The Washington times., 1920-07-18
| RE- 4 SURF, 1pwrDW4IrELA

tho dns proceeded. followed by Mr..
baptists Dartin, through the clerks
Office and down q Eight OF stone
steps.
At the foot. great double doors
guarded the entrance 70 the strong
room. Each OF these. lifted with
combination locks, delayed the So
licitor for q few moments; then he
switched on the light OF couple
OF green-shadsd bulbs and Dartin
saw that they stood IN what was
practically Q large safe. The cham
Der was some seven fee, In height
and the Air was hot and heavy, and
even the electric fan. which the
solicitor set in motion. did little 70
dispel the odor Of musty paYch.
msnts and old leather bindings.
Above the men the tras,c OF the
Strand rum blsd and rolled. and tho
confined feeling Of his surround
inSs acted strongly upon the al
ready disturbed nerve-csrtres Of
the visitor. But he mastered him
self with an effort and looked
around him. II was difficult to
keep calm. now that the scheme
upon which he had worked 20 hard
had come to fruition and was about
70 receive the reward. 1
Ledgers rose. tier upon tier, to
the height OF. perhaps. six feet. I
and ranged upon them black Jap.
AIMED deed.cases. like vaulted
coffins OF dead secrets. frowned
down upon him. Bsptists noticed
that the names painted in white
block letters on their sides had
among them some Of the Oldest and
proudest in the kingdom. Along
ono side Of tho chamber 4 bench
had been erected At writing height,
and a pad Of blottins-pspsr. TO-
gether with quill pens. IN inkwell
and 4 round box OF waters, were
placed at ono end. At the other a
stack Of heavy ledsers reached
nearly to the roof
The solicitor had bent down in
the far corner and was dragging
from its obscurity beneath the bot.
tom ledge Z small wooden chest
II was Z plain affair, bound strong
ly with iron corner-clamps. and on
the lid a rough device OF the de
Dartixny arms had been branded
with q hot iron. Dartin pointed
this out and at the same time
held out his hand and showed a
signet ring bearing the same device
on his fnger-a stone that Vivian
Renton had had engraved in Paris
and set in q circlet Of dull gold Of
antique workmanship Had Robert
Baxenter felt any doubts Of his Wis.
itor's good faith IL would have
needed but this to dispel them.
4 few formalities over, and the
bold signature OF Bapti.te Dartiu
was put to the receipt which the
solicitor then and there prepared
Z document setting forth briefly
tho history Of the trust and tho
manner Of It's claiming. The sig.
net ring was pressed into red wax
at its foot and the men aseended
to the offices above.
TO Robert. disappointment the
new owner Of the chest did not sux.
gest opening 1t at once. Instead.
the clerk and the boy were re-
quested to put it carefully into a
cab, and, with an arrangement to
dine with the solicitor the next
night to hear the result OF the in
heritance, Mr.. Vivian Renton, alias
Baptiste Dartin, drove OF TO take
his place in the ranks Of the an
cient nobility Of France.
Left to himself, Robert Baxepter
placed the documents OF the case
together in an envelope, endorsed
II, and gave il into Cantle's keep
ing. With 4 smile he crossed the
room and made an elaborate bow
to the picture Of Adam Baxenter.
Then his eyes rested upon the girls
photograph on his desk and he
looked hurriedly at his watch.
CHAPTER TX.