Charlevoix county herald. (East Jordan, Mich.) 189?-1953, 1915-05-08
Continued Chapter Y.

ing, spoke IN low tone 10 cornish
and Darlington while the detective
waited awkwardly in the corner.
Then, as Fergus announced the ar
rival of the car, she walked out with
a nonchalance that aroused the adj
miration of the two men who watched
her anxiously. The ruse was work
ing perfectly. The detective had never
seen Harcourt, and this elegant, self
possessed young person took him in
completely.
The big automobile was standing
under the portcochere as they stepped
out into the stormy night, and the
prisoner turned up the collar of the
warm overcoat. In another minute,
farewels had been hurriedly said, the
door of the car slammed, and the high
powered machine was running swiftly
down the water-soaked road towards
the gateway.
1t was dark, and the storm howled
furiously as the rain beat against the
window panes, but the detective with
his prisoner sat safe and dry inside.
From her corner, Adele smiled quiet
ly and extending Harcourt's gold Gig
crest, invited the detective to smoke
in an excellent counterfeit of Har
courts tone.
While the car sped on through the
night, those at the Manor house were
acting hurriedly, fearing that at any
moment the deception might be dis
covered and that the detective would
return to defeat their plans. No
sooner had the machine left the door
than Cornish and Darlington hurried
up stairs, followed by Fergus.
Farndale was with Harcourt when
they reached his study, just as the
earl was pouring himself generous
drink from the decanter. At glance
Cornish saw that he had been drink
ing heavily in the short time since
liquor was beginning to effect him.
There was no time to lose, how
ever, and with a signal to the others,
Cornish stepped forward quickly.
Without word he caught Harcourt
in his brawny arms, and pinioned him
fast. From his coat pocket, Farndale
~
had passed it about Harcourt's body.
81 sayw Harcourt demanded, strug-
Cling against them, what the dew"
1.-The gagw Cornish demanded
sharply, and taking it from Sir
Hary's hands, he deity inserted it,
tying the strings firmly behind Har-
courts head.
Like a ghost, Grace, followed by
her father, appeared in the doorway,
staring with frightened eyes at the
scene before her. Father, what are
they DOING" she exclaimed, in terror.
Hush, my dear" Marston reas-
sured her tenderly. at is all for the
best"
Before she could speak again, Cor
nish and Sir Harry were carrying
Harcourt, helplessly bound, out of the
room and down the stairway that led
TO the servants quarters. The door
had been opened before them, and
they made their way along quickly
and silently.
In another moment they were on
the little verandah, beside which Cor
nish's painting French touring car
stood eager to be off. With scant
ceremony they placed their burden
upon the floor of the machine and
jumped in themselves.
"Now drive like HE'LL" Cornish said
sharply to his chauffeur, and, with a
snort, the big car darted forward only
to be lost in the pouring rain as it
shot madly through the gate of the
estate.
Like a wild thing the machine sped
on through the dripping night. Now
a flash of lightning ut up the road
for the fraction of second, and the
wheels splashed and Missed as they
churned through the streams of water
that ran rapidly along the muddy run
way On and on the car flew, and all
the time Cornish profanely urged the
chauffeur to greater efforts. Now he
consulted his watch, and at last, when
10 minutes had elapsed, he directed
sharp lookout upon the road ahead.
The car was racing forward madly,
but now, through the darkness ahead,
they saw the lights of another car
ahead of them. Drawing closer they
saw that it had stopped by the road
side and the driver was kneeling in
the soggy road, apparently searching
for the cause of his machines failure
II. Il