The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, January 14, 1906, Page 3

NI e TR - WA urned Mr. Fopling bit sulk ves me 2 most beastly over on but Dorothy i news. h Storri’s teasingly. knightly , and the replied meelot wing nsel’s fami 5 till to-morrow tested Richard, humbled “If Mr. Harley I'll invite n evening!” pro- om the high t invite me i ite you by T will inter= 3 tha fere must ng th u take Mr. ime, be shown t , Mr. Harley On the whole, I think n t a doliar, lay in his unded wolf. He did not Reve; he would see no worn down his an- ned control of himself. torri was too cun- of it to mankind. t was the instinct The wounded wounds a fresh, lest the pack destroy he would hide that old-time He would deny every rumor of the blow he As for imme- Storri would extort that ley, who, In his dull-head worse, had been the au- €. Who first spoke of solidated? Who suggest- raid? Was it not Mr. affair had been his: the Mr. Harley must re- ath of Storri wrath that Harley; he is a dog and son of a dog! Yes, he shall here; he shall crawl and crouch I, Storri, will give him the. treatment due a dog! Storri wrote a blunt word to Mr. Har- and dispatched it to that shattered Hitalist. Come to-night at nine, you Harley,” said the note. “and do not presume. to fail, or my next communication will be one of your officers of-police.” was aware that the French were gone from him, but he ted on easily tracking them and ing them back. He would force Mr. Harley give him the very money was to buy them. The thought lighted up bis cruel face like a red ray from the pit; it would be such a joke h a triumphk over the pig America anwhile he would bully Mr. Harley, kriow but what the shares been informed of how, t ep arrangements of that cgist of stocks, he had borrowed ¥iollar of those five hundred thou- Mr. Bayard, as well as every Nerthern Consolidated delivered sales that had brought in sort, if he had been ° romance, from Mr. Fop- rtation to “Bweak him!” to close of the market on that crashing tay afternocn he might have been less cf recapturing those French share he was ignorant of these truth: with confiderce bred of ignorance he e Mr. Harley. He, Storrl, would whea bleed him: he would teach caitiff Harley to be more careful f the to say the fortune of a nobleman. a with the defeat of the n Northern Consolidated, rnest case. He was d money ruin for both ator Hanway; but the picture of Storri, and what that sav- erness, so filled his that he scarcely heeded Mr. Harley was stri Yy his own fears, and, after re- sm New York on the evening of never moved from his ious tap of Dorothy, he c was not ill, but ve not be disturbed. Like more a-droop, Mr. Harley wish for company. was thus broken to the Storri’s message found him. the tail, like the sting at a scorpio unned Mr. Har- past thinking. He could neither do n: he cobld only utter his despalr ut and cans. hours later, and while ng Richard’s inclosure of the ares arrived by post. Mr. Har- me as near faint- coarsely grained Teu minutes went stupid gazing, and in handling feeling those certificates that were to is the reprieve that comes to one 1 have died within the hour. thing as compensation, seness of which you now complained made most for the Mr. Harley at this crisis. By valuable coarseness, Mr. Harley. overing that he could trust eyes—he at one time doubted those visuval organs—revovered such strength, to say composure, that he ordered up 2 quart of burgundy and drank 1t by the goblet. Under this wise treatment, and with the reassuring shares in his Mr. Tarley became a new man. first evidence of this newness to the world was when at eight Mr. Harley, faultlessly capari- in full evening dress, upon Mrs. Ha 1d Dorothy. The ladies were together ¢ back drawing-room as the re- zriey, with brow of Jove eye. strode into their led midst. Establishing himself in ty state before the fireplace, rear the blaze, he gazed with fondness, Lut as though from towering ‘altitudes, on Derotay ‘Come and kiss me, child,” said Mr. Harley Dorothy obeyed without daring to guess the cause of this abrupt affection. act strangely, ‘Mr. Harley!” commented Mrs. Hanway-Harley, with & tinge of severity. “I hope you will compose yourself. It is quite possible that Count Storri will drop in.” “Madam,” shouted Mr. Harley ex- ively, “I shall shoot.that scoundrel if he puts hand to my front he lay Jock “You gat “John!" screamed Mrs. Hanway-Har- adam, 1 shall shoot him like a Harley got . this off with such hat it struck Mrs. Hanway-Har- speecnless. She was the more amazed, since she knew nothing of either Mr. Harley's wrongs or his bur- gundy. Affer :arveying her with the for a moment, Mr. Har- to Dorothy. gentleman utmost majes named Mr. timidly). pai” (feebly). all marry him * (blushingly). " (with horror). : him to dinner to-morrow.” . papal!” (rapturously). cvery” other evening you " (more rapturously). (with a gasp). nd now. madam.” observed; Mr. Har- whecling on Mrs. Hanway-Harlcy politeness sudden und vast, “I am ready to attend to you. Let me com- mence by mentioning that T am master of this house, and shall give dinners when 1 will to whomsoever T piease.” “But you said marriage, Jolm, and Mr. Storms is & pauper! Think what you with “It may entertain you, madam,” re- turned Mr. Harley, in a manner of grim triumph, ""to hear that you also are & pauper. Yes, madam,you, I, Pat Hanway -we are all paupers. Now I shall go to your scoundrel Storri and tell him what I have told you. On! I shall not murder the villain, madam; though I give you my word, if there were no one to think of but Jack Har- v, I'd return to you blood to my el- ves, madam, to my elbows!” and Mr. Harley pulled up his coatsleeves very high to give force to his words. Lighting a cigar, which he set between his teeth so that it projected outward ana upward at an angle of defiance, Mr. Har- ley got into his hat and greatcoat, and made for the door. As he threw it open preparatory to issuing forth, there floated back with a puff of cigar smoke these words, delivered presumably for the good of Mrs. Hanway-Harley: “Yes, madam: blood to my elbows!” “Your father is insane!” groaned Mrs. Hanway-Harley to Dorothy, when the door had slammed and Mr. Harley was on his way to Storri, “‘absolutely insane!"” Then Mrs. Hanway-Harley, with many an ejaculation of self-pity over a'fate that had made her helpmeet to a lunatic, called her mald to aid her in creeping to her room. As for Dorothy, she danced about as light-as air; in the finale she danced across the way to Bess to tell that sorceress what womders had be- fallen. “Eh! you Harley—you John Harley, is it vou?’ jeered Storri, as Mr. Harley was shown in. “Yes, vou black villain and thief, it is 1" roared Mr, Harley, planting himself in front of Storri, who had not taken the polite trouble to get up from the sofa where he reclined. “Yes, you world's scoundrel, who but I )\ “Scoundrel?” repeated Storri with ‘a screcch, epringing to his feet. “Sit down!” thundered Mr. Harley, a pistol coming from his pocket 'like a flash. Mr. Harley was from a region where pistols were regarded in the light of ar- guments, and gentlemen gravely debat- ing therewith at ten paces had the ap- proving countenance of the public. This may explain the ready grace with which Mr. Harley produced a specimen of that specles of artillery when Storri seemed to threaten violence. “Sit_down!”-thundered Mr. Harley, and Storr],” with' terror twitching at his lips, obeyed. Mr. Harley replaced the pistol in his pocket, and surveyed Storri with a look so sinister it alarmed that noble- man to_the heart. “I have come,” con- tinued Mr, Harley, taking & chair- and maintaining the while a dangerous eye on Storri, “I have come to return your insu you blackmailing rogue, in the room where I reccived them.” CHAPTER XVIIL How Storrl Explored for Gold. Should it ever be your fancy to wit- ness on the part of any gentleman an exhibition of ferocity unrestrained that you may have him.at his best for your cxperiment it would be wise to commence by subjceting him to a tre- mendous fright. Belng first frightened and then relieved from his terror, and particularly if his ‘nature be a trifle rough, he will if brought suddenly into the presence of one who has injured him furnish all you could desire in a picture of the sort adverted to. And thus was it with Mr. Harley that even- ing when he called on Storri—now no longer terrible. The offensive utmost that one gen- tleman might say to another Mr. Har- ley said to his aforetime noble friend. He crushed Storri beneath fourfold what bulk of insolence and contume- lious remark he himself had received, for at that fashion of conversation Mr. Harley was Storri’s superior. Mr. Har- ley rendered Storri such shameful ac- counts of himself that the latter was well nigh consumed with what inward fires were ignited. Storri burned the more because his own cowardly alarms tied his hands and gagged retort upon his tongue. Mr. Harley, who had been frightencd to the brink of collapse in the only manner that Storri might have frightened him, now refreshed himself unchecked and fed retaliation to the full. Storri, craven to the roots, must fain submit. The murderous facility where- with Mr. Harley in the beginning in- vested the conversation with that pis- tol had not been lost upen Storri, and he shivered lest the interview conclude with his own murder. Mr. Harley, hav- ing exhausted expletive and oppr brious term, might empty the six chambers of his dreadful weapon into sterri. Thus spake Storri's fears and he!cowered while Mr. Harley raged. Indeed the tables had been turned and Mr. Harley was taking virulent ad- vantage of the reversal. Among other matters he taunted Storrl with his (Mr. Harley's) possession of those French shares and gave him to know that the happy transfer had been the fruit of (Mr. Harley's) own superior wit, said Mr. Harley, with no more noble purpose than to angment Storri's pangs, “did you think that one of my depth was for long to be héld at the of such a dolt as yourself?” hen It was you.” moaned Storri, who made the mistake of believing what Mr. Harley said, “then it was you who bought Northern Consolidated— you, and your confederates to whom you betrayed us? Mr. Harley smiled loftily, and whs silent as though disdaining reply. He was willing to have Storri think his over- throw due to him and him alone. It would please him should Storri believe that he, Mr. Harley, had conquered not only the possession of those shares, but of the $500,000 -which were so painfully collected as Storri’s contribution to the pool’s four millions. It would promote Mr Harley's satisfaction to the super- lative; it would make Storri’s humiliation complete. By all means teach Storri that he, Mr. Harley, constructed the ambush into which the pool had sold its blindfold way. Wherefore, Mr, Harley with shrug and sneer consented to Storrl’s charges of betrayal, and intimated his own profit- able joy of that treason. After thirty had worked the “corner” against them traitor minutes of triumph, Mr. Harley, mightily restored in his own graces, arose to de- part. R ““And for a last word, you scoundrel” quoth the loud Mr. Harley, “I told Mrs. Hanway-Harley 1 would shoot you if you so much as laid hand to my front gate. You might do well to remember that promise; I have been known on occasion to tell Mrs. Hanway-Harley the truth.” After the last gloomy, notice Mr. Harley went his defiant way, while Storri sank back a more deeply wounded wolf than ever. Mr, Harley drew his check and dis- patehed Jt fo Mr. Fopling, and Richard in due course received a check from the Jatter. Mr. Harley did not allude to the transaction on those few and distant oc- casions when he and Mr. Fopling met; and Mr. Fopling, burdened of his feuds with Ajax, soon forgot the affair in mat- ters more important. Mr. Harley, when emancipated from the thralldom of Storrl, was as dollarless so far as immediate cash was concerned as Wwas the stripped Storrl himself. But in the rebound of spirit which followed, Mr. Harley's genius regained its old-time elasticity. whom he was in touch, being one of that speculative party who opened the New Year at Chamberlain’s with cards, was 50 convenliently good-natured as to offer a measure putting coal on the free list. This, if passed, would be a woundy blow to the Harley mines; also to that rallway where8t Mr. Harley was a director, since it hauled the H‘{ky coal to the sea- board. With coal on the free list, Nova Scotia_could undersell the Harley mines in every Atlantic port; likewise the Har- ley road would lose two million in an- nual freight. Under these threatening conditions, Mr. "Harley was instantly given one hundred thousand dollars by the mines and the railroad to kill the in- iquitous bill, and’ éonvert to a right opin- fon any and all, who talked of coal and free lists in one and the same breath. Those one hun- dred thousand dollars relieved - the pressing needs of Mr, Harley, and the bill that threatened coal and railroads was heard of no more. When, following Mr, Harley's gracious ‘words concerning ‘Richard and Mrs. Han- way-Harley’s disconsolate departure for her own room, Dorothy danced across to Bess, the yellow-haired sorceress rose grandly to the opportunity. She sent Mr. Fopling to find Richard; and since Mr. Fopling's weaknes& was not of the legs— he being a very Mercury, with feet as fleet as his wits were slow—Dorothy and Bess had no more than finished giving and receiving congratulations—that is, kisses—when Richard appeared and took Bess's labor of congratulation off her hands—or should one say her lips? was of those exceilent folk whose fine friendships know when to go as well as to stay, and, Richard arriving, she con- veged Mr. Fopling and Ajax from the room, leaving the restored lovers to themselves. Of what worth now to tell you those swectheart things that Richard and his angel said and did? How would it ad- vantage a world to hear that he took her in his arms and held her close? You, who have loved and have been loved, who ‘were lost and have been found agaln, well know the blissful routine. that no woman was ever loved as he loved Dorothy. - Dorothy the beloved re- plied that no man was ever loved as she loved Richard. Both believed both state- ments as they did the Word. And yet Adam said the same thing when, wander- ing in Eden, he first met lovely Eve, and every lover has sald the same thing r since. Every fire boasts itself the test,” every lover does the 2 the virtue of love that this: a. none will object while Doro! and Rich- ard work out their tinted destiny on lines of parad They had been held apart; they were now together;. rely upon it they said and looked those softly tender, foolish, happy, precendental things which have been best among the best lessons of the ages. Mr. Harley was pompous and patroniz- ing the next evening when he met Rich- ard at dinper: but Mr. Harley was no less kind. Richard submitted himself to Mr. Harley's patronage, for in it he recognized the inalienable right of a father-in-law. Mrs. Hanway-Harley on that dinner occasion did not®pretend to the rugged, high good humor of her spouse, and cultivated a manner at once blighted and resigued. But she was civil cven as she sighed, and he would have been a carper who complained. Dorothy was beset of many shynesses now that she was brought with her beloved into the presence of ones who were aware of her secret without possessing sympathy therewith. Bess was there; but Bess did not weigh upon her, since Bess ap- plauded her love. Senator Hanway was there; but “Uncle Pat” did not,.confuse her, since he cared nothing about her love. It was Mr. Harley who per- mitted and Mrs. Hanway-Harley who tolerated her heart's choice that set her cheeks aflame. Still it was good to see Richard sitting across in the ser- pent stead of Storri—to see one whom she worshiped where one whom she feared and loathed had been before! 1t was twice good to think the present was immortal while the past was dead. As Dorothy thought these things and sweetly blushed to think them, you would have been reminded of a rose, if her blue eyes had not made you re- member violets, or by their clear, true, tranquil depths led you away to muse on summer skies. o Richard bore the ordeal of that din- ner manfully; ordeal it was, for he felt himself on exhibition. He was rigorous to seem unruffled and defend- ed his calmness by talking general politics with Senator Hanway. Nor did he fall into the error of speaking of tgmpests in the stock market, and 4s for the recreant Storri, no one named bim. Bess might have brought Mr. JFopling, for he was asked, could shé have trusted that young gentleman on this peint of Storri. But Mr. Fopling was prone to bring up the one subject which others were trying to forget, and, realizing his tenacious aptitude for crime of that character, Bess sent him home and came alone. , Richard, like Storri before him, only with a better conscience, did not crowd good fortune to the wall; he loft early. As he made ready to go Mr. Harley in- vited him not only to another dinner, but to a multitude of such refections. Mr. Harley, having been thus hos- pitable, swept Mrs. Hanway-Harley with arrogant eyes as who should say: “There lies my glove, madam! We shall see who lifts it!” Altogether Richard’s coming to the Harley house in the role of suitor for Dorothy’s small hand went off well, ~and Dorothy was thinking that life seemed very beautiful and very bright when four hours later she fell asleep and rosy dreams relleved her thoughts from further duty about her pillow for that night. £ il Senator Hanway and Mr. Harley, be- ing veterans of the tape, were not ignorant of the hopeless state into which the failure of that “bear” raid on Nortliern Consolidated had plunged them. They could not name him who A member of the House with. Besswwould see her every day. Richard sald, and the ‘other members of the osprey pool, the hand that defeated them had been played from behind a curtain. Time, however, would develop the iden- tity of their conqueror; nor was his identity of first importance, since the great thing was that they wére caught. The best they might do was quietly await destruction in its coming. It ‘would surely come; “corners’ were not made in vain, and a day would dawn when he who heid them captive would disclose himself. That disclosure would mean for them, financially, the begin- ning of the end. Mr. Harley- and Senator Hanway might have repudlated the deal, and so saved their fortunes at the sacrifice of their names. Indeed, they thought of it; and then they shook their heads. Such a step would ruin Senator Han- way's hopes of a Presidency; those hard vears of political labor would be can- celed; his chances, now the fairest, would be swept away not only for the present but for time., The discovery of Senator Hanway—hé who wrote the report against Northern Consolidated— 85 a partner in that “bear” rald would strike his name forever from the roll of Presidential possibilities. It might even result in hissexpulsion from the Senate, for conspiracy *is no good charge to face when true. Of those who ‘Wwere “bears” against Northern Consol- idated, from Storri to the ~old' gray buccaneer, the ones who must submit without a ory to being flayed were Mr. Harley and Senator Hanway, for with them to be discovered’ was to be de- stroyed. s After fullest conference, Mr. Harley went again to New York. It was set- tled that the old gray buccaneer should continue in command. When he who had beaten them unmasked himself, the old gray buceaneer was to treat for generous terms. With the bankrupt Storr! out, there remained but seven to consider; the old gray buccaneer was to offer a round ransom of Seven mil- lions of dollars, or one million for cach. In similar fashion beaten knights com- pounded in the dusty lists of Ashby eight hundred years ago; the amount of ransom that. Ashby day was less, but the principle throughout the centuries has remained unshaken and unchanged. After four days of wound-nursing, Storri went to the San Reve. He found that lady of the gray-green eyes sit- ting sullen and. silent, wrapped in re- sentful anger like a witch’s cloak. One thing in his favor; the San Reve had not heard of his return, and supposed him just back from New York.- Storri did his best to be on cheerful terms with the San Revé; he said his business was now accomplished and he Storri strove all he knew to soften the San Reve and turn her frowns to, smiles. He failed; nothing would unlock that flinty, hard reserve. : “About the Harleys," sald the jealous San Reve at last. “How do you stand with the Harleys? You still go there?” The San Reve shot a sharp, inquiring glance at Storri from her sea-green, sea-gray eyes. Storrl, being feline, was as has been written no one hard to rout, and could readily driven from an enterprise. ith the loss of those French shares, his designs on Mr. Harley and his power over Dorothy had fallen to the ground. He was left with nothing more potent than his naked hatred. He was more hungry than before for harm against the Harleys, hut the new conditions baf- fled- him as might ‘some bridgeless gulf. He could see no epen way through which he m‘&t find hl.n_,}e(numle; and overcome orri had rish whe: tell tl lan Reve. 1 pretend to : he must swagger and. bo-fiore rouglq before. This was the vanity and the strategy of t| n. He would have ust his hand into th fire_sooner than confess himself beaten by Mr. Harley to the San Reve. She must continue to wender at and worship him; it was the incense demanded by thé nos- trils of his self-love. Bt WO must “bling foretell the end.. In a week, or may- hap a month, the news would reach her of the wedding of Storri and Miss Har- ley. What else could come? Storri was a Count. Were not Americans mad after Counts? And such a nobleman! ‘Wealthy, handsome, brilliant, bold— who could refuse his love? Not the Harleys—not Miss Harley! No, the transparent sureness of it set sneering- ly a-curl the San Reve's mouth. Soon or late, Storri would lead Miss Harley to the altar. The bells would ring, the organ swell, the people gape and com- ment. And then Storri and his bride would ride away; while she, the San Reve—she, the disgraced—she, the daughter of a n who tamed lions— she would be left alone with her Cespised heart! All this wild driftwood of conjecture came riding down on the swift, tum- currents of the San Reve's thoughts, and to her these made con- clusions were as prophecy. What should she do—she and her poor love? She must not lose her idol—her Storri! What should she do? She had written this Mr. Storms of the French shares and nothing had come of that! Should she disclose herself to Miss Harley? Of what avail? What woman was ever withheld from wedding a man by the word of that man's mistress? The San Reve could have scorned herself for a fool! She was handless to inter- fere; the San Revae clenched her white. strong teeth to find herself so much at bay. Stop; there was one chance of defeat- ing fate—a sure chance; the thought had come before! And now the San Reve looked strangely at Storri; her teeth showed pearl against the coral of her parted Iips while her nostrils dilated like the nostrils of an animal. The little world you have been con- sidering through the medium of this ‘veracious chronicle began now to ad- ‘just itself to the .changes that have been recorded. Mr. Harley and Sen- ator Hanway, for their parts, gave themselves wholly to that winning of a White House; their ardor, if it were possible, had been promoted by the re-- ‘verse in Northern Consolidated, and Senator Hanway's anxiety to be Presi- dent appeared to brighten as his money fortunes dimmed. And. as though fate meditated amends for those disasters of stocks from every angle of politics there came flattering reports. Senator Hanway was sure, so sald the reports, to write himself “President Hanway”; politiclans were shouldering one another to secure seats in the bandwagon of that states- man’s prospects. True, for all their preoccupation, Mr. Harley and Senator/ Hanway would now and then glancé up from those details of practical pol- itics over which they were employed, to wonder why the hidden one of that “corner” did not close the transaction by peeling off their flscal pelts. So far there had come neither word nor sign of him. The old gray buccaneer exhorted them in no wise to be uneasy. “You needn’t fret,” sald the old gray buccaneer; “he’s got us as fast as two and two make four. For us to be won- dering why he doesn’t come around is as though a coop full of turkeys went wondering why the poulterer didn't come around. No; I can’t tell you why he—whoever he is—so leaves us In pro- tracted peace. Perhaps he's fattening us,” and the old. gray buccaneer cheered the conversation with a laugh as strident as saw filing. Richard and Dorothy, following the selfish fashion of lovers, thought on nothing but themselves. Our young joufnalist's contributions to the Daily Tory fell away in both quantity and qualit and the editor commented hercon sarcastically, saying they were ecoming “baggy at the knee.” Rich- rd~“did not resent the criticism; he heered himself with the theory.that when he had recovered from his hap- piness he would do better.. Meanwhile he and Dorothy privily appointed their nuptials for the first of June, taking Bess into the secret. How do I stand with those Harleys, - obvious as a pikestaff to that sagacious my San Reve?” Storri's tone was super- cilious and tired, as though he had been forced to remember” ones wha wearied him by vulgarest dint of their inconse- quence. “I do not stand with® the Har- leys, I stand upon them. “Where should such crawling, footless creatures be?” and Storri pointed to his own somewhat ample foundations as indicating the grov- eling whereabouts of the Harleys. “But you go’there?” remarked the San Reve, flintily suspicious. ‘“No, my San Reve,” yawned Storri. “Pardon my grossness—a yawn in the presence of a lady, and I a Russian gen- tleman! I took the habit from these pig Americans! You should know, my dear San Reve, that the very name of Harley bores me. No, I shall no more go to those Hatleys. They send, they beg; I do not go. Why should I so honor them? No, they must come to me, your Storri, my San Reve: and when they arrive, bah! 1 shall not see them. I shall tell them they must come again!” And Storri lifted his hand grandly, as though the Harleys were now disposed of and their trivial status fixed. Storri threw this off with a lazy inso- lence that, all things considered, did him credit. And yet he was not wise. He might not have told the San Reve that be had ended his visits to the Harleys, but her beld brow and thoughtful face misled him. He regarded her as deeper than she was; he considered that she would soon d!scover how he no longer was a guest at the Harley table, and thought to save himself from an inference by a proclamation. He would take the initiative and seem to cast the Harleys into the outer darkness of his disregard. It would make for his standing with the San Reve; more, it would ,soothe her Jealousies. Storri might have been justified of his reasongs had there existed no flaw in his premises. The San Reve was far from being gifted with that celd, incisive wisdom which he ascribed to her. Given a situation wherein the San Reve had no concern, and she would be sound enough; her speculations would defend themselves, her advice be worth a following. ‘Endow the San Reve with a personal interest, the more if that in- terest were one mixed of love and jealousy, and her reason, if that be its name, would go blind and deaf “and lapse into the merest frenzy of insanity. She would hasten to believe the worst and disbelieve the best. TUnder spell of jealousy, the San Reve would ac- cept nothing that told in her favor; and just now, .despite an out- ward serenity—for, though sullen, she was serene—the San “Reve was afire with jealousy like a torch. gentlewoman; Mr. Harley and Storri had quarreled over stocks. Mr. Har- ley had been detected in Some effort’ to swindle Storri; or he had detected Storr! ‘in some effort to swindle him; men were always swindling and quar- reling, according to Mrs. Hanway-Har- ley. She put no questions to Mr. Har- ley, and only marveled at a“thickness that would sacrifice the family’s chance of possessing a Count over a low, tri- fling matter of dollars and cents. Inspector Val, when the capture of the Frénch shares had removed the rea- son of his appearance in Storri’'s desti- nies, told Richard ‘that he ®ould, with his permission, still continue on the trail of that nobleman. “Unless my judgment be at fault,” explained Inspector Val, “there’s some- thing coming off that I wouldn't miss for anything you can name.” Richard, held fast with sweeter prob- lems, cared not at all for Storri nor In- spector Val's pursuit of him. If it jumped with the humor of that scientist of stealth, Inspector Val might follow Storri to the grave. Richard would be pleased to have him do so, and to pay the costs thereof as rapidly as they accrued. . Inspector Val, whose trade it was to read men, smiled upon Richard at this and went his satisfled way. He would stick to Storri; and he would notify Richard should aught unusual either promise or occur. InspectoriVal saw that in Richard’s present mood of beatific im- becility a conference with him would ean no more than would a conference with the Monument. Storri, while easily beaten from any specific enterprise, was ever ready with a fresh one. During those days when, like a convalescing wolf, he lay hiding with his wounds {rom the sight and search of men, his disorderly and, one might say, his crimiral imagination busied itself in sketching a giant scheme. It was as unique as had been the fallen Credit Ma- gellan without owning to a shadow of Credit MageHan's legitimacy. This time Storrl would have no partners; there would be no Mr. Harleys and no osprey pools to sell him out. Before all was done he might require men; but of the sort-one controls like slaves. There was ene need that must be sup- ‘plied. however; Storri must have money. Stimulated with the necessitles that pricked him, Storri bethought himself of the Chinese Concession. That precious document was in his p@session; the os- bwn prey pool had not been’ granted its cus- tody. " Storri carried the saffron silk to a rich and avaricious nm: he asked the loan ‘of $50,000, and offered interest steeple high. The man of wealth and avarice The, San- Reve listened to Storri and” was deeply affected: he, like the others, ~said nothing; she could see how mat- ters stood. Storri still dominated the Harleys; he went there; he saw Miss Harley: his was advancing; that was what had sent him to her, the San. Reve, with a lle on his lips about hav- ing quit ~calls at the Harleys'; he was seeking to blind her to what was passing. ‘But she, the San Reve, would . be cunn A tathom she would “the ‘Even then she could sent for the brocaded, poppy-scented Mongol. The poppy Mongol came, sa- laamed, translated, ‘went his way. Then the one of gold and avarice counted down the fifty thousand, and locked up ‘the yellow silk with Storri's note for ninety days in his safe. = Being strengthened with those fifty thousand dollars, Storri sought an an- cient surveyor. Did the anclent one possess an accurate map of Washing- ton?—a map that showed every pub- lic building and park and street rall- way and water main and sewer, all done to the final fraction of an inch? Storri’s Czar has asked for such—his Czar who so admired the Americans and their beautiful capital! The ancient one of chains and levels had such a map. Being & man to whom a unit was like a human being and every fraction as a child, the map was accurate in its measurements to the thickness of a hair. Sterri bought the map; it showed the line of that drain which ran so temptingly close to the treasury gold. and Storri's eye glistened as he followed it to the river's edge. Storri collected photographs of the Capitol, the White House and other public structures as a blind to conceal his purpose and lend luster of truth to those tales of his Czar’'s interest in things American. One evening Storri related to the San Reve his Czar's de- sires touching maps and plans and ple- tures and showed her, among others, a plcture of the Treasury. AR, that reminded Storri! His San Reve worked in the office of the su- pervising architect! Could his San Reve procure him a ground vlan of the Treasury bullding? His Czar had laid especlal stress upon such a draw- ing! Yes, Storrl’s San Reve could get the desired ground plan without difficulty. It would show everything foundational, with a cross-section displaying the depth of the walls below street grades. The San Reve accepted as genuine Stor- ri’s eagerness to serve his Czar. Nor aid she doubt Storrf's description of the Czar’s American curiosity: from what she had heard of that potentate, the San Reve believed him to be as crazy as a wom- an’s watch. Certainly, if Storrl wished to send the imperial lunatic a cartload of plans, the San Reve would contribute what lay in her power. The next day Storri received from the San Reve a ground-plan of the Treasury building. It exhibited in red Ink the vault that held the gold reserve. Storri gazed upon that oblong smudge of red and studied its location with the deveotion of a poet. And now what was to be more expected than that the curious Czar would ask questions of Sterrl, when that illustrious Russian returned to St. Petersburg, con- cerning those many superiorities which the American buildings possessed? The thought set the indefatigable Storri to visiting the public buildings. He made a tour of the State, War and Navy buiid- ing, the Corcoran Gallery, the Capitel and finally the Treasury building. Who should escort him through that latter grim, gray Dorothy asked Richard how he had rescued her father from beneath the hand of Storri; which natural inquist- tioneRichard avoided In right man fashion by kissing the questioning lips and saying that Dorothy wouldn't un- derstand. s Mrs. Hanway-Harley was different from Dorothy. With a wifely gxperi- ence of many years to gulde her, she did not ask Mr. Harley why he haa gone to furious war with Storri. Mrs. Hanway-Harley would not put the query for two reasons: Mr. Har- ley would prevaricate; besides, Mrs. Hanway-Harley knew. It was as edifice but an assistant secretary? The affable A. S. had met Storr! at the club; certainly he could do no less than give him the polite credit of his countenance for his instructive rambles. Under such distinguished patronage Storri went from roof to basement: even the vault that guarded the nation’s gold was thrown open for his regard. This gold vault was of particular mo- ment to Storri; his Czar had laid weight upon -that vault: Yes; he, Storri, could see how it was constructed—thick walls o’ masonry—an inner lining of chilled steel that would laugh at drills and al- most break the teeth of nitric acid—the steel celling and sides bolted to the ma- sonry—the floor, steel slabs two feet in ‘width, laild side by side but not bolted, and bedded upon masonry that rested on the ground! Surely, nothing could be more solid or more secure! The door and the complicated machinery that locked it were wonders, marvels! Nowhere had he, Storri, beheld such a door or such a lock, and he had peeped into the strong rooms of a dozen kings. The gold, too, one hundred and ninety-three millions in all, packed five thousand dollars to a sack in little canvas sacks like bags of birdshot, and each sack weighing twenty pounds—Storri saw 1t all! “And yet,” quoth -Storri, giving the polite assistant secretary a kind of leer, *do not that door and lock remind yod of the chains and locks upon your leath- ern letterbags?—a leathern bag which the most ignorant of men would slash wide open with a penknife in an Instant and never worry chains and locks?” Storri traced that drain m its course to the river. It ran south past the cor- ner of the Treasury Building for the mat- ter of a hundred yards or more, and then broke south and west across the ‘White Lot between the White House and the Monument. In the end it abandoned this diagonal flight and soberly took to the center of a street that lay to the west of the White House, and followed it to the Potomac. Storri, hands in pocket and puffing an cigar, sauntered to the water front and took a look at the drain where it finished. The inspection grati- fied him; the drain was like a great tunnel; one might have driven a horse and wagon into it. Storri was espe- clally struck by the fact that a con- siderable ‘eam of water gushed from the drain’€ mouth; the stream had a fair current, four miles an hour at least, and showed a depth of full six inche: This was a discovery that set Storri’s wits in motion; the drain boxed in a living brook. . It was eleven o'clock that night when Storri returned to the mouth of the drain; he was wrapped In a great- coat and wore high boots. There were no houses about; a for loiterers, the region was deserted after, dark. Storrt looked out on the broad bosom of the river; he noticed -that even at low tide a boat drawing no more than: elghteen inches might push within a dozen feet of the draln. Satisfied that no one observed him, Storri stepped to the mouth of the drain and disappeared. He splashed along In the running water with his heavy boots for something like a rod; then he stopped and lighted a blcycle lantern which he took from his great- coat pocket. The lantern threw a bright flare after the manner of the rats Alike a little searchlight. Being lighted on his way, Storri kept steadily for- ward until, turning the corner where the drain broke to the right across the pm Lot, he was lost to sight. As Storri disappeared, two men far behind him-at the mouth of the draln stood watching. had thus far fol- lowed Storri dimly with their eyes by the light he carried. 3 “What's become of him, Inspector?” whispered Mr. Duff, the shorter of the 2 \! A s