Cleveland County herald., 1919-09-04

knew not how long afterward. Her head was pressed against his shoulder, her eyes were closed, her lips parted in the ecstasy of passion.
 "Yes," she breathed, so faintly that he barely heard the strongest word ever put into the language of man.
 Half an hour later he was speeding down the avenue in a taxi. His blood was singing, his heart was bursting with joy-his head was light, for the feel of her was still in his arms, the voice of her in his enraptured ears.
 He was hurrying homeward to the "diggings" he was soon to desert for | ever. He was to spend the night at his sisters apartment. When he is- sued forth from his "diggings" at half | past seven he was attired in evening clothes, and there was not woman in all New York, young or old, who would have denied him a second glance.
 Later on in the evening three of the countess friends arrived at the Court | ney home to pay their respects to their fair compatriot and to discuss the crown jewels. They came and brought with them the consoling information 1 that arrangements were practically l completed for the delivery of the | jewels into the custody of the French | embassy at Washington, through 1 whose intervention they were to be | allowed to leave the United States l xxriIh fho ,NI | served in cases of suspected snug | gling. Upon the arrival in America of l trusted messengers from Paris headed by no less parsonage than the ann l bassador himself, the imperial treas ure was to pass into hands that would carry it safely to France. Prince Se bastian, still in Halifax, had been ap- prised by telegraph of the recovery of | the jewels, and was expected to sail for England by the earliest steamer.
 And while the visitors, at the Court ney house were lifting their glasses to toast the prince they loved, and, in turn, the beautiful cousin who had braved so much and fared so luckily, and the tall wayfarer who had come | into her life, a small man was stoop- ing over rified knapsack in room far downtown, glumly regarding the result of an unusually hazardous un- dertaking, even for one who could per form such miracles as be- Scratching his chin, he grinned-for he was the kind who bears disappointment with grin-and sat himself down at the big library table in the center of the room. Carefully selecting a pen-point he wrote:
 "It will be quite obvious to you that I called unexpectedly tonight. The week was up, you see. I take the lib- erty of leaving under the paperweight at my elbow a two-dollar bill. It ought to be ample payment for the damage done to your faithful travel ing companion. Have the necessary stitches taken in the gash and you will find the kit as good as new. was more or less certain not to find what was after, but as I have done no irreparable injury I am sure you will forgive my love of adventure and excitement. It was really quite diff. cult to get from the fire escape to your window, but 1t was delightful experience. Try crawling along that ten-inch ledge yourself some day and see if 1t isn't productive of a pleasant thrill. I shall not forget your promise to return good for evil some day. God knows hope I may never be in po- sition to test your sincerity. We may meet again, and I hope under agree able circumstances. Kindly pay my deepest respects to the Countess Ted, and believe me to be, < | 'Yours very respectfully, 1 "SPROUSE.
 "P. S.-I saw O'Dowd today. He left a message for you and the count ess. Tell them, said he, that I ask | Gods blessing for them forever. He | is off tomorrow for Brazil. He was very much relieved when he heard l that I did not get the jewels the first time l went after them, and immense ly entertained by my jolly description of how I went after them the second. By the way, you will be interested to 1 iCuAh lhdt hC lldo CuL lOOoC lIOlu lDC crowd he was trailing with. Mostly nuts, he says. Dynamiting intuition plants in Canada was a grand project, says he, and it would have come to | something if the d-d women had only left the d-d men alone. The explosives are O'Dowd's."
 
 !
 Ten hours before Barnes found this Illuminating message on his library table he stood at the window of a lofty Park avenue apartment building, his arm about the slender, yielding figure of the only other occupant of the room. Pointing out over the black housetops, he directed her attention to the myriad lights in the upper floors of great hostelry to the south and west and said:
 "That is where you are going to l live, darling"