Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-03-19
XIV.
"OXR IYI ESAF IPSEn

The blow which feled rutherford was
delivered by tho hand of an adept. 1t
was neither too hard, nor yet too light.
He awoke the next morning little the
worse for II. except a dizzy, aching head.
Cooley was moving softly about the
room, looking over at him with anxious
eye. When he saw his master look un-
certainly around, he was by the bedside
in an instant, smoothing tho covers as
lightly as n trained nurse would have
done
Have a good strong cup of coffee,
sor2'' he suggested.
Ideal man that he was, he did not COM
ment upon the injury, but came straight
to the point of service.
"I-believe 1 will-thanlt you, Mike
I'm at homer"
"Sure, sor."
"somebody-get under my Euard?"
"They did-thc dirty blackguards! But
the doctor said you'd be all right. I'll
fetch you the coffee, sor."
As Rutherford's head began to clear he
reasoned painfully over the events of the
day before Who could be his assailant
and what was he after? His first answer
was that It was one or both OF the men
whom he had caught In his room, after
the blue buckle. That seemed the most
obvious clew. They had not found tho
buckle in his safe, hence had reasoned
that he must have 1t on his person. with
groan and a sinking heart he reached
for his pocket to see II they had rined 1t
but encountered only the pocket of his
pajamas. His street clothes were care
fully hung up, and Mike was out of the
room.
If it were not the blue buckle. what
else could his enemy be after? The neck
lace. of course He hadn't thought of
that before. He smiled sourly when he
realized how completely he had forgotten
10 al In %
apparent attitude, and not wasting time
over things as trivial as strands of dia-
monds! But the smugglers weren't likely
to forget; and Craig called freshly TO
mind what Helderman had said about
holding on to the necklace and thus
catching the smugglers,
Who else besides Helderman the snug
glerS, Miss Arany, her agents, and the
Ballantynes. knew or could possibly have
any interest in his actions? Why. the
secret service men-the real ones-of
course! Craig gave a start. when 1t oo
Cured TO him that he might he watched,
perhaps followed, by three different sets
of people-the men after the buckle, the
smuEglers after the necklace. and the
customs men after clcws He was en-
tirely too popular, he decided!
Granted that his first premise were cor
rect, why should Miss Arany be so de-
termined to secure the blue buckle? why,
llu'eu-HlS l't'' was Juot SuihClehtly sure
to make his wits active and his emo
tions dull-why, indeed, unless she were
the person to whom It rightfully be-
onged? How could its possession do her
any good unless she were able to prove
her claim to the property? If she were
the true owner-then the Ballantynos
father and daughter must be iInpostors
and this was the desperate game they
were playing.
Ballantync's own appearance not to
mention the attractiveness of his daugh-
ter, seemed positive evidence against
such an assumption: but Craig was, this
morning, just sufficiently Ill and out of
sorts to resent his constant inclination
to shield the Ballantynes. He made him
self acknowledge that he knew nothing
positive about them. Mr. Ballantyne had