The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1919-07-24

uUSS L"O uCn were mySLCFlOuSly uOu0
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 I
have explained to you that the one
known IS Andrew Room va 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 woman who had appealed to
him for help. He was certain that she
was the fair propagandist described
by Sprouse. s.. 4
"And the young woman, what Of
her? She would, in any case, be- held
for examination and"
my dear sir, I may as well tell you
now that she is q loyal subject, and,
far from being in bad grace at court,
is an object Of extreme solicitude to
the ambassador. From what I AN
gather she has disappeared complete
". Room was sent owe 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-
ton. Haven't I 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
moment. "She could do no wrong"
Whereupon Barnes reached his hand
across the table and laid 1t on
Sprouse's. His eyes were dancing.
"That's just what I want to be IRE
about" he said. cit was my way Of
finding out your intentions concerning
her"
"What do you mean7"
"Come with me to my room,' said
Barnes, suppressing his excitement.
Il think I can tell you where she is
and a great deal that you ought
to know"
In the little room upstairs he told
the whole story. The little man lis
tened without so much as a single
word Of interruption or interrogation.
Somewhat b~reathlessly Barnes came
to the end.
"And now, MI. Sprouse, what do
you make Of It ALL" he inquired.
Sprouse leaned back IN his chair,
suddenly relaxing. II am completely
at sea-" he said, and Barnes looked
at him in surprise.
by JOve, I thought 1t would all be
as clear as day to You. Here Is your
man and also your woman, and the
travelling bag full Of
Fright you are interrupted Sprouse.
THAT is all simple enough. But, my
dear Barnes, q you tell me what Mr..
Secretary Loeb's real name is7 Why
has he established himself 90 close to
the .Canadian line, and why the mo-
bilization? 7 refer to his army Of
huskiea.'
Heirs apparent usually have some
sort Of q bodyguard, don't they7'
Sprouse was staring thoughtfully at
the ceiling. When he finally lowered
his eyes It was to favor Barnes with
q deep, inscrutable smile.
II dare say the first thing for me
to do is to advise the CANADIAN au-
thorities to keep q sharp lookout along
the border"