The Bemidji daily pioneer. [volume] (Bemidji, Minn.) 1904-1971, 1922-08-23

WOulU resign his NuSlSOEy Jul, anu NC
free. A smile curled his lips as he
thought Of young Maillard and the
company,
"The young gentleman will be sadly
surprised to discover that I've gotten
out from under-and that his respect
ed father holds my stock |" he reflect
ed. That T8s.a good deal; I lost a
Thousand to old Maillard in order to
thave the balance of thirty thOusand!"
E A knock he his door interrupted the
thread Of thiss thought. 'Gramont
opened, tOsfinds the concierge with a
note which had been left at the door
below BY, masked Harlequin, who
had then disappeared without await
ing any reply. 49, sas94.&
Gramont recognized the writing on
the envelope, and FASTENED to the note
inside. His face changed, however, as
he read it:
"Please call promptly at eleven to-
morrow morning. I wish to see you
upon q matter Of business.
LUCE LEDANOIS."
Gramont gazed long at this note, his
brOws drawn down into a harsh line.
It was not like Lucie In its tone,
somehow; he sensed something amfss,
something vaguely but mostly decided
" out Of tune. ELEVEN tomorrow
morning, eh?' he murmured. ''That's
queer, too, for she's to be at the Pro-
teus ball tonight. Most girls would
not be conducting business affairs at
eleven in the morning, after being up
all night at Proteis! It must be
something important. Besides, she's
not in a class with anyone else. She's
a rare girl; no nonsense in her-full
Of a deep, strong sense Of things
He forced himself from thoughts OF
Lucie, forced himself from her per-
sonality, and returned to his reports
with an effort of concentration.
When Gramont went to bed that
night it was with startling and auda-
cious scheme well defined in his brain
q :. scheme whose first conception
seemed ludicrous and impossible, yet
which, on second consideration. ap-
peared in a very different light. 1t de-
served serious thought-and Gramont
had made his decision before he went
to sleep.
The following day was Tuesday
Mardi 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 Gramont was admitted by one
Of the colored servants and shown into
the parlor. A moment later Lucie her.
self appeared. At first glance her
smiling greeting removed. the half
sensed approximations Of Gramont. Al
most Immediately afterward, however,
he noted a perceptible change in her
manner, as she led him toward the
rear Of the room, and gestured toward
a mahogany tiit-top table which stood
in corner.
"Come over here, please. I have
something which I wish to show you.
She needed to say no more. Ora
mont, following her, found himself
staring blankly down at the symbol OF
CONSERVATION which overwhelmed MIN.
For upon that table lay all those
boxes which he himself had packed
with the loot of the Midnight Masquer
the identical boxes, apparently un-
onened, which had been stolen from
his automobile by the supposed thief,
Chacherre!
For a moment Gramont found him
self unable to speak. He was thun-
derstruck by the sight Of those unmis-
taxable boxes. A glance at the calm
features of the girl showed him that
there was nothing to be concealed
from her, even had he wished 1t. He
was further stunned by this realiza-
ton. He could not understand how
the packages had come here. Recov-
ering his voice with an effort. he man
aged to break the heavy silence.
"Wen? 1 suppose you know what
Is In those parcels?"
Slc uOOuCu. Les. OAC VI ShSA~
was opened, and the note inside was
discovered. OF course, it gave a gen
eral explanation. Will you sit down,
please? 1 think that we had better
talk it over quietly and calmly"
Gramont obeyed, and dropped into q
chair.
He was absurdly conscious OF his
own confusion. How had Lucie come
into the affair? This staggered him
above all else. Was she behind the
theft Of the loot? It must be- 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
This brain whirled. He knew, of course,
/ that she was fairly intimate with Fell,
hut he was not aware Of any particu-
FLAIR connection
I He glanced up at her suddenly, and
/ surprised a CLINT Of laughter In her
! eyes as she watched him. 49,,
"You seem to be rather astonished,"
she observed.
II am" Gramont drew deep
breath. "You-do you know that
Aa,~so l,n-oa ,,.ora <oEor from NV