Mansfield mirror. (Mansfield, Wright County, Mo.) 1908-1957, 1919-06-26

vi thC puiutC IL spiii'Nh """y "
persons loyal to the ruling branch Of
the family. As I have stated, / am IN
gagged in the effort to recover them.
"NOw we come to the present stu
alton. Some months ago a member Of
the aforesaid royal house arrived in
this country by way of Japan. He is
a distant cousin of the crown, and in
a way remotely looked upon as the
heir apparent. Later on he seques-
tered himself in Canada. Our agents
In Europe learned but recently that
while he pretends TO be loyal to the
ruling house he is actually scheming
against it. / have been ordered to
I'll him to earth, for there is every
reason to believe that the men who
secured the treasure have been duped
into regarding him as the avOwed
champion of the crown. Now, Mr..
Barnes, without telling you how | have
arrived at the conclusion, ! am pre-
pared to state that | believe this man
to be at Green Fancy, and that in time
the loot-to use a harsh wOrd-wili be
delivered to him there. ! am here to
get it, one way or another, when that
comes to pass"
"What led you to suspect that he
is at Green Fancy, Mr.. Sprouse?'
History. 1t is known that this Mr..
Curtis has spent a great deal of time
in the country alluded to. As a mat
ter of fact, his son. who lived in Lon
don, had rather extensive business in
terests there. This son was killed in
the Balkan war several years ago. 1t
is said that the man | an looking for
was a friend of young Curtis, who
married a Miss O'Dowd in London
the Honorable Miss O'Dowd, daughter
of an Irish Seer and sister of the chap
you have met at Green Fancy. About
six weeks ago a former equerry in the
royal household arrived in New York.
Through him learned that the daugh-
ter of the gentleman in whose house
the senior Mr.. Curtis was Il frequent
guest had been in the United States
since some time prior to the beginning
of the al She was visiting friends
in the States and has been unable to
return to her W land, for reasons
that must be obvious. l may Us well
confess that her father was. by mar
rage. an uncle of the late ruler.
"Since the invasion and overthrow
of her country by the Teutonic allies
she has been endeavoring to raise
money here for the purpose of equip
ping and supporting the remnants of
the small army that fought so valiant
ly in defense of the crown. These
men, a few thousand only, are at pres
ent informed in a neutral country. |
leave you to guess what will happen If
she succeeds in supplying them with
arms and ammunition. Her work is
being carried on with the greatest Sc
crecy. To bring the story to a close,
l was instructed to keep close watch
on the mar O'Dowd. l traced him
to this place. l was on the point of
reporting to my superiors that he vas
in no way associated with the much
sought-after crown-couSin, and that
Green Fancy was as free from faint
as the village chapel, when put of Il
clear sky and almost under my very
nose two men We're my~steriously done
away with at the very gates of the
place. The killing of those two men
changed the aspect completely. You
will certainly agree with me after |
have explained to you that the one
known as Andrew Room was no other
than the equerry who had undertaken
to find the-young woman"
Barnes drew a long breath. His
mind was made up. He had decided
to pool issues with the secret agent,
but not until he was convinced that
the result of their cooperation would
in no way inflict a hardship upon the
young oma who had appealed to
him for help. He was certain that she
was the fair propagandist described
by Sprouse.
"And the young woman, what of
her? She would, in any case, be held
for examination and
my dear sir, l may as well tell you
now that she is a loyal subject, and,
far from being in bad grace at court,
is an object of extreme solicitude to
the ambassador. From what l can
gather she has disappeared complete
ly. Room was sent ver here for the
sole purpose of finding her and Undue
ing her to return with him to Paris"
"And to take the treasure with her,
I suppose" said Barnes dryly.
Naturally"
"Well," began Barnes. introducing a
harsh note into his voice. II should
say that if she is guilty of receiving
this stolen property she ought to be
punished. Jail is the place for her,
Mr.. Sprouse."
Sprouse put down his coffee cup
rather suddenly. A queer pallor came
into his face.
"You do not understand the situa-
tion. Haven't l made it plain to you
that she is innocent of any intent to
do wrong?"
"You have said so, Mr.. Sprouse, but
your idea of wrong and mine may not
jibe."
There cannot be two ways of look
ing at it, sir said Sprouse. after a
"Sh9 could do no wrong"
Whereupon Barnes reached his hand
across the table and laid it on
Sprouse's. His eyes were dancing.
That's just what I want to be sure
about" he said. at was my way of
finding out your intentions concerning
"What do you mean?"
Come with me to my ROOM" said
III