The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1922-09-21

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with an effort Of concentration.
When Gramont went TO bed that
night 1t was with a startling and auda-
cious scheme we'll defined In his brain;
n scheme whose first conception
seemed ludlcrous and impossible, yet
which, on second consideration, ap-
peared In n very different light. II de-
served serious thought-and Gramont
had made his decision before he went
to sleep.
The following day was Tuesday
Mardl Gras. Shrove Tuesday, the last
day before Lent began, and the final
eliminating day of carnival. Henry
Gramont, however. was destined TO
find little in Its beginning of much
personal pleasure.
At eleven In the morning Hammond
drove him to the LedanOiS home,
where GrnmOnt was admitted by n
of the Colored servants and shown into
the parlor. A moment later Iucie her
self appeared. At first glance her
smiling greeting removed the half
senSed approximations of Gramont. AL
most Immediately Hfterward, however,
he noted n perceptible change in her
manner. as she led him toward the
rear Of the room, and gestured toward
a mahogany tilt-top table which stood
In a corner.
Come over here, please. | have
something which | wish to show you"
She needed to say no more. Gra-
mont, following her, found himself
staring blankly down at the symbol Of
CONSERVATION which overwhelmed him.
For upon that table lay all those
boxes which he himself had packed
with the loot Of the Midnight Masquer
the Identical boxes, apparently I'M
opened, which had been stolen from
his automobile by the supposed thief,
Chacherre!
For Il moment Gr0mont found him
self unable To speak. He was thun-
derstruck by the sight of those unmis-
taxable boxes. \ glance ut the calm
features of the girl showed him thai
there was nothing To be concealed
from her. even had he wished II. He
was further stunned by this realiAa-
ton. He could pot understand how
the packages had come here. Recoy-
erlng his voice with an effort, he man
aged to break the heavy silence.
well? ! suppose you know what
is III those parcelS%'
81. .-ll-l .aNTA- hrn .f cham
was opened. and the note inside was
discovered. OF course, IT gave IA gem
eral explanation. win you sit down,
please? think that we had better
talk it over quietly and calmly"
Gramont obeyed, and dropped into a
chair.
He was absurdly conscious OF his
own confusion. How had Lucle come
INTO the affair? This staggered him
above all else. Was she behind the
theft Of the loot? It must he. How
long had she suspected him, then? He
had thought joachim Fell the sole dan
ger point-he had never dreamed that
this gray-eyed Athene could be tracing
down the MaSquer. He tried to Wis
ualize the situation more clearly and
his brain whirled. He knew. of course,
but he was not aware Of any particu-
lar connection
He glanced up at her suddenly, and
surprised a CLINT of laughter in her
ewes MS she watched him
"Iou seem to be rather astonished,"
she observed.
II am" Gramont drew n deep
breath. "You-do you know that
those boxes were taken from my
carr"
She nodded again. Certainly. They
were brought to me-"
"Then you had someone on my
trail?' Gramont flushed a little as
he put the question to her.
NO. | have been chosen to settle
affairs with you, that is all. 1t has
been learned from the note in the
opened box that you were not criminal
in what you did"
She leaned forward, her deep eyes
searching him with a steady scrutiny.
Tell me, Henry GramOnt, what mad
impulse brought you to all this? Was
1t a silly, boyish effort to be roman
tic-was it a mere outburst Of bra
vado? Ii was not for the sake of rob-
berry, as the note explained very clear
ly. But why, then? Why? There
must have been a definite reason in
your mind. You would not have taken
such dangerous chances unless you
had something to gain"
Gramont nodded slightly. A slight
smile touched his lips. You're not
going to send me to prison. I trustT"
II ought tor The girl broke into
a laugh. "Why, l can hardly yet be-
iieve that 1t was really you who were
guilty Of those things! 1t mortified
me, 1t stunned me-until I realized the
truth from the note. Even the fact
that you did not do 1t for criminal
ends does not relieve the sheer folly
| OF the act. Why did you do it, Come,
AL