Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1919-07-30
SYNOPSIS.

0F ~AA ViOlu the UIlOS las " SSS
IN 10 years: Before he realizes the truth
beautiful girl named Celia whom he
mas never seen before.
oushly bad lot has accidentally locked
nlmself into z closet while dressing. and
reaches the depot just as Gordon and
account of the Importance of his; gov
eminent mission Gordon is unable to
undeceive the woman he has married
as he would = sister. :
AFTER several adventures they reach
washington by way of Pittsburgh, and
Gordon delivers the precious paper to
his deception to Celia whom he last left
in his rooms.
She has already told him Of how she
had been blackmailed into c%onsenting to
suspect that he Is not the man she was
to have married. and Is beginning to
feel the dawning of love for him.
CHAPTER v.-toonunued.)
PLEASE go on" she said softly, and
added very gently, 81 believe you"
But even with those words in his
ears the beginning vas not easy. Cor
don drew a deep breath and launched
forth.
Il am not the man you think he
said. and looked at her to see how she
would take it. "My name is not
George Hayne. My name is Cyril
Gordon"
AS one might launch an arrow at a
beloved victim n long that it may
not strike the mark, so he sent his
truth home to her understanding, and
waited in breathless silence. hoping
against hope that this might not turn
her against him.
"Oh:" she breathed softly. as II
some puzzle were solving itself.
"Oh!"-this time not altogether in
surprise, nor as if the fact were dis
pleasing. She looked at him expect
antly for further revelation, and he
plunged into his story headlong.
I'm a member Of the Secret Serv-
ice-headquarters here in Washing
ton-and day before yesterday l was
sent to New York on an important
errand. A message of great import
written in a private code had been
stolen from one Of our men. l was
sent to get it before they could de-
cipher it. The message involved mat
tiers of such tremendous significance
that I was ordered to go under an as
sumed name, and. on no account to
let any one know of my mission. My
orders were to get the message, and
let nothing hinder me in bringing it
with all haste to Washington. 1 went
with the full understanding that I
might even be called upon to risk my
life"
He looked up. The girl sat wide
eyed. with hands clasped together at
her throat.
He hurried on, not to cause her any
needless anxiety.
There were a good many, annoying
~hindrances on the way, which served
to make me nervous, but I carried out
the program laid down by my chief,
and succeeded in getting possession Of
the message and making my escape
from the house of the man who had
stolen it. AS I closed the door behind
me, knowing that it could be but a
matter of a few seconds at longest be-
fore six furious men would be on my
track. who would stop at nothing to
get back what I had taken from them,
l saw a carriage standing almost be-
fore the house. The driver took me
for the man he awaited, and / lost no
time in taking advantage of his mis-
take. 1 jumped in, telling him to
drive as fast as he could. l intended
to give him further directions, but
he had evidently had them from an
other quarter, and l thought 1 could
call to him as 500 as we were Of
A(&S1 AoO1 AOOu. LII dOu
to my situation 1 soon became sure
that an automobile and a motorcycle
were following me. I recognized one
OF the men in the a as the man who
sat opposite to me at the table a few
minutes before. My coachman drove
Ike mad. while I hurried to secure
the message so that If 1 were caught
1t would not be found, and to put on
a slight disguise-some eyebrows and
things the chief had given me. Be-
tore l knew where I was, the car
rage had stopped before a building.
At first I thought it was a prison
and the car and motorcycle came to
a halt just behind me. I felt that 1
was pretty we'll trapped"
The girl gave a low moan, and Cor
oon, not daring to look. up, hurried on
with his story.
There isn't much more to tell that
you do not already know. l soon dis
covered the building was a church,
ward was the result Of my extreme
perturbation Of mind, I suppose. 1
cannot account for my stupidity and
subsequent cowardice in any other
way. Neither was 1t possible for me
TO explain matters satisfactorily at
any time during the whole mix-up, on
account OF the trust which I carried.
and which l could on no account re-
veal even in confidence, or put in
jeopardy in the slightest degree.
Naturally at first my commission and
how to get safely through it all was
the only thing of importance to me.
II you keep this in mind perhaps you
Will be able to judge me less harshly.
MY only thought when the carriage
came to a halt was how to escape
from those W pursuers, and that
more or less pervaded my mind dur
ing what followed SO that ordinary
matters which at another time would
nave been at once clear to me. meant
That carriage came to a standstill
someone threw open the door. and 1
heard a voice call Where is the best
man? Then another voice said, Here
ne Is" I took it that they thought I
was best man, but would soon dis.
cover that ] wasn't when I came into
the light. There wasn't any chance to
slip away. or l should have done 80,
n vanished in the dark. but every
mink ! was all right. The two men
VIII had followed were close behind
cycling me keenly. I'm satisfied that
they were to blame for that wild ride
We took In Pittsburgh! I soon saw
by the remarks that the man l was
supposed to be had been away from
ms country for ten years, and Of
course then they would not be very
critical. I tried twice to explain that
there was a mistake. but both times
tney Misunderstood me and thought I
was saying I couldn't 70 In the pro-
cession because I hadn't practiced. I
ont just know how / came to be in
such q dreadful mess. II would seem
as II 1t ought TO have been q very easy