LOVE WINS THROUGH

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 16502, 1 August 1919, Page 8

LOVE WINS THROUGH

POWERFUL STORY OF ROMANCE AND MYSTERY.

By BEN BOLT,

Author of ‘Oho Lady of tho Miniature, ''Love Finds the Clue,” "The Sin of Silence,” etc., etc. CHAPTER VI. She waited a moment us if collectin'; IKT thoughts, teen, speaking slowiy, •sue bewail : "Pei naps you know that just before 1 was taken til, aunt and i were m Pans.” "tos. 1 know that.” "Be went there because I thought of joining one of the art .scnoois, and because i had an idea Unit I should hue to i.iue a studio anil Jive among the. ai t students oi -Vloutiuai trod

Mie was silent a moment, and Sir Plmip sin lied. "1 can l imagine you and .Miss Sherwood amongst that crowd, ‘liny are an odd lot." "Perhaps,” she said, “bub that was my idea, and I actually took a .studio itom a young; Englishman in a quiet street oh the Place Pigalle.

"i ue Ihaee Idgalle ; As lie echoed the words there was an odd look on {sir Philip's lace, and in ins tones an accent ol surprise. •■Ves, ’ Stella replied. "tile Place Pigaile. Do you know n'r" "Not personally.’ ho answered quickly. "By r.quite, of course. It was there that the cannon weiv_ seized winch led to the Commune, wasn’t itf” 'i is. said Stella quietly, "alul something happened lo me there—something dreiiuliiL” "jell me," ho urged. "As 1 said. 1 actually took a studio there, and within an hour or two ol becoming tenant, as aunt was indulging in her allernoim nap, 1 slipped away in a taxi to look at my new rooms, i was like a child with a new toy, and thinking 1 would like a little icircshmelit, l"went out into the street lo buy some tea. leaving the door of the flat unfastened, i was away perhaps five minutes, and when 1 returned 1 had a dreadful shock, for lying oil the Hoor was a dead man with a poignard in ids heart.,' "Good heavens!”

! Sir hailin'* amazement was extreme, I blil- there wins something besides ■ amazement in bis voice, and as Siolla i looked at him she saw that lie was very agitated. and that Ins ilaik taee had gone quite |iale. “l"knew* I should surprise you!'’ sho said aoologetically. •‘I never expected anything like* that,” lie explained, and then asked quickly. “Did you know the iiiiuu'’ 1 “1 had never seen loin in my life before/’ Stella, replied, and then con- ■ tinned; “I pulled the poignard out of the man’s breast, and whilst. 1 stood there v.-th it in my hand, lerriik'd beyond measure, someone tapped twice upon the door. I. could not move. 1 did not know what to do, and the door opened, revealing the young r.iiglishuuiTi from whom I had rented Iho flat. He was amazed, as well lm might he. and I tried to tell him what had happened. Then 1 broke down, I, believe 1 cried. 1 know 1 fainted.” | She broke off and looked at the be.rn- • not. JI is agitation was extreme, and there was a light of horror in his dark

; eyes. “Vrs,” bo said hoarsely. "I enn nndersland why yon fainted. Hut what followed afterwardsP" _ "I came to niysolf with the -Englishman bonding over 1110. Ho made mo i drink wine, and when I had recovered ! a lillli! I tried to toll him what had | happened. 1 I was doing so, when wo both hoard a slop on the stairs, and tlie sound of a voice singing. 1 was terribly frightened, and to save me ho made me leave the studio at once. T could scarcely stand; Ido not know how I got down the stairs. I know that i I had the hardest work to keep from

; crying nut as I passed the person on the ! stairs—a girl model—and that 1 almost fainted. I found a taxi in the street, i 1 wont back to the hotel, and I hurried ; auntie out of Franee- that very night." ‘‘Yon were wise to do that, ’ com- | mentorl the baronet. “Oh, no, 1 do not think Twas, now. Yon see 1 was terribly upset—afraid, i and what one does in fear is not usually 1 wisely done. 1 never thought at that I time of what might happen afterwards ■ to the man who helped me. 1 was sel- ; trail, thoughtless, terribly afraid for . myself.’’ “What happened P" demanded Sir Philip, with a curious abruptness, "He v. as taken, he was charged with the murder, and whilst T was ill he was condemned and sent to the t rench con- ■ vict prison in Xnr Caledonia. And f know lie was not guilty, and if 1 had been well at the time ol the trial, it 1 had known what was happening, I should have returned to Pans and told . all that I know.” “Hut if he were found guilty," said the baronet, plausibly, "lie probably : was so. French justice is as good as ours, and the Parisian police are- the best in the world." "lint I am sure he was not," pro-

tested Stoll".. “Ho was not-tho kind of nnm to do a wicked thing like that. Besides, there was a ridiculous mistake

at the trial!” “What was that:' asked her companion almost sharply. ‘•'Well the 211*111 wiio was murdered was described as the owner of the- flat, ‘ whilst the real truth was that the man whom they tried and condemned

was the owner,” ‘•How do you know, Stella?’ cried Sir Philip. “Because, as I have said, I had only an hour or two before engaged the fiat from him. and the ridiculous mistake that the police; made J could not make.” “What? was the man’s name?” asked the baronet, with a strange look on “John Arcolt,” answered Stella, adding as she saw him start, “it is an odd coincidence that he should have your buru:mio.” , .... _ . „ “Ves,” replied Sir Philip hurriedly, “hut there is nothing remarkable about it. There arc plenty of Areotts iin the west of England. Pul you arc. unite sure of what you are saying? It is a strange tiling that a man should he put on trial and condemned for the murder of himself.” . “1 am quite sure, I cannot be mistaken. The man who helped—the man who was tried-was the man who let me the flat. At the trial ho refused 1 to givo any name, uml uluUt ho doI dared that it was an accident that ho 1 was present in the room with the dead ! man he denied the story which the 1 model told of having, met me on the ; stairs. I think ho did that to shield ’ me. lie ” “But how could the police make such a preposterous mistake?” “That was easy 'enough. They found a pocket book on the dead man

with John Aroott's name in it. I suppose they jumped to the conclusion that he was the "Xo.'' broke in Sir Philip. “Thaxis very unlikely. 'I here is another explanation which has just occurred to me.'’ He drew a long breath and a look of relief came on Ids face, "It is this. Stella. You, in taking the Hat were probably the victim ol a very clever fraud. 'The man from whom you rented the flat was probably not- John Areott, the owner of the flat at all. In a cosmopolitan city like Paris there are all sorts of clever scoundrels who will do an\ thing to obtain a few francs. Suppose this man from whom you hired the flat was masquerading as the owner in the latter’s absence- Thar is not an unknown tiling. Only the other day the furniture was removed from a house in London by people who posed as the owners, and when ’ (Continued daily.)