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v dpevve in view
vere; but unless
that vou will not
d SnaQk SO
ty demands it, I be
: eek me,
I will come to “you when I have
+. discovered the proofs that are necessary.”
~ “She left the room as she ceased speaking
without a backward glance, turning a deaf
ear to his pleading tones, and walked un-
steadily up the stairs to her own room,
CHAPTER XVI.
“THERE'S a lady in the blue morning-room
to see you; Miss Chandler!” -
Evelyn Chandler turned to her maid with
anything but an amiable expression of coun-
tenance.
“Her card?” she exclaimed with annoy-
ance. :
“She gave me none. She wished me to
say that her call was purely a matter of busi-
ness, that she would not detain you longer
than necessity required, and begged that you
would not decline to see her.”
Something in the message aroused Miss
Chandler’s curiosity.
She hesitated a moment; then with a gest-
ure of deprecation, said:
“Show her up here! I don’t feel inclined
to walk down-stairs,”
Concealing the disgust she felt at the well-
known indolence of her mistress, the maid
left the room, but returned a little later,
followed by a woman clothed in somber black.
A heavy veil was drawn across her face, ‘a
covering which she took the precaution not
to remove until the maid had retired and
closed the door. ‘ .
“My maid tells me your call is upon busi-
ness,” said Miss Chandler, curtly. *‘I have
but a few moments to spare, therefore, you
will excuse me if I ask you to be brief.”
Without a word the veil was lifted, reveal-
|. ing the lovely features of Leonie Cuyler. —__
Miss Chandler was on the point of crying
> but by a mighty effort restrained the in-
clination,
She drew herself up coldly, a thousand
lightning flashes darting from her eyes.
“To what am I indebted for the honor of
this visit ?” she asked icily.
“It is to tell you that I have come,” re-
turned Leonie, quietly taking a chair that had
not been offered her. ‘‘ Will you excuse me
if I consunie a little of. your valuable time in
telling you how I risked my freedom and my
honor only a short time ago to save you from
the consequences of your own folly. Will
* ‘*No, I will not!” interrupted Miss Chand-
ler sternly. ‘‘I am quite convinced that you
have not come here without a purpose, there-
fore I request that you state it as speedily as
possible, and without all this circumlocution.
If you wish to impress me with the idea that
Iam under an obligation to you, I may as
well assure youin the beginning that I donot
recognize the fact; and even if I did, I am
not one to be influenced by such considera-
tions.” .
_ Very well,” said Leonie, assuming some-
thing of Miss Chandler’s own manner, ‘If
you are determined to have this war and not
peace, J am ready for you.
“ There was one,” she continued, ‘‘ to whom
I owe more than I could ever repay were I
granted a thousand years of life. No brother
could have shown me greater tenderness,
greater consideration, greater mercy.”
**How touching!’ murmured Miss Chand-
ler, stifling a yawn. -
“T refer,” Leonie went on, as though the
interruption had not been made, “to Mr.
Lynde Pyne.” .
“Tsupposed as much, Lynde was always
something of a Don Quixote. It is pleasant
to hear of his generosity, but really if you
don’t hurry I shall have to leave you.
should not like, for your own sake, to have
my father find you here.” |
**T have come to tell you, Miss Chandler,
that the engagement that existS between you
and Lynde Pyne must be broken!”
Miss Chandler shrugged her shapely should-
ers carelessly. ° .
“Have you come here to threaten me?”
she asked coldly. ‘If you have you will find
that you have attacked the wroug person, I
-_
ansirated 20
re eleista coward.”
arose as she-Hnished ‘her sentence, and
onie followed her example.
“Promise me,” she said, ‘‘and keep your
word, that you will break this engagement,
and I swear to you, that so far as I am con-
cerned, thesecret of your birth and the
knowledge of who was the thief in Leonard
Chandler's household, shall be eternally pre-
served. Refuse, and whatever it may cost
me, the entire niatter shall be made public in
time to save Lynde Pyne from the marriage
that would not alone wreck his life, but his
soul as well.”
“J make no compact with you of any
kind!” said Evelyn, harshly. “If you make
this charge, without bringing ample proof to
back up your assertions, I warn you that my
father, Leonard Chandler, shall use the force
of his entire fortune against you. His anger
against you is already at fever heat, and I have
but to speak the word that will make- him
your most deadly foe. As far as my love for
Mr. Pyne is concerned, that is none of your
business. Whether I love him or not, I intend
to marry him, for reasons that do not in the
least concern you. Now go, or the servants
shall have instructions to put you out!”
There was not the slightest weakness in ber
demeanor, and Leonie knew it.
She had hoped to frighten her sister into
measures, but she saw there was about as
much possibility of that, as’ there was in
frightening a desperado into giving himself
into the hands of the authorities,
With little outward evidence of the disap-
pointment she really ‘felt, Leonie again wrap-
ped the veil about her head and left the
room.
For some time Evelyn Chandler stood there,
seeming to be thinking deeply. ,
‘She means every word that she has said,”
she muttered, below her breath. ‘‘She was a
typewriter in a lawyer's office long enough to
have absorbed some of their knowledge, and
will, therefore, know exactly how to go to
work, Jcannot sit still and let her succeed,
as undoubtedly she will if I do not imme-
diately take measures of precaution; but
what shall they be? I cannot consult my
adopted father, Therefore, there is but one
course left—I must consult my own father.
ah!”
The sentence was concluded with a shiver
of repulsion, but it vanished almost before it
had existed. :
She sat down and took her chin in her
hands, a favorite position when in deep
thought.
“It is the only way!” she cried, at last,
‘Let mesee! [havean engagement with my
dressmaker at this hour, but when that is
ended, we shall see what Ben Mauprat can
suggest. A man who has beenascoundrel all
his life certainly ought to be able to thwart a
single-handed girl.”
CHAPTER XVII,
“Mr. Pryor, will you require my services
this afternoon ?”
The speaker was Neil Lowell, who stoo
in the presence of his employer, -hat in
hand.
The old gentleman glanced up in surprise,
“Not That is the first time you have ever
asked that. Are you going out?”
‘‘With your permission.”
“ Fang it, boy, a servant hassome time off,
and you never take any. It would really do
me good to have you go out more. You
never do unless I send you. Go, and come
back when you get ready,”
‘Thank you!” “ .
Lowell did not wait for further words, bu
left the room, and instead of going directly
to the street, as his dress would have indicat-
ed that he intended, he went to his room
again, :
He locked the door and hurriedly disrobed.
Ten minutes later, ared-brown wig was drawn
over his cropped head, and a suit that indi-
cated” shabby gentility had taken its place.
An old and much-worn hat was placed upon
his head; completing a most excellent dis-
guise. ‘
“«« If Mr. Pryor, or any one in the house dis-
covers me, I shall tell him quietly that I am
CET TY PEWHT
engaged upon a piece of detective work, and
' . - we
j ote
oT
further” qe
ke
ions, bless
and, taking the servants’ stairway, went doyn
and very quietly let himself into the street,
He took the elevated train and rode down: _
town, leaving it at the Bleecker Street Sta-
tion, then walked quickly across town. . |_
The place that he entered was one that
would have made a man’s heart stand still,
much less that of a person built upon his
small scale, and for a single moment he hesi- :
tated, but the hesitation was scarcely lohs,
enough to be called one. .
It was a low saloon, and one in the ‘‘ring”
could easily have recognized more than oae
member of the Whyo gang in that motley £3-
semblage, . 4
Blurred eyes were lifted questioningly, and
the boy was ‘‘ taken in” from head to foot.!
Disregarding all this, and affecting a bold-
ness he was far from feeling, he advanced ‘to
the man behind the bar and said. in a Iew
‘one: }
‘Say, pard, I’ve been told that you kin tell
a feller where to find Ben:Mauprat. Ef yer
kin, yer'll do a good day’s work fur Ben!”
“* Say, Ike!” the barkeeper called to a min
across the room, ‘‘this here kid wants to
know where Ben Mauprat lives. Kin you tell
im?”
“Cert! he lives on Great Jones Street—
Number——. He is sweller than we are.
Shouldn't wonder but what he’d be one of the
four hundred before the month’s up.”
The boy did not wait to hear the conelusi¢n
of the speech, but, muttering some words Wf
thanks that ‘‘Ike” did not condescend to no-
tice, he left the saloon.
He walked rapidly in the direction of Great
Jones Street. |
The number that had been indicated was
not a desirable-looking residence, but ro
doubt to the other men of his class, Ben Maii-
prat’s home was eminently respectable, if not
elegant.
At least it required a pull at the bell to ef-
fect an entrance.
A slatternly woman answered the sum-
mons. -
‘* Ben in ?” questioned the boy.
“What do you want of him ?”
““T want to see him,
jose ?””
“Well, he is asleep.”
“Wake him up; my business can’t wait!”!
The boy’s manner was an excellent imitation
of the tough, and, half afraid to refuse, the
woman reluctantly pulled open the door and
allowed him to enter. ;
‘*He’s in there,” she. said, indicating |a
room, ‘‘You can wake him: yourself, fer
his temper ain’t none too good at the best éf
times.” . I
She went back to her work, and noiselessly
Neil Lowell entered the room that she hal
pointed out to him. :
There, upon an old hair-cloth lounge, lay
the man whom he heard talking Evelyn
to Chandler on that memorable night. |
Ben Mauprat did not move. :
The same heavy snores that had greeted
Neil upon his entrance continued, perhaps ‘a
trifle louder, and feeling that he was secure
from interruption from the woman who hai
admitted him, Neil began a hasty survey of-
the premises. |
“There was not much to see.
A broken chair, a table, with pieces of wood
propping up one ley, an old secretary, with
one door wrenched off, a dilapidated ink-
stand, and that seemed to be about all.
Lightly Neil stepped to the secretary and
began looking over its contents.
The first thing that met his eyes was u
dainty note that even the grimy hands of Ben
Mauprat could not rob of its beauty, i
., Without the slightest hesitation he openet
it, There was no beginning. It simply-read:
“Nothing has been heard of the girl yet.
We must find her at all hazards, and make
sure that her mouth is securely closed, for
upon that all depends. The engagement has
been resumed, so that your interests are safi
as far as Luis Kingsley is concerned.: Yot:
seem to forget how much you owe me on tha’
score, for the moment I am the wife of L. P.
you can bring forward the proof that you
have discovered, and you may be sure thas.
dar .
“que his -dedr old heat;".”
but Imiust prevent detection if Ican,” mii”
tered the boy to himself as he left*the roan, * +.
What do you suj- .
seve