CHAPTER XXV.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LV, Issue 14015, 21 September 1909, Page 1

CHAPTER XXV.

THK MKN IN" MASKS \\ ith an rlloit of. will Marian quiehi* loiight back the terror Hint u.i ip|n •' '" ' .is her l\\OS it'll nil till' 11fj:l1 1 fj:ll L IIKIII til) door lit wliat ha<l been Sir (Jcoige l-ips-colllbe's (l«'jtli chamhcj. .Mine til. ill c\cr now It Ix-lim.fl h>'t t i „<> Jom.ud wuh her wucure ami ->r.ti--t.s li.tm It that Owen was mil in iluji^oi liiinii^li the dd\iee sin- ha 1 Ixi'ii dup-d into u'i i"g him. It was noaih inidiii/.at. .ml \ i.. ' i •Will Ik- lio legitimate n- i*ml l'i> the prnaie roo.n oi the pi iiu-ip.il beiir: lit :it such an houi. Stealing along the oomd.i:, k lu- h«'!d her bie.ith as she approached tli • don. It was ojK-ii but a couple i.l inches, >«i at such an aii^le that tlu- u[»-rt»ur gave a full view of the niassi\o podest.d tabkin the centre of the Hxun. The ;;iri was so astonished ni wlwt '-he ■>«» •"- ■,ho pooped in. that "-In- ior I He ni'iuu-i.t mrgot to bo f lightened. .Just )<>i ■• fleeting second t<-iunim<- curiosity ('Hii|iioiod the stiongoi fiiiot'on Tiki ini-ii ue.c l.u-ni- «-ioh othei. ' sitting oik' «>)i each side o) tli" t-tble at which the founder ot (Ik- I.umiichad conducted :i world-wide iot if-|Mind- ' dice, iiti'l at which Ow«-n should sit ' when he had lOMili'cd tin- i< ills >>t jmiw-i ' tcliipoiailh dolt gated t(i the m:Ml.lgo. ' There was nothing particularly alarm- <■ mg about them in one icspeet. mas- « much as it was impossible to tell wjrit • manner of men they were. And at the ' same time tlu> mystery of tlu ii poison- • ill ty was. a thousand time., more tern I. \- ing than tho most hideous featuios > would have made them. ■ Tho\ were both mask, d horn tli" fo'ebead to tho eh in, not with t'n- .silly ' tens that women wear to emphasise . their charms at fanc.\ tires bills, but with serviceable crape cui tains that jj effectually concealed their features. They sat in perfect silence, as though ; traiting for sortie development of which £ they had mutual understanding. And the lack of nervous movement of an> | kind in eitlier of them seemed to denote r a patience due to assured knowledu;o t that whatever they waited for would c not come just yet. J Marian, having stilled the wild puis- ( ing of her heart, eliept a little closer to ( the door and scanned the two statucgque figures in an attempt to pene- v trate' their identity. But the m isles 0 wpro only the compiction of a most effi- v nient disguiee. The pair were envelop- a cd from shoulder to heel in long invt r- v ness c»pes, the collars of which we c ,| raised.about their ears, and which with ( . their loose draperies obliterated all i, temblance of form. Tliey might have been young or old, puny or stalwnrt, t for all the unseen watcher could distm- ;, guish. Even the contour of their heads j was hidden by soft felt hats pulled low. < Suddenly, after a period which to „, Marian seemed an hour, but m remits 4i was only three miiMiteh, one of _ these c mysterious persons stirred uneasily m his chair. The movement came as a ii positive relief to the spell-bonnd girl, so r , weird had been their rigid immobility J But the next moment she was confront- ri ed with a crisis that demanded instant i f, action if Bhe was to continue to con- » ;cal her presence from the men in the n room. The one who had stirred stood b up, stretched himself and came towards the daor. tl "I think," he said in cautious, tones, n "that I had better «o across and see if y< those fellows are all right in the fur- tl nace shed. One cannot always depend ti on drugs nowadays, besides which a tl few blasts from the bellows won't do p the fire any harm. Kite and the other Ii cannot be here for a while yet." ci The second f igtire nodded assent, and a Marian had barely time to dart into an t« outer clerk's office when the speaker fr came out and passed along the corridor 1 towards the entrance. She had learned several things from the incident— thai. X , she did not recognise the voice of tl" 1 n man who had left the building on such h a strange errand; that Kite was not m, b j that he was expected back shortly ni with someone vaguely alluded to as h, "the other." M But if she had gathered so much thnt r, ; was definite there was a whole world i., of terrifying suggestion in the few n t>ords slie had overheard. Who w-i.-. jI, "the other," with whom Wilnicr Kite ■ p nas presently to return? Was it Owen- (j mid if so what was the business which Ji these, auspicious people in disguise could U have with him? The reference to f ] drugs, too, was disquieting, coming as t*i a sorollary to the condition in which in she had found the night watchman nt j, the entrance gates. Who were the oi "fellows" whom it was desired to ascertain as "all right," and why should it be necessary to wear a nmsk to attend to bellows and furnaces P Marian < shrewdly guessed that it was no part of the duty of these men to attend to the affairs of the yard at all. She had »Imo3t made up her mind to run from her refuge and call in the « first policeman she met, when her pur- «< pose was delayed by the return of the man who had gone out. Hearing his «' footsteps cominu: along the corridor she <« had to wait till he had rejoined his 1" comrade in the private room, and then gthe first words he spoke caused her to «•« alter her intention. At all hazards she J> must hoar before she quitted a post oi a* vantage which placed her between anj- tl one entering the building and thow k two who were making fie* 1 with the tj sanctum. *?' "They are all as sound as lo^, was in the report brought back by the ex- tr plorer. "And there's a furnace like a ai raging hell. It would moU an iugot of d< steel. What we are going to put into si it will be wiped clean out of creation in thirty seconds." ' ' « Marian heard Ac speaker resume his «o seat, and, peering out of tlio office to o which she had retreated, she saw that , h the door of the private room had been j it eft open at about its original angle. - p She stole out to the position she had bi occupied in time to hear the reply. And startling though they were, it was V not the words of the reply that held F her there so much as tho voice. It was V the cooing, caressing voice which with V its gentle cadences hid nearly won her. v as it had weaker women — tho volee of Lord Wargrave. n "My dear brother, you are indefatig- w able, and you are within measurable \\ distance of your reward," was what Marian heard. "But while you have h been away a slight modification In our Ii programme has occurred to me." t What could this mean, Marian asked n herself. As a good American she knew the English Peerage by heart. Lord y Wargrave had no brother; he was the t Marquess of Liskeard's only soo and c heir. l But she put that aside for the prosent. She felt that she could not af- n ford to lose a single word of what was 1 passing in the room, and in answer to a brief query as to what he meant Lord t Wargravo was speaking again. "I think," he said, "that the prin- i cipnl item in the course \\v have decid- t ed upon had better he got over here in | this room, without persuading our j friend by some fairy tale 1>» iim- his own legs as a means of locomotion to tlw> furnace house. Considering what ] von say of your abortive interview with him this evening the fiist plan might not succeed if he imagines hiinsolf to be on the track ot a clue on bis own account. He might Heal Kite's yarn about tho clue In the tui'i.ice homo with as much contempt as he did tl>one you pitched him to get him nlio-iid the yacht. In which case much breath i and valuable time would ha\e been wasted." "Ho certainly hinted .it ile-iring up tho matter, ns he called ii himself, but 1 reckon that was all bluff," lotiiruod the other. "Mo's too i/ioit 'i jn.'.jiins to have gained an inkling "I <l"' leal reason for old Lipscnmbe's lemoval." Of whom were they talking ? Of whom but Owen V "If it was bluff, it was iineniumoiih sill\ bluff, and in llsnm it ho 'poke lm own death warrant," said Wargnvve, meditativeh. "Isul for tint I might have Ik'cii tempted to offer him terms; as it is I cannot afford to run the risk of his having stumbled on something that might lead him to tho truth. Mv safety demand* his elimination from any possible sphere of activity. Do you agree to mv approved method of dispensing with diplomacy in order to get i him over to the furnaoo-hnu.se '•'" » Ho whom Wargra\e h-id called brother uttered a. coarse hiugli. "Noth- » ing like education; you talk like a halfpenny book," he said. "I reckon all those long words mean that as soon aa

Mr. Owen Liphcombo appears we shoot him on Mglit. carry the body over to tho hii'iiaee house, and, since you are so k< en on classical terms, cremate it an per original intention." For just the fraction of a second Marian s vision was dimmed, and siiange shapes swam before her eyes. Tb'>n, wi»h the awful knowledge tint i man's life -the life of the man she l-ixed — depended on her, she took * firm ;'ji\> of herself. The obvious thing to do niiH to retreat silently and, taking up a position at the entrance gates, piexcnt Owen from walking into the trap. Unfortunately, in turning to i .ii i>. rut her purpose, »be moved too iijiiicl.h. « nd her dress swished against the vill of the corridor. "Hark!" came Wargrave's startled i ci \ . "There is someone in the pasn1 c." (To Im- eontiiiued.)