Omaha daily bee., 1916-11-06

closed, ON the plea that part of the
ceiling had fallen, and no one was
TO go in until workmen should have
como to repair the damage. On hear
Ing this Peter had buen thoughtful
enough 10 inquire the position OF the
| locked room NJ hld learned 1t was
at the bacK ct Ito house on the sec
ond floor. anG III the right Of the
corridor which WIN down the middle
Of the three upper stories.
"G,vd." exclaimed Christopher, II
thought they'd put Em there, for
knocking ON the wa! would 40 no
luoG II II, tried 1t, There's n empty
house on the right, you know The
one Tn the left's occupied. can
| imagine old RUdoviCs inv.unE the
prince into the room, rs IL for secret
meeting with some en-; ftry from Dali
NInia, then Quic,y turning the key.
Rather smart Idea thai about the
fallen ceiling And as the rooms at
the back, and Che old-fQshioned wood
tu ,hUttv.s (Which all the houses in
Nurcn Hra.r's Gardens NGvc) are prob
ably uji!ei fast, your poor brother $
a9 much prisoner rs If he were at
Portland"
" ~ anu HlllB tNt ~ - NlbAh Sil 10
| tCphCr Rlgc was Mt the door Of Messrs,
| leonard q Steele, estate and house
agents ut the moment when 1t opened
for business. He informed the man.
uger that he had been empowered by
Mr., James Race Of Hyde Hampton
to take No. SO Queen Anne's Gardens
for three years (the shortest term
permissible), If Immediate possession
could be given.
The agent thought there would be
little difficulty about this, and became
certain Of II when there was no at
tempt at cutting down the high rent
asked for the old house, inlet for sew
eral years A telephone message was
sent to the owner papers were signed,
check in advance for quarters rent
was paid; and presently Christopher
found himself in possession Of the keys
of SO Queen Anne's Gardens, the house
adjoining the Dalvanian embassy on
the right-hand side,
About 10 o'clock that night, having
given all necessary instructions con-
corning Scarlet Runner to the chauf-
feur he trusted, Christopher unlocked
the front door Of his uncles newly
acquired town house and walked in.
He had with him, in golfers bag, q
pick-aX, one or two other handy tools
and an electric lantern, To begin
work, he choose the back room on the
second floor, which, according to his
calculations. was separated from
Prince Mirko's prison only by the
house wall. With a small hammer he
tapped lightly once, twice, without re-
ceiving an answer. Then he was re-
joiced by a responsive rapping on the
other side. At first the knocks seemed
to him desultory and irregular, but In
a moment he realized that words were
beig formed by taps and spaces. long
and short, according to the Morse code
Of telegraphy E4|
Long ago Christopher had learned II
at Elton, when he and another boy
had sought means of secret commu-
nicatlon. Evidently the occupant OF
the room beyond the wall had learned
It, too. -' A,
In ten minutes the two men, thus
divided by bricks and mortar, were
able to come to an understanding
Christopher was assured that he was
talking with the prince. Mirko was
informed that he was talking with
Christopher Race. Also Christopher
was able roughly to communicate his
delight that there was a good pros
pect OF success. Mirko indicated the
position of large wardrobe which
stood in his room against the dividing
wall, and suggested that Christopher
boring operations should be conducted
behind 1t. When the bricks should
be loosened Mirko would pull out the
wardrobe and be ready to push II
back into place In case of danger.
All night long Christopher worked,
refreshed with bread and wine from
his bag; and by early dawn he had
dug a hole through which he could
speak to the prince. Until this mo-
ment he had outlined his plan put
vaguely: and what Mirko heard now
amazed him.
While London slept. and the cld
houses in Queen Anne's Gardens kept
their wooden eyelids closed, four per-
sons. who had stepped out of closed
carriage round the corner, walked
quietly to the door of No. SO. There
were three men and one woman, and,
having pushed the long unused cleo