell upon
U.s. While the police were frantically
searching hither and thither, we used
weigh anchor and calmly steam
away with cur booty on board. We
nao with US an old Dutch lapidary,
snd one of the cabins was fitted as
workshop, where he altered the ap
pearanee of the stones, and prepared
2em ready for sale while the gold
vas melted in a crucible and put
sshoTe TO be sent to agents in Ham
bug
But that night in Leghorn?" said.
what happened to poor Elma?"
~ 10 not know was Muriel's reply.
we were both on board together, and
Standing at the crack of the door
"s'ened you sitting at dinner that
s'ening. The instant, however, you
vent ashore. Gnater, Woodroffe-
Suom you called Rornby-and Mack
HSoS'. the captain-who, by the way.
'aS IN old ticket-of-leave man-went