Subscribers enjoy higher page view limit, downloads, and exclusive features.
Bullaing , 1,000 fine dal aes rte CHAPTER IX. (Continued) Treasure and Treason. ND small wonder! There, on the brown forest mold, some of them #0 near the fire that their edges began to char, lay scattered hun- white Hank of such denominations as Thad mover before seen! Why, one handful of that white paper would have mado every man 1 the group independently rich! And there were handfuls upon handfuls of Stilyins strewn everywhere like autunin len ' vee how all had been conn veu by ma ry, into the wiero compans of my big tron- bound wallet. Here 1 had heen (xnorantly earry- Wg about, in my tunic, paper money enough to ransom a whole royal family At ight of the notes—for Bank of Hngland money was known the world over-the men's lean bronaed faces flashed wylfixh in their mad longing. “rk shouted = the “Mack, eit of you!" Dineipline in Prussia’s army was captain. perfect. Yet it was sullenly and with lingering slowness that the Unlans obeyed their leader's sharp commands, J recalled the old tale of the Nibe- *—ungen hoard. Thus must the brown Hetle Nibelungs haye eyed Alberich, their master, as he stood Jord of the Rheingold and snarled them back fom the treasure, ‘The captain was on his hands and knees gathering up the snowstorm of ‘money jn double handfuls and seeking te thrust it back into the wallet, Felling to get half of it into ite former receptacle, he stuffed the rest imto the capacious pockets of hia * gpentoont, the troopers gasing at each peettered note that his fingers touched as a starving dog might watob hig master’s mouthfuls at ‘dinner, At last the hoard was collected and the Unian rose to his feet. “1 will count this later,” said he, “end carry it intact to the colonel, He ‘wilt know best to whom it should be delivered, Herr Je! 1 did not think there was so much wealth on earth!” He stood for a moment, his blond brows knitted, glowering at tho fire. I knew what passing in his enple Teutonic mind as well as theugh Ne had spoken aloud. But ip the end army discipline and native, honesty prevailed, With a wigh thet was half an oath he mruttered? “Yes, That will be best! onel will know what to do." ‘Then he caught sight of me as I lay bound at the fireside. And he re- called the fact of my existence, which ty the greater excitement he had quite forgotten, “where did you get that money?” he demanded hoarsely. “And where were you taking err “| got it from an emissary of its original own 1 answered, “and [ wes taking it to the man for whom it wes intended. But, like the man on the road to Jericho, it seems I ‘fell ‘The col- among thieves. “We ure Prussian soldiers!” be re- “me haughtily. rdon,” said I, “not being lo- quacious T used the shorter term,” “You insult ws," he raged, “if"'—— “Ia it possible t) insult a Uhlan?" I queried, “I had thought thetr sen- wibilities as thick ds thelr wits “You go too far; Do you wish me to forget you are a prisoner?” eWhy hot?’ speered I “A truly brave Prussian should be @ fair match for a Frenchman who is tied hand and foot, It is the only terms where- ‘on We could meet equally.” You have perhaps guessed my Iny tent in thus enraging the man? If I could provoke him to challenge me, to wet mo free to fight him, sword to sword, there might yet be .«a chance for me to cut him down, “THE “*hefore his men could come close meé—to escape in the dark+ n'a wild hope, I grant, but the m<,.0pe I had. salad last scornful words he lost Clo axionl eoten ‘American ‘s Strange Ad- m the brance-Frussian War t and @ Ce the coward oh wren 1 sere tne fury eupphentioy my tor to wirihe # foe 4 Nee move hand or foot in he defense " » help noe if whe talle inte the power of auch « ra Are yous type of your seuss, OF are the reat even # nation ardly Now, the vient the tow w struck, 1 believe, from the look in bis even, that he had the decency to be horribly ashamed of bis de sot Hut at any insull to his adored nation the gaunt, sun-tanned face berdened agein to black wrath ft oaw and took eee of what I deemed the payehio moment. able Cones “If you have a spark of manhood tn your whole Uni onaa,” Twhouted, “have my bonds cut, give me back my waber, and meet me in a@ fight to the . death, man to man, Let your men act H hand to hand 8 our neconds.” hesitated, 1 pressed my ad- age. “If you are ignorant of ao much eword-piny as every gentleman ts supposed to understand,” said I, “1 will fabt you with platols, carbines, or whatever weapon an ignorant boor Whe yourself has been able to master, Will) you fight me, Prussian?” “No,” he sald dowly, and his tone was tinged with genuine regret of one who puts aside @ longed-for oppor- v tunity, "I will not, ['— “Coward! “I shall look for you, if we both live!” he answered, holding bis cold anger in check by visible effort. “And [ shall kill you, For the present I have no right to fight you. My eol- onel would not forgive me were I to kill you now, before he interrogates you. Were you merely the obsoure French captain 1 at first supposed 1 would set you free and fight you y “But the man who Is chosen to bear such wealth as you bad on you is no ordinary cavairyman, There is a mys- tery back of this. You either are a spy of importance or the messenger | of some great man, In either event I have no right to kill you until my superior officers ara through with you. “Take me to those ‘superiors’ then, and get my interrogation over with,” I demanded, “After that you will have no lying excuses to bide be- hind. mf cannot take you to them yet,” he answered gravely, overlooking my it. “I and my troop were sent ahead to wait here for further orders. I must keep you here until we get word to move. I shall, of course, send oial courier to-night to my col- But he is more than a day's on ride to the south. In the mean time, if I order your bonds taken off, will you give me your parole not to seek escape?’ ‘ur ‘shall not,” 1 sald galpniy, “T e ‘my parole except to a fades plle Seals Besides, if I were un the valiant pastime of striking me. Better leave me tied. You will have sit Is to explain that se comes up before trouble enough blow when my a court martial, I turned over on my other side, my back to him, and sulkily refused to say more He stood still for « minute or #0, as if trying to make up his mind whether or not to seek renewal of qur squabb Then 1 heard him mo’ away an speak In low tones to his men. A little later food and drink were brought to me. While a guard, with drawn pistol, stood over me, my hands loosed to allow me to eat. J over, the stirrup-leather was My m once more bound about my wrist, T nh aten heartily, not knowing but nat ian soon have need of all the strebath I could summon. It is well to_bée ready. For the same reason, when I was fted from the fireside, carried down a aoe and laid on @ saddle blanket the farther bushes and a sentry I forced my ‘mind to and, soldier over me, fashion, I wa: In my drea 1 wandered through a shadowy vista carpeted with Bank of England notes, searching every where for half @ torn French baa), note that »sromehow elu me. note, dat Ana thar hail wets, ara.t knew, there was a cord fastened to it whose further end was tied about the wrists of Richard Graeme. And I must find Graeme, because I had promised Madge that I would, And when I should have found him she would be happy again, even if 1 were heartbroken. But find him I could not. And the search grew ter~ ribly wearisome, At last, just ahead of me in the white avenue of bank notes, I saw Madge Clay, She was standing with arms outstretehed toward me, But I could not rush to their embrace, lor I knew she took me for Richerd Graeme, and I must not let her meke such 4 mistake twice Then all at_ance I knew that some- how I was Richard Graeme, And I tried to shout aloud and tell her I was the man she loved The effort to voice my longing and adoration caused me to awaken 1 was still lying on the blanket, a yard or two away from a tiny forest brook that sang a drowsy night song through the green undergrowth. My sentry was ten feet away, leaning on his long lance. Faint gray dawn was breaking above the eastern tree tops, All was still as death in the forest, save for the snore of some nearby Uhlan, or the occasional stamp of a horse. Weariness, anger, general excite ment, had clouded my wits the preé- vious evening, But now my brain waa clear, fresh, active, ready to cope with my situation, And I fell to piects together the tangle in whose centre lay enmeshed, rap my thoughts to the day WHAT'S HIS NAME JoHN ? — De Meride sent me forth * my secret errand. He had given me to suppose that I Was on @ mission whose interest was the interest of Trance. Why then did “the interest of Franee" demand that 1 bring him secretly @ packet of Bank of England notes? France had one of the finest banking systems on earth. If I were indeed on national business why should I be entrusted to carry #0 much money clear across the empire, and unguarded? Were it necessary for the government to transfer such a@ sum from Saarbruck to Paris, were the t special trains and military escorts all ready at hand? Or why not in the form of a check made out to, or by, the War Depart~ ment and in charge of an imperial courier? Ww it also a sheaf of money I had din the packet De Meride had given me to carry to the unknown at Snarbruck? How incredibly ridiculous to have done such a thing! If this were some secret imperial debt that must be paid, would they have picked out a cavalry captain to do the work alone, instead of with an escort of # hundred cuirassiers? ‘Oh, any way T looked at it, the situ- ation was imponsible! Then all at once out of chaos came the solution. The only possible solu- tlon. CHAPTER X. Fortune Flirts With Me. E MERIDE had given me a valuable packet. But it could not have contained money, Men do not send one packet of money cloar across a country to be exchanged for another packet of the same gort. Moreov the second packet was double the size of the first, Yet the second was crammed full of the largest denomination of bills that the Bank of England puts forth, And that bank puts forth bills of larger de. nomination than any other in Burope, Bo I could not have been sent to ive Gelat a small packet of bills in ree turn for a large one. Any child could see that No, the packet De Meride had en- trusted to me had contained some- thing. for which money was to be wiven him in exchange, ‘Phat, too, was clear, What commodity could it have been whore value was so great au to demand for payment an uncountable fortune? Not jewels, The first packet had been of too light weight © contain jewels of such price, It had, from tte weight, spparensiy held papers, What papers in De Mer- ide's possession could be worth so many hundred thousand france’ worth of Bank of England notes? Considering his position and the State of affairs in France there was but one answer: Secret information and plans concerning the French army! There could be po other reply. Again, just at first, an obstacle arose to my lueid comprehension of this, Why should De Meride sell an- other Frenchman information about the war? And again, unfor\uoately, may Sak : ) mend Ne CERTAINLY ( Gor To Go See A Sic FRIEND ( HONE / | — there could be but one solution, He had not sold the plans to @ French- man, but to—Prussia! Saarbruck was on the German fron- tier, De Meride had arranged that a Pru n envoy—for by this time I felt assured that Gelat was no Frenchman—should be there to re- celve the papers and to make the agreed payment. The payment of Judas-like treachery and of @ na- Uon's betrayal! De Meride had known better than to trust such an affair to a Brench- man, He had looked about him for some zealous, obedient, doggedly hone. not over-clever man who could be trusted to do exactly what he was told to do; who would ask no questions which, in view of later events, might piece two and two to- gether and electrify the Boulevards with the tale of @ high official's trea- son, Oh, he had chosen wisely! Barring a@ few clips and the unexpected en- mity of Fortune, 1 had done my duty well, Had not these Uhlans laid me by the heels I should in another day or two have reached the Tulleries and wafely turned over to him the glit- tering price of his infamy. While now—and through all my misery L could almost have laughed the traitor had sold his country, had betrayed the Emperor who weakly trusted him; and the money—the vast fortune—wherewith he was to have enriched himgelf as the price of his disloyal soul-the money was back in Prussian hands, whence it had originally come! De Meride had sold hig nation’s secrete—and would re- eelve not one sou for his dirty work!! For a time, that thought was vaguely consoling to my crushed pride and stif-esteom, But ever would come the bitter remembrance of how 1 had been the blind dupe of this double traitor De Meride; of how I had set forth on the journey with such golden anticipations of a mer- fted promotion for my services, Services? I had unwillingly handed over France's fortunes to the enemy. Pro- ARE motion? I wag 4 prisoner of war, un- able to strike one blow in atonement for the harm I had uawittingly done my adopted eountry. What Ie normal, clean tI had sought to mix into such affaire—to cope with the subtlest minds of Zurope? All at once I felt an overwhelminy yearning to go back home—home, to the dear free land that gave me birth; the country where men won or lost their careers through their own deeds and not as tools of a corrupt court, Then came a mighty desire to undo this thing I done! To track Gelat to the very « of his Prussian King's Berlin palace if might be; to tear that packet from him, to destroy it or carry it with my etory to Na- poleon himself, A crazy thought, you will say, for a bound prisoner to indulge? I do not deny tt. Yet the Jonger I lay there tehing the firat gray dawn lighten the east, the more uncontrollably that wild longing gripped my soul. To find Gelat before he should have parted with the packet, before its contents should serve the Prussian army, To seize the packet and to render void De Meride’s baseness, Ah, that were a feat for which a map might gladly face certain death. I strained at my leathern bands on wrists and ankles. The motion only drove the thongs deeper into my flesh, I dared not groan nor even awear at the pain, lest I attract the notice of the nodding sentry. Then I recalled what rainy days in the saddle had taught me of the ef- fect of water upon leather; how first it softens and stretches it amazingly then, drying makes It ali the harder and tight IT glanced from my bound wrists to the brook that was within arm's reach of me. If, unobserved, I could man- age to soak wri nd-ankle thongs in the water for a few minutes, the leather would become pliable and elastic enough perhaps, to—~ I paused, with my arms midway in air; then threw them back to my side and lay with eyes apparently shut. YOU ONE OF THE MANY THOUSAND PEOPLE WHO ARE READING THE EVENING WORLD'S Complete Novel Each Week? \f not, you an rebbin yourself of the richast fiction treat ever read The Evening Warla, every week, prints a novel by some famous author. These novels are issued complete in six large daily instalments. They are selected with a view to suiting the tastes of all readers, And the tremendous success of the In The Evening World's “COMPLETE NOV remost work of such “best-solle geries is tl Chambers, ry Roberts Rinehart, wood, Morgan Robertson, Margaret Widdeme jan hae long nae demonstrated. L EACH WEEK" Rupert Hughes, if mea Oliver Cur- Ge Randolph Chee- ter, Louis Joseph Vance, Edgar Rice Burroughs and many others of equal celebrity. p (07 Wasted / e Aapow (ae a fh Through the underbryh, from the bivouae on the low knoll above, I could see two figures drawing toward the brook. One was the Uhlan cap- tain, the other a man in dusty civil- jan clothes, My sentry caught the light sound of thew steps at the same time. Btri tening himaelf and ewinging bis into rest, he croaked: “Wer'st dat” Then, recognising his captain, he brought the lance to “present,” and wtood stiffly at “attention.” “Go and rub down this gentleman's horse, commanded t captain, “You will find him tied at the far end of the line, He is covered with sweat from a hard ride, and will founder unless attended to at once. The pris- oner is safe enough, He \s tied hand and foot and fast aslewp. Besides I will be within easy hearing.” Through my fringe of eyelashes I could see the trooper depart, while the captain and the civilian new- comer passed on to @ point behind the copse a few yards beyond me. “You see how the brook widens out at this spot,” explained the captain, “It le a capital place for a morning bath. I will join you, A dash of cold water will drive from your bones the fatigue of your long ride more quickly than could anything else.” He throw off his cavalry Jacket as he spoke, loosening the belt that car- ried bis revolver and saber, The civilian, too, began to disrobe. T had not had @ fair look at the latter's face. Nor had I sought to. But now, as he spoke, his voico seemed somehow very fainiliar, ay, Herr Rit- lor roulng you out of your blankets at so unearthly an hour, But 1 knew you were en- camped, and, a» my road led #0 close to you, It seerged, as an old friend L could do no If s than drop in to tell you the glory’ + news.” Thelr were to me, and the «creen of h bushes shut them now almo# holly from my gaze. Both my + ts and ankles were by this time the toy waters of the brook, th / aathern thongs soaking. T luy ailq / moveless, a9 the captain made h reply to his guest "Glorid |) news, gewiss! And 1 lanoute ever have forgiven you for | passing me by with it, You owe me no apology. Lt is I who owe you a thou- sand thanks! You are certain,” he added anxiously, “that your tidings aro authentic?” “Authentic?” echoed the civilian with an indignant grunt. ‘The cipher telegrams each bore the general's own signature, The last reached us not five minutes before I began my ride. The very hour Moltke heard of the Saarbruck skirmish he declared to his ptaff that he would henceforth take the offensive. He''-—— "Good!" laughed the captain, “that do luke the grim old chief, And ao tbo nnd the Crewe “n The leather was One michiy, painful tag and | had wre wie o he we o ow off much flesh and shin im oan, | tare the ¢ mm my other wrist, bent “ cautiously over, and freed my ankles, Then f iny still @ while to let the bleed slowly run by omy numbed hands and feet, Wor I could scarce move them ye Indeed, my brain was numb os aralysed by incredal just heard, jendid divieon smashed out! A&A and ete was in 1 would speedily sem youn enok and his Prussiane back over the frontier far faster than me And thus would ead ‘s hope of invading France. civilian Was a onee more, (it Apneyine that, hie voloe wan ™ flo me and yet ur first and second armies are om T hear, on Forbac Free. his northern divial , Te will ey ing lesa numb, except for my un- derclother and boots, I had no cloth. ing. Tho Uhlans had not returned the uniform of which th 7 de- prived me during the ae A dar- ing idea seized mo, Lying face downward, | wriggted nolselessly forward under vy the branches, stretched forth @ wilent hand and selsed ol outer garm bush, gome yards back of pool. them to me, glanced back clothes, it is omy. there are fe tions than to lie flat under the shelter of 4 bush and there dress yourself in an unfamiliar suit, without noise or asary movement, enough ¢o tell of. But w more Gimeult opera= however, the thing was done. And I ventured another daring move, On the bush beyond, close to the stream, hung the Uhlan captain’ waber-belt, with its long curved sword and revolver, Again fortune, long my foe, favored me. And the next mo- ment I was clasping the belt about my own waist, Luckily, the two men were sull splashing and chatting tn pool, and, save the posted sentries none of those in the camp above were yet awake. With the feel of a good sword at my side and @ pistol-butt under my hand, my spirits rose with a rush. { had at last @ fighting chance. I¢ I could worm my way through the brookside undergrowth to where the icketed horses stood tied in line-it F'couta manage to mount unseen one of the few thut were always kept sad- dled in case of emergency.—— I crouched low and waited my chance, when the men in the pool whoulé again begin their splashing, sa! to creep away unheard, “Thene despatches you speak of—- ou are carrying to the Crown Prince,” said the captain as ¥. waded whoreward, “they are from Moltke, Though why ould @ telegraphed his m¢ just easily to His Royal ness, I CANnot"—— “They are not despatches,” returned y the other, farther out in “They are plans, so Twi plans and other informa’ from @ ministe: the Tulleries, I do not know the exact nature of the affair, I only took charge of tt at go, Saatbruck, and Gelat! Why had [ not sooner that odd, husky voice? My han ped to my saber-hilt. I utterly for- wot my cautlous plan to creep away unheard, Now, as every one knows, the seber hange at the lett ei riwht hand, to reach at, hai my body. And something in the Inner right walstcoat pocket wae prea. wed axainat my side by the motion of my arm, I had carried that same bulk \neide my own tunic too lon feel. My hand dropped bere hilt ike a hot steel and plunged into the inner ket. The inatant my fingers touched the iron clamps of the wallet I recognized it beyond all doubt. I “Herr Jo! There, dripping, open-mouthed, naked, aghast on the bank before me, stood ‘the Uhlan captain, In my abs sorption in the new: and greatest of my discoveries, I had forgotten his very existence, Behold him, just emerging above the shelving bank, I beheld the florid, blond face of Gelat The captain, in a moment, realized the situation. ‘He mprang for the bush that had held his weapons, At the same instant I took to my heels, along the making in a direct line for the horses, | had not wone twenty yards through the EHOkes when I hoard the captain's voice ing frantio, ear-splitting through the dawn's stillness to his men, Had my asinine delay cost me my one chance of escape? 1 would not give up. I made for the horses, resolved if need be to die fixhtinw sooner than to fall again into Unlan hands, Ast carried, Were 1 to be taken or in all human probability [ muat be would at once be recaptured by Gelat,and would in a day or two Ond its way to Prussian headquarters * about them to | figure, leaping madly fled I recalled the packet I ott Ave Vrancee tele ny in bento seemed loo week for tne borden CHAPTER XL 1 Ride for My Life. 0T me oxpiete ee word the perttion of the Ustem thet you may the fellow mein my Bight From the forest road, alona I hed come the previews aight, eroend fume eighty to a toegetid huleck There the USlags Ra@ ther comp Ore and their The land dipped thenee to and belf-way down the direouy Wehind the camp, the were picketed. The captain aad Geist had been bathing in 4 pool of the brook two hundred yards upstream, fight ied we along the stream, toward (he horees; iy for me, quite ty f t ' out of thane be tains fret loud of i i tu § caught aight F =3 gf if beside the pool, and filing the air with Being nearly « furlong half aaleop, and noting leader was apparenty them to his side with mon promptly rushed olad, down the slope Thus they were running allel to me in an opposite and perhaps eighty yards They had eyes only for (ain, ears only for his frantie and for the crashing beats of own feet through the undergrowth. Over my shoulder I glanced ones at! I fied. There were the whole sabble of them, tousied, lumbering, and in, varying stages of all down the hill toward the pool, d e in fr eel i “To the left, idiotat But, as every athlete knows, it wellnigh jmpossible for & running’ man to catch shouted words with eny distinctness, How, then, a doses more newly awakened seldiera, } own footateps drowned all ordinary! sounds? ‘Their leader's waving arma, seomed to convey to the Uhians more import than an added exborta- tion to make haste, The Capteim, ‘s Himself, being barefooted, cculd RO progress whatever over the thorn-strewn ground, WG Thus it was—almost by miracle-<I * reached, unobserved, the hillfoot, di- rectly beneath the picketed horses, Up the remaining few yards I scrambled, crouching low between boulders. My eyes—trained to at @ glance the good and bad of horseflesh—had already singled from the line a magnificent yellow charger, saddied and bridied—ae three others of the twen' standing second from ¢he end of Fe Jong rope. ri io. eut the dear! in two Bigs a rr ot of er concerted yao Hat to Up the bill they a ort oa on me aa I came. Wa icond stroke of my " ol (africa Ke i, betwen the Ge inks) serve aa tie- Sieeat Une, (wele'a v of horses Mioked @ tuft of hair from my relock sleeve) I Nest dine slipe excite At the armiltar command they beret © at & frensied gallop =e woods, I turned m; the ‘ivee-trunks te @ tree-trun! oward Seemt ir ullet# sang about m ¢f my pursuers, with tr: avaire tae stinot, were eek erie, te catoh thetr In spite of thi T knew my were not past. There were ee fauiries scattered through and eres woul S & run toward the cam) led horses, ° ‘The abo! ing them o' Indeed, as my yellow horse cl the smoldering fire at a plunged through the forest, running tow the manoeuvre too late, His thrust missed me by a more. He hurled the Javelin fashion, and tt my face and my Dridl n another second T was road and thundering westward wt speed A mounted = sentry through the bushes, to the left, T passed him like Ih wavered, uncerta me or go to th h comrades in the bushes rund camp threw the foves hy or more of my recent jaflerg caught their Sa and were od _—