The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1917-08-24

had taken him to the palace wax
Swallowed, and Starkweather's move
ments from the moment he left his
hotel to go there were known to those
who We're intrusted to report to Vienna
every movement Of the Italian gov
eminent.
Starkweather reached Lugano. a re-
sort for tourists at the foot of the
southern slope of the Alps, before be-
Ing obliged to halt. At Lugano he was
obliged to stay over till the following
morning. He asked the landlord of
his hotel how he could kill an evening
and was told that the kursasl or
casino, was open, though since the
war 1t was not much frequented. He
went there and found a small orches-
ira. refreshments and number Of
patrons. Seating himself at one of the
tables, he called for liter of wine and
cigar. He had listened to several
pieces from the orchestra when Il cou-
pie entered and took a seat at neigh
boring table.
The man looked like a German or
an Austrian; the woman was dark
complexioned and appeared to be
| French. At any rate, she spoke French
to the man, whose accent was Teuton-
ic. She seemed very i'll at ease.
Presently the man arose from the
table and went to the cashiers desk.
He had no sooner left the woman than
she leaned toward Starkweather and
said:
Monsieur, are you French?"
"No madame; am an American"
II am French and am trying to get
to France. This man is trying to head
ma off. For heavens sake help me!''
The woman's companion at this mo-
ment turned and, seeing her thus speak
ing to Starkweather, glared at him,
returned at once to her, and together
they left the kursaale
An American gentleman is nothing
IL not defender Of woman. Stark
weather longed to assist this one, but
did not know how to go about it. Be
sides, he considered the responsibility
he had assumed in bearing the king of
ltaly's message quite enough for him
to attend to without getting into trou-
BILE with Teuton who was tyrannizing
over lady. He therefore resisted
an impulse to follow the couple and
endeavor to afford the poor woman
another chance to communicate with
him. He sat where he was till he had
finished his cigar and his wine, then
returned to his hotel and went to bed.
The next morning at the railway sta
ton one of the uniformed attendants
who carry hand baggage for travellers
snatched at Starkweather's suit case
and wrenched it from his hand. The
| American, who was something Of an
athlete, sent the man sprawling with
his fist. A crowd was collecting when
! Starkweather jumped on the train,
which was moving out. He had not
| carried his dispatch in the case, but
| the incident warned him that wherever
| it was it was in danger. Looking out
| Of the coach window, he saw the man
| he had knocked down running after
| the train. But he had been bruised,
and the train had achieved a good
Roadway, so he was unable to catch 1t.
AS soon as Starkweather had become
composed after his fracas he looked
| about him, and there sitting in a seat
| at the other end of the compartment
was the woman who had appealed to
him at the kursaal the previous even
| ing. She smiled at him. and he took
seat beside her. She told him that
she had succeeded in GLIDING her per-
| I,A 70
and boarded the train.
During the day the train sped
through valley in which dashed a
stream. Early in the afternoon the
famous st. Gothard tunnel was reach
ed, to pass through which some fifteen
minutes are consumed Starkweather
conversed with the lady, who informed
him that she was on secret service for
the French government. When the
tunnel was reached Starkweather was
surprised to notice that the lamp in
the top of the car was not lighted.
Why it was not he could not explain
till after having passed through the
tunnel, and even then he did not know
how the failure to light it had been
|
When the train entered the tunnel
Starkweather was sitting in his own
seat at some distance from the lady
Being plunged in total darkness, he
naturally placed his hand on his cis-
patch. which was in the left side coat
pocket. directly over the heart. The
train had not been i'm the tunnel min
ute when he felt a pair of viselike
arms about his chest, pinioning boil
his own arms. Then he was held by
one arm Of his assailant while the 9th
er hand was thrust under his coat arc
grasped his hand which held the dis
patch.
1t was Greek meet Greek. Stark
weather's grip was of iron, and his ad
versary's was of steel But Stark
weather had the advantage Of holding
the dispatch, though he was not IL
training for such an encounter. Hi
opponent finally clutched his throat.
Starkweather before leaving his no
tel had picked up a stiletto he hat
bought for a curio and hung 1t, Amer
lean plains fashion, to the back Of hi
neck. He just had time before LOSING