The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, January 21, 1906, Page 3

. sir, with your consent, to be- a Senator, sir.” , T see," obsefved Richard with a fine gravity, “your acouaintance with Scnators Gruff and Dice and Loot and others, and your study of those states- men, have encouraged an ambition to make yourseit one of them.” Yes, sir, if you please, sir.” “Aund what State do you intend to honor as its “That 1 sha entirely to you, sir. T think youy will agree, sir, that there are several States where the word of the Anaconda should accom- sh what I desire, sir. "Well,” observed Richard, schooling is face to a difficult - se s. there has been much in your recent experiencet, ) Gwynn, to justify the thought. Tt will do no harm were you to take the you suggest toward becomin zen, even if it should not en at the Senate. a place for T you po: many attributes. How- t thing now is to ®et curope with every possible ve all ready for- our all be abroad several our return we may again business of making you a very good, sir!” e ingenious; pursuing took occasion to ex- s that the Hanway Northern Consolidated, Mr. Sands, had been so in- to purloin, having resulted Wall-street advantages to and others, it was now de- an annuity should be h Mr. Sands’, favor. sai@ ~ Richard, “will ttention of Mr. Bayard on 1 told it will provide you income of full $15,000 for did not give way to the nt, but said that he was glad. He would hereafter avold la- bor and devote himself to the eleva- n of the workingman as represented jon of printers. It is perhaps to set forth in this plage “that ds adhered most nobly to his In the years that followed hed the terror of - publishers ster printers, advising many rikes for shorter hours and a longer wage, never fafling from his personal purse to furnlsh what halls and beer the exigencies of each striké made necessary, and wanting which no great industrial movement can survive. Word of the coming wedding -got about and the gossipy murmur of it reached the ears of Storri. The news stirred his savage nature to the dregs. une the 1St sneered Storrl, as he paced his apartment in furious so- lloguy. “Now we shall see! Yes, you little people must first settle with Storri! A Russian nobleman is not to be disposed of so cheaply! What ‘if e were to steal away. your bride? The caitiff Storms must - then wait, Storri snapped his fingers in vicious derision. He pictured the father and mother and bridegroom, when they ar on the wedding morning to find that the bride had been spirited away. Storri programmed a crime, the black far Dbe- enterprise »id upon which London 2s go patiently employed. The de- » possessed the simplicity, too, which o ruling feature of your staggering ity. The gold would be going aboard lu Queen on Friday, Saturday and nights. With the blue streaks dawn on nday, May 30, say at 4 clock, the Zuiu Queen, thinking On es- t up anchor and go steaming n the Potomac. Now what sheuld be complex than to have Benzine Bob set fire to the Harley House an hour be- fore the time to sail? A bundle of com- bustibles soaked in kerosene could be in- troduced into Senator Hanway's study; the details might be safely left with Ben- zine Bob, to whom opening a window or taking out a pane of glass offered few deterring difficulties. The Harley house would be instantly filled with fire and smoke: Storri and Benzine Bob, ‘under pretense of saving life, would burst in the door. Storrl would seize on Dorothy, who, if she were not already in a conveni- ent fainting fit, might be stifled by muf- fing her in blankets. Steamboat Dan would be in the street with a cab, him- self an the box as driver. Presto! Storrl with his sweet prize would whirl away to the river front. The Jaunch would be walting; the fair Dorothy should find herself safe prisoner aboard the Zulu Queen before she knew what had taken place. True, there would a crowd; the fire people, and what others were abroad at that hour, would rush to the burning house. And yet who would think of ques- tioning Storri, so heroically rescuing life? who would dream of stopping him who was only taking the rescued fainting one to safe shelter and medical help? In the bustle and alarm, Storri was bound to succeed; there was no least chance of in- terference. If Storri could have read the jealous breast of the San Reve, in which kindly sofl a wildest suspicion was never two hours old before it had grown to -the granite dignity of things certain his crim- inal hopes might not-have soared so high! Had he known how his every step was shadowed by the sleepless Inspector Val, and that what the latter did not surmise was invariably told him by Steamboat Dan, his horrid confidence would have been less insolent in its anticipations! Mayhap there be those among you who have “punched” the casual cow, and whose beef-wanderings included the drear wide-stretching waste yclept the Texas Panhandle. If so you have noted, studd- ed hither and yon about the scene, cer- tain hillocks or mountainettes of sand. Those dwarf sand-mountains were born of the labor of the winds, not to say pernicious industry. Given a right direc- tion, the wind in its sand-drifung will bliildt you one of those sand-cones almost ile you wait. The sand-cone will grow stocking grows beneath ine clicking d reversing in the dance will unravel -cone and carry it off to powder it bout the plain. The sand-cone will vanish in a night, as it came in a night, and what was its site will be swept as flatly clean as any threshing floor. Thus was it with Senator Hanway a certain fateful day in May, and s than a fortnight before the coming together - of the convention which s on the business of a Presi- ididate. Comspared with that sand-cone of politics, to wit, mor Obstinate, Senator Hanway outtopped him as a tree outtops a shrub. In a moment the situation, so flattering to Senator - Hanway, was changed disastrously. Those winds which builded him into the most impos- ing sand-cone of all that dottéd the plains of party had shifted, and with mournful effect. Senator Hanway, be- neath their erosive influence, shrunk from a certainty to a probability, from a probability to a possibility, and them wholly disappeared. And this disheart- ening miracle was worked before the eves of Senator Hanway, and before Y 2% - > & < the eyes of his friends; and yet no one might stay the calamity in its ful- fillment. The amazing story, avoiding simile and figure, may be laid vpen in a handful of sentences, . On that dread day, which you are to keep in Tuemory, nothing could have . Leen brighter than the prospects of Senator Hanway. The national dele-/ gates, some nine hundred odd, had beén selected—each Btate naming its quota —and waited only the appointed hour to come together and frame the party’s ticket. By count of friend and foe- alike, Senator Hanway was certain of convention fortune; he was the sure prognostication for the White House of all the prophets. And because the last is ever the first in the memory of a forgetful age, and therefore the. most important, that which particularly contributed to the strength of Senator Hanway was his project of a Georgian Bay-Ontario canal. There arose but one opinion, and that of highest favor, touching this gigantic waterway and the farsighted statesmanship which conceived It; that iz, but one opinion if you except the murmurs of a féw railway companies who trembled over freight rates, and whose complaints were lost in the gen- eral roar of canal approval. At this juncture, so fraught wiih happy promise for Senator Hanway, what should come waddling into the equation to spoil all but a purblind, clabber-witted journal of Toronto, just then busy beating the beauties of the Georgian Bay-Ontario canal into the dull Canadian skull. This imprint, as a reason for Kanuck acquiescence in the great waterway, proceeded to show how its effect would be to strengthen Canada in case of war between Eng- land and the United States. Batteries could be planted to defend the en- trances of the canal, which might then be employed in quickly sending a Ca- nadian fleet froln thé upper lakes into Ontario and vice versa. Twenty Ca- nadian warboats, with the canal to aid them, could threaten New York in the morning and Michigan in the aft- ernoon, #nd keep threefold their num- ber of American vessels jumping side- wise to guard against their ravages If for no reason other than a reiason of defensive and offensive war, Can- ada should have the Georglan Iay- Ontario canal. Thus spake this val- uable authority of Toronto. It was Mr. Hawke, among the ad- herents of Governor Obstinate, who saw the weapon that might be fash- joned against Senator Hanway from the Causdian suggestion. Mr. Hawke had long Leen aware of Senator Han- way's intorference against himself in he Speakership fight, and in favor of Frost. True, he did not know of those 409 terrifying telegrams that so shock from his support the hystsrical little goat-bearded one and his enqual. ly hysterical fellows, but Mr. Hawke ed enough to ascribe his de- ctor Hanway, and that was sufficiert 10 edge him with douvle readiness te do said statesman wait injury he could. Besid€s, there was th= native cagerness of Mr. Hawke to move e)e hing for the good of Gov- ernor Obstinate. Mr. Hawke came out in a well-con- sidered interview concerning the Geor- gian Bay-Ontario canal, in which he uoted in- full the Toronto paper. Mr.. Hawke agreed with the Toronto paper; i dition he solemnly gave it as his that Senator Hanway's, K 1eal e had ever been to arm England aguiist this country. Mr. Hawk? ‘ve- came denunclatory and called Seaator Hanway a traitor working for Eng- lish preference and English gold. <le said that Senator Hanway was 3 great- er reprobate than Benedict Arnold. Mr. Hawke rehearsed the British arm- ament in the Western Hemisphere, and counted the guns in Halifax, Montreal, Quebec, Esquimalt, to say nothing of the Bermudas, the Bahamas and the Britis West Indies. He pointed out that England already possesséd a figol- ing fleet on the great lakes. Mwhich wanted nothing but the guns—and those could be mounted in a day—to make them capable of burning a fringe ten miles wide along the whole laks coast of the United States. — Buffalo, Detroit, Chicago, every city on the lakes was at the merey of England, and now her agent, Senator Hanway, to make the awful certainty threefold surer, was traitorously proposing his Georgian Bay-Ontario canal. Mr Hawke, being a Sofithern man, and be- cause no Southern man can complete an interview without, like Silas Wegg, dropping into verse, quoted from:By- ron where he stole from Waller for his lines on White: So the struck eagle stretched upon the plain, No more through rolling clouds to soar agaln, Viewed his own feather on the fatal dart And winged the shaft that quivered in his heart. Mr. Hawke closed in with a burst of elo- quence, but metaphors sadly mixed, by picturing this country as a “struck eagle,” expiring at the feet of England. It then might find, cried Mr. Hawke, how it had winged the murderous shaft that stole its life away with the Georglan Bay-Ontario canal. Senator Hanway was given his share in the picture as the paid traitor who had furnished that feather from the American eagle's wing which so fatally alded the enemy in his archery. To one unacquainted with the tinder- ous quality of political popularities, what ensued would be hard to imagine. Mr. Hawke's interview was as a torch to tow. A tiny responsive flame burst forth in one paper, then in ten, then in two hun- dred; in a moment the country was afire like a sun-dry prairie. Senator Hanway, lately adored, was execrated and burned in efigy. In short, there occurred an uprising of the peasantry, and benator Hanway found himself denounced from occan to ocean as one guilty of studied treason. It was as much as one's politi- cal life was worth to be on terms of frienuship with him. Speaker Frost called, and explained to Senator Hanway that he could no longer hold the delegation from his State in his, Benator Hanway's, interest; it would vote solidly against him in the coming conven- tion. Senator Gruff came under cloud of night, as though to hold conference with a felon, and sald that he had received advices from the Anaconda president to the effect that nothing, not éven the mighty Anaconda, could stem the ude then setting and raging in Anaconda re- glons against Senator Hanway. It was the Amaconda president’s suggestion that Senator Hanway withdraw himself from present thoughts of a White House. The several States whose conventions hi in- structed for Senator Hanway, through special meetings of thelr central commit- tees, rescinded those instructions. Throughout the country every vestige of a Hauaway enthusiasm was smpthered, every scrap of Hanway hope ‘was made to diszppear; that statesman was left in no more generous peril of becoming Presi- dent that of becoming Pope. And all through the gorgeous proposition of a Geor.ian Bay-Ontario eanal,” and the adroit use which the ‘malevolent Mr. Howke had made of it! The passing pf — THE SAN FRANCISCO SUNDAY CALL ;e::avtor Hanway was the wonder of pol- thi‘ou‘%hout eternity! The present life 5! ‘was the prey of separations, of lies, of - And-yet that indomitable publicist bore loves grown cold; she, with Storri in these reverses grandly, for he was capable her arms, would seek anothér! ot stofcism. Moreover, he was of that At 10 o'clock Steamboat Dan was to hopeful incessant brood, like ants or show a momentary light in the mouth :é;‘:,"', '!';m'hmembl:rl f"?:f"gfn r\:flt: lr:- :‘l’ !h; ‘gnlm This wo“lddb.i: -Igr‘ml fo; 3 e wake of the - the u Queen t er laune build their destroyed domiciles. And from ashore an? be‘lno t:eknlng ‘the gold the first he lulled himself with no false aboard. Storri programmed his own hopes. As one after the other Senator appearance at the drain for sharp ten. ii:::lg ‘:n:tn& = prpepacty ;:l::;ptl;; A= o pL::: fie a ity Qfollo"_';: e on m, a apj )¢ ance of e u ueen, 1) .. eatenin, s; lown-pourin; madness to put him up; the party rank storm woflldcli:‘:the u:ns mostp;ruyeg ’n‘nd file were in ferocious arms asgainst for. .. Until it was time. to start for the otstnawr Hn;mav drew one 'ffeP: br:r;‘tig drain to oversee the transfer of the lam:fl‘:ttfo:n ;:a::;aawl::s r;‘he: ha gold, Storri would remain with the ininks of. a White House; Ehrs SHIL T8 oF tha e e e he e o mained room in his life for three more i shoots at that alluring target; he would :fi?.:gl:;‘.tl !Xf..fagfii:mw’:.“rfi:":&p;f :; ;I‘(:{!raw and r‘e'p;eparehlol;dfou" fi::sn?: nights upon which Storri must be sure. i l;e:nr“e::"o‘ l;lel! oul bi!t?m(:—lwel“e ‘In favor of his own security, Storri g(u‘? e e XL :“bfi-:n i T ml:‘st‘:'finow to a verity both the temper Short; within a vear his fatal Georsian ‘o NISTSAPONS Of (he Fan RevS Bay-Ontarlo canal would” be forsot Grant place the rain fell in a deluge. ?{eanw:ilei;vh::lt waks t‘here he 'mlsht 5aVe The San Reve, more fortunately swift, rom the situation as it stood? was home i Senator Hanway exerted his diplomacy, came in bo’;:::;“ cev:fie:hest:#:‘: ?:-? and as- fruit thereof was visited by an riyeq, his garments streaming water, eyeglassed gentleman—a foremost nation- ghe wore the look of one who had not al figure, and the chief of Governor Ob- heen' out of the house for an after- stinate’s management. Senator Hanway noon. Only, if Storrl had observed the showed the eveglassed Mazarin of Party Sy, Reve's eyes and added thelr ex- » ! ved, to e set mou any a1 ;grhs‘ :rl:,cce'(a’:;i’:tn;:: ll’lel:rll v}v,liéh;x;l‘l :"]2' mlar;:ehnn‘llor of her brow, the result - m av ; ments of strength. Was there any rea- gavlng‘l:l fii::n::e %ix?e':".:::&'fi(on. :?;nwa;‘; ,,:"'.,sc;"m: ;{;mway, should re- itorri called for whisky. The Sun such a step? eve was The eyeglassed Mazarin thereupon rep- gstiff gl:u gl;y:ic;no:-'hd::nl‘(w‘::u:‘n:hi resented that it would be much better if harsh appetite of a Russian. There was Speaker Frost were to remain undis- the ghost of an odor of sleep about turbed in his House autocracy. It WaS that whisky; but the sleep specter overlate for Speaker Frost and the con- did not appeal to Storrl, who vefition| only ‘days away. The dic W3S tossed off his drink and followed already cast; Governor Obstinate would one dram with another, suspecting be nominated and elected. Once inausu- nothing. Five minutes later he was rated, the eyeglassed Mazarin understood drowsing stertorously oh a lounge. it would be Governor Obstinate’s earliest The San Reve, white, and wild in a care to invite Senator Hanway into his manner nusive.and still, had spoken Cabinet as Secretary of the Treasur¥. ng word; she attended sto‘rrl'a wants in The scandal of the Georglan Bay-Ontario gjlence. = When that sudden weariness canal would have blown itself out; al0 came to claim him and he cast himself no one—against a President whose hands in" slumber upon the couch, the San were full of offices—would dare lift UD Reve, fronr where she stood statue-like :flsuvolce in criticism of any Cabinet se- ix" the center of the room, bent upon ection. E im her gray-green eyes. She stood o i Riloass Macari e Mg e e 1Y et o8 egan to s in her cheeks. e rew Treasury portfolio stood within realy herself dow: be:ldatstorrl. kissed him throw of a ,Presidential nomination; he, ang drew his head to her bosom, cry- Senator Hanway, might step from it the jng hopelessly. successor of Governor Obstinate when- Richard had geen requested by In- :;gn ";:;u gel:;‘len';:n'so tena:«‘y.:f tnhde ipéc:or Val to meet him at the -oulll; e se should come to end. fr t Likewise, the Treasury portfolio was as ,,r;':,ck?' fhe Trcemy huligns ¢ a thirteen-inch gun within pointblank “Do you remember,” asked Inspector msnge tor t)ll; stock mzu;(ket. 24 xal.d“ml)w”'”"ml weeks ago we visited enator Hanway took a weel 0 con- he drain?” sider. He conferred with Senators Gruff Yes; Richard recalled it. and Price and Loot and lastly with Mr. “Come with me to-night,” said In- Harley. Then he struck hands with the gspector Val; “the drain shall explain eveglassed Mazarin and published an in- the mystery of that muddy water, and terview in the Daily Tory saying that he, why I said our man was hard at work.” Senator Hanway, was not and had never When Richard and Inspector Val, s d mouth of the dr orm was a that tl;e nefd- otubotlh 3 Publécdangd 2 furious height. Tho rain descended in party hour imperatively demande 0V- sheev'; the lighwing made flashing ernor Obstinate at the nation’s helm. He, Jleaps from cloud to cloud and the Senator Hanway, belng a patriot, ceaseless thunders were as a dozen Pt et ot o Che B K o 8 icha an ns; or al came to nate, and all who called him friend would g halt, they were joined by three men. hente Bepsiton, Bawwiy ecle Bt ".,w{“"““' i Dtk ang Mr- England: ento, Sel 7 " recogn! Mr. and . England; :efir;:;n-l D|§°C for -four years away with hi being Steamboat Dan, was ne ardor. s to him. : Friday, the 27th of May, was dark and -q,*ghev*gu....n inside?” asked In- lowering, with a slow storm blackly gath- gpector Val of Steamboat Dan. ering in the southwest. It was four in “I don't know,” returned Steamboat :‘l;‘e ?;:er:;x‘z,oeg wl::; Lhz Zrul: u'};lt?rn :;l;; sDxm_l “I've be]en aboard l:la :{am llnc; v al n ‘clock until twent; nutes ago. crept in and anchored within 1000 feet of ca?na ashore In m“y ;num sur‘e, he the mouth of Storri’s draln. Perhaps, of ought to be in the drain; they've been all the folk in Washington, no more than sending down the stuff for hours.” three remarked the advent of the Zulu I dgon’t find any of it about?” Queen; one of these was Storri, one the 1 threw a crowbar across the stredm San Reiva and one InspecgorhVal- Blt:ryl one Bundred yards up, and halted the saw neither of u:.e others; the Blan he‘e procession, The plan, d'ye see, is' for saw only St,°"" Inspector Val, whose e the coast being clear, to signal the g::ek ;,ns eres‘ s?vmbngbsuirgafipudntg‘: launch to come n:hore for n:l l:h':l e. Four of Steamboal argo 4l time after ten—whic s came into town the day before by rail, ibnit n:z," 2 o8 and for twelve hours prior to the advent yvoil orie the launch,” returned In- of the Zulu Queen, and under the lead o .oor val. “Go into the drain and of Steamboat Dan, had been in the drain ve th To nkipl. AL giving ald and comfort to Cracksman E.18 {5 DOYE CR 0P Q% 0 Ro0 our London Bill in his efforts to reduce the gon® o 5 A0 6, 8014 reserve. “Remember, Inspector,” pleaded When Storri observed that the Zull gteamboat Dan, --yofi.v, yo“z word it L e R TR e L e - J be collar: . B s wie Bat Ao Rhtaa el Do et theoniy Unain alter 3 > ve 1 sce, was lready Upon her return Jour. the s Satn UMD Sep How. and et ney to Grant place, bearing in her bosom gieamboat Dan entered the drain a heart desolate and heavy with no hope. pjo Inspector Val, Richard, Mr. The cominz of the Zulu Queen had con- p® VTG and withdrew to a grmed to her the treachery of errll- little distance. 5 es, she the San Reve could see it allt r . :: he Storri might have quarreled with Mr. R SES‘I':;’:.D ‘:?:' ‘;::pe;::: ‘e’:fi'e’p h cotm? Herley; but the loving understanding beay SUS% il B8 SRt R T80 cland; tween himself and Miss Harley was stilt 027 ailad” ; . complete! he's to be nailed.’ Nor was the poor jealous San Reve From the drain c‘Ame Ih?olmlnt the wholly without a reason, as she beheld SmOtheéréd report of a pistol. events, for her conclusion. Within the _ “Fhat’s the signal” sald Inspector past few days, Storri had been several Vali “the nolse of a gun will trave times to and fro in the vicinity of the Miles in a tunnel. They'll be coming Harley house. Only the afternoon before OUt now. he had cautiously studied the premises As he spoke Steamboat Dan issued in company with a couple of suspicious from the drain and fled like a shadow. looking characters, being indeed no,other’ A rattle of anchor chains was ‘heard than Steamboat Dan and Benzine Bob. aboard the Zulu Queen; she also had The San Reve kept secret pace with Stor- taken fright. = ri in these reconnoiterings. But she made “The others won't be here for a the mistake of construing preparations to while,” saild Inspector Val. “They've azduc!nas arrangements to elope. As the got a good ways to come and a pitch n eve read the portents, Storrl dark drain isn’t the Bowery.” planned to meet Miss Harley that very Something like ten minutes passed; night; they would fly together, the Zulu cyddenly, cursing and stumbling and Queen offéring a sure means of baflling splashing, five men rushed ffom the m:rr;““é 8 7 5 b drain’s mouth and made off into the e San Reve, biased of her lous darkness. tea"n':b}(‘:: l;:;euen in ;he ;:e-saf; tlt: “Close up rl‘::;'i;‘i c;led Inspector t::l‘; Stea some such end as e “our T shoul e hard on r was %Il so plain and sure to the angry, heels." s mra::mkmh‘sta: Reve. The false Bto’m Inspector Val was wrong: ten min- bag ne w! e l’flight to cover his In- ytes, twenty minutes elapsed and no entions by dafly lies as to hOW gne to emerge from the dratn. In- :I?:fildwne:ll h:- "“r‘h the Slflnne“’;; spector Val, placing his two alds on 0 > % gr rance and Russ h suard, said that he and Richard would uw-“)' i 'e .‘;:" Reveh saw th‘;ousm investigate. Bearing a dark lantern " les! e she listene he took the lead and Richard followed. his purring mendacities she must 43 00 D8 PR GLE T he dratn | In- struggle to refrain from casting his ooitor Val stumbled and all buf untruths in his teeth. Bridle herself jeoplq oo "o de. she did; but she watched and reflected " .y 0 YROR WS SRR L0 Loy of ar‘n}l resolved the wrongful more. NOW . moning S with the coming of the Zulu Queen. . a g the one thing certain was that she, the g 11, "Cxt moment Richard set his despised San Reve, would be cast off, fook on. Setetitng ',“k Sad- vl abandoned. Those love-lies of Storri “Whicl exploded with a great motse. were intended to blind her into foolish Ut chuse” IURhY i explained Inspector Val. security; he did t . T e i e e elopemeNs By the light of the lamp and as far designed by him and Miss Harley to 3 encounter obstruction, ' Thus did- the UP the drain as his eve would reach, San Reve solve the problem: cushi Storri would be misleading her, Miss flc of circular Tubber _alr v Harley was hoodwinking the Harieys. Mates of the one Inspector Val had For a moment the San Reve thought of brought him. On ‘the six-inch depth notifying the Harleys. Then in her Of water which raced along the cush- desperation she put the impulse aside. 10ns were floating. light as corks; in. Of what avail would be a call upon the the center of each sed a_canvas Harleys? It might defer; it could not Sack of gold. As Steamboat ;Dan ex- prevent.. No, she must adopt the single Plained, this long line of argosies had course by which both her love and her been brought to a standstill by lay- ‘vengeance would be made secure for- ing an iron bar across so as to detain ~ while. the . ever. She would take Storrl from Miss the little rubber Harley; and, taking him, she the San Stream ran on. Val had Reve would" keen ~him for herself tripped over this bar. ! while Richard beheld a seemingly endless detaining iron bar and the released flotilla’” would sail downward to °the mouth of the drain and deliver its yellow freight of gold to whomsoever waited to receive it. : Richard and Inspector Val continued up the drain, the latter wary and ready for Storri, whom he every mo- ment hoped to meet.” There appeared mo Storri; the two explorers at last reached London BilF's tunnel, finding nothing during their. march but a solid ‘procession of richly freighted rubber rafts—three-quarters of a mile of gold. < “There’'s four millions of dollars be- t‘;vscn here and the river,” said Inspector al. Richard and his guide paused where Londcen Bill's tunnel opened into the drain. Flashing his lamp about, Inspector Val showed Richard where London Bill had built a platform on which to store the rubber rafts before inflating and launching them downstream, cach with its five thousand dollar cargo of gold. “Did you ever see sweeter arrange- ments?”’ whispered Inspector Val, in an ecstacy of admiration. Bldding Richard remain where he was, Inspector Val, revolver in one hand, dark lantern in the other, bent low his head and disappeared in London Bill's tunnel. He was gone an age as it seemed to Richard. Then he reappeared, and soberly brushed the clay from his garments. “No Storrl,”” was the sententious re- mark of Inspector Val; “not a sign of him. But I've thought it out. Do you know why we don’t find Storri? The rea- .son is the best in the world; the man’s dead.” CHAPTER XXIL How the San Reve Kent Her Storri. Richard was of a temperament singu- larly cool and steady. His curiosity had been trained to wait, and he put questions only as a last vesdrt. Throughout the strange happenings of the night—the tryst with Inspector Val=the meeting with Mr. Duff and Mr. England at the drain’s mouth—the presence of Steam- boat Dan—the colloquy between that un- Worthy and Inspector Val—the signal pis- tol shot—the Aight of the robbers—he had not spoken 4 word. While his astonish- ment was kept to an up grade, there had not been elicited a syllable of inquiry from Richard. He threaded the drain, encountered the long fleet of little rubber argosies, and finally brought up at Lon- don BHl's tunnel, and never an interroga- tion. This was not acting nor affectation; Richard knew that he might with better intelligence invite an explanation from Inspector Val after having seen and un- derstood his utmost. Moreover, what with the storm and the splashing journey up the drain, there had been scanty. oppor- tunity for conversation. Also when he saw how Inspector Val looked forward to the capture of Storri In the mldst of crime the strain of expec- tation made silence the natural thing. It took Inspector Val's suauen yet decisive assertion that Storri was dead to provoke the first word.. Storri's death instantly overshadowed all else in the thoughts of Richard. “'Storri dead!” he exclaimed, making as though he would enter London Bill's tun- nel, from which Isspector Val had crawled to make his grim announcement. “Dead as Nero!” returned Inspector Val. “But not there—not in the tunnel.” “Where thén?” asked Richard. . “In Grant place. You recall the Sai Reve?—she who wrote the letter about those French shares? Both Storri and she are dead in Grant place, or I'm not an inspector of police.”” Richard was for going to Grant place, but Inspector Val detained him. ‘““There’s no hurry,” he said. “Any dis- coveries to be made in Grant place will wait. On second taought, the death of the Russian is the best solution. But there’s no hurry. Besides,” continued In- spector Val, his tones betraying that sublime appreciation of art at its utmest ‘which an amateur of bronzes might have felt in the presence of Cellini's Perseus, “besides, I want you to take a look over this job of London Bill. You'll never again kee its equal—never such perfection of plan and execution!” Richard was glad of the darkness that hid the half-smile which the delight of Inspector Val called forth. Protest would be of no avail; it was one of those cases where to yleld is the only way of saving time. Inspector Val re-entered London Bill's tunnel and invited Richard to follow. He showed Richard how truthfully, like the work of a best engineer, the tunnel—be- gun high above water mark on the side of the drain—sloped downward until it dipped beneath the treasury walls. Then it began to climb, heading as unerringly for the_gold as !mu.h London Bill had brought clairvoyant pwers to direct his digging. The tunnel ran to the rear of the vault, and about six feet beneath its floor. Then it went straight upward, and next, the supporting earth and masonry having beén removed, the gold, pressing with its vast weight, had forced down two of the floor slabs of steel on one side, precisely as London Bill designed from the beginning. Those $3000-sacks spilled themselves into the tunnel of their own motion~a very cataract of gold! As fast as they were carried away more came tumbling—a flow of riches, ceaseless! In- spector Val flashed his lantern here and there in disclosure of the wonderful beau- ties of the work. As he did so Richard heard him sigh in a positive contentment of admiration. “The most seientific job in the his- tory ‘of the police,” whispered In- spector Val. “London . Bill ig cer- tainly entitled to his rank * as the world’s foremost boxworker! It’s this rt of a thing that makes you respect a‘man' ¥ Richard was driven to smile again as he recalled the sleepy, intolerant ex- quisite; gloved and boutonniered whom he met in Willard’s and compared him with the thief-hunting enthusiast who, dark-lantern in hand and crouching under the low clay roof of the tunnel, was so rapturously expounding the gerius of the great burglar. “But greater still,” continued In- spector Val, “greater than London Bill, was that Russian party Storri. And to think this was his first—that he was only a beginner! . T used to wonder how he was going to bring out the gold; and I'm free to admit I couldn’t an- swer the question. Sometimes I'd even think he bad blundered; I'd figure on him as the amateur who had only con- sidered the business of going to the gold, without remembering that getting away with it was bound to be the hard- est part of the trick. You can see yourself,” and here Inspector Val ap- pealed to Richard, “and you .no crook at all, that if it ever became a case of lugging out this gold- by hand, it wogq take the gang a week to get a’ with a half-million. It was when Storrl ordered those circular rubber rafts that I fell to it all; it was then I took off my hat to him!" s the lashing storm had worn itself out. The night was silently serene: the clouds were breaking; and two or three big stars peered down. There was moon. and having advantage of a rift in the clouds, a ray struck white on Arlington. Over across one might make out the tall dark Maryland hills. Far away on the river burned the lights of the Zulu Queen; she was holding her best speed downstream, having rea- son to think her recent anchorage a perilous one. "T’" hearts will be in their mouths until “they clear Point Comfort,” said “Inspector Val, pointing to the retreat- ing Zulu Queen. Then turning to Mr. Duft who, with Mr. England, had faith- fully met him and Richard when they emerged from the drain, and giving him a pasteboard from his case, he con- tinued: “Mr. Duff, present my card to the Chief of the Secret Service, and tell him with my compliments that he and wkat men lle handy to his call are wanted at this drain. Should he be a bit slow, say that a big slice of the gold reserve has fallen into the drain, and the situation doesn’t do him eredit. You, Mr. England, will remain on guard until the Secret Service people get here. London Bill might regain confidence and come back for a sack of that gold.” “Where now?” asked Richard as In- spector Val, taking him by the arm, bent his steps toward the center of the town. “Grant place,” replied Inspector Val “And on that point, if I may advise you, I'd not go to Grant place; one of us will be enough. You'd see something disagreeable; besides, this killing may get into the Coroner’s offics, and from there into the courts and the newspapers. Considering that you are to be married in a few days, I should say that you don’t want to have your name mixed up with it. No, the wise thing is for me to go alone.” “It's the question of publicity,” re- sponded Richard, “that I revolving in my mind. Here's this bald attempt to rob the treasury—— “It was magnificent interjected In- spector Val, unable to restrain his trib- ute. “‘And if your surmise be correct,” con- tinued Richard, disre, ng the - inter- ruption, “now come the deaths of Storri and the woman San Reve to cap the rob- bery. What, may I ask, do you call your duty in the premises?” “Duty?” repeated Inspector Val. ‘“T've no duty; that is, no officlal duty. Wash- ington is off my beat. My course, how- ever, must depend upon circumstances. As far as I may, I shall smother every mention of to-night’s work. If the pa- pers get hold of one end of It, and begin to haul it ashore, they will bring in your- self and Mr. Harley and Senator Hanway in a manner not desired at this time. Be- sides, the Secret Service people, goaded by publicity, might pinch Steamboat Dan and his gapg. Now I'm not going to lose my best stool pigeon to please these somnambulists of the Secret Service. Also, I've given my promise to Dan, and I never break my word.” “I'm quite anxious, as you may im- agine,” sald Richard, “to bury what we've seen and heard to-night. But how can itsbe done? You've sent word to the Secret Service Chief.” *“The men of the Secret Service will never mention the business unless they have to; it's not to their glory. The dan- ger les with those dead folk waiting in Grant place. If there were nothing to hide but the gold in the drain, and the hole under the treasury wall, it would prove easy enough.” “But are you sure that Storri is dead?” It's simply your deductlon, you, know. You may yet find him very much alive.” “He's dead,” relterated Inspector Val, ‘with deepest conviction. “If he were alive, we would have found him at the drain. That gold would have drawn him tifere in his sleep. Besides, I saw it com-~ ing. I've an idea, however, that the Rus- sian legation people possess as many mo- tives for holding Storri's death a secret as do the Secret Service men for keeping dark the fact that the treasury has been tapped. Yes, the Russians, with the State Depart- ment to help them, will find a way., Everything goes by pull, you know,” concluded Inspector Val con»fidently, “and it will be queer if the State De- partment and the Russians, working together, can’t call Storri’s blinking out by some' name that won't attract attention.” \ Inspector Val related how. step by “step, he had kept abreast of Storrl “When he came out of retirement,” explained Inspector Val, “following the loss of his money in Northern Con- solidated, I kept close tabs on him These half-clvilized people are only half sane and some crazy crime would have come natural to this Russlan at that time. So, as I tell you, I stayed close to his heels. I could see by his face that he had some big purpose. He began buying maps and visiting the department buildings. I knew then we were getting to the heart of the affair, and, while I couldn’t guess the shoot he would take, I had only to follow to find out. The moment he put foot in the Treasury building I turned wise. Those visits to the other buildings had been mere ‘stalls” As I followed him through the Treasury I could see that now he was in earnest. “When the Assistant Secretary showed him the vault that held the gold reserve I learned all I wanted to learn. His design and the crime he plotted were written on his face. Of course, as soon as ever I realized that he meant to try his teeth on the Treasury I had only to run my eye over the year’s calendar to tell when. There was a Sunday followed by Dec- oration day—two holidays—and no ons on guard worth it; it was sure that Storr! would hit upon those days to make the play. When I saw how the Saturday before was set apart for a special hollday, the thing was surer than ever. It did not require any deep Intelligence to determine when Storr! would act. Next I fol- lowed him up the drain, and later to Steamboat Dan’s. That visit to Dan's 80 reduced the business that nothing was left but the question of when to e the collar.” hat yacht was that?” asked Riche “It belongs to a fat-witted rich young fellow from whom Storr!.borrowed {t. Steamboat Dan is aboard; he went out in the skift he spoke of. When he's tied her up and his gang’s ashore I'll wire the fat-witted one to come and claim his boat.” Inspector Val never breathed a hint concerning Storri’s ebon purpose of abduction and how he meant to fire the Harley house and then kidnap Dorothy in the confusion certain to be an in- cident of flames and smoke at 4 o'clock in the morning. This reticence arose from the delicacy of Imspector Val The relation could not fail to leave ' & ‘most unpleasant impression upon Riche ard and Inspector Val decided to sup- press it for the nomce. “T'll keep it & year and a day,” thought Inspector Val: “then I'll tell him." Richard adopted the counsel of Inspec- tor Val, and did not accompany that gen- tleman of secrets to Grant place. It was