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a ,A V" .v . .1 .ggyrl. «‘9‘“.-"~0"~..' ¢\./V‘./ “é V- .Vâ€"w CHAPTER XXXI. I There were more sides to the mysâ€" tery than David Steel imagined. It had seemed to him that he had pret- .ty well all the threads in his hands, but he would have been astonished .to know how much more Hatherly Bell and Enid Henson could have told him. But it seemed to Bell that there! ThcPricc of Liberty 3% 0R, A MIDNIGHT CALL - away. "â€"â€" “Don't worry about me." David said, grimly. “I’m gaining a. vast quantity of experience that will be of the greatest value to me later on. Besides, I can go and compare notes with Miss Ruth Gates whilst you are She is soothing.” - . "So I should imagine," Bell said, drily. "No, I must be off. I'll let you know what happens at Littimer here. ' ' Castle. Good luck to you plied. was one very important thing to be _ done before he proceeded any farther. And Be“ hustled " 011' He was interested in the mystery as” he was interested in anything where . . . , , him, and before five o'clock he was $3?th as; Ig’orgltzbn‘igng in the train for London. It was only cleansing .his 1good lull-fit); bfiesliéles,f this $39213“,:efzi‘fit’é‘do“qgfskg‘etob'fig‘: wou give. 1m 0‘ WI er 0 0 ac- locallines and a badly fitting cross tion. . . , In the light. of recent (liscoVeries it Serv'ce It was nearly eleven 0 cloak had become imperative that he,before he reached Moreton Station. should once more be on good terms It. did not matter much, because Litâ€" with Lord Littimer' Once this was timer had said that a carriage accomplished, Bell saw his way to Shomd meet him- the‘ clearing up of the whole compli- However, there was “0 conveyance lie was pleased to find a recent telegram of acceptance from Littimer awaiting . cation. . had originally David 1t was a great advantage l'of any-kind outside the station, One- to know who. his enemy was; .it avast a still greater advantage to discmrer] that‘.-,the hero of the cigarcase', and the victim of the'outrage in Steel's conservatory was the graceless scamp Van Sneck, the'picture dealer, who Blin " to Lord Littimer. I It was all falling out beautifully. Not only had Van Sneak turned , up in the nick of time, but he was not in a position to do any further mis- chief. It suited Bell-exactly thati Van Sneck should be hers do combatl for the moment. | The first thing to be done was to‘ see Lord Littimer without delay. Bell had no idea of humbly soliciting an. interview. ,I-l‘e proceeded to a tele~4 graph office the first thing the fol-} lowing morning and wired Littimeré to the effect that he must see him on important business. He had ani hour or two at his disposal, so he, took a cab as far as Downend Torâ€"l race. He found Steel slugâ€"hunting in the conservatory, the atmosphere of which was blue with cigarette smoke. . . I ' “So you are not working this morning?" he asked. I the dickens can I work?" exclaimed, irritably. “Not that I haven’t been trying. I might just as well take a long holiday till this mystery is cleared up for the good I am. “How to have Littimer’s ear once more." “You are going to show him the spare Rembrandt, eh?” . rThat's it. astonish him. to say I’m which I shall proceed to storm the citadel. , I feel all the safer because nobody knows I have the engraving.’ “My dear chap, somebody knows you have the picture." ' “Impossible!” Bell exclaimed. “0nâ€" ly yourself and Enid Henson can possibly be aware thatâ€"â€"-" “All the same, I am speaking the truth," .David said. “Last night 'when you went into the hospital you gave me the print to take care of. At the same time I noticed a roughâ€" looking man presumedly asleep on the seat in the road facing the hos- pital. Afterwards when I looked round he had disappeared. 'At the time I thought nothing of it. When I came in here I placed the precious roll of paper on my wtitingâ€"table under the window yonder. The win- dow is a. small one, as you can see, and was opened about a foot at the top. I set here with the light down and the room fainth illuminated by the light in the conservatory. After a little time I saw a hand and arm groping for something on the table, and I'm quite sure the hand and arm were groping for your Rembrandt. rl‘he fellow muttered something that I failed to understand, and I made a grab for him and got him. the other hand made a dash for my I've sent a telegram head with an ugly piece of gasâ€"pipâ€" ing, and I had to let go." “And you saw no more of the fel- low?’ ’ “No; I didn't expect to. I couldn't sleepy porter had already- departed, tion, but that some clerical sold ‘.‘The.Crims0n :m-a“. hm} .comc manded 1t. had departed. porter yawned. with a white tie and a straw hat. Walked in a, slouching kind of way with his from St. Albans, perhaps. I miles. G cod-night." What is the. nexti move?" I . “My next move is to go to Littiâ€"', mer and convince him that he I done me a great wrong. 'I am bound; has I Nor did I 1; flatter myseu I sham ! lonely road towards him, somebody ‘ in clerical attire. rl‘he stranger stopâ€" coming toâ€"day, afteri Then i from the castle had come to the sta-. gentleâ€" along and counter- Whereupon the dog-cart “Very strange," Bell muttered. "What sort of a person was it?" “I only just saw his face," the “Dressed in black, hands down; new curate Looked like a chap as could take care of himself in a row." “Thanks,” Bell said, .eurtly. “I'll manage the walk; it's only two Bell's face was grim and set as he stepped out into the road.. He knew fairly well What this meant. It was pretty evident that his archâ€"enemy knew his movements perfectly well, and that a vigorous attempt was beâ€" ing made to prevent him reaching the castle. He called back to. the porter. “How long since the carriage wont?” be asked. , A voice from the darkness said “Ten minutes," and Bell trudged on with the knowledge that one of his enemies at least was close at hand. That Reginald Henson was at the castle he had not the remotest idea. he fear personal violence. Despite his figure, he was a man of enormous strength and courage. But he had not long to wait. Somebody was coming down the pod and politely, if a. little huskily, inquired if he was on the right way lto Moreton Station. Bell respoded as politely that he was, and asked to know the time. Not that he carâ€" led anything about the time: what he really wanted was to see the stran- get's hands. The little rusu was suc- cessful. In the dim light Bell could see a flattened, hideous thumb with the pink parody of a nail upon it. “Thanks, very much,” he said, crisply. “Keep straight on." He half turned as the stranger swung reund. The latter darted at Bell, but he came too late. Bell’s list. shot out and caught him fairly on the forehead. Then the stick in Bell’s left hand came down with crushing force on the prostrate mans skull. So utterly dazed and sur- prised was he that he lay on the ground for a moment, panting heavâ€" ily. "You murderous ruflian," Bell gasped. “You escaped convict in an honest man’s clothes. (let up! So you are the fellowâ€"â€"” (He paused suddenly, undesimus of letting the rascal see that he knew too much. The other man rolled over suddenly live a cat and made a dash for a gap in the hedge. he was gone like a flash. Pursuit would be 9useless, for pace was not Bell's strong point. And he was not fear- ful of being attacked again. “Henson seems to be pretty well' served," he muttered, grimly. Meanwhile, the man with the see his face, but there was one Decu‘rthumb was flying over the fields in liarity‘ he had that I might 'tell you the direction of Littimer. He had his way across country to the cliffs for your future guidance. :1 thumb smashed as flat as the head with the He made assured air of one who of a. snake, with one tiny pink nail‘knOWs every inch of the ground. He in the middle of it. So, if you meet ghad failed in the first. part of his a man like that on your journey to-,instructions, and there was no time day, look to yourself. 0n the whole. Ito be lost if he was to carry out the you see that our enemies are a lit- tle more awake than you give them credit for.” Bell nodded thoughtfully. plainly exactly what had happened. vice to me. I'm sorry you work.“ The in- formation was of the greatest possi- ble value to him. It told him quite that Reginald Henson knew . Under ordinary circumstances by this time Henson would:be,flo’n hisway to Lit- timcrfCastle, there to checkmate -the man he; had’so deeply injured. 'But 'E-“fortunately Henson was-laid by the ‘heels, or so Bell imagined. .. ',‘I'am.really obliged â€"tQ-you.'.’. Bell said. "Your information is likely to be of the greatest possible ser- can‘t Isecond part Successfully. He struck the Mills at length a mile or so away, and proceeded to scramble along them till he lay hid- den just under the terraces at Litti- mer Castle. He knew that he was in time for this part of the pro- Igramme, '_despite the fact that his head. pache‘d considerably from the force-and 'vig‘onof Bell'szassault; He lay I there,’_ 'pantingand' breathing come. ’ 1 Meanwhile," Bell was jogging along. placid'ly’an‘d with 1no fear in.’ his heart at all. ject of his late antagonist’s attack. heavily, waiting 'for the" Signal "-to - He did not need anyâ€" body to tell him what was the ob- ruffian had got"the better of him he would never have seen the Rem- brandt again. Henson's hounds were on the track; but it would go hard if they pulled the quarry down just as the sanctuary was in sight. Presently Bell could see the lights of the castle. By the lodge-gates stood a dog- eart; in the flare of the lamps Bell recognised the features of the driver, a very old servant of Littimer’s. Bell took in the situation at a glance. “Is this the way you come for me, Lund?" he asked. . “I'm very sorry, sir," Lund re- “But a clergyman near the station said you had gone another way, so I turned back. And when I got here I couldn't make top nor tail of the story. Blest if I wasn't a bit nervous that it might have been some plan to rob you. And I was going to drive slowly along to the station again when you turned ‘up.fl “Oh, there" nothing wrong," said Bell, cheerfully. “And I don't look as if I’d come to any harm. Anybody staying at the'castle, Lund?" "Only Mr. Reginald Henson, sir, Lund said, disparagingly. Bell started, but his emotion was lost in the darkness. It came as a great surprise to him to find I! that the enemy was actually in the field. And how apprehenSIVe of dan- \ at the get he must be to come so far with his health in so shattered a condi- tion. Bell smiled to himself as he pictured Henson’s face on seeing him once once more under that roof. "How long has Mr. Henson been and the other: one, who took Bell's hem? he‘ aSked' tickettand was obviously waiting to lock 'up, deposed that a carriage “Only came yesterday, sir; Shall I drive you up to the house? 'And if you wouldn't '_mind saying nothing to his.‘ lordship about my mistake, sirâ€"-â€" ’ . . “Make your mind easy>on that Score," Bell said, drily. “His lord- ship shall know nothing whatever about it. On the whole, I had betâ€" ter drive up to the house. How fam- iliar it all looks, to be sure.” A minute later and Bell stood within the walls of the castle. CHAPTER X XXII. Chris crossed the corridor like one who walks in a dream. She had not enough energy left to be astonished even. Her mind travelled quickly over the events of the past hour, and she began to see the way clear. But] how had somebody or other manag- ed to remove the picture? Chris ex- amined the spot on the wall where the Rembrandt had been with the eye of a detective. That part of the mystery was exâ€" plained in a moment. A sharp cut- ting instrument, probaly a pair of steel pliers with a lever attachment, had been applied to the head of the four stays, and the flat heads had been pinched off as clean as if they had been string. After that it was merely necessary to remove the frame and a child could have done the rest. "How clever I ,am," Chris told ’ herself, bitterly. "I'm like the as- tute people whoaput. Chubb locks on Russia leather jewel-cases that anybody could rip open with a six- penny penkn‘ife. And .in my conceit l tics to Yes, it was pretty obvious that the man with the thumb had stolen the print, and that by this time he Was far away with his’ possession. While Chris was helping Henson the latter's accomplice had slipped into the castle and effected the. burglary. Chris. flicked out the light in the alcove as a servant came along. 1t was not policy for any of the domes- be too wise. Chris forced a smile to her face as the maid came along. “Allen,” she asked, “are there many owls about here?" “Never a one as I know, miss,” the maid responded, confidently. “I've been here for eleven years, and I never heard of such a thing. Clif- ford, the head keeper. couldn't sleep at nights if he thought as there was such a thing on the estate. Have you heard one, miss?" "I was evidently mistaken," Chris said. "Of course you would know best." j '80 the cry of the owl had been a Signal of success. Chris sat in the gloom' there resolved to see .the comedy played through. The events I deemed the Rembrandt to be ab- sglutely sn’fe. Now whatâ€"what is, “rd give something to know what t 0 game? . has taken place in the dining-room," It was much easxer to ask the Chris murmured. -~ ’ ‘* L question than to answer it. ..But She Was‘ om t k . there were some'facts sufficiently ob--The lighth wgeobegfgwegfigmuigflg‘i vious to Chris. ' In the first placelau over the h0u8e' Hensong came wshe knew that Reginald Henson was: up to bed hem,“ - _ . y. as one who is ut- bottom of the whole thing; 1 terly worn out. At thesame time she knew that he had traded on the he looked~perfect1y satisfied with him_ ' He might have been a vigilant fact that she had taken a fancy to self, the terraCe as on after-dinner lounge, I omccr who had setucd a“ his plans indeed, she had told him so earlier in : and was ' I , gomg to seek a wellâ€"earned the day. . He had traded on the rest before the enemy came on to of the night were not over yet. knowledge that he‘ .could prove am. his destruction. 'In sooth” Henson alibi if any Su-‘Ipicmns 93‘?!“th ‘to’ was utterl 'worn out He had t mm. The-fact that he was m dun-l ed his str‘cllgth'to the 'uttermost ger ow1ng to a slip on the edge of he was free to rest now ' ' the'clilf was all nonsence. He had; "-Meafiwhue" the cdn‘ferémm in the not been "In {Infdangel‘ at a“; hci dining-room ' proceeded. Lord Littiâ€" had seen th‘lS’ there. afld he ‘had {my had received his guest with fri- made all that parade With an eye gidflpolitene‘ss,-to which Bell had re- to the future. As a. matter _ 01 sponded with an equally cold cour- course, he_W&S .dQWll “10V? settling. tesy. Littimer laid his cigar aside matters wlth his accomplice of thei and looked Bell steadily inbtho face maimed thumb, who had chosen the (To-be Continued) ' cliff way of getting into the castle _._+-.._- ' as the swiftest and the surest from Dm.g_storc complexions detection. multitude of freckles. cover a An Incubator Without, Cash /Until October, 1905 Thirty days’ trial Th. Incubsto' "m me it. working rL-ht, we hatched out of 109 fertile eg 3, exceedineg well. i l livm chickens. third hatch came of! chicks out of119'eges. We have also a y Ohnthmn Fanning Mill which gives good p , __ _ satisfaction. I will not lose an oppor- infertile ones, I have _12 chicks. _ tunity of recommending the Chatham the Illthan first class in every particular machinesto my friends. Ymu‘a res ect- and easy to run, fully, MRS. SIDNEY SMITH, Scot and, carefully. Out. in an incubator d h ' ' . . :3: [2:31 ' 2' “he: EEDSgeq£:eg:;Feniffig saved them all. We had in the incubator first lot of eggs. 110, _ found that 53 were not fertile, two others we 0" 39 ducks and 32 geese; tom. 71 to directions. The brood" is a world“. were broken 'Iccidenmuh “mi 1 had 51 “mg 78 eggs, also hatched 6 turkeys M and I have not lost achick as yet, and chicks or about 90 per cent. of the fertile . ' the same time thlt the hen e gs were in. _ eggs' The second final 01 no gave me 93 We recommend the Climbing Incubator JOHN H- MCKIN‘NON» CouanWOOd. Ont- The meder‘ gives and Breeder to be the best and surest l ! at}:ng Escuddgméufigfin' {£335 to hatch, under all circumstances. of any J. E. JOHNSTON, Editor Lesmington Post, Lanmingwn, Out. I have used your No. 2 Incubator for th eh tch-s, d in so well leased Duels! Toulon Geese In W13.“ :habhl 013;”; 5; No.3 whighyom Bronze Turkeys. Yours truly, D. A. it. Will recommend your Incubator to agent, Mr. Tumbull, brought today. My ADAMS. Dime: Mn“- Chatham Incubators and Brooders have every new improvement worth while case, of dry material that has been thoroughly seasoned in out They are finished in antique oak, are amount of usage for years. There is big money to be made in raising chickens with an Incubator. Canada exports annually millions of chickens to the United States and Great Britain. ' The consumption of poultry in Canada is increasing rapidly and the poultry dealers complain that they cannot get enough poultry to~fill'their orders. One woman bought ’2. No. 2 Chatham Incubator the first of March â€"she had five hatches by July first and had four hundred plump, sturdy chicks. ' In six months her Incubator had paid her $100.00, several times its cost. A Chatham Incubator should pay for itself each batch. We have perfected an Incubator'and breeder. We believe it is new absolutely the best in the world. We have sufficient capital behind us, and ’ we are out for the entire business in incubators. We know that there is no other incubator that can approach the Chatham incubator This is our proposition : To demonstrate our absolute confidence in the Chatham Incubator we will send one to you, freight prepaid, and you make your first payment in October, 1905. The fact that we sell our Incubators in this manner guarantees them to the, fullest extent, is a delusion and a snare. If you have good luck you may get off one hatch in that time, and even then you are uncertain, and if you reject the machine you will have to pay the freight both ways. But with us you send in your order and we ship the machine prepaid. When it arrives, if it seems all right, start your hatch, and we will give you until October, 1905, before you have to pay a cent in cash. We positively guarantee that the machine is a good hatcher. ‘ Every machine should sell a dozen, and we will, on no account, allow a. machine that is defective to remain in any neighborhood. - WHAT SIX CHATHAM INCUBATORnUSERS HAVE TO SAY: ‘ r ’ II The No. 3 incubator ,mu sent me is a I wish to lab you know of my success. with your Incubator. Out of 124. eggs I vol; 7!. chicks, and out of my second etch I got 94 from 106 eggs. I find the - - at the same time in the oLher tray 44 . _ . on examination I duck eggs and 3‘ “’00” eggs. "om wh'ich machine a pure snor‘css if run according It m very ems”, 102 good strong chicks, and the bran er they are almost feathered. Yours truly, Your No. 2 Chatham Incubator has other in ke. We have handled four given very good returns the first batch. other makes in our poultry bunness Out of 59 e gs, I had 42 chiokl. 1 was which we run on a. large scale at Birtle, rather nfrni of wasting the eggs, and so keeping Barred Plymouth Rocks, Pekin did not fill the machine. but when the d Mammoth chicks came, I was sorry I had not filled mv neighbors. Yours sincerely, MRS. The No. 2 Incubator I bought from MARGARET LICINTOSH. White-wood, ou in all you recommended it to be. I Arse. ut in 101 eggs. and after testing out the I find yesterday with 112 if directionsare followed Yours respectfully, M38. HENRY CHASE, Warren, Out. The incubators are made with .two walls case within lumber yards. built solid as a. rock and will stand any They are fitted with a. perfect steel and brass or breeder. regulator that insures a successful hatch. There has never before been CAMPBELL such an offer as this made in the whole world. The sooner you take . - - b r FANNING _ advantage of this offer, the more time you Will have before Octo e , MEL (:0 1905, to make first payment. Cut off the coupon and send it in to-day - “mm, for our booklet on the way to raise chickens, what it costs and your CHATI‘IAM. ONT. profit. You will obtain all information regarding the Chatham DEPT. 34, - Pl d WW . watercress: ' . v . . _. - ‘ ‘ guthwlneubator. together _.'r:he- (Manson tampbcll- fin-Limit?! _ . sat.:fli:.m......°;‘:::w:r ‘ . DEPT. 34 1 v 'anrnAle. ONT. 2 -. b‘o pudpnu mum-.1905. .. ' w'Manufacturef-s of Chatham Incubators and Breeders ' Mention this paper. He knew perfectly well that if the Distributing \Varchoueee at Montreal, 0116.. Brandon. Man. :4 ,p . Ncw_\V.estminster, 13.0., Halifax, N.S. Factories at Chathaxn. Ont... Detroit. Mich. . Also Manufacturers of the Famous Campbell Fanning Mills and Chatham Farm Scales Calgary, Alta. I N‘W'icn:-goo-unnouu-an-QA-u-ouno Pa “unions...mum;-.l... Nam! RailwaySlat-‘M ...................... Address all letters to Claudine. Ont. -1... .__ _.’, . 8 . -.. ‘u ,7 ,_. \-,‘. .1“; Q- 4 _ '- ...~::--a~ . .< t”.