Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-01-16

and scarun. ais you call them. Take me
to Lord Ragnail's bedroom At oncer
All, cir. burglinE. I suppose, or mayhap
| worse" he exclaimed as he threw on some
miscellaneous garments and seized lffe-
! preserver which hung upon q hook Now
| I'm ready only hope they have left their
snakes behind / never could bear the
sight OF snake, and they seem to know
| 1.-THE hrutes."
In due course we reached Lord Raqnaifs
room, which Mr. Savage entered and, in
answer to a stifed inquiry, exclaimed.
lord"
What is it, ouaterman9o he asked Sit
! ting up in bed and yawnng. Have you
had n nghtmare?"
YES" I answered. and Savage having
| LEFT us and shut the door told him every
! thing as 1t is written down
! Great heavens 20 he exclaimed when I
! had finished. III II had not been Tor you
| and your Intuition and courage"
Never mind me-" l interrupted 'Tho
| question is-what should be done now7
! Are you going to try to arrest these men,
or viii you--hold your tongue and merely
| cause them to be watched?"
Really I don't know Even II we can
| catch them the whole story would sound
| 80 strange in law court, and all sorts Of
| things might be suggested"
Yes Lord Raguall. il would sound so
strange that I beg you will come at once
| TO see the evidences Of what L tell you
before rain or snow obllterates them. bring
| ing another witness with YOU Lady Long
| den perhaps"
Lady Longden why. one might as
| well write to the Times l have Il THERE'S
| Savage. He is faithful and can be silent"
So Savage was called In. and while Lord
kaEnall dressed himself huTriedly. told the
outline OF the story under pain OF Instant
dismissal IL he breathed a word. Really,
to watch his face was as good as a play
So astonished was he that all he could
calculate was:
"The blact-hearted villains Well. they
amt friendly with snakes for nothing"
Then, having made sure that Miss Holmes
was sttll In her room, we went down the
twisting stair and through the side door
| way locking the door after us. BY now
| the dawn was breaking and there was
enough light To enable me in certain places
where the snow that fell after the gale
| remained to show Lord Ragnall and Savage
the impress of the little bedroom slippers
which MISS Holmes wore and of my stock
nged feet following after.
In the plantation things were still easier.
for every detail of the movements OF the
four of us could be traced. Moreover, on
the back drive was tho spoor OF the horses
and the marks Of the wheels OF the car
rlage that had been brought for the pur-
poses Of the abduction. Also by great good
fortune, for this seemed to prove my theory,
we found a parcel wrapped in native linen
that appeared to have fallen out OF the
carriage when Harut and Marut made their
hurried escape, as one of the wheels had
gone over It. 1t contained an eastern
wOmanS dress and veil. intended ] suppose,
TO be used in Disgusting Miss Holiness who
thenCeforward would have appeared to be
the wlfeN or daughter OF one Of the abb
ductors.
Savage discovered this parcel, which he
lifted only to drop with yell, for under
meath it lay a torpid snake, doubtless one
OF those that had been used in the per-
formance.
OF these discoveries and many other de-
tails, on our return TO the house. Lord Rag
nall made full notes in n pocketbook, that
when completed were signed by all three
of us.
There Is not much more to tell, that is
of this part of the story. The matter was
put in the hands of detectives who discov-
cred that the Easterns had driven TO Lon-
don where all trace of the carriage which
conveyed them was lost. They, however,
embarked upon steamer called the Ante-
ope, together with two native women, who
probably had been provided to look after
Miss Holmes, and sailed that very after
noon for Egypt. Thither, of course. 1t was
useless to follow them in those days, even
II it had been advisable to do so.
To return to Miss Holmes She came
down to breakfast looking very charming
but rather pale. Again l sat next to her
| and took some opportunity TO ask her how
| she had rested that night.
She replied, very well and yet very Ill,
since although she never remembered sleep
| ing more soundly in her life she had eN-
! perienced all sorts of queer dreams OF which
| she could remember nothing at ALL a cir
cumstance that annoyed her much, as she
was sure that they were most interesting.
Then she added:
do you know Mr.. Quatermain. I found
lot OF mud on my dressing-gown this
morning, and my bedroom slippers were
also mass of mud and wet through. How
do you account for that? It is just as
though | had been walking about outside
In my sleep which is absurd, as / never
did such n thing in my life"
Not feeling equal to the invention OF
any convincing explanation Of these phe-
nomena. I upset the marmalade pot on TO
the table in such n way that some Of It fell
upon her dress. and then covered my re-
treat with profuse apologies Understand
ing my dilemma, for he had heard sOme-
thing Of this talk, Lord Ragnall came to
my aid with n startling statement of which
l forget the purport and thus that crisis
passed,
CONTINUED TOMORROW