The Washington times., 1919-02-24
The Man With the X Ray Eyt
Lady Dufferton By Her Remarks About the MaharaiaI
Visit to Paris Excites the Willy Count Who Decides
to Find Out How Much She Knows of His Secret
lie GREATEST MYST
By GUY DE TERAMoND.
eyh0psIa Of PreeealnE ChapteFl.

By GUY DE TERAMoND.
syhoDsIs Of Preeedlng ChapteFq.
Lueien Delorme prs5ents letters Of
| introouetion to Nine. Armehn and reg
Isters at her boarding house, Re
MAKES the aoquaintance Of ArS. Nank-
cry. rich American widow and' .
,Guatemalan general. DQniAgO-sy
hra Tanksry, about sizty. carries
Mrs. Tanker Is found IA dead IN her
Toom-mufuered. After an lnyestiee-
lion pelorme,s Is suspected. Later De-
lormGs u released.
and reveals details Of transaction he
intends 10 carry out
Meanwhile. the fame OF the rafo
Jewels OF the Comte D'AbaZoli-F Fieco9a
exeites considerable comment through
out Paris. and clever Organization
oI Thieves. the "A" Band. plocs TO get
ment
DelOrms comes to see the Jewels.
which have been offered as security
Tor 2 loan and 70 the surprise Of the
eomte and his associates announces TO
them that the safe supposed 10 con-
tain them IL empty. The a. band de-
eias 70 force an entrance 70 the safe;
the vault empty OF Jewels.
Delorme IL seized while, at the
comte,s apartment and left to die IN
clothing is piled on the ouaI JaVsL
Baron Plueke, fnaneier, seeks aid OF
Delorme in solving murder Of a rela-
tive, the circumstances OF which are
almost Identical with the Tankery
tragedy. The MaharaJah OF Poud-
hukurrah sends an agent 10 Baron
Piueke seeking 70 borrow SIS oooSooo
BurEiafs break the safe and are
seized with terror when Delorms
springs out
Pardon me, Madame, for being
unable to give you any informa-
tion: NJ. Clamart urged upon me
the most absolute silence. All
can state, II it interests you, -
that after today 1t would be i'm
possible for the robbers to negoti-
ate single one Of the jewels with
out an immediate arrest. Under
these conditions they have every
thing to gain by coming to terms
with me and simply restoring them.
am ready to pay. q large sum and
promise to withdraw my complaint
at once. still, they viii not have
wasted their time, as someone said
just now"
Certainly" Lady Dufferton as
sented, "and you yourself must be
in haste to see thfs treasure re-
stored to your safe"
II should speak falsely IL I stat
ed the contrary" replied the comte,
shaking his head, '.for am .in a
very painful situation. in regard to
his htghness. who sees the absolute
confidence he reposed in, me so
poorly y-reWarded4"s - ~ ; -.
yet what has happened is no
fault of yours cried the singer.
s ga lfNN1a 2 "a.
through lack of foresight"
''Pshaw!1 said the English lady
looking directly at the comte, Sthe
rascaIs would have. been capitaIiy
hoaxed IL they had found the safe
empty"
But the latter did not vince. He
bowed and answered, smiling:
Il don't doubt Il, Madame"
And when Baroness de Vallegre,
who, until then. had listened silent
ly,. asked, IN her turn. what the
Maharajah had said when he heard
Of the robbery OF which he was the
victim, he replied:
His highness relies entirely on.
the French police: under such cir
cumstances the Orientals have an
admirable fatalism."
That is true" Lady Dufferton
assented. my husband. who is an
officer in the Indian army, has told
me extraordinary examples OF It."
And, tanning herself carelessly,
she added:
Besides, we shall soon know
definitely. for it seems that the
MRharajah is, coming to Paris"
The comte, who was answering a
question from the Marquis de Ia
Tore. turned abruptly:
Pardon me, Madame; what did
you say?'
That read in a paper the other
day." she repeated. "that the Mafa-
rajah of PandukurTah intended to
go to France soon to spend several
weeks. But" she added, in sur
prise, didn't you know IL. II. le |
Comte, and do you learn it from
me?"
The comte gazed' intentIy at the
speaker for an instant, as II trying |
to read her secret thoughts.
Why had she. spoken. in that way? /
What was the meaning OF this lie? |
Did she know anything? Had she |
the truth? The wife Of |
an officer in the Indian army, had |
her husband informed her that
there was no. such person as the ia
nous Maharajah?
He suddenly divined in her an
and the yallusion which |
she had made a few. seconds before |
to the burglars disappointment in
the presence Of an empty safe
seemed directed point-blank against
him.
But this was not the moment to
try to penetrate this woman's In
tentions; he must repel the attack
and find a plausible answer to such
a question. ..-.
So, in the most natural tone, he
replied:
This journey has been decided
FOR a long time, Madame. But the
English government, has not yet
given its consent. Be sure that 1
shall be the first person informed
and that shall not fail to communi-
cate all the details to the news
papers immediately Until that
line, permit me to tell you that
.hese statements are pure conjec-
ures. which have no solid founda-
ion"
The little group had gradually /
Icattcred
Some went to the bridge tables,
'thers surrounded the mistress OF