The Green Forest tribune., 1915-10-22
Woodroffe is engaged to Muriel Leith-

and the big electric lamps had been turned out and we were in semidark- ness
 That fellow shall never marry Mu- riel,' he declared in a fierce, hoarse voice What you have just told me reveals the truth. Did you meet Chater?"
 He appeared suddenly at Rannoch, ana the Leithcourts fled precipitately and have not since been heard of"
 An, no wonder!" he remarked with dry laugh. No wonder! But look nere, Gordon, I'm not going to stand by and let that scoundrel Woodroffe marry Muriel."
 You love her, perhaps?" I haz- arded
 Yes. I do love her." he admitted. And, by heayen!" he cried, q will tel the truth and crush the whole of their ingenious plot Have you met Elma Heath?" he asked.
 Yes" said in quick anxiety.
 Then listen." he said in a low, ear nest voice. Listen. and I'll tell you something"
 Ihere is greater mystery sur rounding that yacht, the Lola, than you have ever imagined, my dear old chap, declared Jack Durnford, look ing me straight in the face. When you told me about it on the quarter deck that day outside Leghorn I was Sad mind to tell you what I knew. Only one fact prevented me-my dis Inclination to reveal my own secrets. l loved Muriel Leithcourt, yet, afioat as was, I could never see her-I could not obtain from her own lips the explanation I desired Yet I would not prejudice her-no, and I won't now!" he added with fierce resolu- tion.
 T love her." he went on, "and she recIprocates my love- Ours is a secret engagement, made in Malta two years ago and yet you tell me that she has pledged herself to that fellow Wood roffe-the man known here in Lon don as Dick Archer. I cant believe it-I really cant, old fellow. She could never write to me as she has done, urging patience and secrecy un- til my return"
 'Woodroffe is at the present mo- ment in Petersburg" I said I've just come back from there.'
 .'ln St. Petersburg!" he gasped, sur prised. Then he is with that will lainous official, Baron Oberg, the gov ernor general of Finland"
 No; Oberg is living shut up in his palace at Helsingfors, fearing to go out lest he shall be assassinated, was my answer.
 And Elma? What has become of herr"
 She is in hiding in Petersburg, awaiting such time as I can get her safely out of Russia" and then, con- tinuing, I explained how she had been maimed and rendered deaf and dumb.
 What" he cried fiercely. Have they actually done that to the poor girl? Then they feared that she would reveal the nature of their plot, for she had seen and heard"
 q intend to rescue and to marry her." I said quite frankly. But from whom do you expect I can ob- tain the facts concerning her, and the reason of the baron's desire to keep her silent?"
 "Ah!" he said, twisting his mus tache thoughtfully. That's just the question: She may be the victim of that blackleg Woodroffe, who is one of the most expert sWindlers in Lon- don, and who has already done two terms of penal servitude.'
 But he is on extremely friendly terms with Elma. It was he who sue ceeded in finding her in Finland, and taking her beyond Oberg's sphere of influence to Petersburg"
 Then it is certainly only an af- fected friendship, with some sinister motive underlying it.'
 "She wrote a letter from her island prison to an old schoolfellow named Lydia Moreton, asking her to see Woodroffe at his rooms in Cork street, and tell him that through all she was suffering she had kept her promise to him, and that the secret was still safe.
 Exactly. And now the fellow fears that as you are so actively searching out the truth, she may yield to your demands and explain. He therefore intends to silence her"
 What! to kill her, you mean? gasped in quick apprehension.
 Well, he might do so, in order to save himself, you see," Jack replied
 I tried to get from him all that he knew concerning Bma, but he seemed, for some reason, disinclined to tell. All I could gather was that Leithcourt was in league with Chatter and Wood, roffe. and that Muriel had acted as an entirely innocent agent.
 We must find Muriel,' he declared, when I pressed him to tell me every thing he knew There are facts you have told me which negative my own theories, and only from her can we obtain the real truth"
 But surelygou know where she is :? She writes to you," I said.
 "The last letter, which l received at Cih ten days ago. was from the