6 !The Man on j the Box J By HAROLD MacGRATH A Author of " The Gray Cloak," "The Puppet Crowu." | 9 « Ccpyright, 1904, Tho Bobb-».Ai»*"nll Company. CHAPTER XXII.— CONTINUED. ■ rihe knew! That was why she asked me all these questions; that is why she exacted those promises! Mrs. Chadwick knew and dared not tell me! And I trusted you as a friend, as a gentleman, as a man of honor!" Her laughter rang out wildly. "And for these favors you bring dishonor! Shame! Shame! Your wife? Have you thought well of what you are about to do?" "So well," he declared, "that I shall proceed (0 the end, to the very end." How beautiful she was! And a mad •desire urged him to spring to her, crush her in his arms, and force upon ker lips a thousand mad kisses! "Have you weighed well tho conse quences?" "Upon love's most delicate scales." ' Have you calculated what manner of woman I am?" —with subdued flerce aess. "To me you are the woman of all women." • "Do you think that I am a faint hearted girl? You are making a mis take. I am a woman with a woman's mind, and a thousand years would not alter my utter contempt of you. Force me to marry you, and as there Is » God above us to witness, every [ DROPPED IT INTO THE FIRE, moment of suffering you now inflict 'U>on me and mine, I shall give back a day, a long, bitter, galling Cay. Do you think that it will be wise to call me countess?" Her scorn was superb. I am waiting for your answer. Will you be my wife, or shall I be forced r> make my villainy definitive?" "Permit me to take upon these shoul •rs the burden of answering that luestion," said a voice from the win dow. Warburton, dressed in his stable ' lothes and leggi»gs, liatless and Ircnched with rain, stepped into tho room from the veranda and quickly Mjssed the intervening space. Before «ny one of the tragic group could re • over from the surprise caused by his < appearance, he had picked > the packet of plans and had dropped I into the fire. Then he leaned with back against the mantel and faced ' -' m, or rather Karloff, of whom he • not Quite sure. CHAPTER XXIII. SOMETHING ABOUT HEROES, l-'rom Warburton's dramatic entrance Upon the scene to Karloff's first move ment, scarce a minute has passed. Hunigh to the girl and her father an rnit.y seemed to come and go. Kar ' was a brave man. Upon the ln mt of his recovery he sprang to *.rd Warburton, silently and with pre meditation; he must regain some frag ">'rnt of those plans. He would not, oild not, suffer total defeat before ■ s girl's eyes; his blood rebelled U ainst the thought. He expected the ' x»m to strike him, but James simply .ight him by the arms and thurst him ?3c.k. 'No, Count; no, no; they shall burn the veriest crisp!" "Stand aside, lackey!" cried Karloff, • s>ob of rage strangling him. Again 1 rushed upon Warburton, his •nched hand uplifted. Warburton did •>t even raise his hands this time. '•< l they stood, their faces within a ad's span of each other, the one smil ? coldly, the other in the attitude of 'iking a blow. Karloff's hand fell expectrdly, but not on the man in. >nt of him. "Good God, no! a gen man does not strike a lackey! Stand. *-> de. stand aside!" They shall burn, Count," —quietly; ley shall burn, because I am physic iy the stronger." Warburton turned ickly and with the toe of his boot fted the glowing packet and renewed >« flames. "I never realized till to ;ht that I loved my country half • well. Lackey? Yes, for the pres ie hail not looked at the girl. Aly!Karloff cried, intelligence ilt.ipg tila face. "You are uo Hckey!" 'ibdiuug liis voice. '•'fcU'o 30L'?Ip<i are.-ftuUe -re rfrab'o." ■' ' : "W'lio are you? I demand to know!" ' "First ami foremost. I am a citi zen of the United States; I have been a soldier besides. It was my common right to destroy these plans, which indirectly menaced my country's safe-j ty. These," —pointing to the bank- ; notes, "are yours, I believe. Nothing further requires your presence here." "Yes, yes; I remember now! Fool j that I have been!" Karloff struck his forehead in helpless rage. "I never j observed you closely till now. I re call. The secret service: Europe, j New York, Washington; you have known it all along. Spy!" "That is an epithet which easily re bounds. Spy? Why, yes; Ido for my country what you do for yours." "The name, the name! I can not recollect the name! The beard is gone, but that does not matter," —excitedly. Warburton breathed easier. While he did not want the girl to know who he was just then, he was glad that Karloff's memory had taken his thought away from the grate and its valuable but rapidly disappearing fuel. "Father! Father, what is it?" cried the girl, her voice keyed to agony. "Father!" The two men turned about. An nesley had fainted in his chair. Both Warburton and Karloff mechanically started forward to offer aid, but she re pelled their approach. "Do not come near me; you have done enough. Father, dear!" She slapped the colonel's wrists and un loosed his collar. The antagonists, forgetting their own battle, stood silently watching hers. Warburton's mind was first to clear and without a moment's hesita tion he darted from the room and im mediately returned with a glass of water. He held it out to the girl. Their glances clashed; a thousand mute, an gry questions in her eyes, a thousand mute, humble answers in his. She ac cepted the glass, and her hand trem bled as she dipped her fingers into the cool depths and flecked the drops into the unconscious man's face. Meanwhile Karloff stood with folded arms, staring melancholically into the grate, where his dreams had disap peared in smoke. By and by the colonel sighed and opened his eyes. For a time he did not know where he was, and his gaze wandered mistily from face to face. Then recollection came back to him. recollection bristling with thorns. He struggled to his feet and faced Warbur ton. The girl put her arms around him to steady him, but he gently dis engaged himself. "Are" you from the secret service, sir? If so, I am ready to accompany you wherever you say. I, who have left my blood on many a battle-ground, was about to commit a treasonable act. Allow me first to straighten up my affairs, then you may do with me as you please. I am guilty of a crime; I have the courage to pay the penalty." His calm was extraordinary, and even Karloff looked at him with a sparkle of admiration. As a plummet plunges into the sea, so the girl's look plunged into Warbur ton's soul; and had he been an of ficer of the law, he knew that he would have utterly disregarded his duty. "I am not a secret service man, sir," he replied unevenly. "If I were," — pointing to the grate, "your plans would not have fed the fire." "Who are you, then, and what do you in my house in this guise?"— proudly. "I am your head stable-man—for the present. It was all by chance. I came into this room yesterday to get a book on veterinary surgery. I ac cidently saw a plan. I have been a soldier. I knew that such a thing had no rightful place in this house. . . . I was coming across the lawn, when I looked into the window. ... It is not for me to judge you, sir. My duty lay in destroying those plans before they harmed any one." "No, it is not for you to judge me," said the colonel. "I have gambled away my daughter's fortune. To keep her in ignorance of the fact and to re turn to her the amount I had wrong fully used, I consented to sell to Rus sia the coast fortification plans of my country, such as I could draw from memory. No, it is not for you to judge me; only God has the right to do that." "I am only a groom," said Warbur ton, simply. "What I have heard I shall forget." Ah, had he but looked at the girl's face then! A change came over Karloff's coun tenance; his shoulders drooped; the melancholy fire died out of his face and eyes. With an air of resignation and a clear sense of the proportion of things, he reached out and took up the note upon which Annesley had scrawled his signature. Warburton, always alert, seized the count's wrist. He saw the name of a bank and the sum of five figures. "What is this?" he demanded. "It is mine," replied the count, haughtily. Warburton released him. "He speaks truly," said the colonel. "It is his." "The hour of madness is past," the Russian began, slowly and musically. The tone was musing. He seemed ob livious of his surroundings and that three pairs of curious eyes were leveled •in his direction. He studied the note, creased it, drew it through his fingers, smoothed it and caressed it."And I should have done exactly as I threat ened. There is, then, a Providence j which watches jealously over the inno cent? And I was a skeptic! . . . Two hundred thousand dollars," — picking up the packet, of bank-notes and balancing it on his hand. "Well it is a sum large enough to tempt any man. How the plans and schemes of men crumble to the touch! Ambition is but the pursuit of . . . . CAMERON COUNTY PRESS, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 1906 Mademoiselle, you will never know whit the ignominy of this moment has cost me—nor how well I love you. I come of a race of men who pursue their heart's desire through fire and water. Obstacles are nothing; the end is everything. In Europe I should have won, in honor or in dishonor. But this American people, I do not quite understand them; and that is why I have played the villain to no purpose." He paused, and a sad, bitter smile played over his face. "Mademoiselle," lie continued, "henceforth, wherever 1 may go, your face and the sound of your voice shnll abide wi'h me. I do not ask you to forget, but I nsk you to forgive" Again he paused. She uttered no sound. "Well, one does not forget nor for give these things in so short a time. And, after all, it was your father's folly. Fate threw him across my path at a critical moment —but I had reck oned without you. Your father is a brave man, for he has the courage to offer himself to the law; I have the courage to give you up. I, too, am a soldier; I recognize the value of re treat." To Warburton he said: "A groom, a hostler, to upset such plans as these! Ido not know who you are, sir, nor how to account for your time ly and peculiar appearance. But I fully recognize the falseness of your presence here. Eh, well, this Is what comes of race prejudice, the senseless battle which has always been and al ways will be waged between the noble and the peasant. Had I observed you at the proper time, our positions might relatively have been changed. Useless retrospection!" To Annesley; "Sir, we are equally culpable. Here is this note of yours. I might, as a small contribution toward righting the com parative wrong which I have done you, I might cast it into the fire. But be tween gentlemen, situated as we are, the act would be as useless as it would be impossible. I might destroy the note, but you would refuse to accept such generosity at my hands, —which !s well." "What you say is perfectly true." The colonel drew his daughter closer to him. "So," went on the count, putting the note in his pocket, "tomorrow 1 shall have my ducats." "My bank will discount the note," said the colonel, with a proud look; "my indebtedness shall be paid in full." "As I have not the slightest doubt. Mademoiselle, fortune ignores you but temporarily; misfortune has brushed only the hem of your garment, as it were. Do not let the fear of poverty alarm you,"—lightly. "I prophesy a great public future for you. And when you play that Largo of Handel's, to a breathless audience, who knows that I may not be hidden behind the curtain of some stall, drinking in the heavenly sound made by that loving bow? . . . Ro mance enters every human being's life; like love, and hate, it is primitive. But to every book fate writes finis." He thrust the bank carelessly ittto his coat pocket, and walked slowly toward the hallway. At the threshold he stopped and looked back. The girl could not resist the magnetism of his dark eyes. She was momentarily fasci nated, and her heart beat painfully. "If only I might go with the memory of your forgiveness," he said. * "I forgive you." "Thank you." Then Karloff reso lutely proceeded; the portiere fell behind him. Shortly after she heard the sound of closing doors, the rattle of a carriage and then all became still. Thus the handsome barbarian passed from the scene. The colonel resumed his chair, his arm propped on a knee and his head bowed in his hand. Quickly the girl fell to her knees, hid her face on his breast, and regardless of the groom's presence, silently wept. "My poor child!" faltered the col onel. "God could not have intended to give you so wretched a father. Pov erty and dishonor, poverty and dis honor; I who love you so well have brought you these!" Warburton, biting his tiembling lips, tiptoed cautiously to the window, op ened it and stepped outside. He raised his fevered face gratefully to the icy rain. A great and noble plan had come to him. As Mrs. Chadwiek said, love is mag nificent only when it gives all witlicut question. CHAPTER XXIV. A FINE LOVER. Karloff remained in seclusion till following Tuesday; after that day he was seen no more in Washington. From time to time some news of him filters through the diplomatic circles of half a dozen capitals to Washington. The latest I heard of him, he was at Port Arthur. It was evident that Rus sia valued his personal address too highly to exile him because of his fail ure in Washington. Had he threat ened or gone about noisily, we should all have forgotten him completely. As it is, the memory of him to-day is as vivid as his actual presence: Thus, I give him what dramatists call an agreeable exit. I was in the Baltimore and Potomac station the morning after that unfor getable night at Senator Blank's house. I had gone there to see about the cje parture of night trains, preparatory to making a flying trip to New York, and was leaving the station when a gloved hand touched me on the arm. Tho hand belonged to Mrs. Cliadwick. She was dressed in the conventional travel ing gray, and but for the dark lin?s under her eyes she would have made a picture Jor any man to admire. She looked tired, very tired, as women look who have not slept well. "Good morning, _Mr. .Oratoi," she , said, saluting me with a smile. "You are going away?" I ask«d, shaking her hand cordially. " Way, 'way away! I ai» leaving for Nice, where I Intend to spend the winter. I had intended to remain in Washington till the holidays; but I plead guilty to a roving disposition, and I frequently change my mind." "Woman's most charming preroga tive." said I gallantly. What a mask the human countenance is! How little I dreamed that I was jesting with a woman whose heart was breaking, and numbed with a ter rible pain! Her maid came up to announce that everything was ready for her reception in the state-room, and that the train was about to draw out of the station. Mrs. Chadwlclc and I bade each other good-by. Two years passed before I saw her again. At eleven o'clock I returned to my rooms to pack a case and have the thing off my mind. Tramping restless ly up and down before my bachelor apartment house I discerned M'sieu Zhames. His face was pale and trou bled, but the angle of his jaw told me that he had determined upon something or other. "Ha!" I said railingly. He wore a decently respectable suit of ready-made clothes: "Lost your job and want me to give you a recommendation?" "I want a few words with you, Chuck, and no fooling. Don't say that you can't spare the time. You've sim ply got to." "With whom am I to talk, James, the groom, or Warburton, the gentle man?" "You are to talk with the man whose sister you are to marry." I became curious, naturally. "No police affair?" "No, its not the police. I can very well goto a lawyer, but I desire ab solute secrecy. Let us go up to your rooms at once." I led the way. I was beginning to desire to know what all this meant. [To Be Continued.] An Eminent Citizen. The colone*l was getting ready to start a land boom in a certain dis trict in North Dakota and one day he drove over to the town of Oakes to enlist the services of a citizen. At a grocery, where he halted to get his bearings, he said to the man be hind the counter: "Can you tell me the name of the leading man of your town?" "Oh, yes," was the ready reply. "His name is Bates." "He's at the top, is he?" "Clear to the top." "And what he says goes?" "Yes, sir." "Then I may take it that people have confidence in him?" "You can, sir." "Uum! Does Mr. Bates hold any public office?" continued the colonel. "No, sir, not exactly a public office, but you can set it down that he's an eminent citizen just the same. In fact, he's the only one we've got." "What Is his business?" "Why, he carries the mail between the depot and the poslofflce."—Balti more Sun. Hokkluk tiic nog. Cummings Martin of Rochester, Vt., had a serious impediment in his speech and had much difficulty in getting his vowal organs into a condition to say anything without first going through such facial contortions as to cause amusement among the lookers on. When a boy he had a dog that he prized highly, and which, like Cum mings, was always ready for fun. This dog was his inseparable companion about the farm. Captain Eb Martin, the father of Cummings, was a thrifty farmer, who felt a laudable pride in his fine horses, cattle, and hogs and other products of his farm. One day he dis covered Cummings, the dog and a fine porker in suspicious juxtaposition, amid furious yellings, barkings, and squealing: and the farmer roared out: "Cummings! Cummings! Stop dogging that hog!" And Cummings yelled back: "I a-a-aln't d-d-dog-doggin' t-th the h-ho-hog. I'm h-ho-hog-hoggin' t-th-the d-do-dog." Bloned Hp. The late Bishop Eastburn, of Massa chusetts, was a man of very imposing appearance, and when robed in his big sleeved canonicals gave the im pression of sailing under full canvass. In the pulpit he had a habit of draw ing himself up at intervals, with chest raised and head thrown back, which gave him a very pompous air. A lit tle boy of Newburyport, not fully in ured to long sermons, and wearying under his heavy periods, mildy sug gested to his mother that he would like to "cut the rest of it," but she tried to beguile him with the assur ance that the good man was just ready to stop, when he eagerly replied: "Oh, no, mamma, he isn't, 'cause he's just blowed hisself up again."—Boston Her ald. She Sold It All. "You men make me tired!" ex claimed the wife from across the table. "What is the matter now, dear?" said the husband, raising his eyes from his paper for a moment. "Why, you men are all the time abusing women for talking!" No response from behind the paper. "Why, you men around election time do nothing else but talk!" No response from behind the paper, "Talk! Why, the men do nothing else but talk. Talk in the house talk in the street, talk in the shop!" No response from behind the paper "And we poor women get the cred it for it. That's the way of the World. Say! Why don't you say something?" —'Yonker'a Statesman. | Balcom & Lloyd. 1 1 ===== [ | M || ISA WE have the best stocked jJ] general store in the county |j and if yon are looking for re liable goods at reasonable J| prices, we are ready to serve you with the best to be found. Our reputation for trust- ij gj worthy goods and fair dealing p is too well known to sell any p if but high grade goods. | I u IS | j I Our stock of Queensware and Ohinaware is selected with P great care and we have some of the most handsome dishes Hi ever shown in this section, | both in imported and domestic fl gj makes. We invite you to visit y us and look our goods over. Ij P % I I B B | ======================= I | Balcom Lloyd, j 112 If IP If** IP wf ity m fcyifc jfcjllfcallfc JfciMllfcA m S !! LOOK ELSEWHERE BUT DON'T FORGET |J || THESE PRICES AND FACTS AT |J || || LaBARW || Si We carry in stock » || IJ the largest line of Car- . , ./ggBBBBBBSM • 3 |g pets, Linoleums and &/ *i II Mattings of all kinds I■ + J2 ever brought to this UMISIDiJw M town. Also a big line r * of samples. || II A very large line ot FOK THE EESjf !! PI Lace Curtains that can- _. _ '~rz=!r Pf fj Xr"e h ;ricc any " COMFORTABLE LODGING m "t J Art Squares and of fine books in a choice library ' PI Rugs of all sizes and select the Ideal pattern of Globe- PI P§ kind, from the cheap- Wernicke "Elastic" Bookcase. || II est to the best. Furnished with bevel French I M || plate or leaded glass doors. || M Dining Chairs, I roR •»« "* I & J II Rockers and GEO. J. LaBAR, £* || High Chairs. Bole Agent for Cameron County. £2 A large and elegant I—J PI line of Tufted and * | Drop-head Couches. Beauties and at bargain prices. , 4 || |J N|3o Bedroom Suite, ffOP S4O Sideboard, quar- ffOfi £2 solid oak at 4>ZO tered cak )uU P* P? f2B Bedroom Suits, £Ol $32 Sideboard, quar- <£lC P^ Pi solid oak at 4><£' tered oak 4>ZO || P* $25 Bed room Suits, COfl f22 Sideboard, quar- <Mc N || solid oak at 4>2U tered oak, H M A large line of Dressers from I Chiffoniers of all kinds and || || |8 up. all prices. |£ M || |j The finest line of Sewing Machines on the market, £2 || the "DOMESTIC" and "ELDRIEGE.' All drop- Eg Pg heads and warranted. J * A fine line of Dishes, common grade and China, in P? PI sets and by the piece. PI * As I keep a full line of everything that goes to |« || make up a good Furniture store, it is useless to enum- || || erate them all. || || Please call and see for.yourself that lam telling fcg || you the truth, and if you don't buy, there is no harm kg || done, as it is no trouble to show goods. , I |i GEO. J .LaBAR. ;; TJNDERTiLItIIVG. iM !!igggggggggggggg;:gggggsggjj
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers