Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-01-12
"LONG LIVE THE KING"
human story OF ChdDes Court Intrigue the Latest
By MARY ROBERTS RINEHART
copyr Public COMPANY

ures slipping out from its gloom to
light, and perhaps TO love.
Before she left, she looked about the
room. What assurance had she that
this very excursion was not n trap, and
that In her absence the vault would not
be looted again? 1t contained now
something Infinitely valu lble--valuablc
and Observation-Disclosures roll OF fllm
She glanced about, and seeing silver
vase OF roses, hurriedly emptied the
water out, wrapped the film in oiled
paper and dropped it down among the
stems
The Street of the Wise Virgins was
not near the palace. Even by walking
briskly she was in danger OF being late.
The wind Kept her back, too. The cloak
twisted about her. the veil whipped. She
turned once or twice to see IL she were
being followed, but the quiet streets
were empty. Time. at last. the street OF
the Wise Virgins and the farce. stand
ing at TIE curb. with driver wrapped
in rugs against the cold of the Feb
ruary night. and his hat pulled down
over his eyes. The Countess stopped
beside him.
You are expecting n passenger -
Yes. madame
With her hand on the door, the
Countess realized that the fiacrc was
already occupied. AS she peered into
its darkened interior the shadow re-
solved itself into n cloaked and masked
figure. She shrank back.
Enter. madame" said voice.
The figure appalled, her II was not
sufficient to know that behind the
horrifying mask which covered the en-
tire face and head there was a human
figure. human pulses that beat, human
eyes that appraised her. She hcsitated.
quickly" said the voice.
She got in. shrinking into a corner of
the carriage. Her lips were dry, the
roaring of terror was in her cars The
door closed.
Then commenced drive Of which
aftcrward the Countess dared not think
/ The figure neither moved nor spoke.
Inside the carriage relgncd the most
complete silence. The horses feet clat
tered over rough stones. they turned
through narrow. unfamiliar streets. SO
that she knew not even the direttio
they took. After II time the noise grew
less. The horse padded along dirt roads,
in darkness. Then the carriage stop
ped. and at last the shrouded figure
moved and spoke.
"I regret, Countess. that my orders
are TO blindfold you"
She drew herself up haughtily.
That is not necessary, ! think"
Very necessary, madame
She submitted ungracefuly, while he
bound black cloth over her eyes He
drew 1t very close and knottcd II behind.
In the act his fingers touched her face,
and she felt them cold and clammy.
/ The contact siCkened her.
Your hand. madame
Slop 1aJ ~ pf hn a,,;o =,
across soft earth, devious course again,
as though they avoided small obstacles.
once her foot touched something low
and hard. like marble. Again, in the
darkness. they stumbled over mound
She knew whore she was, then--in a
graveyard But which? There were
many about the city.
| An open space, tho opening of n gat,
or door that squealed softly flight
| Of steps that ied downward. and 9
| breath of musty, cold air, damp ant
celarlike
Sho was calmer now Had they mean
/ to kill her. there had been already Z
hundred chances. It was not death, then
that awaited her-at least not immediate
death. These precautions too, could only
mean that she was to be freed again
and must not know where she had been
| At last, still In unbroken silence. sin,
knew that they had entered a larg,
space Their footsteps no longer echoed
and re-echoed. Her guide walked NOR,
slowly, and at last paused. releasing her
hand She felt again the touch Of his
clammy fingers as he united the knots
OF her bandagc. He took II ofr.
At first she could see little. The 81.
lence remained unhroken and only ,ht
{ Of hA tUht tz1
her eyes grew accustomed she made out
the scene slowly.
| A great stone vault, its walls broken
into crypts which had contained caskets
Of the dead. But the caskets had been
removed and were piled in n corner, and
| in the inches were rifles In the center
was pine table. curiously homogeneous
and on II writing materials. a chear
clock and n pile of documents. There
were two candles only. and these were
/ stuck in skulls-old brown skulls SC
/ infinitely removed from all semblancc &c
| the human that they were not even hor.
riblc. 1t was as IL they had been used
not to inspire terror, but because they
We're at hand and convenient for the
purpose. In the shadow, ranged in a
semicircle. were nine figures. all mo.
| ticnless. all masked and cloaked in black
! They sat another incongruity. on plain
wooden chairs. But In spite of that they
were figures OF dread The ono who had
brought her made the tenth.
Still the silence, broken only by the
drip If water from the ceiling into a
tin pail
Had she not known the past record
OF the men before her. the rather opera
bouffe setting with which they chose
to surround themselves might have
aroused her scorn. But Olga Ioschek
knew too much She guessed shrewdly
that. with the class Of men with whom
they dealt It was not enough that their
name spelled terror. They must Wis
ualize II, They had taken their cue from
that very church. indeed beneath which
they hid. The church. with it's shriues
and images. appealed to the eye. They,
too. appealed to the eve. Their masks.
tho carefully constructed and upheld
mystery of their identity. the Trainings
of death about them-it was skillfully
done
Not that she was thinking consecu-
lively Just then, 1t was a mental flash.
even az her eyes. growing accustomed
, to the darkness made out the white nu-
neral. from one TO ten, on the front of
each shroudlke cloak.
CONTINUED MONDAY