New Mexico state record. (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1914-19??, 1919-01-17
CHAPTER XHl-Continued.
p

burned fitfully, Illuminating only Il tin
Iz0ne in the darkness.
II need d lantern" Bobby observed
"There's Il draft here. 1t comes froI
the other grating. Some time, wheI
you have time. I'd like to see what
beyond 1t. l was kind of nervou
about going alone
1t was the old passage, then 0
course. Old Adclbert stared as Bobb,
took the candle and held 1t townrd
second grated door, like the first bu
taller.
A close examination revealed to oil
lAdelbert two things: First, that
Ibrick-lined passage, apparently In goot
repair, led beyond the grating. Sec
Iond, that 1t had been recently put II
order. No unused passage this, bu
one kept In order and repair. FoI
twhat2
That evening Adelbert called to SCI
his friend, the locksmith In the uni
versity place. He possessed, he said
"a paddock of which he had lost The
key, and which, being fastened to d
chest, he was unable to bring with him
IA large and heavy paddock, perhaps
the size of his palm.
When he left, he carried with hin
Ia bundle Of keys, tied in Il brown
paper.
But he did not back to his chest,
He went instead to the thicket around
the old gate, which was Still termed
the "Gate of the Moon" and there,
armed with n lantern, pursued his in
vestigations during u portion Of the
night.
When he had finished. old Adelbcrt,
veteran of many wars, One-tine patriot
and newly turned traitor, held in his
shaking hands the fate of the king
dom.
. . .
The Countess Loschek was on her
way across the border. The arrange
ments were not of her making. Her
plan, which had been to go afoot
across the mountain to the town of
Ar-On-Ar, and there to hire a motor,
lad been altered by the arrival ut the
cHstle, shortly after the permission
was given, Of a machine.
"The matter of passports for the
border is arranged, madame" Black
IHumbert told her.
IL have my own passports" she said
proudly.
''They will not be necessary"
81 will have this interview at my
destination alone, or not ut all"
He drew himself to his great height
you WISH" he said. But 1t Is prob
ably not necessary to remind madame
that, whatever Is discussed ut this
meeting, no word must be mentioned of
the committee, or its plans"
Although he made no threat, she had
lshivered. No, there must be no word
of the committee, or of the terror that
drove her to Karl. For, If the worst
happened, If he failed her, and she
must do the thing they had set her to
do, Karl must never know. That card
she must play alone.
Everything hung on the result Of her
visit. If Karl persisted. If he would
marry Hedwlg in spite of the trouble
1t would precipitate, then indeed she
was lost. If, on the other hand, he
was inclined to peace, if her story of
Il tottering throne held his hand, she
would defy the committee of ten. Karl
himself would help her to escape. !
might indeed hide her. 1t would not
be for long. Without Karl's support
the kings death would bring the ter
rorists into control. They would have
other things to do than to hunt her
out. Their end would be gained with
out her. Let them steal the crown
prince, then. Let Hedwig fight for her
throne and lose it. Let the streets
run deep with blood and all the pande-
monium Of hell break loose.
But If Karl failed her. She clinched
her teeth.
The countess did not sleep. She
was, with every fiber of her keen brain,
.summoning her arguments. She would
need them, for she knew-none better
"hON 6lCdl q huuulCdp was Hers. |
She loved Karl, and he knew it. What
had been her strength had become her
weakness.
Yet she was composed enough when,
before the Jul was well up, the ma
chine drew up In the village before
the inn where Mettlich had spent his
uneasy hours.
She had expected to go to the lodge,
but at nine o'clock that night Kari
came to her, knocking at the door Of
her room and entering without writing
for permission.
The room was small and coy with
Her scarlet cloak. flung over
a chair, made a dash Of brilliant color.
Two lighted candles on a high carved
chest, and between them a plaster f1g.
ure of the Mother and Child, a built-in
bed with white curtains-that YVES the
room. l,
Before the open fire Olga Loschek
~ In hap lov chair Cho mora atm /,