Evening star., 1918-04-21

patent Tickle Toots1eS' when you come
out, gunner. I'll sneak over and put
'enA round the door as soon as you've
gont in" For Dollops. who was of an
inventive turn of mind. had an especial
man trap of his own. which consist
ed of heavy brown paper. cut into
squares and thickly smeared over with
a viscid, varnishlike substance that
adhered to the feet of anybody incau-
tiously stepping upon it, and SO inter-
fered with fight that 1t. was an abso-
lutte necessity to stop and tear the
papers away before running with any
sort of ease and swiftness was possi-
BILE. More than once this novel method
of hampering for a brief period the
movement of fugitive had stood him
and his master in good stead, and Dol
lops. who was rather proud of his
achievement, never Travelled without a
full supply of ready-cut papers and
big coiiapsibIe tube of the viscid, ropy.
varnishlike glue.
Meantime Cleek. having left the boy
sitting on the hatbox in the darkness
crossed the narrow street to the open
tion. stepped in. The place was as
black as a pocket, and had that Pc
culiar smell which belongs to houses
that have long stood vacant. The house.
and. like all the others. fronted on
another street. The dark Toison dor
was merely back passage used
principally by the tradespeople for the
to the first of the three flights of
stairs which led upward into the still
ness and gloom above. Cleek mounted
steadily until he found himself at
less and lit only by a skylight through
which shone the Intellectual light of
the stars. 1t was the top at last.
Bracing his back against the wall SO
that nobody could get behind him and
holding himself ready for any emer-
gency, he called out in a clear, calm
voice. "Cleek"
Almost simultaneously there was a
bulb hanging from the ceiling famed
out luminously. a cupboard door flashed
open, voice cried out in joyous. per-
feet English: Thank God for a mani!
amazement. he found himself. looking
into the face and eyes Of a woman.
And of all the women in the world
Ailsa Lorne!
began to hammer.
Miss Lorpe." he exclaimed. SO car
ried out of himself that he scarcely
knew what he did; 'Good heavens
abovet-Miss Lorne"
OH she calculated. with a little
startled cry. looking up. but finding
no trace Of features that she knew In
the round. red face of the fat gray
man before her. You know me, then?
How can you? But I forget! You are
terious man cleek: and he-ah, he must
surely know everything"
II know you, at least" he replied,
shaking with mingled embarrassment
and delight at the knowledge that at
last he was permitted to speak to her.
to have her speak to him. Il have seen
you often in London, and to find you
here, like this? 1t fairly takes away
my breath
THE explanation is very simple, Mr..
Cleek. I suppose you know that my
uncle. Sir Horace Wyvern, married
again last spring. The new Lady Wy
vern soon let me know that 1 was a
superfluous person in >the household.
left 1t, Of course. Sir Morace would
have pensioned me OF II had let him.
I couldn't bring myself to eat the
bread of charity, however. and when a
as her companion I gratefully accept
ed 1t. So for the past three months I
have been living here in Paris with
Athalie and her father, the Baron de
Carjorac."
Baron de carjorac? Do you mean
the French minister Of the interior, the
president of the board of national de-
fenses, Miss Lorne, that enthusiastic
old patriot, that rabid old spitf1re
whose one dream is the wrestling back
of Alsace-Lorraine, the driving of the
hated Germans into the sea? Do you
mean that ripping old frebrand?"
"Yes. But you'd not call him that If
and despairing wreck. that six weeks
OF the Chateau Larouge, six weeks of
that horrible Red Crawl havemade
of him."
1.-The Red CrawP?" Good heavens!
then that letter. that appeal for
help"
Game from him." she finished, excit-
edly. "It was he who was to have met
you here tonight, Mr. Cleek. This house
is one he owns: he thought he might
with safety risk coming here, but he
can't! he can't. He knows now that
there is danger for him everywhere;
that his every step is tracked: that
the snare which IS about him has been
about him, unsuspected. for almost
year; that he dare not, absolutely dare
not, appeal to the French police. and
that If it were known he had appeal
ed to you he would be a dead man In
side of twentyfour hours, and not
only dead. but disgraced.
"Oh. Mr.. Cleek," she stretched out
two shaking hands and laid them on
his arm, lifted a white. imploring face
to him, save him. save that dear broken
old man! All. think! think! They are
our friends. our dear country's friends.
these French people. Their welfare is
our welfare. ours is theirs! Oh. help
him. save him. Mr.. Cleek-for his own
and win my gratitude forever
THAT Is a temptation that would
carry me to the ends of the earth. Miss
Lorne. Tell me what the work is and
l will carry it through. What is this
incomprehensible thing OF which both
you and Baron de Carjorac have
spoken, this thing you allude to as
The Red Crawl?'"
She gave a little shuddering cry and
fell back a step. covering her face with
both hands.
oh" she said. with shiver of re-
pulsion. 1T is horrible-it is necro-
were we ever driven to that horrible
Chateau Laronge? Why could not fate
have spared the Villa de Carporac? 1t
could not have happened Them
villa de Carporac? That was the
name of the Barons residence, I be-
lieve. ] remember reading in the news
papers some five or six weeks ago that
1T was destroyed by fire, which origi-
mated nobody knew .how-in the
apartments of the late baroness in the
very dead of the night. / thought at the
time 1t read suspiciously like the work
of an incendiary, although nobody
Larouge l also have a distinct mem
ory of as an old historic property in
the neighborhood of ST. Cloud Speak
ing from past experience. I know that
although 1t is in such a state of de-
cay, and supposed to be uninhabitable,
1t has. In fact. often been occupied at a
period when the police and the public
believed 1t to be quite empty. Gentle
men OF the Apache persuasion have
frequently made 1t a place of retreat
There is also an underground passage
l-L