CHAPTER XIV.—Continued. I took refuge in silence. I closed my eyes wearily. “Before I bid you good night, sir, I think it right that you should know that your mother and sister are In this hotel. At the risk that you think me impertinent I dare to hope that your meeting with them to-mofrow may be free from any embarrassment or un happiness.” He bowed stiffly and left the room. I stared after him vacantly. The dispatch he had left, gorgeous and brave with its royal crest and em bossing, lay passively in my hand. And now a new dilemma confronted me. I was supposed to be under the influence of an opiate; they would not scruple to take from me the dispatch. To allow that might give them such in formation as would make their con spiracy, whatever its nature, the more effective. To resist would tell them that I had been feigning. I must hide the papers. But where? It was a bare little chamber; my heart sank as I noted how bare. I leaped out of bed. Again I threw open the shutters. I could hear Capt. Forbes speaking sternly; if he could but hold them half a minute! In the garden below the marble basin of a disused fountain at once caught my eyes. I tore the comer of the envelope, inserted my penknife to weight the packet, leaned over the balcony and dropped it. It fell squarely into the basin among the leaves and moss. To regain the room was the work of an instant I heard Captain Forbes wish them a cold good night, and Madame de Varnier answer him mockingly. Then the bedroom door was opened and Starva shuffled into the room. “Who was that man?” I demanded languidly, and regarded him with list less eyes, my hand to my forehead. He shrugged his shoulders, disdain ing to answer. “He has left some papers here by mistake.” “Perhaps,” I muttered indifferently, and pretended to sleep. I heard him moving about the room for some time. Madame de Varnier and he whispered together. I felt so little concerned as to the result of this search that I actually fell asleep. The strain of the evening had exhausted me. No doubt the search was extend ed to me personally; I believe I was vaguely conscious of it. CHAPTER XV. The Castle of Happiness. ‘ You sleep soundly, my friend.” Dr. Starva was looking down at me with grim intentness. It was not yet dawn. His immense figure seemed even more huge than it was in this uncertain light. It ap peared to threaten, to menace me. And yet I welcomed his presence; at least they had not made their escape. I looked up at him with cool assur ance. “A light conscience gives deep slum ber. Do we start so early?” “Yes. Your coffee is waiting for you in the salon.” I dressed rapidly. A certain depres sion would have been natural. The night is the time of follies; with the morning come clear thought and pru dence. But not so with me. It is true that I detested Dr. Starva. His meth ods were too gross; his eyes were too closely set together; his mouth too cruel and sensual. I could have wished him out of the game. And yet I be lieved that I was a match for him. But this woman who tempted and pitied! This woman Whose beauty fascinated and whose treachery re pelled! This woman who lied and prayed in the same breath! As I thought of her I was at once furious and eager. I was ashamed to think how eager. I had pledged myself to the cold Diana of my dreams. For her I ran these risks; for her I might be disgraced and a felon. It was her gratitude I coveted; her for giveness I craved. And yet for the moment I was seek ing the flame and the glamour of the other woman—this warm, mysterious creature of diverse moods. Her fantastic chateau held out a promise, not of happiness, indeed, but of the joy of doing, of daring. So as I dressed my spirits were buoyant. The little garden below, half hidden in the mist that came from the lake, was fresh and charm ing in the morning dew. Patches of flowers, brave in scarlet and purple and blue, opened their eyea to the dawn. I followed mechanically the graveled paths, geometric and straight, threading the sparkling lawns. I looked eagerly down at the bat tered fountain choked with refuse. I could see no trace of the long, white envelope. It was completely concealed by the leaves. I found it impossible to rescue the little packet from its hiding place. My hostess and her cousin kept too care ful an eye on me for that. But it was a tolerably secure hiding place; and frankly I was not sorry to leave the proof of my complicity, behind me. A faint breeze, cold with the snow of the mountains, fanned my ’ cheek, The poetry of the dawn thrilled me, Before the evening came the placid lake might bfe lashed into fury. The trees, now gently swaying, might be bent and broken by the violence ol the storm. But now the sky was clear. When the storms came I would try to meet them. But before they did ,■ come why should I not enjoy the pres ^ eat? I threw open the door and stepped into the salon where coffee and Madame de Varnier awaited me. She greeted me with vivacity. Bui I was not blind to the cool glance that measured. “The fool has no suspic ions,” thfe eyes said, while the lips asked how I had slept. “Admirably,” I answered gayly. “And we are to start at once for your Castle of Happiness? “You have a sublime faith to still believe it that?” she questioned mock ingly as she poured my coffee. “Why not?” I cried mockingly, in my turn. “Is it not happiness to be with you, madam?” “Pas des banalites, monsieur,” she replied with an impatient gesture. “But you really believe that-the tire some journey will repay you?” "Since I am resolved to hear your secret, yes.” “Oh, ungracious!” She smiled at me ruefully. “I think I prefer an In sincere compliment to an awkward truth.” “Madam, it is not I who made the condition.” “Ah, you are a very cautious friend, monsieur.” “I generally try to look before I leap,” I returned with composture. I was not unwilling that she think it curiosity that prompted me to accept the extraordinary invitation given with so little heed to convention. She had hinted that we were to be of mutual use to each other; but of this I was skeptical. I accepted the invitation precisely in the spirit in which it was given. It would be shocking form, to say the least, to be a guest that one might have the opportunity to play the detective. But she and I had But I Was Not Blind to the placed ourselves beyond the pale of conventionality. Either distrusted :he other. An armed truce—that was the word that described our relations, £.nd she had suggested that word. Dr. Starva entered. “En route,” he said gruffly. “The carriage is waiting.” It was very early, scarcely past five. The night porter, drowsy-eyed and sul len, took us down on the elevator and put our luggage in the carriage. I confess I breathed more freely when the hotel was some miles behind us and we had seen neither Helena Brett nor Captain Forbes. As Madame de Yarnier had warred me, the journey itself was long and tiresome; nor did Madame de Vernier and her companion exert themselves much to relieve its monotony. It was almost dusk when she pointed out to me the pinnacles of her cha teau. For the last hour the horses had been struggling up a dusty road wind ing about the mountainside. Forests of fir were on either side. From far bSlow came the impetuous murmur of a stream. High above the forests of fir trees there were herds of cattle. We could hear the faint jingle of the cow-bells. Only rarely had there belh any view, but the clear and pure at mosphere told me that the altitude must be considerable. But this sylvan scene suggested nothing of the horrors of a few days ago. The mountains, purple and pink in the dusk, were too far away. Suddenly there was a turn in the road. Now we had an uninterrupted view of the chateau across a green valley. In this vague light its towers and turrets seemed as unreal and ghostly as a fairy fabric. At the base of its white walls a titty village, crouching close to the chateau for protection, found a pre carious foothold on the steep hillside. There was a maze of red-tiled roofs, hvgh-gabled and sloping, tier tfpon tier of them, each pierced by numbers of quaint dormer windows. A wild river, fed by the turbuteht streams of the mountain snows, flung itself in headlong rage down the slop ing valley, straight for the chateau, as if to sweep It from its base. Reach ing the castle, it spent it# fury on tie smaIts i S 11. 52 rocks, then, as If baffled of its i Cool Glance That Measured. sociated with dishonor,” I ventured boldly. “I can see no glamour in this ob scure village,” she replied, yawning. “But the chateau is a part of the vil lage?” I persisted. “Monsieur!” she cried passionately. “You weary me with senseless ques tions.” , I smiled quietly. I wished Madame de Varnier to know definitely that it depended on her playing the part of Circe or Lady Bountiful whether the armed truce was to continue, or whether there was to be open warfare. We turned at an abrupt angle from the village street. We were entering a mere passageway just wide enough for the carriage. It was flanked on either side by the houses of the vil lage; over the arch, too, was a dwell ing. Suddenly we emerged in a court yard large enough to permit a squad ron of cavalry to perform its evolu tions. A low wall inclosed it. We drew up at the doorway. I was wel Did Not Believe the Story Tale of Old Testament Too Much For Artless Youth. "When I was a youth In Zanes ville,’’ said E. S. Timms, clerk at the Hotel Normandie, the other day, “I was an active worker in a local Sunday school. I was pretty popular wiih the boys, I was delegated to gather the outsiders from the glass works district together in a vacant storeroom and begin their religious 'instruction. “One Sunday I gathered about 45 youngsters who had never attended Sunday school before, and as they did not take kindly to'the reading of the Scriptures and the regular Sunday school methods, I began1 telling them tales from the Old Testament They much interest to the stories of Adam and Eve, and Moses in the bullrushes, and so on, but when I came to the story of Jonah and the whale they listened with particular attention. “When I concluded the story, of how Jonah was cast overboard from the ship and received by the whale who afterwards cast him up on Bhore, one fellow broke the silence by saying: “ ‘I believe that’s a d— lie. Give me a chaw of terbacker.’ “Well, everybody joined in a laugh, and I passed over the remark. In time I got about 30 of those boys to attend Sunday school regularly.”—De troit Free Press. English Friendship. In London . you seldom make friends; you buy them.—London * ‘ msde an abrupt half circle about the base and continued its stormy career, seeking a less powerful foe. “At last,” breathed Madame de Var nler. “Well, my friend, does it prom ise diversion for you?” , “The village and the castle breathe the spirit of romance,” I cried with animation. “Ah, romance! What if I say to you,” she whispered, “that your day of romance has come?” I glanced toward Dr. Starva whose shaggy head was nodding. “Even we Americans, madam, are not indifferent to its glamour. But too often the ro mance of medievalism suggests dis honor.” She looked at me startled, then shrugged her shoulders. “One must take the world as one finds it,” she said indifferently. We were making the last steep ascent to the village. We crossed the noisy stream; the driver cracked his long whip; we passed under a dilapi dated arch; we were rattling over the cobblestones of a winding street. It was too dark for me to see much of the quaint beauty of this pictur esque village. I caught a glimpse of the timbered Rathaus, its gilt clock proudly conspicuous on the squat tow er, and of the fountain in front of it, its basin radiant with scarlet flowers. There were little shops dimly lighted, their wares heaped abgut the doors and windows. As we passed, women and children dropped delighted courtesies, and the men took pipes from broadly grinning mouths and doffed their hats. Evi dently Madame de Varaier was loved by this simple folk. “You seem to be very welcome,” I said smiling, surprised that the .vil lagers should have greeted her so cor dially. “You are the Lady Bountiful to these simple people, I suppose.” She ^jniled faintly. “I have been here for two summers. I am the event of the year in their stupid lives. I try to bring them a little pleasure. When I leave I like to think that they re member me with love.” “Then I should not have said that the glamour of romance is always as j corned by Madame de Varnier with exaggerated deference. We were at her Castle of Happiness. ,, I felt the insincerity of the welcome. They looked on me as a puppet to move only when they pulled the strings. I saw, too, that I had not left in the hotel at Vitznau the character of Sir Mortimer Brett. But before the next day was past I determined to know once for all the reason of this deception. I was de termined to put an end to this farce. CHAPTER XVI. The Death-Mask Again. One does not expect to find in Switzerland grace and charm in archi tecture. There are no historic cha teaux worthy of a pilgrimage. This castle of Alterhoflen gave one the sim ple impression of sheer strength. It was primitive and savage and bare of pretense to beauty as its founder must have been. A rather squat tower of immense solidity, the roof steeply sloping, the windows narrow and few, it would have been commonplace and ugly in the extreme had it not been for three smaller semicircular towers placed at each angle of the larger one. The ef fect of this triangular-shaped tower, with its three supporting towers, was bizarre, but not unpleasing. It pre pared one for an' interior unique and interesting. We passed beneath the arched door way, severe and bare of ornament, into the great hall. At the left was the grand stairway, the balustrades of oak massive and dark with age, but ad nfirably carved. At the end of the hall, on the right, a fire of logs was blazing brightly. The hooded mantel, Gothic in design, war also of oak and blackened with the smoke of cen turies. A stand of banners stood near the foot of the stairway. Not far from the fireplace was a curious spiral stair case leading to the gallery that ran the length of the room above. Tapes tries covered the bare walls and filled the spaces between the narrow win dows that looked out on the court yard. The furniture was of the period of the French Renaissance—covered for the most part with stamped leather of gold and dull red. I could not repress a cry of delight as I entered. I had passed in an in stant from the world of commonplace hotels and railway trains into an at mosphere of charm and beauty. For no matter how industriously the con noisseur in America may gather about him exquisite and beautiful things, he cannot shut out the scream of the railroad train; he cannot transplant across the seas the charm of medieval ism that clings to castle walls. It is one thing to see the Cluny with a guide book; it is quite another to find one’s self a guest at the Cluny. “You like my Castle of Happiness?” asked Madame de Vamier, pleased at the pleasure I showed. “It promises its adventures,” I re plied meaningly. “I have told you that your hour of romance has come. But remember, romance in these prosaic days is a gift of the gods given only to children and poets, a few women and lovers, and to the very bold. If you would claim the gift, monsieur, you must have some thing of the nature of all of these. The sincere trust of the child, you must certainly know what this is, monsieur. The poet’s imagination, his delightful power of make-believe, you must not despise that. A woman’s tenderness, and a lover’s ardor, these, too, are necessary. And last of all, the daring of the hero.” She had whispered these rather comprehensive attributes as I walked across the hall to the staircase, follow ing the servant with my bag. “A rather large bill, madam,” I sug gested humorously. “Oh, but I am serious, very serious. I assure you that it is not sentimental talk.” “I am afra.id I must contradict you. The daring of the hero, for instance, even 'one so optimistic as yourself couid scarcely expect that of me.” “Monsieur,” she protested earnestly, “I have already told you that I refuse to believe you a coward. Do you be lieve it yourself? You know you do not. The task I am to give you would appall any but the bravest heart. It requires audacity, absolute assurance, and a clever brain. But I believe in you. You will not disappoint me. We dine in half an hour.” Dr. Starva had stood with his back to the fire. He called after me, scowl ing, as I ascended the stairs: “You will find, as I have said, that madam is an admirable host. But if the guest is to be quite happy he must accept the diversions madam offers and when they are offered* It was not the words so much as the tone that menaced. It emphasized the conviction I already felt: Dr. Starva did not welcome my coming to the cag tle. As I reached the gallery I saw Madame de Varnier address him al most fiercely. I was not blind to his sullen contempt, though evidently the woman was the ruling spirit here. (TO BE CONTINUED.) Cadet Prince Edward. Future King of England in the uniform of a naval cadet at the royal Na val college, Osborne, Isle of Wight. Prince Edward is the thirteen-year-old grandson of King Edward and son of Edward, Prince of Wales. ONCE RICH; IS NOW HOMELESS. EX-MAYOR OF NEW YORK TOWN IS EVICTED. Jeremiah Casey, of Edgewater, N. Y., Loses Fortune in Litigation—Rise and Fall Due to His Inven tive Genius. New York.—At one time affluent, Jeremiah’ Casey, formerly mayor of Edgewater, on the Palisades, the oth er day was ejected from the home he had bought three years ago and all 'the possessions ■ he had left in the world were set out in the street. His wife was so shocked by this latest bit ter experience that she collapsed and had to be placed in a doctor’s care. Casey’s later years have been full of hard luck and litigation. About all the money he once possessed has been spent in lawsuits. His prosperity and adversity are due almost entirely to his inventive genius. Several‘years ago he invented a nailing machine. The device could take the requisite amount of timber, after it had been sawed to the proper length, and make a box of it as good, If not better, than one made by a car penter. A company was organized to build the machines and put them in •operation. Casey asserts he was not treated properly by the concern. At any rate he lost his Interest in the patent and in the company as well. That started a long line of legal pro ceedings which dragged through many courts and took much money. Casey collected the records of these trials and several hundred pages of scrap books were needed to hold them. Back In the days when he was pros perous he bought the old Bayard Cut ting homestead on the Palisades, op posite One Hundred and Tefnth street, and went there to live with his family. Instead of being a haven of rest, the place proved to be another source of legal difficulties. He said he had good reason to believe he had paid for more land than he found specified in the deed. More lawsuits were started. Then his taxes, to his mind, were too high for the property, and he refused to pay the assessment. Threat of a sale of the land for taxes brought an adjustment, but the property had only just begun to give trouble. There was a mortgage on it. This, in the course of time, was foreclosed and the prop erty was sold at auction. Dr. M. S. Ayres became the owner of the Casey home. The doctor took no steps to oust Casey, and it seemed as If un kind fate had decided to give a short respite to the former mayor. A short time ago, however, Dr. Ayers sold the homestead to a manu facturing concern. Desirous of build ing a'new plant, the company asked Casey to get out. He refused, assert ing he had a right paramount to theirs. They did not think so, and constables ejected Casey. Nellie Casey, daughter of the one time mayor, was a schoolmate of Grace George; and is now a member of Miss George’s company. COST OF SHRINERS’ WRECK. Southern Pacific Railroad Will Pay Out About $1,180,000. San Francisco.—Accident insurance policies, $200,000. Regular life poli cies, $320,000. Railroad damage set tlements (estimated), $600,000. Dam age to train, etc., $60,000. Total, $1,180,000. These figures represent the finan cial phase of the recent terrible wreck of the Shriners’ train at Honda, north of Santa Barbara, in which 32 men and women were killed and 16 badly injured. Inquiries by the rail road officials indicate that many of the Shriners who were killed had ac cident policies, which contained the usual specifications that the amount be doubled in case of death in a train wreck. One company will have to pay accident losses amounting to about $176,000, and another company about $25,000. It has - been ascertaihed that prac tically all the Shriners who were hilled had left insurance policies in varying amounts in about six or seven companies. The total of these polk cies approximate $320,000. The Southern Pacific under the law of this state has no defense against claims for damages by those injured and the relatives of those killed. The company has effected some settle ments and will settle all the cases as quickly as possible. One of the rail road officials expressed the opinion that the company would get off by set tling In the aggregate for $600,<000. Under the law of this state, save In the case of contributory negligence, a railroad company practically insures the life of a passenger holding a ticket he has paid for. Bets Himself on a Race. St, Louis Girl Will Marry Owner of Horse If He wins Cupid Handicap. St. Louis, Mo.—Miss Helen Burs, of 2024 Fair avenue has bet herself on a horse race. Laws against bookmaking didn’t bother Miss Burs, and Frank Grimes when they put their wager, as re markable a one as the turf ever saw, into writing and had it witnessed be fore a notary public. The great Cupid handicap will be run at Priester’s park, near Belleville, on the afternoon of July 4. If the fourth horse, Grime’s Robbie G., comes first under the wire Miss Burs will come down from the grand stand and will take Grimes by the hand, the Judge's bell will be rung in wedding day fashion, a real judge will step forth and the dashingly pretty St Louis girl will become Mrs' Grimes. Miss Burs made the wager after a discussion as to the merits of two horses in the race, in which Grimes dared bar to pat herself up as the , prize. He had proposed to her before, but had been refused. Miss Burs says the novelty of the situation won her to consent. » Woman Landed Prize. When Mrs. Lizzie Spencer of Mex ico, was going to Louisiana on a visit the train stopped to take coal at Far ber. Several women were fishing be side the railroad and one of them hooked a large fish which became de tached from the hook and flew through the window into the Qoacb. The passengers scrambled for it and Mrs. Spencer landed the prize.—-Kan sas City Times. Electricity in Turkey. Turkey 1b practically a virgin soil for electrical enterprise. Up to a year ago there, was not a single city or town In the 800,000 square miles of Turkish possessions which could boast of a telephone system or of a central station for electric light or power pnr Now Damascus and Beirut are FORMER HOUSEKEEPER WEDS WESTERN MILLIONAIRE. Was Once Companion of His First. Wife—Successfully Invests Sav ings, Then Educates Her self and Travels. Spokane, Wash.—Anna Larsen-Pe terson, bom of humble parents in Sweden, has become the wife of D. C. Corbin, millionaire railroad builder and sugar manufacturer, president of the Spokane International Railway company, whose line he built after selling the Spokane Falls & Northern railway to the Great Northern Rail road company. The wedding took place at Mt. Vernon, N. Y., May 22, and was not made public until the couple arrived in Spokane a few days ago. Mrs. Corbin is 35 years of age, while her husband is 70. Close friends say it was a love match. Mrs. Corbin’s romance reads more like one of Hans Christian Anderson s fairy tales than a story of modem life in the active and virile northwest. The daughter of a small farmer in rural Sweden, as a little girl she. dreamed of the future, and before she attained her majority she came to America, like many of her country men and women, to improve her sta-, tion in life. Alter worning in various **“““*-: holds In New England and the middle western states, she came to Spokane 12 years ago and entered the home of D. C. Corbin as a housekeeper and Companion to Mrs. Corbin. She gained the friendship of Mrs. Corbin, who assisted the girl with her education. Shortly before Mrs. Corbin died, six years ago, Anna married Antone Pe terson, at that time identified with a local hardware firm, but they lived to gether only a few weeks, and two years afterward the young woman ob tained a divorce at Tacoma. Before her marriage she invested her savings in realty, which she sold profitably, and with the proceeds went to Chicago and placed herself under instructors, afterward going to Bos ton and New York, whence she went abroad with a teacher and three other pupils on an educational tour. She traveled extensively a year, and in the meantime entered into cor respondence with her former employ er, who asked her hand in marriage three years ago. She gave her con sent several weeks ago, when Mr. Corbin started eastward on a business trip, and they were married at the home of a friend, the bride being giv en away by her brother, Hjalmer Lar son, who is chief draftsman for the Spokane international system. Mrs. Corbin is of the Swedish type of beauty and has light hair and blue eyes. She is a brilliant conversation alist and speaks English with scarce ly a trace of accent. She is also con versant with the French and German languages. She is a member of the Swedish Lutheran church, and it is said by intimate friends that she will use considerable of the fortune placed at. her disposal by her husband in as sisting her countrywomen and in works of charity. Through her marriage she becomes the mother-in-law of the earl of Ox ford, whose wife is Mr. Corbin’s daughter. DOCTOR IS CABIN BOY. Milwaukee Physician Quits Large Practice for $10 Job at Sea. New York.—It was the fascination of the Pacific, the undeniable attrac tion of endless blue skies and rolling seas that caught Daniel Wylie, a Mil waukee physician, and caused him, as so many others have done, to secure employment that would keep him in the Sandwich islands. Less than a year ago Wylie, about 35 years old, shipped out of this port for Honolulu as “cabin boy” aboard the American bark Nuuanu, Capt. Joselyn. Now he is purser of an island steamer plying between Honolulu, Maui, Hawaii and other islands. The Nuuanu has come back. Capt. Josselyn, an elderly skipper, who lives at Duxbury, Mass., told of his physician cabin boy. He said: “He made a good cabin boy; never saw a better one to clean brasses than Wylie. He was a good doctor, too, by all accounts. A man about 35 years old, I should imagine. He got $10 & month as cabin boy and said he left a practice of $10,000 a year to make the sea trip. He was shattered In health, you see; nerves gone; worked too hard. Well, naturally, you can see what it led to. His health gave way and he was advised to go east and take a long sea trip. “Seems his wife was dead and he had letf two children out west there. Wylie stood the test well. When we were out a few days he was very bad and could hardly get abobt. After that he braced up* however, and stead ily recovered his health.” SEES IN MERCHANT A BANDIT. Respected Citizen of Houston, Texas, Identified as a Train Robber. Galveston, lex.—Joseph Bertmann, a respected merchant oi Houston, was confronted the other day by John T. Dickey, who positively identified him as one of the robbers who held up a train and robbed the express com pany of about $25,000 18 years ago. Dickey was the Wells Fargo express messenger on the Houston & Texas Central line and the hold-up took place on the night of Sept. 24, 1889, ten miles south of Fort Worth. Two men did the work and for a half-hour the express messenger was face-to face with the man wlto robbed the safe while his companion covered the engineer and flremah. Dickey made a study of this man’s features and voice, and declares he could recognize either among 1,000 men. He has not been in south Texas for fifteen years and upon entering Bertmann’s store he was astonished to be greeted by the robber. Bert man is Bald to have offered to restore the amount li the case lie dropped. •