The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1915-03-03
CONTINUED from Page ~

farce which you, no doubt. call the
history of your grande passion.
81 mean to say-well, several things,
to-wit: When / saw you snatched out
of the North river / was engaged In
trailing a pale-faced villain In a motor
car concerning whom you probably
know Jar more than l; he on his part
was busy being bold, bad kidnaper;
Rose was in his power, as we say in
such cases. His intentions, however,
were nothing more blameworthy than
to return her to the arms Of her doting
parent. / know, because I sleuthed
after 'em, even to the house Of Seneca
Urine. Later l sleuthed some more.
following a furtive young man from
the house of Urine to the Office of the
general manager of the New York Gen.
trail. where he made arrangements for
q special to convey the said Urine and
retinue to Chicago and points West.
It leaves at three this afternoon. I
was unable to ascertain whether or
not Rose is to participate In this
hegira, but I know shall. On the of
chance of being useful. l have bribed
the train crew to let me impersonate
the porter. So. should you be moved
to follow and succeed in catching up
with US, and observe anybody who
looks rather off-color in the party
don't shoot: the said party will be me.
yours for the quiet life,
tom BARCUS."
The second note yielded communi-
cation written on notepaper Of the sim
plest elegance in a woman's hand-a
hurried scrawl:
"They are taking me West by spe-
cial train-I don't know where or why.
A servant has promised to see that
this reaches you. Save mel"
Over this Alan wrinkled an incred-
ulous nose. The hand was the hand of
Rose, but the phraseology was not in
her spirit. He examined 1t more close
ly and thought to detect beneath its
semblance of haste a deliberate and
carefully guided pen. He picked up
the envelope to compare the handwrit-
ing of the address with that of the en-
closure-and shook out q trey of
hearts.
This last was covered, as to its face,
with a plainly-written message
with the compliments of Seneca
Urine to Alan Law. We are due in
Chicago at eleven tomorrow morning
and leave Immediately for the Pacific
coast via Santa Fee route"
Comparison between this and the
message purporting to be from Rose
distilled the conviction that the same
hand was responsible for both.
Alan shrugged. So he was to be
lured away from New York and Rose
by this transparent trick, was he? No
fear!
He glanced at his watch. finding the
hour far too early to attempt what he
had In mind.
With plenty Of time on his hands,
he gave the matter serious considera.
ton and concluded to take NO chances:
1t was Just possible that Urine had
taken Rose with. him on his western
trip. after all. In such case the only
possible way of overtaking the special
would be by air line.
Promptly Alan called up the avia.
ton fields at Hampstead Plains and
got into communication with q gentle.
man answering to the surname OF
Coast: the same birdman who had
come to Alan's rescue with his hydro.
aeroplane.
Their arrangements we're quickly
contaminated. Coast agreeing to wait
for Alan with his biplane in Van Cort.
landt park from midnight till daybreak,
prepared II need be to undertake q
transcontinenta flight.
Thereafter Mr.. Law proceeded to re.
habilitate himself in decent clothins
and his own esteem; after bathing, he
dined alone In his rooms, from q tray:
after dining he slept soundly for three
hours-and may be thought to have
earned at least that much rest through
having been for four hours a passen.
ger in a hydroaeroplane lost In fogs
that wrapped Long Island and all the
adjacent territory in an impenetrable
shroud.
Nor had this been all. Leaving aside
all that had led up to Alan's rescue by
Coast: the forced landing of the hydro
aeroplane for lack Of fuel had taken
place on the south shore Of the Great
South bay; a search Of hours had fol-
lowed before boat was found to con-
vey Alan and the aviator to the main
land; and . motor run Of several hours
had followed that. conveying Coast to
his Hampstead hangers and Alan on
to his hotel In New York.
Another man would have needed
twelve hours In bed at the least to
compensate for such q day: Mr.. Law
awakened In lamb-like temper when
called at eleven-thirty.
At midnight he committed an act of
burglary. calmly and with determine
ton breaking his way into the house
of Seneca Urine through the area win.
dows and basement.
In this nefarious business nothing
hindered and none opposed him. But
for single lighted window In the up.
per tier (but not. he noted. the window
to Roses bedchamber) and one or two
lights which he found burning dim in
the kitchen Offices and other servants
quarters on the lower floor he would
have thought the house empty. The
silence Of an abandoned place in.
formed 1t all-below the upper story.
But he was not to be satisfied with
such negative evidence: he explored
the dwelling infinitely. room by room,