The Hope pioneer. [volume] (Hope, N.D.) 1882-1964, 1919-06-26

last night. Not by invitation, I take
it."
II invited myself" said sprouse sue
cinctly. "Are you inclined to favor
my proposition1"
"You haven't made one"
by suggestion; Mr.. Barnes. It is
quite impossible for me to get inside
that house. You appear to have the
entree. You are working in the dark,
guessing at everything. I am guess
ing at nothing. By combining forces
we should bring this thing to a head, |
and"
"Just a moment. You expect me to
abuse the hospitality Of"
II shall have to speak plainly, I
see." He leaned forward, fixing
Barnes with a pair Of steady, earnest
eyes six months ago q certain royal
house in Europe was despoiled of its
Jewels, it's privy seal, Its most precious
state documents and its charter. They
have been traced to the United States.
I am here to recover them. That is
the foundation of my story, Mr..
Barnes.
"Without divulging the name Of the
house I will say that its sympathies
have been from the outset friendly to
the entente allies-especially with
France. There are two branches of
the ruling family, n in power. the
other practically in exile. The state
is a small one, but its integrity is of
the highest. Its sons and daughters
have married into the royal families
of nearly all Of the great nations of
the continent. The presenter l
should say, the late ruler. for he died
on a field Of battle not many months
ago, had no direct heir. He was
young and unmarried. I am not per-
mitted to state with what army he
was fighting, nor on which front he
was killed. 1t is only necessary to
say that his little state was gobbled
up by the Teutonic allies. The branch
Of the family mentioned as being in
exile lent its support to the of
Germany, not for moral reasons but
in the hope and with the understand
ing, l am to believe. that the crown
lands would be tile reward. The d.
| rect heir to the o is q cousin Of
the late prince. He is 10 a prisoner
of war in Austria. Other members of
the family are held by the Bulgarians
as prisoners Of a It is not stretch
ing the Imagination very far to pic
ture them as already dead and out of
the way. At the close of the war, If
Germany is victorious, the crown will
be placed upon the head of the pre-
tender branch. Are you following
me?"
EYES," said Barnes, his nerves tin
Cling. He was beginning to see a
great light.
almost under the noses of the
forces left by the Teutonic allies to
hold the invaded territory the crown
! jewels, charter and so forth, hereto
fore mentioned, as they say in legal
p%arlance, were surreptitiously removed
from the palace and spirited away by
persons loyal to the ruling branch Of
the family. AS 1 have stated, I am en-
gagged in the effort to recover them.
snow 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. I have been ordered to
u 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 1 have
arrived at the conclusion, I am pre-
pared to state that I believe this mar
to be at Green Fancy. and that in time
the loot-to use a harsh word-will be
delivered to him there. l 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..
CUtis 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
tercsts there. This son was killed in
the Balkan wal several years ago. 1t
is said that the man l am 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 peer 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 I learned that the daugh-
Ter of the gentleman In whose house
he senior Mr.. Curtis was q frequent
guest had been In the United States
since some time prior to the beginning