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^/ 1°

JENNIE BAXTER
JOURNALIST

ROBERT lURR

AUTHOR OK "in the MIDST OF AI.ARMH, " THK MHTABLE MANT
" TH£ COUNTESS TEKJJ^," ETC.

TORONTO :
THE OOPP, OLAEK COMPANY, LIMITKD

' . I ""MjTflli " I

Entered according; to Act of the Parliament of Caiiwla, In the year one thousand eight hundrc<l and ninety-
nine, by Tub Copr, Clahk (.'ush'a.ny, Limitku, Toronto, in the Otiloe of the Minister o( Agriculture.

-zr

CONTENTS

ninety-
ire.

I.— Jbnnik Makrs her Toilettk and thk Acquatntancb of a

POUTKR

II. — Jknnie has Impoetani Confbbbncbs with Two Impobtant
Editobs

III.— Jennie Interviews a Fbiohtkneu Official .

IV.— Jbnnie Learns apout tub Diamonds of the Pbincess

V. — Jennie Merts a Great Detbctivb

VI. — Jennie Solves the Diamond Mystkby ...

VII. — Jbnnie Arranqbs a Cinderella Visit ....

VIII. —Jennie Mixes with the Elite o^ Earth

IX.— Jbnnie Realizes that Great Events Cast their Shadows
Behind

X. — Jbnnie Assists in Seahcuino for Herself .

XI. — Jennie Eludes an Offer of Marriage . . . ^

XII. — Jennie Touches the Edob of a G ivernment Sbcbbt .

XIII.— Jbnnib Indulges in Tea and G >8sip ....

XIV.— Jbnnie Rboomes a Special Police Officer .

XV.— Jennie Bestows Information upon the Chief of Police

XVI —Jennie Visits a Modern Wiz.vrd in his Magic Attic .

XVII. —Jbnnie Engages a Uo:)M in a Sleeping-car .

XVIII.— Jennie Kndi'rk.s a Terrible Night Journey

XIX. — Jennie Experienced the Surprise of heu Life .

XX.— Jbnnie Converses with a Youno Man she thinks much of

XXI,— Jbn.vib Kbbp.') Step with thb Wedding March .

10
14
21
25
28
36
40

49
54
(51

101

107

115

119

124

UNIVERSITY

OF VICTORIA

LIBRARY

JENNIE BAXTER, JOURNALIST

CHAPTER I.

JENNIE MAKES HEK TOILETTE AND THE ACQUAINTANCE OP A PORTER.

Miss Jennie Baxter, with several final and dainty touches that put to
rights her hat and dress — a little pull here and a pat there — regarded
herself with some complacency in the large mirror that was set before her,
as indeed she had every right to do, for she was an exceedingly pretty
girl. It is natural that handsome young women should attire themselves
with extra care, and although Jennie would have been beautiful under
any conceivable condition of dress, she nevertheless did not neglect the
arraying of herself becomingly on that account. All that was remarkable
on this occasion consisted in the fact that she took more than usual pains
to make herself presentai)le, and it must be admitted that the effect was
as attractive as anyone could wish to have it. Her appearance was enough
to send a friend into ecstasies, or drive an enemy to despair.

Jennie's voluminous hair, without being exactly golden, was — as the
poets might term it — the colour of ripe corn, and was distractingly fluffy
at the temples. Her eyes were liquidly, bewitchingly black, of melting
tenderness, and yet, upon occasion, they would harden into piercing orbs
that could look right through a man, and seem to fathom his innermost
thoughts. A smooth, creamy complexion, with a touch of red in the
cheeks, helped to give this combination of blonde ar.d brunette an appear-
ance so charmingly striking that it may be easily understood she was
not a girl to be passed by with a single glance. Being so favoured by
nature, Jennie did not neglect the aid of art, and it must be admitted that
most of her income was expended in seeing that her wardrobe contained
the best that Paris could supply ; and the best in this instance was not
necessarily the most expensive — at least nc is expensive as such
supplementing might have been to an ordinary ..ornan, for Jennie wrote
those very readable articles on the latest fashionable gowns which have
appeared in some of the ladies' weeklies, and it was generally supposed
that this fact did not cause her own replenishing from the modistes she
so casually mentioned in her writings to be more expensive than her purse
could afford. Be that as it may. Miss Baxter was always most becomingly
attired, and her whole effect was so entrancing that men have been known
to turn in the street as she passed, and murmur, " By Jove ! " a phrase
that, when you take into account the tone in which it is said, represents

JENNIE BAXTER, JOURNALIST

the furthermost point of admiration which the limited vocabulary of a man
about town permits him to utter; and it says something for the honesty of
Jennie's black eyes, and the straightforwardness of her energetic walk,
that none of these momentary admirers ever turned and followed her.

On this occasion Miss Jennie had paid more than usual attention to her
toilette, for she was about to set out to capture a man, and the man was no
other I ban Radnor Haidwick, tlie capable editor of the Daibj Diujlr, which
was considered at that moment to be the most enterprising morning journal
in the great metropolis. Miss Baxter had done work for some of the
evening papers, several of the weeklies, and a numl)er of the monthlies, and
the income she made was reasonably good, bu*^ hazardously fitful. There
was an uncertainty al)out her mode of life which was displeasing to her,
and she resolved, if possible, to capture an editor on one of the morning
pap^ra, arid get a salary that was fixed and secure. That it should be
large was a matter of course, and pretty Miss Jennie had quite enough
confidence in herself to believe she would earn every penny of it. Quite
sensibly, she depended upon lur skill and her industry as her ultimate
reconnnendation to a large salary, but she was woman enough to know
that an attractive appearance might be of some assistance to her in getting
a hearing from the editor, even though he should prove on acquaintance to
be a man of iion, which was tolerably unlikely. She glanced at the dainty
little watch attached to her wristlet, and saw that it lacked a few minutes
of five. She knew the editor came to his office shortly after three, and
remained there until six or half-past, when he went out to dine, returning
at ten o'clock, or earlier, when the serious work of arranging next day's
issue began. She had not sent a note to him, for she knew if she got a
reply it would be merely a request for particulars as to the proposed inter-
view, and she had a strong faiuh in the spoken word, as against that which
is written. At five o'clock the editor would have read his letters, and
would probablj' have seen most of those who were waiting for him, and
Miss Baxter quite rightly conjectured that this hour would be more
appropriate for a sliort conversation than when he was busy with bis
correspondence, or immersed in the hard work of the day, as he would be
after ten o'clock at night. She had enough experience of the world to
know that great matters often depend for their success on apparent
trivialities, and the young woman had set her mind on becoming a
member of the Daih/ Bugle staff.

She stepped lightly into the hansom that was waiting for her, and said
to the caljman, " Office of tlie Daily Biujlc, please ; side entrance."

The careful toilette made its first impression upon the surly-looking Irish
porter, who, like a gruff and faithful watch-dog, guarded the entrance to
the editorial rooms of the Buijlc. He was enclosed in a kind of glass-
framed sentry-box, wi'li a door at the side, and a small arched aperture,
that was on a level with his face as he sat on a high stool. He saw to it,
not too politely, that no one went up those stairs unless he had un-
doubted right to do so. When he caught a glimpse of Miss Baxter, he
slid off the stool and came out of the door to her, which was an
extraordinary concession to a visitor, for Pat Ryan contented himself, as
a usual thing, by saying curtly that the editor was busy, and could St.:
no one.

"What did you wish, miss? To see the editor? That's Mr. Hard-
wick. Have ye au appointment with him ? Ye haven't ; then I very

JENNIE MAKES HER TOILETTE

said

much doubt if ye'U see him this day, mum. It's far better to write to
him, thin ye oan state what ye want, an' if he makes an appointment
there'll be no throuble at all, at all."

"But why should there be any trouble now?" asked Miss Baxter.
" The editor is here to transact business, just as you are at the door to do
the same. I have come on business, and I want to see him. Couldn't you
send up my name to Mr. Hardwick, and tell him I will keep him but a few
moments ?"

" Ah, miss, that's what they all say ; they ask for a few moments an'
they shtay an hour. Not that there'd be any blame to an editor if he kept
you as long as he could. An' it's willing I'd be to take up your name,
but I'm afraid that it's little good it 'ud be after doin' ye. There's
more than a dozen men in the waitin'-room now, an' they've been there for
the last half-hour. Not a single one I've sent up has come down again."

" But surely," said Miss Jennie, in her most coaxing tone, " there must
be some way to see even such a great man as the editor, and if there
is, you know the way."

"Indade, miss, an' I'm not so sure there is a way, unless you met him
in the strate, which is unlikely. As I've told ye, there's twelve men
now waitin' for him in the big room. Beyont that room there's another
one, an' beyont that again is Mr. Hardwick's office. Now, it's as much
as my place is worth, mum, to put ye in that room beyont the one where
the men are waitin' ; but, to tell you the truth, miss," said the Irish-
man, lowering his voice, as if he were divulging office secrets, " Mr.
Hardwick, who is a difficult man to deal with, sometimes comes through
the shmall room, and out into the passage whin he doesn't want to see
anyone at all, at all, and goes out into the strate, leavin' everybody waitin'
for him. Now I'll put ye into this room, and if the editor tries to slip
out, then ye can speak with him ; but if he asks ye how ye got there,
for the sake of hiven don't tell him I sint ye, because that's not my duty at
all, at all."

" Indeed, I won't tell him how I got there ; or, rather, I'll say I came
there by myself ; so all you need to do is to show me the door, and there
won't need to be any lies told.

'* True for ye, an' a very good idea. Well, miss, then will ye just come
up the stairs with me ? It's the fourth door down the passage."

Miss Jennie beamed upon the susceptible Irishman a look of such
melting gratitude that the man, whom bribery had often attempted to
corrupt in vain, was her slave for ever after. They went up the stairs
together, at the head of which the porter stood while Miss Baxter went
down the long passage and stopped at the right door ; Ryan nodded and
disappeared.

Miss Baxter opened the door softly and entered. She found the room
not too brilliantly lighted, containing a table and several chairs. The door
to the right hand, which doubtless led into the waiting-room, where the
dozen men were patiently sitting, was closed. The opposite door, which
led into Mr. Hardwick's office, was partly open. Miss Baxter sat down
near the third door, the one by which si e had entered from the passage,
ready to intercept the flying editor, should he attempt to escape.

In the editor's room someone was walking up and down with heavy
footfall, and growling in a deep voice that was plainly audible where
Miss Jennie sat.

JENNIE BAXTER. JOURNALIST

" You see, Alder, it's like this," said the voice. " Any paper may have
a sensation every day, if it wishes ; but what I want is accuracy, otherwise
our sheet has no real influence. When an article appears in the Bugle,
I want our readers to understand that that article is true from beginning
to end. I want not only sensatior, but definiteness, and not only
definiteness, but absolute truth."

" Well, Mr. Hardwick," interrupted ant er voice — the owner of wliich
was either standing still or sitting in a chair, so far as Miss Baxter could
judge by the tone, wliile the editor uneasily paced to and fro — " what Hazel
is afraid of is that when this blows over he will lose his situation "

" But," interjected the editor, " no one can be sure tliat he gave
the information. No one knows anything about this but you and I, and
we will certainly keep our mouths shut."

" What Hazel fears is that the moment we print the account, the Board
of Public Construction will know he gave away the figures, because of
their accuracy. He says that if we permit him to make one or two
blunders, which will not matter in the least in so far as the general
account goes, it will turn suspicion from him. It will b" supposed that
someone had access to the books, and in the hurry of transcribing figures
had made the blundei-s, which they know he would not do, for he has a
reputation for accuracy."

" Quite so," said the editor ; " and it is just that reputation for accuracy
that I wan€ to gain for the Daily Bugle. Don't you think the truth of it
is that the man wants more money? "

"Who? Hazel?"

" Certainly. Does he imagine that he could get more than fifty pounds
elsewhere?"

"Oh, no; I'm sure the money doesn't come into the matter at all. Of
course he wants the fifty pounds, but he doesn't want to lose his situation on
the Board of Public Construction in the getting of it."

" Where do you meet this man, at his own house, or in his office at the
Board?"

" Oh, in his own house, of course."

" You haven't seen the books, then ? "

" No ; but he has the accounts all made out, tabulated beautifully, and
has written a very clear statement of the whole transaction. You
understand, of course, that there has been no defalcation, no embezzle-
ment, or anything of that sort. The accounts as a whole balance perfectly,
and there isn't a penny of the public funds wrongly appropriated. All the
Board has done is to juggle with figures so that each department seems
to have come out all right, whereas the truth is that some departments
have been carried on at a great profit, while with others there has been a
loss. The object obviously has been to deceive the public and make it
think that all the departments are economically conducted."

"I am sorry money hasn't been stolen," said the editor generously,
"then we would have had them on the hip; but, even as it is, the Bugle
will make a gi'eat sensation. What I fear is that the opposition press
will seize on those very inaccuracies, and thus try to throw doubt on the
whole affair. Don't you think that you can persuade this person to let us
have the information intact, without the inclusion of those blunders he
seems to insist on ? I wouldn't mind paying him a little more money, if
that is what he is after."

Ba:

<v«!ei?w

JENNIE MAKES HER TOILETTE 9

" I don't think that in his object. The truth is, the man is frightened,
and grows more and more so as the day for publication approaches. Ho
is so anxious aluiut his position tiiat he insisted he was not jO be paid by
cheque, but that I should collect the money and hand it over to him in
sovereigns."

"Well, I'll tell you what to do, Alder. We mustn't seem too eager.
Let the matter rest where it is until Monday. I suppose he expects you
to call upon him agi'Mi to-day? "

" Yes ; I told him I should be there at seven."

" Don't go, and don't write any explanation. Let him transfer a little
of his anxiety to the fear of losing his fifty pounds. I want, if possible, tc
publish this information with absolute accuracy."

"Is there any danger, Mr. Hardwick, that some of the other papers-
may get on the track of this ?

" No, I don't think so ; not for three days, anyway. If we appear too
eager, this man Hazel may refuse us altogether."

" Very good, sir."

Miss Baxter heard the editor stop in his walk, and she heard the
rustling of paper, as if the subordinate were gathering up some documents
on which ho had been consulting his chief. She was panic-stricken to
think that either of the men might come out and lind her in the position
of an eavesdropper, so with great quietness she opened the door and
slijiped out into the hall, going from there to the entrance of the ordinary
waiting-room, in which she found, not the twelve men that the portt r had
expatiated upon, but five. I'jvidently the other seven had existed only in
the porter's imagination, or had become tired of waiting and ha.l with-
drawn. The Ine looked up at her as she entered and sat down on a chair
near the door. A moment later the door conmiunicating with the room
she had quitted opened, and a clerk came in. He held two or three slips
of paper in his hand, and calling out a name, one of the men rose.

" Mr. Hardwick says," spoke up the clerk, " that this matter is in
Mr. Alder's department ; would you mind seeing him '? .Room number
five."

So that man was thus got rid of. The clerk mentioned another name,
and again a man rose.

" Mr. Hardwick," the clerk said, " has the matter under consideration.
Call again to-morrow at this hour, then he will give you his decision."

That got rid of number two. The third man was asked to leave his
name and address ; the editor would write to him. Number four was told
that if he would set down his prbposition in writing, and send it in to Mr.
Hardwick, it would have that gentleman's serious consideration. The
fifth man was not so easily disposed of. He insisted upon seeing the
editor, and prescuitly disappeared inside with the clerk. Miss IJaxter
smiled at the rapid dispersion of the group, for it reminded lier of the
rhyme about the one little, two little, three little nigger-boys. But all
the time there kept running through her mind the pluase, " Board of
Public Construction," and the name, " Hazel."

After a few minutes, the persistent man who had insisted upon seeing
the editor came through the general waiting-room, the secretary, or clerk,
or whoever he was, following him.

" Has your name been sent in, madam ? " the young man asked Miss
Baxter, as she rose.

JENNIE BAXTER. JOURNALIST

" I think not," answered the girl. " Would you take my card to Mr.
Hardwick, and tell him I will detain him but a few moments? "

In a short time the secretary reappeared, and held the door open for
her.

CHAPTER II.

JENNIR HAP, IMPORTANT C0NFEBENCE8 WITH TWO IMPORTANT EDITORS.

Mr. IIardwick was a determined-looking young man of about thirty-five,
with a bullet head and closely-cropped black hair. He looked like a
stubborn, strong-willed person, and Miss Baxter's summing up of him was
that be had not the appearance of one who could be coaxed or driven into
doing anything he did not wish to do. He held her card between his
fingers, and glanced from it to her, then down to the card again.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Hardwick," began Miss Baxter, "i don't
know that you have seen any of my work, but I have written a good deal
for some of the evening papers and for several of the magazines."

" Yes," said Hardwick, who was standing up preparatory to leaving his
office, and who had not asked the young woman to sit down ; " your name
is familiar to me. You wrote, some months since, an account of a
personal visit to the German Emperor ; I forget now where it appeared."

"Oh, yes," said Miss Baxter; "that was written for the Summer
Maiiaaini:, and wns illustrated by photographs."

" It struck me," continued Hardwick, without looking at her, " that it
was an article wiitten by a person who had never seen the German
Emperor, but who had collected and assimilated material from whatever
source presented itself."

The young woman, in nowise abashed, laughed ; but still the editor did
not look up.

" Yes," she admitted, "that is precisely how it was written. I never
have had the pleasure of meeting William II. myself."

" What I have always insisted upon in work submitted to me," growled
the editor in a deep voice, " is absolute accuracy. I take it that you have
called lo see mo because you wish to do some work for this paper."

"You are q^ .e right in that surmise also," auLwered Miss Jennie.
" Still, if I may say so, there was nothing inaccurate in my article about
the German J'hnperor. My compilation was from thoiuughly authentic
sources, so I maintain it was as 'ruthfuUy exact as anything that has ever
appeared in the Biujlc."

" Perhaps our definitions of truth might not quite coincide. However,
if you will write your address on tliis card I will wire you if I have atiy
work— that is, any outside work — which I think a woman can do. Tlio
woman's cohmm of the Biujlc, as you are probably aware, is already in
good bands."

Miss Jeimie seemed anno > 'id thai all hor elal)orato preparations were
thrown away on this man, who never raised his eyes nor glanced at her,
except once, during their conversation.

" I do not aspire," she said, rather shortly, " to the position of editor of

JENNIE HAS IMPORTANT CONFERENCES

did

a woman's column. I never read a woman's column myself, and, unlike
Mr. Grant Allen, I never met a woman who did."

She succeeded in making the editor lift his eyes towards her for the
second time.

" Neither do I intend to leare you my address so that you may send a
wire to me if you have anything that you think I can do. What I wish is
a salaried position on your staff."

" My good woman," said the editor brusquely, "that is utterly impossible.
I may tell you frankly that I don't believe in women journalists. The
articles we publish by women a-re sent to this office from their own homes.
Anything that, a woman can do for a newspaper I have men who will
do quite as well, if not better ; and there are many things that women can't
do at all which men must do. I am perfectly satisfied with my staff as it
stands. Miss Baxter."

" I think it is generally admitted," said the young woman, " that your
staff is an exceptionally good one, and is most capably led. Still, I should
imagine that there are many things happening in London, society functions,
for instance, where a woman would describe more accurately what she saw
than any man you could send. You have no idea how full of blunders a
man's account of women's dress is as a general rule, and if you admire
accuracy as much as you say, I should think you would not care to have
yom- paper made a laughing-stock among society ladies, who never take the
trouble to write you a letter and show you where you are wrong, as men
usually do when some mistake regarding their affairs is made."

" There is probably something in what you say," replied the editor, with
an air of bringing the discussion to a close. " I don't insist that I am right,
but these ai'e my ideas, and while I am editor of this paper I shall stand by
them, so it is useless lu" us to discuss the matter any further. Miss Baxter.
I will not have a woman as a member of the permanent staff of the Biuile."

For the third time he looked up at her, and there was dismissal in his
glance.

Miss Baxter said indignantly to herself, " This brute of a man hasn't th*e
slightest idea that I am one of the best dressed women he has ever met."

But there was no trace of indignation in her voice when siie said to him
sweetly, " Wo will take that as settled. But if upon some other paper, Mr.
Hardwick, I should show evidence of being as good a newspaper reporter
as any member of your staff, may I come up liere, and, without being kept
waiting too long, tell you of my triumph ? "

" You would not shake my decision," he said.

" Oh, don't say that," she murmured, with a smile. " I am sure you
wouldn't like it if anyone called you a fool."

•"Called me a fool? "said the editor sharply, drawing down his dark
brows. " I shouldn't mind it in the least.''

" What, not if it were true'? You know it would be true, if I could do
something that all your clever men hadn't accomplished. An editor may
be a very talented man, but, after all, his mission is to see that his paper is
an interesting one, and that it contains, as often as possible, something
which no other sheet does."

" Oh, I'll see to that," Mr. Hardwick assured her v/ith resolute
confidence.

" I am certain you will," said Miss Baxter very sweetly ; " but now you
won't refuse to let me in whenever I send up my card ? I promise you that

JENNIIO r.AXTi:]^, JOURNALIST

I shall not send it until I have; done soniethinfi; which will make the whole
staff of the Daily Bugle feel very doleful indeed."

For the first time Mr. Hardwick gave utterance to a somewhat harsh and
mirthless laugh.

"Oh, very well," he said, " I'll promise that."

"Thank you! And good afternoon, Mr. Hardwick. I am so much
obliged to you for consenting to see me. I shall call upon you at this hour
to-morrow afternoon."

There was something of triumph in her smiling bow to him, and as she
left she heard a long whistle of astonishment in Mr. Hardwick's room. She
hurried down the stairs, threw a bewitching glance at the Irish porter, who
came out of his den and whispered to her, —

" It's all right, is it, mum ? "

" More than all right," she answered. " Thank you very much indeed
for your kindness."

The porter preceded her out to the waiting hansom and held his arm so
that her skirt would not touch the wheel.

" Drive quickly to the Cafe Royal," she said to the cabman.

When the hansom drew up in front of the Cafe Royal, Miss Jennie
Baxter did not step out of it, but waited until the stalwart servitor in gold
lace, who ornamented the entrance, hurried from the door to the vehicle.
" Do you know Mr. Stonehani ? " she asked with suppressed excitement,
" the editor of the Evening Chapliite ? He is usually here playing dominoes
with somebody about this hoiu'."

"Oh yes, I know him," was the reply. "I think he is inside at this
moment, but I will make certain."

In a short time Mr. Stoneham himself appeared, looking perhaps a trifle
disconcerted at having his whereabouts so accurate i\ ascertained.

" What a blessing it is," said Miss Jennie, with a laugh, " tbat we poor
reporters know where to find our editors in a case of enieigeticy.."

" This is no case of emergency. Miss Baxter," grunililcd Stoneham.
" If it's news, you ought to know that it is too late to be of any use for us
to-day."

" Ah, yes," was the quick reply, " but what excellent time I am in with
news for to-morrow ! "

" If a num is to live a long life," growled the disturbed editor, " he must
allow to-monow's ntjws to look after itself. Sufficient for the day are the
worries thereof."

" As a general rule thnt is true," assented the girl, " but I have a most
important piece of information for you that wouldn't wait, and in half an
hour from now you will he writing your to-morrow's leader, showing forth
in terse and forcible language the many iniquities of the Board of Public
Construction."

" Oh," cried the editor, brightening, " if it is auytliing to the discredit
of the Board of Public Construction, I am glad you came."

" Well, that's not a bit complimentary to me. You should be glad in
any case ; but I'll forgive your bad manners, as I wish you to help me.
Please step into this hansom, becausa I iiave most startling intelligence to
impart— news that must not be overboard ; and there is no place so safe
for a confidential conference as in a hansom driving through the streets of
London. Drive slowly towards the Evenincf Grnphitc office," she said
to the cabman, pushing up the trap-door in the roof of the vehicle.

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JENNIE HAS IMPORTANT CONFERENCES

Mr. Stoneham took his place beside her, and the cabman turned his
horse in the direction indicated.

" There is little use in going to the office of the paper," said Stoneham ;
" there won't be anybody there but the watchman."

" I know, but we must go in some direction. We can't talk in front of
the Cafe Royal, you know. Now, Mr. Stoneham, in the first place, I
want fifty golden sovereigns. How am I to get them within half an
hour?"

" Good gracious ! I don't know ; the banks are all closed, but there is a
man at Charing Cross who would perhaps change a cheque for me ; there
is a cheque-book at the office."

" Then that's all right and settled. Mr. Stoneham, there's been some
juggling with the accounts in the office of the Board of Public Con-
struction."

" What ! a defalcation '? " cried Stoneham eagerly.

" No ; merely a shifting round."

"Ah," said the editor, in a disappointed tone.

"Oh, you needn't say 'Ah.' It's very serious; it is indeed. The
accounts are calculated to deceive the dear and confiding public, to whose
interests all the daily papers, morning and evening, pretend to be devoted.
The very fact of such deception being attempted, Mr. Stoneham, ought to
call forth the anger of any virtuous editor."

" Oh, it does, it does ; but then it would be a difficult matter to prove.
If some money were gone, now -"

" My dear sir, the matter is already proved, and quite ripe for your
energetic handling of it ; that's what the fifty pounds are for. This sum
will secure for you— to-night, mind, not to-morrow— a statement bristling
with figures which tbe Board of Construction cannot deny. You will be
able, in a stirring leading article, to express the horror you undoul)tedly
feel at the falsification of the figures, and your stern delight in doing so
will probably not be mitigated i)y the fact that no other paper in London
will have the news, while the matter will bo so important that next day all
your beloved contemporaries will bo compelled to allude to it in some
shape or other."

" I see," said the editor, his eyes glistening as the magnitude of the idea
began to appeal more strongly to his imagination. " Who makes this
statement, and how are wo to know that it is absolutely correct ? "

"Well, there is a point on which I wish to inform you before going
any further. The statement is not to lie absolutely correct ; two or three
errors have been purposely put in, the object being to throw investigators
oif the track if they try to discover who gave the news to the Press ; for
tJH' man who will sell me this document is a clerk in the office of the
Board of Public Construction. So, you see, you are getting the facts from
the inside."

" Is ho so accustomed to falsifying accounts that he cannot get over the
habit even when preparing an article for the truthful Press's* "

" He wants to save his own situation, and quite rightly too, so he has
put a number of errors in the figures of the department over whicli he lias
direct control. He has a reputation for such accuracy that he imagines
the Board will never think he did it, if the figures pertaining to his depart-
ment are wrong even in tin; siiglitcst degree."

" Quite so. Then we cannot have the pleasure of mentioning his name,

JENNIE BAXTEE, JOUENALIST

and saying that this honest man has been corrupted by his association
with the Fcoundrels who form the Board of Public Construction? " •

"Oh, dear, no ; his name must not l)e mentioned in any circumstances,
and that is why payment is to be made in sovereigns rather than by bank
cheque or notes."

" Well, the traitor seems to be covering up his tracks rather effectually.
How did you come to know him ? "

" I don't know him. I've never met him in my life ; but it came to my
knowledge that one of the morning papers had already made all its plans
for getting this information. The clerk was to receive fifty pounds for the
document, but the editor and he are at present negotiating, because the
editor insists upon absolute accuracy, while, as I said, the man wishes to
protect himself, to jover his tracks, as you remarked."

"Good gracious!" cried Stoneham, "I didn't think the editor of any
morning paper in London was so particular about the accuracy of what he
printed. The pages of the morning sheets do not seem to reflect that anxiety.'

" So, you see," contmued Miss Jennie, unheeding his satirical comment,
" there is no time to be lost ; in fact, I should be on my w^ay now to where
this man hves."

" Here we are at the office, and I shall just run in and write a cheque
for fifty pounds, which we can perhaps get cashed somewhere," cried the
editor, calling the hansom to a halt and stepping out.

" Tell the watchman to in'ing me a London Directory," said the girl, and
presently that useful guardian came out with the huge red volume, which
Miss Baxter placed on her knees, and, with a celerity that comes of long
practice, turned over the leaves rapidly, running her finger quickly down
the H column, in which the name " Hazel " was to be found. At last she
came to one designated as being a clerk in the office of the Board of Public
Construction, and his residence was 17, Eupert Square, Brixton. She put
this address down in her notebook and handed back the volume to the
waiting watchman, as the editor came out with the cheque in his hand.

The shrewd and energetic dealer in coins, whose little office stands at
the exit from Charing Cross Station, proved quite willing to oblige the
editor of the Evcninij Graphite with fifty sovereigns in exchange for the
bit erf paper, and the editor, handing to Miss Jennie the envelope containing
the gold, saw her drive off for Brixton, while he turned, not to resume his
game of dominoes at the cafe, but to his office, to write the leader which
would express in good set terms the horror he felt at the action of the
Board of Pubhc Construction.

CHAPTEK III.

JENNIE INTERVIEWS A FBIQHTENED OFFIC/AL.

It was a little past seven o'clock when Miss Baxter's hansom drove up to
the two-storeyed house in Eupert Square numbered 17. She knocked at
the door, and it was speedily opened oy a man with some trace of anxiety
on his clouded face, who proved to be Hazel himself, the clerk at the
Board of Public Construction.

JENNIE INTEEVIEWS A FEIGHTENED OFFICIAL 15

" You are Mr. Hazel ? " she ventured, on entering.

" Yea," replied the man, quite evidently surprised at seeing a lady
instead of the man he was expecting at that hour ; ' ' but I am afraid I
shall have to ask you to excuse me ; I am waiting for a visitor who is a
few minutes late, and who may be hei-e at any moment."

" You are waiting for Mr. Alder, are you not? "

" Yes," stammered the man, his expression of surprise giving place to
one of consternation.

" Oh, well, that is all right," said Miss Jennie, reassuringly. " I have
just driven from the office of the Daily Bugle. Mr. Alder cannot come
to-night."

"Ah," said Hazel, closing the door. "Then are you here in his
place?"

" I am here instead of him. Mr. Alder is on other business that he had
to attend to at the editor's request. Now, Mr. Hardwick — that's the
editor, you know "

"Yes, I know," answered Hazel.

They were by this time seated in the front parlour.

" Well, Mr. Hardwick is very anxious that the figures should be giyen
with absolute accuracy."

" Of course, that would be much better," cried the man ; " but, you see,
I have gone thoroughly into the question with Mr. Alder already. He said
he would mention what I told him to the editor — put my position before
him, in fact."

"Oh, he has done so," said Miss Baxter, "and did it very effectively
indeed; in fact, your reasons are quite unanswerable. You fear, of course,
that you will lose your situation, and that is very important, and no one in
the Biujle office wishes you to suffer for what you have done. Of course,
it is all in the public interest."

" Of course, of course," nmrmured Hazel, looking down on the table.

" Well, have you all the documents ready, so that they can be published
at any time?"

"Quite ready," answered the man.

" Very well," said the girl, with decision ; " here are your fifty pounds.
Just count the money, and see that it is correct. I took the envelope as it
was handed to me, and have not examined the amount mysjlf."

She poured the sovereigns out on the table, and Hazel, vith trembling
fingers, counted them out two by two.

"That is quite right," he said, rising. He went to a drawer, unlocked
it, and took out a long blue envelope.

" There," he said, with a sigh that was almost a gasp. " There are the
figures, and a full explanation of them. You will be very careful that my
name does not slip out in any way."

" Certainly," said Miss Jennie, coolly drawing fortli the papers from their
covering. "No one knows your name excei)t Mr. Alder, Mr. Hardwick,
and myself; and I can assure you that I shall not mention it to anyone."

She glanced rapidly over the documents.

" I shall just read what you have written," she said, looking up at him ;
" and if there is anything iiere 1 do not understand you will, perhaps, be
good enough to explain it now, and then I won't need to come here
again."

" Very well," said Hazel.

JENNIE BAXTEE, JOURNALIST

The man bad no suspicion that his visitor was not a member of the staff
of the paper he had been negotiating with. She was so thoroughly self-
possessed, and showed herself so familiar with all details which had been
discussed by Aider and himself that not the slightest doubt had entered
the clerk's mind.

Jennie read the documents with great haste, for she knew she was
running a risk in remaining tiiere after seven o'clock. It might be that
Alder would come to Brixton to let the man know the result of his talk
with the editor, or Mr. Hardwick himself might have changed his mind,
and instructed his subordinate to secure the papers. Nevertheless, there
was no sign of hurry in Miss Jennie's demeanour as she placed the papers
back in their blue envelope and bade the anxious Hazel good-bye.

Once more in the hansom, she ordered the man to drive her to Charing
Cross, and when she was ten minutes away from Rupert Square she
changed her direction and desired him to take her to the office .of the
Evening Graphite, where she knew Mr. Stoneham would be busy with his
leading article, and probably impatiently awaiting further details of the
conspiracy he was to lay open before the public. A light was burning in
the editorial rooms of the office of the Evening Gra^/iiic, always a suspicious
thing in such an establishment, and well calculated to cause the editor of
any rival evening paper to tremble, should he catch a glimpse of burning
gas in a spot where the work of the day should be finished at latest by five
o'clock. Light in the room of the evening journalist usually indicates that
something important is on hand.

A glance at the papers Miss Baxter brought to him showed Mr. Stone-
ham that he had at least got the worth of his fifty pounds. There would
l)e a fluttering in high places next day. He made arrangements before he
left to have the paper issued a little earlier than was customary, calculating his
time with exactitude, so that rival sheets could noi have the news in their
first edition, cribbed from the Graphite, and yet the paper would be on the
street, with the newsboys shouting, 'Orrible scandal," before any other
evening journal was visible. And this was accomplished the following day
with a precision truly admirable.

Mr. Stoneham, with a craft worthy of all commendation, kept back from
the early issue a small fraction of the figures that were in his possession, so
that he might print them in the so-called fourth edition, and thus put upon
tlie second lot of contents-bills sent out, in huge, startling black type,
"Further Revelations of the Board of Construction Scandal;" and his
scathing leading article, in which he indignantly demanded a Parlia-
mentary inquiry into the conduct of the Board, was recognized, even by
the friends of that public body, as having seriously shaken confidence in it.
The reception of the news by the other evening papers was most flattering.
One or two ignored it altogether, others alluded to it as a rumour, that it
" alleged " so and so, and threw doubt on its truth, which was precisely
what Mr. Stoneham wished them to do, as he was in a position to prove the
accuracy of his statement.

Promptly at five o'clock that afternoon a hansom containing Miss Jennie
Baxter drove up to the aide entrance of the Dailij Bugle office, and the
young woman once more accosted the Irish porter, who again came out of
nis den to receive \nn\

" Miss Baxter? " said the Irishman, half by way of salutation, and half
by way of inquiry.

JENNIE INTEEVIEWS A FEIGHTENED OFFICIAL 17

and half

"Yes," said the girl.

" Well, Mr. Hardwick left strict orders with me that if ye came, or,
rather, that whin ye came, I was to conduct ye right up to his room at
once."

"Oh, that is very satisfactory," cried Miss Jennie, "and somewhat
different from the state of things yesterday."

" Indeed, and that's very true," said the porter, his voice sinking.
" To-day is not Hke yesterday at all, at all. There's been great ructions in
this oflBce, mum ; although what it's about, fly away with me if I know.
There's been runnin' liack and forrad, an' a plentiful deal of language
used. The proprietor himself has been here, an' he's here now, an' Mr.
Alder came out a minute ago with his face as white as a sheet of paper.
They do be sayin'," added the porter, still further lowering his voice, and
pausing on the stairway, " that Mr. Hardwick is not goin' to be the editor
any more, but that Mr. Alder is to take his place. Anyway, as far as I can
tell, Mr. Hardwick an' Mr. Alder have had a tine fall out, an' one or other
of them is likely to leave the paper."

"Ob, dear, oh, dear!" said Miss Jennie, also pausing on the stairs.
" Is it so serious as all that ? ' '

" Indeed it is, mum, an' we none of us know where we're standin', at all,
at all."

The porter led the way to Mr. Hardwick's room, and announced the
visitor.

" Ask her to come in," slie heard llie editor say, and the next instant the
porter left them alone together.

" Won't you sit down, Miss Baxter? " said Mr. Hardwick, with no trace
of that anger in his voice which she had expected. " I have been waiting
for you. You said you would be here at five, and I like punctuality.
Without beating round the bush, I suppose I may take it for granted that
the Evening Graphite is indebted to you for what it is pleased to call the
Board of Public Construction scandal ? "

" Yes," said tiie young wonmn, seating herself ; "I came up to tell you
that I procured for tlie Graphite that interesting bit of information."

" So I supposed. My colleague, Henry Alder, saw Hazel this afternoon
at the offices of the Board. The good man Hazel is panic-stricken at the
explosion he has caused, and is in a very nervous state of mind, more
especially when he learned that bis documents had gone to an unexpected
quarter. Fortunately for him, the offices of the Board are thronged with
journalists who want to get statenients from this man or the other regard-
ing the exposure, and so the visit of Alder to Hazel was not likely to be
noticed or commented upon. Hazel gave a graphic description of the
handsome young woman who had so cleverly wheedled the documents from
him, and who paid Inni tlie exact sum agreed upon in the exact way that it
was to have been paid. Alder had not seen you, and has not the slightest
idea how the important news slipped through his fingers ; but when he told
me what had happened, I knew at once you were the goddess of the
machine, therefore I have been waiting for you. May I be permitted to
express the opinion that you didn't play your cards at all well. Miss
Baxter ? "

"No? I think I played my cards very much better than you played
yours, you know."

" Oh, I am not instituting any comparison, and am not at all setting

JENNIE 13AXTEE, JOURNALIST

myself up as a model of strategy. I admit that, having the right cards in
my bands, I played them exceedingly badly ; but then, you understand,
I thought I was sure of an exclusive bit of news."

" No news is exclusive, Mr. Hardwick, until it is printed, and out in the
streets, and the other papers haven't got it."

"That is very true, and has all the conciseness of an adage. I would
like to ask, Miss Baxter, how nuich the Graphite paid you for that article
over and above the fifty pounds you gave to Hazel? "

" Oh ! it wasn't a question of money with me ; the subject hasn't even
been discussed. Mr. Stoneham is not a generous paymaster, and that is
why I desire to get on a paper which does not count tho i-'-it too closely.
What I wished to do was to convince you that I would be a valuable
addition to the Biujlc staff ; for you seemed to be of opinion that the staff
was already sufficient and complete."

"Oh, my staff is not to blame in this matter; I alone am to blame
in being too sure of my ground, and not realizing the danger of
delay in such a case. But if you had brought the document to me,
you would have found me by far your best customer. You would have
convinced me quite as effectually as you have done now that you are
a very alert young woman, and I certainly would have been willing
to give you four or five times as much as the Graphite will be able
to pay."

" To tell the truth, I thought of that as I stood here yesterday, but I
saw you were a very diflQcult man to deal with or to convince, and I dared
not take the risk of letting you know I had the news. You might vei-y
easily have called in Mr. Alder, told him that Hazel had given up the
documents, and sent him flying to Brixton, where very likely the clerk has
a duplicate set. It would have been too late to get the sensation into any
Other morning paper, and, even if it were not too late, you would have had
something about the sensation in the Bugle, and so the victory would not
have been as complete as it is now. No, I could not take such a risk. I
thought it all out very carefully."

" You credit us with more energy, Miss Baxter, than we possess. I
can assure you that if you liad come here at ten or eleven o'clock with the
documents, I should have been compelled to purchase them from you.
However, that is all past and done with, and there is no use in our saying
anything more about it. I am willing to take all the blame for our defeat
on my shoulders, but there are some other things I am not willing to do,
and perhaps you are in a position to clear up a little misunderstanding
that has arisen in this office, I suppose I may take it for granted that you
overheard the conversation which took place between Mr. Alder and
myself in this room yesterday afternoon ? "

" Well," said Miss Baxter, for the first time in some confusion, "I can
assure you that I did not come here with the intention of listening to
anything. I came into the next room by myself for the purpose of getting
to see you as soon as possible. While not exactly a member of the staff
of the Evening Graphite, that paper nevertheless takes about all the work
I am able to do, and so I consider myself bound to keep my eyes and ears
open on its behalf wherever I am."

" Oh, I don't want to censure you at all," said Hardwick ; " I merely
wish to be certain how the thing was done. As I said, I am willing to
take the blame entirely on my own shoulders. I don't think I should

JENNIK INTERVIEWS A FEIGHTENED OFFICIAT.

have made use of information obtained in that way myself ; still, I am not
venturing to find fault with you for doing so."

" To find fault with me ! " cried Miss Jennie somewhat warmly, " that
would be the pot calling the kettle black indeed. Wliy, what better were
you ? You were bribing a poor man to furnish you with statistics, which
lie was very reluctant to let you have ; yet you overcame his scruples with
money, quite willing tliat he should risk his livelihood, so long as you got
the news. If you ask nie, I don't see very nmch difference in our
positions, and I must say that if two men take the risk of talking aloud
about a secret, with a door open leading to another room, which may be
empty or may be not, then they are two very foolish persons."

" Oh, quite so, quite so," answered Hardwick soothingly. " I have
ah'eady disclaimed the critical attitude. The point I wish to be sure of is
tliis — you overheard the conversation between Alder and myself? "

" Yes, I did."

" Would you be able to repeat it ? "

" i don't know that I could repeat it word for word, but I could certainly
give the gist of it."

" Would you have any objection to telling a gentleman whom I shall
call in a moment, as nearly as possible what Alder said and what I said ?
I may add that the gentleman I speak of is Mr. Hempstead, and he is
practically the proprietor of this paper. There has arisen between Mr. Alder
and myself a slight divergence of memory, if I may call it so, and it seems
that you are the only person who can settle the dispute."

" I am perfectly willing to tell what I heard to anybody."

" Thank you."

Mr. Hardwick pressed an electric button, and his secretary came in
from another room.

" Would you ask Mr. Hempstead to step this way, if he is in his
room?"

In a few minutes Mr. Hempstead entered, bowed somewhat stiffly
towards the lady, but froze up instantly when he heard that she was the
person who had given the Board of Public Construction scandal to the
Eveniiig Graphite.

" I have just this moment learned, Mr. Hempstead, that Miss Baxter
was in the adjoining room when Alder and I were talking over this matter.
She heard the conversation. I have not asked her to repeat it, but sent
for you at once, and slie says she is willing to answer any questions you
may ask."

" In that case, Mr. Hardwick, wouldn't it be well to have Henry Alder
here ? "

" Certainly, if he is on the premises." Then, turning to his secretary,
he said, " Would you find out if Mr. Alder is in his room? Tell him Mr.
Hempstead wishes to see him here."

When Henry Alder came in, and the secretary had disappeared. Miss
Baxter saw at once that she was in an unenviable situation, for it was quite
evident the three men were scai'cely on speaking terms with each other.
Nothing causes such a state of tension in a newspaper office as the missing
of a piece of news that is important.

"Perhaps it would be better," suggested Hardwick, " if Miss Baxter
would repeat the conversation as she heard it.

" I don't see the use of that," said Mr. Hempstead. "There is only

JENNIE BAXTEB, JOUKNALIST

one point at issue. Did Mr. Alder warn Mr. Hardwick that by delay he
woi'ld lose the publication of this report ? "

" Hardly that," answered the girl. "As I remember it, he said, ' Isn't
there a danger that some other paper may get this?" Mr. Hardwick
replied, ' I don't think so. Not for three days, at least' ; and then Mr.
Alder said, ' Very good,' or ' Very well,' or something like that."

" That quite tallies with my own remembrance," assented Hardwick.
" I admit I am to blame, but I decidedly say that I was not definitely
warned by Mr. Alder that the matter would be lost to us."

" I told you it would be lost if you delayed," cried Alder, with the
emphasis of an angry man, " and it has been lost. I have been on the
track of this for two weeks, and it is very galling to have missed it at the
last moment through no fault of my own."

"Still," said Mr. Hempstead coldly, " your version of the conversation
does not quite agree with what Miss Baxter says."

" Oh, well," said Alder, " I never pretended to give the exact words. I
warned him, and he did not heed the warning."

" You admit, then,, that Miss Baxter's remembrance of the conversation
is correct? "

" It is practically correct. I do not stickle about words."

" But you did stickle about words an hour ago," said Mr. Hempstead,
with some severity. " There is a difference in positively stating that the
item would be lost and in merely suggesting that it might be lost."

" Oh, have it as you wish," said Alder truculently. " It doesn't matter
in the least to me. It is very provoking to work hard for two weeks, and
then have everything nullified by a foolish decision from the . editor.
However, as I have said, it doesn't matter to me. I have taken service on
the Daily Trumpet, and you may consider my place on the Biujlc vacant "
— saying which, the irate Mr. Alder put his hat on his head and left the
room.

Mr. Hempstead seemed distressed by the discussion, but, for the first
time, Mr. Hardwick smiled grimly.

" I always insist on accuracy," he said, " and lack of it is one of Alder's
failings."

" Nevertheless, Mr. Hardwick, you have lost one of your best men.
How are you going to replace him? " inquired the proprietor anxiously.

" There is little difficulty in replacing even the best man on any staff in
London," replied Hardwick, with a glance at Miss Baxter. "As this
young lady seems to keep her wits about her when the welfare of her
paper is concerned, I shall, if you have no objection, fill Henry Alder's
place with Miss Baxter? "

Mr. Hempstead arched his eyebrows a trifle, and looked at the girl in
some doubt.

" I thought you didn't believe in women journalists, Mr. Hardwick," he
murmured at last.

" I didn't up till to-day, but since the evening papers came out I have
had reason to change my mind. I should much rather have Miss Baxter
for me than against me."

"Do you think you can fill the position. Miss Baxter?" asked the
proprietor, doubtingly.

" Oh, I am sure of it," answered the gu'l. " I have long wanted a place
on a well -edited paper like the Biujle. '

JENNIE LEARNS ABOUT THE PRINCESS'S DIAMONDS 21

delay he

d, ' Isn't
lardwick
then Mr.

[ardwick.
definitely

with the
en on the
I it at the

Again Mr. Hardwick smiled grimly. The proprietor turned to him,
and said, " I don t quite see, Mr. Hardwick, what a lady can do on this
paper outside of the regular departments."

" I hardly think there will be any trouble about that, Mr. Hempstead.
For example, who could be better equipped to attempt the solution of that
knotty question about the Princess von Steinheimer's diamonds? "

"By Jove!" cried Hempstead, his eyes glittering with excitement.
" Tliat is an inspiration. I in.d.gine that if anyone can unravel the
mystery, it is Miss Baxter."

iversation
words. I
iversation

empstead,
ig that the
t."

m't matter
veeks, and
he . editor,
service on
hi vacant "
,nd left the

r the first

! of Alder's

best men.
xiously.
my staff in
'"' As this
fare of her
nry Alder's

the gii"l in

■dwick," he

out I have
iliss Baxter

asked the

tited a place

CHAPTER IV.

JENNIE LEARNS ABOUT THE DIAMONDS OF THE PBINCESS.

"What about the diamonds of the Princess?" asked Miss Baxter, her
curiosity piqued by the remark of the editor.

" That is rather a long story," replied Mr. Hardwick, " and before I
begin it, I would like to ask you one or two questions. Can you
manipulate a typewriter? "

" That depends on what make it is. The ordinary typewriter I under-
stand very thoroughly."

" Good Have you any knowledge of shorthand ? "

" A workable knowledge ; I can wi'ite about one hundred words a
minute."

" Admirable ! admirable ! Your coming to this office was indeed an
inspiration, as Mr. Hempstead remarked. You are just the person I
have been looking for."

" You didn't seem to think so yesterday , Mr. Hardwick," said the
girl with a sly glance at him.

" Well, many things have happened since yesterday. We are now deal-
ing with to-day, and with the Princess von Steinheimer."

" She is a German princess, of course? "

" An Austrian princess, but an American woman. She was a Miss
Briggs of Chicago ; a daughter of Briggs, the railway millionaire, worth
somewhere between twenty and twenty-live millions — dollars, of course.
A year or two ago she married Prince Konrad von Steinheimer ; you may
remember having read about it in the papers ? "

" Oh, yes ; the usual international match — the girl after the title, he
after the money."

" I suppose so ; but be that as it may, she is the only daughter of old
Briggs, and had spent a good deal of her time in Euiope, but she spent
more than time; she spent the old man's money as well, so during her
stay in Europe she accumulated a vast stock of diamonds, some of them
very notable stones. I don't know what the whole collection is worth,
some say a million dollars, while others say double that amount. How-
ever that may be. Miss Briggs became the Princess von Steinheimer, and
brought to Austria with her a million dollar.^ in gold and the diamonds,

JENNIE BAXTER, .JOU14NALI3T

l)lit, of
his money

course, Ijeinp an only child,
when the railway magnate

the likelihood of old
I had a conversation

Briggs's
with him

the mystery about the
You take a dreadful long time to tell a

which her father gave as dowry
she will come in for the rest of
dies."

" Is he likely to die soon? I don't suppose the Prince gave himself
away for a mere million."

" Oh, you forget the diamonds. As to
death, it didn't strike me as imminent when
yesterday."

" Yesterday? Is he here in London, then ? "

" Yes ; he has come over to disentangle
diamonds."

" And what is the mystery ?
story, Mr. Hardwick."

" The story is important, and it must be told in detail, otherwise you
may go on a long journey for nothing. Are you taking down what I say
in shorthand ? That is right, and if you are wise you will not transcribe
your notes so that anyone can read them ; they are safer in that form.
The von Steinheimer family have two residences, a house in Vienna and
an ancient castle in the Tyrol, situated on the heights above Meran, a
most picturesque place, I understand ; but very shortly you will know
more aboui it than I do, because the Bugle expects you to go there as its
special correspondent. Here the diamond robbery took place something
like two months ago, and the affair is still as great a mystery as ever.
The Princess was to open the season at Meran, which is a fashionable
resort, by giving a fancy dress ball in Schloss Steinheimer, to which all
tho Austrian and foreign notables were invited. It was just before the ball
began that the diamonds were first missed— in fact, the Princess was
about to put them on, she representing some gorgeously decorated
character from the Arabian Nights, when the discovery was made that the
diamonds were gone. She was naturally very much upset over her loss,
and sent at once for the Prince, her husband, insisting that the police
should be notified immediately and detectives called in, as was perfectly
natural. Now here comes a strange feature of tha affair, and this is
that the Prince positi'- 3ly forbade any publicity, refusing his sanction
when she demanded that the police should be informed, and yet the
Prince knew better than anyone else the very considerable value of the
stones."

" What reason did he give for his refusal ? " asked Miss Baxter, looking
up from her notes.

" I am not quite certain about that ; but I think he said it was infra dig.
for the Steinheimers to call in the police. Anyhow, it was an excuse
which did not satisfy the Princess ; but as guests were arriving, and as it
was desirable that there should be no commotion to mar the occasion, the
Princess temporarily yielded to the wish of her husband, and nothing was
said publicly about the robbery. The great ball was the talk of Meran for
several days, and no one suspected the private trouble that was going on
underneath this notable event. During these several days the Princess
insisted that the aid of the police should be invoked, and tlie Prince was
equally strenuous that nothing should be said or done about the matter.
Then, quite unexpectedly, the Prince veered completely round, and pro-
claimed that he would engage the best detectives in Europe. Strange to
say, when he announced this decision to his wife, she had veered round

ily chilcl,
r magnate

e himself

Briggs's
with him

about the

to tell a

3rwise you
vhat I say

transcribe
that form,
ienna and

Meran, a
will know
lere as its
something
y aa ever,
ashionable
) which all
jre the ball
ncess was

decorated
de that the
sr her loss,

the police
8 perfectly
,nd this is
s sanction
id yet the
ilue of the

;er, looking

3 infra dig.
an excuse
;, and as it
icasion, the
othing was
[ Meran for
IS going on
e Princess
Prince was
;he matter.
1, and pro-
Strange to
ered round

JENNIE LEARNS ABOUT THE PRINCESS'S DIAMONDS 23

also, and opposed the calling in of the detectives as strenuously as he had
done heretofore."

"What reason di(' she give for her change of front?" asked Miss
Jennie.

" She said, I believc, that it was now too late ; that the thieves, who-
ever they were, had had time to make away with their plunder, and there
would merely be a fuss and worry for nothing."

" Do you know, I am inclined to agree with her," asserted the girl.

" Are you ? Then tell me what you think of the case as far as you have
got."

" What do yoM think ? "

" I sha'n't tell you at this stage, because I know of further particulars
which I will give you later on. I merely want your opinion now, so that I
may see whether what I have to tell you afterwards modifies it in any way."

" Well, to me the case looks decidedly dark against the Prince."

" That is what Mr. Briggs thinks. He imagines his Highness has the
jewels."

" Where did you get all these particulars? "

" Prom Mr. Briggs, who, of course, got them by letter from his
daughter."

" Then we have, as it were, a one-sided statement."

" Oh, quite so ; but still you must remember the Princess does not in
the least suspect her husband of the theft."

" Well, please go on. What are the further particulars ? "

" The further particulars are that the Prince made some quiet investiga-
tions among the servants, and he found that there was a man who,
although he was a friend of his own, was much more the friend of the
Princess, and this man had, on the day the ball was given, the entire
freedom of the castle. He is a young officer and nobleman. Lieutenant
von Schaumberg, and the Prince knew that this young nian was lieing
hard pressed for some debts of honour which he did not appear to be in
a position to liquidate. The young man went unexpectedly to Viemia the
day after the ball, and on his return settled his obligations. The Princess,
from one of her women, got word of her husband's suspicion. She went
to the Prince at once, and told him she ha'' come to his own opinion with
regard to the lost diamonds. She woi in no circumstances, have
detectives about the place. Then he told her that he had also changed bis
mind, and resolved to engage detectives. So here they were at a deadlock
again. She wrote to her father with great mdignation about the Prince's
unjust suspicions, saying von Schaumberg was a gentleman in every sense
of the word. I gather that relations between herself and her husband are
somewhat strained, so I imagine there is much more in this matter than
the lost diamonds."

" You imagine, then, that she is shielding the Lieutenant ? "

" Candidly, I do."

" And you are of opinion he stole the diamonds ? "

" Yes, I am."

'• I don't agree with you. I still think it was the Prince, and I think
besides this, that he dexterously managed to throw suspicion on the
Lieutenant. Have they called in the detectives yet?"

" No, they are at a deadlock, as I remarked before."

" Well, what am I expected to do ? "

JENNIE BAXTEE, JOURNALIbT

" Mr. Bi'iggs cabled to his daughter — he never writes a letter — that ho
would come over and straighten out the tangle in fifteen minutes. He is
certain the Prince stole the diamonds, but he did not tell his daughter so.
He informed her he was bringing her a present of a new typewriting
machine, and also a young woman fi'om Chicago who could write shorthand
and would look after the Princess's correspondence — act as secretary, in
fact , for it seems the Princess has a larger correspondence than she can
reasonably attend to, and she appears therefore to yearn for a typewriter.
The old man tells me she is very careless about her letters, never being
able to find anything she wants, and leaving them about a good deal, so he
thinks she needs someone to look after her affairs ; and I have a suspicion
that her father fears she may leave some compromising letter about, so he
wishes to ward off a divorce case."

" No, I fancy you are mistaken there. Tlie father hasn't the slightest
idea that there can be mything wrong with his daughter. It is probable
the Princess has written some libellous statements al)out iier husband, and
it is quite likely the Prince is a brute and that young von Schaumberg is
a most charming person."

" Well, as I was saying," continued Hardwick, " the old man cabled his
daughter that he is bringing her a secretary and a typewriter. He engaged
a female Pinkerton detective to enter the castle as secretary to the Princess
and, if possible, to solve the diamond mystery. She is a young woman
who, when she left Chicago, was very anti-English, but she became
acquainted on the steamer with a young Englishman who was tremen-
dously taken with her, and so at Liverpool she quite calmly broke her
engagement with the old man and fulfilled a new engagement she had
made with the young man by promptly marrying him — special license, I
am told. Old Briggs has therefore a new typewriting machine on his hands,
and so I was going to propose to you that you take the place of the Chicago
Pinkerton person. Briggs has become so disgusted with all these dete., ve
women that he abandoned the idea of sending a female detective with the
machine, and doesn't imagine that whoever is sent will be either a detective
or a newspaper woman. I was introduced to him the other day by one of
those lucky chances which sometimes put interesting items of news in
our way, and he told me the whole story, requesting me to recommend
someone who wrote shorthand and understood the typewriter. I am to
dine with him this evening, and I shall cordially reconunend you. I may
say that Briggs has gone to that celebrated Ijondon detective Mr. Cadbury
Taylor, and has engaged him to solve the diamond mystery. So you see
you will have a clear field. If you can leave for the castle to-morrow
night, you may have the pleasiu'e of Mr. Cadi)m'y Taylor's company. He
isn't visiting the castle, but goes straight to Vienna ; so if you woik your
cards rightly, you c \n be in the same carriage with him as far as Munich,
and during that time you may find out perhaps wliat he thinks about the
case. I know only this much about his theory, and that is lie thinks the
right place to begin ii in Vienna, where some, at least, of the stones are
supposed to have been ^mwued."

" Oh, this is a delightful case, and I shall enjoy it. Has there been
anything published yet with reference to the robbery '? "

" Not a word ; nobody knovvs anytliing al)out it, except tjie Prince and
Princess, Briggs, myself and yourself, and perhaps oiuj or two of the
servants in the castle — oh, yes, and Cadbury Taylor."

JENNIE MEETS A GBEAT DETECTIVE

CHAPTEE V.

JENNIE MEETS A GREAT DETECTIVE.

boon

• and
r the

Miss Baxter was early at the station before the Continental train left.
She walked up and down the jjlatforni, hoping to see Mr. Cadbury Taylor,
witV< whose face and form she was familiar. She secm'ed a porter who
spi ^e French, and pretended to him that she knew no English.

"I desire," she said, "to get into a lirst-class compartment with a
gentleman whom I shall point out to you. I shall give you five shillings,
so you must let me have your whole attention. My luggage has been
labelled and registered, therefore you will not need to bother about it, but
keep your, eye on me and follow me into whatever carriage I enter,
bringing with you the hand-iiag and this heavy package."

The heavy package was a typewriter in its case. Shortly before the
train departed, there sauntered into the station the tall, thin, well-known
form of the celebrated detective. Ke wore a light ulster that reached
almost to his heels, and his keen, alert face was entirely without beard or
moustache. As he came up the platform, a short, stout man accosted
him.

" I was afraid you were going to be late," said the detective's friend,
" but I see you are just in time as usual."

" A railway station," said Mr. Cadbury Taylor, " is not the most
inspiring place in Londo'' ''or the spending of a spare half hour ; besides, I
had some facts to get together, which are now tabulated in my note-book,
and I'm quite ready to go, if the train is."

" I have secured a smoking compartment here where we shall be
alone."

"That's right. Smith," said Cadbury Taylor. "You are always so
thoughtful," and the two men entered the compartment together.

Just as the guards were shouting, "Take your seats, please," Miss
Baxter made a bolt for the compartment in which the detective and his
friend sat together in opposite corners.

" I beg your pardon," said Smith, " this is a smoking compartment."

The lady replied to him volubly in French, and next instant the porter
heaved the typewriter and liand-bagon the seat beside her. Smith seemed
to resent the intrusion, and appeared about to blame the porter, but the
man answered rapidly as he l)anged the door shut, " Tlie lady doesn't
speak any English," and the next nionient the train moved out of the
stotion.

" There was no need," said the detective, " my dear Smith, to depeml
upon the porter for the information that the lady could not speak Engiisli.
She is the secretary to a very rich employer in Chicago, and came from
that city to New York, where she sailed on the Sorvia alone, coming to
England to transact some speciai imsiness, of which T could lien; give you
full particulars, if it were worth while. She came from Ijiverpool to
London ovei the Great Western Railway, and is now on her way to Paris.
All this, of course, is obvious to the most casual observer, and so, ray dear

f»

JENNIE BAXTER, JOURNALIST

Smith, we may discuss our case \vith as much security as though we were
entirely alone."

" But, good heavens, Cadbury ! " cried Smith in amazement, " how can
you tell all that ? "

" My dear fellow," said the detective wearily, " no one travels with a
typewriting machine unless that person is a typewriter. The girl, if you
wul notice, is now engaged in tilling the leaves of her book with short-
hand, therefore that proves her occupation. That she is secretary to a
rich man is evidenced by the fact that she crossed in the Scrvia first cabin,
as you may see by glancing at the label on the case ; that she came alone,
which is to say her employer was not with her, is indicated by the type-
writer being marked ' Not Wanted,' so it was put down into the hold. If
a Chicago business man had been travelling with his secretaiy, the type-
writer case would have been labelled instead, ' Cal)in, wanted,' for a
Chicago man of business would have to write some hundreds of letters,
even on the ocean, to be ready for posting the moment he came ashore.
The typewriter case is evidently new, and is stamped with the name and
address of its sellers in Chicago. That she came by the Great Western is
shown by the fact that ' Chester ' appears on still another label. That she
has special business in England we may well believe, otherwise she would
have crossed on the French line direct from New York to Havre. So you
see, my dear boy, these are all matters of observation, and quite patent to
anyone who cares to use his eyes."

" Yes, it all seems very simple now that you have explained it," growled
Smith.

" I should be a much more m;y8terious pei'son than I am," remarked the
detective complacently, "if I did not explain so much. This explanation
habit is becoming a vice with me, and I fear I must abandon it."

" I hope for my sake you won't," said Smith more good-naturedly, " for
if left to myself I never could find out how you an'ive at your wonderful con-
clusions. Do you expect the Austrian diamond mystery to prove difficult ? "

" Difficult? Oh, dear no! To tell the truth, I have solved it already,
but in order to give the American a run for his money — and surely he
ought not to object to that, because he is a millionare who has made his
fortune by giving other people runs for their money, being a railway man
— I am now on my way to Vienna. If I solved the problem oiT-hand for
him in London, he would have no more appreciation of my talent than
you had a moment ago when I explained why I knew this French girl
came from Chicago."

" You mustn't mind that, Cadbury," said Smith contritely. " I confess
I was imtated for a moment because it all seemed so simple."

" My dear fellow, every puzzle in this world is simple except one, and
that is to find any problem which is difficult."

" Then who stole the diamonds? The lieutenant ? "

The detective an)iled and gazed upwards for a few tantalizing momenta
at the roof of the carriage.

" Here we have," he said at last, " an impecunious prince whomiwriea an
American heiress, as so many of them do. The girl begins life in Austria
on one million dollars, say two hundred thousand pounds, and a ce-se of
diamonds said to be worth another two hundred thousand at least —
probably more. Not much danger of running through that very speedily,
18 there, Smith '? "

;h we were

" how can

,'els with a
girl, if you
vith short-
letary to a
first cabin,
ame alone,
f the type-
e hold. If
^ the type-
ted,' for a

of letters,
Tie ashore.

name and

Western is

That she

she would
e. So you
;e patent to

t," growled

marked the
3xplanation

redly, " for
iderful con-
difficult ? "
it already,
i surely he
IS made his
ailway man
3ff-hand for
talent than
French girl

" I confess

pt one, and

ig momenta

) marries an
3 in Austria
d a case of
at Iwast —
ry speedily,

JENNIE MEETS A GREAT DETECTIVE #

" No, I should tliink not."

" So tlie average man would think," continued the detective. " How-
ever, I liave long since got out of the habit of thinking ; therefore I make
sure. The lu'st problem I set to myself is this : How much money have
the Prince and Princess spent since they were married ? I find that the
repairs on tlie Schloss Steinheimer, situated in the Tyrol, cost something
like forty tlionsand pounds. It is a huge place, and the Steinheimers
have not bad nn heiress in the family for many centuries. The Prince
owed a good deal of money when he was married, and it took something
like sixty tliousand pounds to settle those debts ; rather expensive as
Continental princes go, but if one must have luxuries, one cannot save
money. Not to weary you with details, I found that the two hundred,
thousand pounds were exhausted somewhat more than two months ago ;
in fact, just i)efore the alleged robbery. The Prince is, of course, without
money, otherwise be would not have married a Chicago heiress, and the
Princess being without money, what does she natui-ally do? "

" Pawns her own diamonds ! " cried Smith enthusiastically.

The detective smiled.

" I thought it nuicb more probable she would apply to her father for
money. I asked him if this was the case, giving him the date, roughly
speaking, when such a letter had been sent. The old man opened his
ayes at this, and told me he had received such a letter. ' But you did not
send the money ? ' I ventured. ' No,' he said, ' I did not. The fact is,
money is very tight in Chicago just now, and so I cabled her to run on
her debts for a while.' This exactly bore out the conclusion at which I
had already arrived. So now, having failed to get money from her father,
the lady turns to her diamonds, the only security she possesses. The
chances are that she did so before her father's cable message came, and
that was the reason she so confidently wished information to be given to
the police. She expected to have money to redeem her jewels, and being
a bright woman, she knew the traditional stupidity of the official poUce,
and so thought there was no danger of her little ruse being discovered.
But when the cable message came saying no liioney would bo sent her, a
different complexion was put ujion the whole atl'uir, for she did not know
hut if the police were given plenty of time they might stumble on the
diamonds."

" But, my dear Cadbury, why should she not have taken the diamonds
openly and raised money on them ? "

" My dear fcillow, there an; a dozen reasons, any one of wbicli will
suffice where a woman is in the case. In the first place, she might fear
to ofTend the family pride of the von Steinheimers ; in the second place,
we cannot tell what \wv rchitions with her luisband were. She may not
have wished him to know tiial she was short of money. J^ut that she has
stolen her own diamonds tliere is not the sligiitest question in my mind.
All that is necessary for me to do now is to find out how many persons
there are in Vienna who would lend largo sums of moiuiy on valuabi ;
jewels. The scjcond is to find with which one of those the Prinoesd
pawncul her diamonds."

" But, my dear Cadbury, the lady is in Meran, and Vienna is some
hundreds of miles away. How could a lady in the Tyrol pawn diamonds

conunented on ? or do you think she

had an agent to do it for her ? '

JENNIE BAXTEE, JOURNALIST

Again the detective smilod indulgently. "

" No, she had no agent. The diamonds never left Vienna. You see,
the ball had been announced, and immediate money was urgently needed.
She pawned the diamonds before slic left the capital of Austria, and the
chances are she did not intend anyone to know they were missing ; but on
the eve of the ball her husband insisted that she should wear her
diamonds, and therefore, being a quick-witted woman, she annoimced they
had been stolen. After having made such a statement, she, of course, had
to stick to it ; and now, failing to get the money from America, she is
exceedingly anxious that no real detective shall be employed in
investigation."

At Dover Miss Baxter, having notes of this interesting conversation in
sliorthand, witnessed the detective bid good-bye to his friend Smith, who
returned to London by a later train. After that she saw no more of Mr.
Cadbury Taylor, and reached the Schloss Steinheimer at Meran without
further adventure.

CHAPTER VI.

JENNIE SOLVES THE DIAMOND MYSTERY.

Miss Baxter found life at the Schloss much different from what she had
expected. The Princess was a young and charming lady, very handsome,
but in a state of constant depression. Once or twice Miss Baxter came
upon her with apparent traces of v/eeping on her face. The Prince was
not an old man, as she had imagined, but young and of a manly, stalwart
appearance. He evidently possessed a fiendish temper, and moped about
the castle with a constant frown upon his brow.

The correspondence of the Princess was in the utmost disorder. There
were hundreds upon hundreds of letters, and Miss Baxter set to work
tabulating and arranging them. Meanwhile the young newspaper woman
kept her eyes open. She wandered about the castle unmolested, poked
into odd corners, talked with the servants, and, in fact, with everyone, but
never did she come upon a clue which promised to lead to a solution of
the diamond difficulty. Once she penetrated into a turret room, and
came unexpectedly upon the Prince, who was sitting oji the window-ledge,
looking absently out on the broad and smiling valley that lay for miles
l)clow the castle. He sprang to his feet and stared so liercely at the
intruder that the girl's heart failed her, and she had not even the presence
of mind to turn and run.

"What do you want?" he said to her shortly, for lie spoke English
perfectly. " You are the young woman from Chicago, 1 suppose? "

" No," answered Miss Baxter, forgetting for the moment the rdle she
was playing ; " I am from London."

" Well, it doesn't matter ; you are the young woman who is arranging
my wife's correspondence ? "

"Yea."

JENNIE SOLVES THE DIAMOND MYSTEEY

The Prince strode rapidly forward. and grasped her by the wrist, his
brow dark with a forbidding frown. He spoke in a hoarse whisper :

" Listen, my good girl ! Do you want to get more money from me than
you will get from the Princess in ten years' service? Hearken, then, to
what I tell you. If there are any letters from — from — men, will you bring
them to me ? "

Miss Baxter was thoroughly frightened, but she said to the Prince
sharply, —

" If you do not let go my wrist, I'll scream. How dare you lay your
hand on me? "

The Prince released hei wrist and stepped back.

" Forgive me," he said; "I'm a very miserable man. Forget what I
have said."

" How can I forget it?" ci-ied the girl, gathering courage as she saw
him quail before her blazing eyes. " What do you want me to do? "

" I want you to bring to me any letters written by — by "

"Written by von Schaumberg," cried the girl, noticing his hesitation
and filling in the blank.

A red wave of anger surged up in the Prince's face.

" Yes," he cried ; " bring me a letter to her from von Schaumberg, and
I'll pay you what you ask."

The girl laughed.

"Prince," she said, "you will excuse me if I call you a fool. There
are no letters from von Schaumberg, and I have gone through the whole
of the correspondence."

"What, then, suggested the name von Schaumberg to you? Where
did you ever hear it before ? "

" I heard that you suspected him of stealing the diamonds."

" And so he did, the cowardly thief. If it were not for mixing the
Princess's name with such carrion as he, I would — "

But the Prince in his rage stamped up and down the room without
saying what he would do. Miss Baxter quickly brought him to a
standstill.

"It is contrary to my duty to the Princess," she began, hesitatingly,
when he stopped and turned fiercely upon her.

" What is contrary to your duty ? "

" There are letters, tied very daintily with a blue ribbon, and they are
from a man. The Princess ilid not allow me to read them, but locked
them away in a secret drawer in her dressing-room, but she is so careless
with her keys and everything else, that I am sure I can get them for you,
if you want them."

" Yes, yes, I want them," said the Prince, " and will pay you
handsomely for them."

" Very well," replied Miss Baxter, " you shall have them. If you will
wait here ten minutes, I shall return with them."

"But," hesitated the Prince, " say nothing to the Princess."

" Oh, no, I shall not need to ; the keys are sure to be on her dressing-
table."

Miss Baxter ran down to the room of the Princess, and had little difficulty
in obtaining the keys. She unlocked the secret drawer into which she had
seen the Princess place the packet of letters, and taking them out, she
drew another sheet of paper along with them, which she read with wide-

JENNIE BAXTEE, JOURNALIST

opening eyes, then with her pretty hps pursed, she actually whistled,
which unmaidenly performance merely gave sibilant expression to her
astonishment. Taking both the packet of letters and the sheet of paper
with her, she ran swiftly up the stair and along the comdor to the room
where the Prince was impatiently awaiting her.

"Give them to me," he snapped, rudely snatching the bundle of
documents from lier hand. She still clung to the separate piece of
paper and said nothing. The Prince stood by the window and undid the
packet witli trembling hands. He examined one and then another of the
letters, turning at last towards the girl with renewed anger in his face.

" You are trifling with me. my girl," he cried.

" No, I am not," she said stoutly.

"These are my own letters, written by me to my wife before we were
married ! "

"Of course they are. What others did you expect? These are the
only letters, so far as I have learned, that any man has written to her, and
the only letters she cares for of all the thousands she has ever received.
Why, you foolish, blind man, I had not been in this castle a day before I
saw how matters stood. The Princess is breaking her poor heart because
you are unkind to her, and she cares for nobody on earth but you, great
stupid dunce that you are."

" Is it true ? Will you swear it's true? " cried the Prince, di'opping the
packet and going hastily toward the girl. Miss Jennie stood with her
back to the wall, and putting her hands behind her, she said, —

"No, no; you are not going to touch me again. Of course it's true,
and if you had the sense of a six-year-old child, you would have seen it
long ago ; and she paid sixty thousand pounds of your gambling debts,
too."

"What ai'e you talking about? The Princess has never given me a
penny of her money ; I don't need it. Goodness knows, I have money
enough of my own."

" Well, Cadbury Taylor said that you Oh, I'll warrant you, it is like

all the rest of his statements, pure moonshine."

" Of whom are you speaking ? And why did my wife protect that wretch
whom she knows has stolen her diamonds?"

" You mean von Schaumberg?"

"Yes."

" I believe the Princess does think he stole them, and the reason the
Princess protects him is to prevent you from challenging him, for she fears
that he, being a military man, will kill you, although I fancy she would be
well rid of you."

" But he stole the diamonds — there was nobody else."

" He did nothing of the kind. Read that ! "

The Prince, bewildered, took the sheet that she handed to him and read
it, a wrinkle of bewilderment corrugating his brow.

" I don't understand what this has to do with the case," he Scid at last.
" It seems to be an order on the bank at Vienna for the diamonds, written
by the Princess herself."

" Of course it is. Well, if the diamonds had been delivered, that paper
would now be in the possession of the bank instead of in your hands."

"Perhaps she mislaid this order and wrote another."

" Perhaps. Still it might be worth while finding out."

«' Take 1

" It is 11
at once to
by speoia
missing."

"I will
voice tha
becoming

After hi
her desk, i

" There
she is shoi
but I don
to enjoy tl

" I will

At that
Baxter to :

" Have

The Pri
suspicion (

"I do
with slow
interest in
voices in r

" Had y
we said, F

"Ah, m
your engai

" Surelj
think I an

"Iv/ill
I have no
once," sai(
the girl wi

Miss Bii
her mirth,
interesting
of your dii
amount of

" Did h(

" Be ass
was a fool
hear, so I

"I shall
freezing di

" Thanl<
something
Princess, 1

To this 1

Miss Je
found the '.
message ir

JENNIE SOLVES THE DIAMOND MYSTEKY

" Ta>ke this, then, to the Princess and ask her."

" It is not Hkelj- she would remember. The better plan is to telegraph
at once to the Vienna bank, asking them to send the diamonds to Meran
by special messenger. No one there knows that the diamonds are
missing."

" I will do so at once," cried the Prince, with more animation in his
voice than Miss Baxter had previously noticed. His Highness was
becoming interested in the game.

After luncheon the Princess came to Miss Baxter, who was seated at
her desk, and handed her a letter.

•' There is an invitation from the Duchess of CJiiselhurst for a grand ball
she is shortly to give in her London house. It is to be a very swell affair,
but I don't care enough for such things to go all the way to England
to enjoy them. Would you therefore send her Grace my regrets? "

" I will do so at once."

At that moment there came a messenger from the Prince asking Miss
Baxter to meet him in the library. The girl glanced up at the Princess.

" Have I your permission to go? " she said.

The Princess looked at her steadily for a moment, just the faintest
suspicion of a frown on her fair brow.

"I do not suppose you need my permission." Her Highness spoke
with slow deliberation. " My husband condescends to take considerable
interest in you. Passing along the corridor this morning, I heard your
voices in most animated conversation."

" Had you sufficient interest in our discussion to stop and listen to what
we said. Princess von Steinheimer? "

"Ah, now you are becoming insolent, and I must ask you to consider
your engagement with me at an end."

"Surely you will not dismiss me in this heartless way, Princess. I
think I am entitled to a month's notice, or is it only a week's? "

" I \all pay you a year's salary, or two years' if that will content you.
I have no wish to deal harshly with you, but I desire you to leave at
once," said the Princess, who had little sense of humour, and thus thought
the girl was in earnest when she asked for notice.

Miss Baxter laughed merrily, and replied when she was able to control
her mirth, " I do hate to leave the castle just when things are becoming
interesting. Still, I don't suppose I shall really need to go away in spite
of your dismissal, for the Prince this morning offered me ten times the
amount of money you are paying."

"Did he?"

"Be assured he did; if you don't believe me, ask him. I told him he
was a fool, but, alas, we live in a cynical age, and few men believe all they
hear, so I fear my expression of opinion made little impression on him."

" I shall not keep you longer from his Highness," said the Princess with
freezing dignity.

" Thank you so much. I am just dying to meet him, for I know he has
something most interesting to tell me. Don't you think yourself,
Princess, that a man acts rather like a fool when he is deeply in love ? "

To this there was no reply, and the Princess left the room.

Miss Jennie jumped to her feet and almost ran to the library. She
found the Prince walking up and down the long room with a telegraph
message in his hand.

JENNIE BAXTEE, JOUENALIST

" You are a most wonderful young woman," he said ; " read that."

" I have been told so by more observing men than you, Prince von
Steinheimer," said the girl, taking the telegram. It was from the manager
of the bank in Vienna, and it ran : " Special messenger leaves with
package by the Meran express to-night."

"Just as I thought," said Miss Jennie ; "the diamonds never left the
bank. I suppose those idiots of sei"vants which the Princess has round her
didn't know what they took away from Vienna and what they left. Then,
when the diamonds were missing, they completely lost their heads — n<"
that anyone in the castle has much wit to spare. I never saw such .,
incompetent lot." •

The Prince laughed.

" You think, perhaps, I have not wit enough to see that my wife cares
for me, is that it ? Is that why you gave me my own letters ? "

" Oh, you are well mated ! The Princess now does me the honour of
being jealous. Think of that ! As if it were possible that I should take
any interest in you, for I have seen real men in my time."

The Prince regarded her with his most severe expression.

" Are you not flattering yourself somewhat, young lady ? "

" Oh, dear no ! I take it as the reverse of flattering to be supposed that
I have any liking for such a ninny as you are. Flattering, indeed ! And
she has haughtily dismissed me, if you please."

" The Princess has '? What have you been saying to her ? "

" Oh, I made the most innocent remark, and it was the truth too, which
shows that honesty is not always the best policy. I merely told her that
you had offered me ten times the amount of money she is paying me.
.You needn't jump as if somebody had shot ofl' a gun at your ear. You
know you ditl make such an offer."

" You confounded little mischief-maker," cried the Prince in anger.
" Did you tell her what it was for ? "

"No. She did not ask."

" I will thank you to apply the cleverness you seem to possess to the
undoing of the harm you have so lightheartedly caused."

" How can I? I am ordered to leave to-night, when I did so wish to
stay and see the diamond ch'noucmcnt."

" You are not going to-night. I shall speak to the Princess about it if
that should be necessary. Your mention of the diamonds reminds me
that my respected father-in-law, Mr. Briggs, informs me that a celebrated
detective, whom it seems he has engaged — Taylor, I think the name is —
will i)e here to-morrow to explain the diamond mystery, so you see you
have a competitor."

" Oh, is Cadbury coming? That is too jolly for anything. I simply
must stay and hear his explanation, for he is a very famous detective, and
the conclusions he has arrived at must be most interesting."

" I think some explanations are due to me as well. My worthy father-
in-law seems to have connnissioned this person without thinking it
necessary to consult me in the least ; in fact, Mr. Briggs goes about the
castle looking so dark and lowering w'hen he meets me, that I sometimes
doubt whether this is my own house or not."

"And is it'i' "

"Is it what?"

" Is it your own house? I was told it was mortgaged up to the tallest

JENNIE SOLVES THE DIAMOND MYSTERY

turret. Still, you can't blame Mr. Briggs for being anxious about the
diamonds; they belong to his daughter. " ....... ..j

" They belong to my wife."

" True. That complicates matters a bit, and gives both Chicago and
Vienna a right to look black. And now, your Highness, I must take my
leave of you ; and if the diamonds come safely in the morning, remember
I intend to claim salvage on them. Meanwhile, I am going to write a
nice little story about them."

In the morning the diamonds arrived by special messenger, who first
took a formal receipt for them, and then most obsequiously took his
departure. By the same train came Mr. Cadbury Taylor, as modest as
ever, but giving some indication in his bearing of the importance of the
discovery his wonderful system had aided him in making. He blandly
evaded the curiosity of Mr. Briggs, and said it would perhaps be better to
reveal the secret in the presence of the Prince and Princess, as his inves-
tigatiens had led him to conclusions that might be unpleasant for one of
them to hear, yet were not to be divulged in their absence.

"Just what I suspected," muttered Mr. Briggs, who had long been con-
vinced that the Prince was the actual culprit.

The important gathering took place in the library, the Prince, with the
diamonds in his coat pocket, seated at the head of the long table, while the
Princess sat at the foot, as far from her husband as she could conveniently
get without attracting notice. Miss Baxter stood near a window, reading
an important letter from London which had reached her that morning.
The tall, thin detective and the portly Mr. Briggs came in together, the
London man bowing gi'avely to the Prince and Princess. Mr. Briggs took
a seat at the side of the table, but the detective remained standing, look-
ing questioningly at Miss Baxter, but evidently not recognizing her as the
lady who had come in upon him and his friend when they had entered the
train.

" I beg thj pardon of your Highness, but what I have to say had better
1)0 said with as few hearers as possible. I should be much obliged if this
young person would read her correspondence in another room."

" The young woman," said the Prince coldly, " is secretary to her
Highness, and is entirely in her confidence."

The Princess said nothing, but sat with her eyes upon the table,
apparently taking no note of what was going on. Eich colour came into
her face, and, as the keen detective cast a swift glance at her, he saw
before him a woman conscious of her guilt, fearing exposure, yet not
knowing how to avert it.

"If your Highness will excuse my persistence," began Mr. Taylor
blandly.

" But I will not," interrupted the Prince gruflfly. " Go on with your
story without so much circumlocution."

The detective, apparently unruffled by the discourtesy he met, bowed
profoundly towards the Prince, cleared his throat, and began.

" May I ask your Highness," he said, addressing himself to the
Princess, " how much money you possessed just before you left Vienna? "

The lady looked up at him in surprise, but did not answer.

" In Heaven's name, what has that to do with the loss of the
diamonds?" rapped out the Prince, his hot temper getting once more
the better of him. ..- . ,

M JENNIE BAXTEE, JOURNALIST

Cadbury Taylor spread out his hands and shrugged his shoulders in
protest at the interruption. He spoke with deference, but nevertheless
there was a touch of reproach in his tone.

" I am accustomed to being listened to with patience, and am generally
allowed to tell my story my own way, your Highness."

" What I complain of is that you are not telling any story at all, but are
asking instead a very impertinent question."

"Questions which seem to you irrelevant may be to a trained mind
most — "

" Bosh ! Trained donkeys ! Do you know where the diamonds are ? "

" Yes, I do," answered Cadbury Taylor, still imperturbable, in spite of
the provocation he was receiving.

" Well, where are they ? "

" They are in the vaults of your bank in Vienna."

" I don't believe it. Who stole them then ? "

" They were put there by her Highness the Princess von Steinhaimer,
doubtless in security for money — "

" What ! " roared the Prince, springing to his feet, his stentorian voice
ringing to the ceiling. " Do you mean to insinuate, you villain, that my
wife stole her own diamonds ? "

" If your Highness would allow me to proceed in my own — "

" Enough of this fooling. There are the diamonds," cried the Prince,
jerking the box from his pocket and flinging it on the table.

" There ! " shouted old man Briggs, bringing his clenched fist down on
the oak. " What did I tell you? I knew it ail along. The Prince stole
the diamonds, and in his excitement yanks them out of his pocket and
proves it. That was my opinion all along ! "

" Oh, father, father! " moaned the Princess, speaking for the first time.
" How can you say such a thing ? My husband couldn't do a mean action
if he tried. The idea of him stealing the diamonds I Not if they were
worth a thousand millions and detection impossible."

The Prince, who had been glaring at Mr. Briggs, and who seemed on the
point of giving that red-faced gentleman a bit of his mind, turned a softened
gaze upon his wife, who rested her arms on the table and buried her face
in them.

" Come, come," cried Miss Jennie Baxter, stepping energetically
forward; "I imagine everybody has had enough of this. Clear out, Mr.
Briggs, and take Mr. Taylor with you ; I am sure he has not had any break-
fast yet, and he cerJainly looks hungry. If you hire detectives, Mr. Briggs,
you must take care of them. Out you go. The dining-room is ever so
much more inviting just now than the library ; and if you don't see what
you want, ring for it.'

She drove the two speechless men out before her, and, closing the door,
said to the Prince, who was still standing bewildered at having his hand
forced in this manner, —

•' There ! Two fools from four leaves two. Now, my dears — I'm not
going to Highness either of you — you are simply two lone people who hke
each other immensely, yet who are drifting apart through foolish misunder-
standings that a few words would put right if either of you had sense enough
to speak them, which you haven't, and that's why I'm here to speak them
for you. Now, madame, I am ready to awear that the Prince has never
said anything to me that did not show his deep love for you, and if you had

JENNIE AEEANGES A CINDEEELLA VISIT

ulders in
rertheless

generally

1, but are

led mind

Is are?"
1 spite of

linhaimer,

)rian voice
1, that my

he Prince,

t down on
rince stole
Docket and

! first time.

lean action

they were

med on the
I a softened
ed her face

nergetically
ar out, Mr.
any break-
Mr. Briggs,
1 is ever so
't see what

ig the door,
g his hand

•8 — I'm not
)le who like
1 misunder-
mse enough
speak them
! has never
d if you had

overheard us, you would not need me to tell you so. He thinks the t you
have a fancy for that idiot von Schaumberg — not that I ever saw the poor
man ; but he is bound to be an idiot, or the Prince wouldn't be jealous of
him. As nobody has stolen the diamonds after all this fuss, so no one has
stolen the affection of either of you from the other. I can see by the way
you look at each other that I won't need to apologize for leaving you alone
together while I run upstairs to pack."

" Oh, but you are not going to leave us ? " cried the Princess.

' ' I should be delighted to stay ; but there is no rest for the wicked, and
I must get back to London."

With that the girl ran to her room and there re-read the letter she had
received.

" Dear Miss Baxter (it ran), — We are in a very considerable dilemma
here, so I write asking you to see me in London without delay, going back
to the Tyrol later on if the investigation of the diamond mystery renders
your return necessary. The Duchess of Chiselhurst is giving a great ball
on the 29th. It is to be a very swagger affair, with notables from every
part of Europe, and they seem determined that no one connected with a
newspaper shall be admitted. We have set at work every influence to
obtain an invitation for a reporter, but without success, the reply invariably
t^iven being that an official account will be sent to the press. Now, I want
you to set your ingenuity at work, and gain admittance if possible, for I am
determined to have an account of this ball written in such a way that every-
one who reads it will know that the writer was present. If you can
manage this, I can hardly tell you how grateful the proprietor and myself
will be. — Yours very truly,

" Eadnor Hardwick."

Miss Jennie Baxter sat for some moments musing, with the letter in her
hand. She conned over in her mind the names of those who might be able
to assist her in this task, but she dismissed them one by one, well knowing
that if Mr. Hardwick and the proprietor of the Bugle had petitioned all their
influential friends without avail, she could not hope to succeed with the
help of the very few important personages she was acquainted with. She
wondered if the Princess could get her an invitation ; then suddenly her
eyes lit up, and she sprang eagerly to her feet.

" What a fortunate thing it is," she cried aloud, " that I did not send on
the refusal of the Princess to the Duchess of Chiselhurst. I had forgotten
all about it until this moment."

CHAPTEE VII.

JENNIE arranges A CINDERELLA VISIT.

The room which had been allotted to Jennie Baxter in the Schloss
Steinheimer enjoyed a most extended outlook. A door-window gave
access to a stone balcony, which hung against the castle wall like a
swallow's nest at the eaves of a house. This balcony was just wide

JENNIE BAXTEE, JOURNALIST

enough to give ample space for one of the easy rocking-chairs which the
Princess had imported from America, and which Jennie thought were the
only really comfortable pieces of furniture the old stronghold possessed,
much as she admired the artistic excellence of the mediaeval chairs, tables,
and cabinets which for centuries had served the needs of the ancient line
that had lived in the Schloss. The rocking-chair was as modern as this
morning's dai! paper ; its woodwork painted a bright scarlet, its arms
like broad shelves, its rockers as sensitively balanced as a marine compass ;
in fact, just such a chair as one would find doited round the vast
verandah of an American summer hotel. In this chair sat Miss Jennie,
two ojien letters on her lap, and perplexity in the dainty little frown that
faintly ruffled the smoothness of her fah brow. The scene from the high
balcony was one to be remembered ; but, although this was her last
day at the Castle, the girl saw nothing of the pretty town of Meran
so far below ; the distant chalk-line down the slope beyond which marked
the turbulent course of the foaming Adege ; the lofty mountains all
around, or the further snow-peaks, dazzling white against the deep blue
of the sky.

One of the epistles which lay on her lap was the letter she had x-eceived
from the editor recounting the ditticulties he had met with while endeavour-
ing to mtke an-angements for reporting adequately the Duchess of Chisel-
hurst's ball ; the other was the still unanswered invitation from the
Duchess to the Princess. Jennie was flattered to know that already the
editor, who had engaged her with unconcealed reluctance, expected her to
accomplish what the entire staff were powerless to effect. She knew that,
had she but the courage, it was only necessary to accept the invitation in
the name of her present hostess, and attend the great society function as
Princess von Steinheimer. Yet she hesitated, not so much on account of
the manifest danger of discovery, but because she had gi'own to like the
Princess, and this impersonation, if it came to the knowledge of the one
most intimately concerned, as it was almost sure to do, would doubtless be
regarded as an unpardonable liberty. As she swayed gently back and
forth in the gaudy rocking-chair, she thought of confessing everything to
the Princess and .jking her assistance ; but pondering on this, she saw
that it was staking everything on one throw of the dice. If the Princess
refused, then the scheme became impossible, as that lady herself would
answer the letter of the Duchess and decline the invitation. Jennie
soothed her accusing conscience by telling herself that tliis inipersonation
would do no harm to Princess von Steinheimer, or to anyone else for that
matter, while it would be of inestimable assistance to her own journalistic
career. From that she drifted to meditation on the inequalities of this life
— the superabundance which some possess, while others, no less deser\ing,
have difficulty in obtaining the scant necessities. And this consoling train
of thought having fixed her resolve to take the goods the gods scattered
at her feet, or rather threw into her lap, she drew a long sigh of deter-
mination as there came a gentle tap at the door of her room, and the voice
of the Princess herself said, " May I come in ? "

Jennie, a rapid blush flaming her cheeks, sprang to her feet, flung the
letters on a table, and opened the door.

The visitor entered, looking attractive enough to be a princess of fairy-
land, and greeted Miss Baxter most cordially.
: " I am so sorry you are leaving," she said. " Cannot you be persuaded

JENNIE AREANGES A CINDERELLA VISIT

vhich the

were the
Dossessed,
rs, tables,
cient line

rn as this
its arms

compass ;
the vast
iss Jennie,
frown that
11 tlie high
3 her last

of Meran
ch marked
iintains all

deep blue

ad received
endeavour-
s of Chisel-
1 from the
already the
icted her to
! knew that,
nvitation in
■ function as
n account of
n to like the
e of the one
doubtless be
ly back and
iverything to
his, she saw
the Princess
erself would
ion. Jennie
npersonation
else for that
n journalistic
es of this life
ss deser\ ing,
)n8oling train
ads scattered
dgh of deter-
and the voice

>et, flung the
icess of fairy-
be persuaded

to change your mind and stay with me ? Where could you find a more
lovely view than this from your balcony here ? "

" Or a more lovely 'ostess ? " said the girl, looking at her visitor with
undisguised admiratio and quite ignoring the landscape.

The Princess lauglu d, and as they now stood together on the balcony
she put out her hands, pushed Jennie gently into tlie rc^king-chair again,
seating herself jauntily on its broad arm, and thus the wo looked like a
pair of mischievous schoolgirls, home at vacation time, thoroughly enjoying
their liberty."

" There ! You are now my prisoner, about to be puni^^hed for flattery,"
cried the Princess. " I saw by the motion of the chair that you had just
jumped up from it when I disturbed you, so there you are, back in it
again. What were you thinking about? A rocking-chair lends itself
(Icliciously to meditation, and we always dream of someone verj particular
lis we rock."

" I «).m no exception to the rule," sighed Jennie ; " I was thinking of you,
Princess."

" How nice of you to say that ; and as one good turn deserves another,
here is proof that a certain young lady has been in my thoughts."

As she spoke, the Princess took from her pocket an embossed case of
Russian leather, opened it and displayed a string of diamonds, lustrous as
drops of liquid light.

" I want you to wear these stones in remembrance of our diamond
mystery — that is why I chose diamonds — and also, I confess, because I
want you to think of me every time you put them on. See how conceited
I am ! One does not like to be forgotten."

Jennie took the string, her own eyes for a moment rivalling in
lirilliancy the sparkle of the gems ; then the moisture obscured her vision
and she automatically poured the stones from one hand to the other, as if
iheir scintillating glitter hypnotized her. She tried once or twice to speak,
l>ut could not be sure of her voice, so remained silent. The Princess,
noticing her agitation, gently lifted the necklace and clasped it round the
skirl's white throat, chattering all the while with nervous haste.

" There ! you can wear diamonds, and there are so many to whom they
are unbecoming. I also look well in diamonds — at least, so I've been told
over and over again, and I've come to believe it at last. I suppose the
young men have not concealed from you the fact that you are a strikingly
j^rood-looking girl, Jennie. Indeed, and this is brag if you like, we two
resemble one another enough to e sisters, nearly the same height, the
same colour of eyes and hair. Come to the mirror, Miss Handsomeness,
iind admire yourself."

She dragged Jennie to her feet and drew her into the loo-n, placing
her triumphantly before the great looking-glass that reflected back a full-
length portrait.

" Now confess that you never saw a prettier girl," cried the Princess
^'leefully.

" I don't think I ever did," admitted Jennie, but she was looking at the
image of the Princess and not at her own. The Princess laughed, but Miss
l^axter seemed too much affected by the unexpected present to join in the
merriment. She regarded herself solemnly in the glass for a few moments,
flien slowly undid the clasp, and, slipping the string of brilliants from her
nock, handed them back to the Princess.

JENNIE BAXTER, JOURNALIST

" You are very, very kind, but I cannot accept so costly a present."

" Cannot? Why? Have I offended you by anything I have said since
you came? " •

" Oh. no, no. It isn't that." .

" What, then ? Don't you like me, after all ? "

" Like you ? I love you. Princess ! " cried the girl impulsively, throwing
her arms round the other's neck.

The Princess tried to laugh as she pressed Jennie closely to her, but there
was a tremour of tears in the laughter.

" You must take this little gift as a souvenir of your visit with me. I
was really — very unhappy when you came, and now — well, you smoothed
away some misunderstandings — I'm more than grateful. And it isn't
natural for a woman to refuse diamonds, Jennie."

" I know it isn't ; and I won't quite refuse tliem. I'll postpone. It is
possible that something I shall do before long may seriously offend you.
If it does — then good-bye to the necklace ! If it doesn't, when I have told
you all about my misdeed — I shall confess courageously — you will give me
the diamonds."

" Dear me, Jennie, what tennble crime are you about to commit? Why
not tell me now? You have no idea how you have aroused my
curiosity."

" I dare n tell you, Princess ; not until my project proves a success or
a failure. We women— some have our way made for us — others have our
own way to make. I am auiongthe others, and I hope you will remember
that, if you are ever angry with me."

"Is it a new kind of speculation? A fortune made in a day?
Gambling?"

" Something of that sort. I am going to stake a good deal on the turn
of a card ; so please pray that luck will not be against me."

" If pluck will make you win, I am sure you will carry it through, but if
at first you don't succeed, try, try again ; and if you haven't the money,
I'll supply the capital. I know I should like to gamble. Anyhow, you
have my best wislies for your success."

" Thank you. Princess. I can hardly fail after that."

The time had come when the two friends nmst part. The carriage was
waiting to take Miss Baxter to the station, and the girl bade good-bye to her
hostess with an uneasy feeling that she was acting disloyally to one who
had befriended her. In her handbag was the invitation to the ball, and also
the letter she had written in the Princess's name accepting it, which latter
she posted in Mermi. In due course she reached London, and presented
herself to the editor of the Daily Bugle.

" Well, Misslkxter," he said, " you have been extraordinarily successful
in solving the diamond mystery, and I congratulate you. My letter reached
you, I suppose. Have you given any thought to the problem that now
confronts us? Can you get us a full report of the Duchess of Chiselhurst'H
ball, written so convmcingly that all the guests who read it will know that
the writer was present? "

" It is entirely a question of money, Mr. Hardwick."

" Most things are. Well, we are prepared to spend money to get just
what we want."

"How much?"

•' Whatever is necessary."

JENNIE ARRANGES A CINDERELLA VISIT

tit."
aid since

throwing

but there

n me. I
smoothed
cl it isn't

ne. It is

tt'end you.

have told

ill give mv

lit? Why
oused my

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remember

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the money,
lyhow, yoH

iarriage was
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all, and also
which latter
id presented

y successful
!tter reached
m that now
IlhiseUmrst's
11 know that

\f to get just

"That's vague. Put it into figures."

" Five hundred pounds ; seven hundred ; a thousand if need be."

" It will not cost you a thousand, and it may come to more than five
hundred. Place the thousand to my credit, and I shall return what ir.
left. 1 must go at o.ice to Paris and carry out my plans from that
city."

" Then you have thought out a scheme. What is it ? "

" I have not only thought it out, but most of the arrangements
are already made. I cannot say more about it. You will have to trust
wliolly to me."

" There is a good deal of money at stake. Miss Baxter, and our reputa-
tion as a newspaper as well. I think I should know what you propose
to do."

" Certainly. I propose to obtain for you an accurate description of the
ball, written by one who was present."

The editor gave utterance to a sort of interjection that always served him
in place of a laugh.

" In other words, you want neither interference nor advice."

" Exactly, Mr. Hardwick. You know from experience that little good
comes of talking too much of a secret project not yet completed."

The editor drummed with his fingers on the table for a few moments
thoughtfully.

" Very well, then, it shall be as you say. I should have been very glad
to share the responsibility of failure with you ; but if you prefer to take the
whole risk yourself, there is nothing more to be said. The thousand pounds
shall be placed to your credit at once. What next? "

" On the night of the ball I should like you to have three or four expert
shorthand writers here ; I don't know how many will be nei^essary — you
understand more al)out that than I do ; but it is my intention to dictate the
report right along as fast as I can talk until it is finished, and I don't wish
to be stopped or ..iterrupted, so I want the best stenographers you have ;
they are to relieve one another just as if they were taking down a parlia-
mentary speech. The men had better be in readiness at midnight; I shall
be here as soon after that as possible. If you will kindly run over their
type-written MS. before it goes to the compositors, I will glance at the
proofs when I have finished dictating."

" Then you hope to attend the ball yourself."

" Perhaps."

" You ' ive just returned from the Tyrol, and I fear you don't quite appre-
ciate tlu difficulties that are in the way. This is no ordinary society
function, and if you think even a thousand pounds will gain admittance to
an uninvited guest, you will find yourself mistaken."

" So I understood from your letter."

Again the editorial interjection did duty for a laugh.

" You are very sanguine. Miss Baxter. I wish I felt as confident ; how-
ever, we will hope for the best, and if we cannot command success, we will
at least endeavour to deserve it."

Jennie, with the thousand pounds at her disposal, went to Paris, took
rooms at the most aris'^ocratic hotel, engaged a maid, and se about the con-
struction of a ball dress that would be a dniam of beauty. Luckily, she
knew exactly the gown-making resources of Pans, and the craftsmen to
whom she gave her orders were not the less anxious to please her when they

JENNIE BAXTER, JOURNALIST

knew that the question of cost was not to be considered. From Paris she
telegraphed in tlie name of the F.-incess von Steinheimer to Claridge's
Hotel for an apartment on the night of the ball, and asked that a suitable
equipage be provided to convey her to and from that festival.

Arriving at Claridge's, she was well aware her first danger was that some-
one who knew the Princess von Steinheimer would call upon her ; but on
the valid plea of fatigue from her journey she proclaimed that in no circum-
stances could she see any visitor, and thus shipwreck was avoided at the
outset. It was unlikely that the Princess von Steinheimer was personally
known to many who would attend the ball ; in fact, the Princess had given
to Jennie as her main reason for refusing the invitation the excuse that
she knew no one in London. She had been invited merely because of the
social position of the Pi'ince in Vienna, and was unknown by sight even to
her hostess, the Duchess of Chiselhurst. Critically, she compared the
chances of success with the chances of failui'e, and often it seemed that
disaster was inevitable, unversed as she knew herself to be in the customs
of grand society at one of its high functions, but nevertheless she was un-
daunted by the odds against her, and resolved to stake a career on the
lortunes of a night.

CHAPTER VIII.

JENNIE MIXES WITH THE ELITE OF EARTH.

It 18 said that a woman magnificently robed is superior to all earthly
tribulations. Such was the case with Jennie as she left her carriage,
;Walked along the strip of carpet which ky across the pavement under a
.canopy, and entered the great hall of the Duke of Chiselhurst's town
house, one of the huge palaces of Western London. Nothing so
resplendent had she ever witnessed, or even imagined, as the scene which
.met her eye when she found herself about to ascend the broad stairway at the
top of which the hostess stood to receive her distinguished guests. Early
as she was, the stairway and the rooms beyond seemed already thronged.
Splendid menials in gorgeous livery, crimson the predominant colour,
.stood on each step at either side of the stair. Uniforms of every pattern,
from the dazzling oriental raiment of Indian princes and eastern
potentates, to the more sober, but scarcely less rich apparel of the
diplomatic corps, ministers of the Empire, and officers, naval and military,
gave the final note of magnificence and picturesque decoration. Like
tropical flowers in this garden of colour were the ladies, who, with easy
grace, moved to and fro, bestowing a smile here and a whisper there ; and

Jet, despite her agination, a hurried, furtive glance around i)rought to
ennie the conviction that she was, perhaps, the best-gowned woman in
that assemblage of well-dressed people, which recognition somewhat
. calmed her palpitating heart. The whole environment seemed unreal to
her, and she walked forward as it in a dream. She heard someone cry,
" The Princess von Steinheimer," and at first hid a difficulty in realizing
that the title, for the moment, pertained to herself. The next instant her

JENNIE MIXES WITH THE ELITE OF EARTH

,ri9 she
ridge's
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brought to
woman in
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imeone cry,
in realizing
instant her

hand was in that of the Duchess of Chiselhurst, and Jennie heard the lady
murmur that it was good of her to come so far to grace the occasion. The
girl made some sort of reply which she found herself unable afterwards to
recall, but the K,pid incoming of other guests led her to hope that, if she
had used any unsuitable phrase, it was either unheard or forgotten in the
tension of the time. She stood aside and formed one of the brilliant
group at the head of the stairs, thankful that this first ordeal was well
done with. Her rapidly beating heart had now opportunity to lessen its
pulsations, and as she soon realized that she was practically unnoticed,
her natural calmness began to return to her. She remembered why she
was there, and her discerning eye enabled her to stamp on a retentive
memory the various particulars of so unaccustomed a spectacle whose
very unfamiliarity made the greater impression upon the girl's mind. She
moved away from the group, determined to saunter through the numerous
rooms thrown open for the occasion, and thus, as it were, get her bearings.
In a short time all fear of discovery left her, and she began to feel very
much at home in the lofty, crowded salons, pausing even to enjoy a
selection which a military band, partly concealed in the foliage, was
rendering in masterly manner, led by the most famous iiiipressario of the
day. The remote probability of meeting anyone here who knew the Princess
reassured her, and there speedily came over her a sense of delight in all
the kaleidoscopic bewilderment of this great entertainment. She saw that
each one there had interest in someone else, and, to her great relief, found
herself left entirely alone with reasonable assurance that this remoteness
would continue to befriend her until the final gauntlet of leave-taking hv l
to be run ; a trial still to be encountered, the thought of which she
resolutely put away from her, trusting to the luck that had hitherto not
deserted her.

Jennie was in this complaisant frame of mind when she was suddenly
startled by a voice at her side.

" Ah, Princess, I have been searching everywhere for you, catching
glimpses of you now and then, only to lose you, as, alas, has been my fate
on more serious occasion. May I Hatter myself with the belief that you
also remember? "

There was no recognition in the large frightened eyes that were turned
upon him. They saw a young man bowing low over the unresisting hand
he had taken. His face was clear-cut and unmistakably English. Jennie
saw his closely-cropped auburn head, and, as it raised until it overtopped
her own, the girl, terrified as she was, could not but admire the sweeping
i)londe moustache that overshadowed a smile, half-wistful, half-humorous,
which lighted up his handsome face. The ribl)on of some order was worn
athwart his breast ; otherwise he wore court dress, which well became his
stalwart frame.

" I am disconsolate to see that I am indeed forgotten, Princess, and so
another cherished delusion fades away from me."

Her fan concealed the lower part of the girl's face, and she looked at
liiin over its fleecy .semicircle.

" Put not your trust in princesses," she murmured, a sparkle of latent
mischief lighting up her eyes.

The young man laughed. " Indeed," he said, " had I served my
country as faithfully as 1 have boon true to my remembrance of you,
Princess, I would have been an ambassador long ere this, covered with

JENNIE BAXTER, JOURNALIST

decorations. Have you then lost all recollection of that winter in
Washington five years ago ; that whirlwind of gaiety which ended by
wafting you away to a foreign country, and thus the eventful season clinf 9
to my memory as if it were a disastrous western cyclone ? Is it possible
that I must re-introduce myself as Donal Stirling ? "

"Not Lord Donal Stirling?" asked Jennie, dimly remembering that
she had heard this name in connection with something diplomatic, and her
guess that he was in that service was strengthened by his previous remark
about being an ambassador.

"Yes, Lord Donal, if you will cruelly insist on calling me so ; but this
cannot take from me the consolation that once, in the conservatory of the
White House, under the very shadow of the President, you condescended
to call me Don."

" You cannot expect one to remember what happened in Washington
five years ago. You know the administration itself changes every four
years, and memories seldom carry back even so far as that."

" I had hoped that my most outspoken adoration would have left
reminiscence which might outlast an administration. I have not found
forgetting so easy."

"Are you quite sure of that. Lord Donal?" asked the girl archly,
closing her fan and giving him for the first time a full view of her face.

The young man seemed for a moment perplexed, but she went on,
giving him little time for reflection. " Have your diplomatic duties taken
you away from Washingtoa ? "

" Yes, to the other end of the earth. I am now in St. Petersburg, with
ultimate hopes of Vieima, Princess. I happened to be in London this
week, and heax'ing you were to be here, I moved heaven and earth for an
invitation."

" Which you obtained, only to find yourself forgotten. How hollow
this world is, isn't it ? "

" Alas, yes. A man in my professior sees a good deal of the seamy side
of life, and I fully believe that my rapidly lessening dependence on human
veracity will be shattered by my superiors sending me to Constantinople.
But let me find you a seat out of this crowd where we may talk of old
times."

" I don't care so much about the past as I do about the present. Let us
go up into that gallery, where you shall point out to me the celebrities. I
suppose you know them all, while I am an entire stranger to London
Society."

" That is a capital idea," cried the young man enthusiastically. " Yes,
I think I know most of the people here, at least by name. Ah, here
comes the Royal party ; we shall just be in time to have a good look at
them."

The band played the National Anthem, and Lord Donal got two chairs,
which he placed at the edge of the gallery, well hidden from the
promenaders by spreading tropical plants.

"Oh, this is jolly," cried Jennie, quite forgetting the dignity of a
Princess. " You told me why you came to the ball. Do you know why I
am here ? "

" On the remote chance of me^^^^ing me whom you pretended to have
forgotten," replied the young man audaciously.

" Of course," laughed Jennie ; " but aside from that, I came to see the

out]
pea

JENNIE MIXES WITH THE ELITE OF EARTH

costumes. You know, we women are libellously said to dress for each
other. Away from the world, in the Tyrol, I have little opportunity of
seeing anything fine in the way of dress, and so I accepted the invitation
of the Duchess."

" Have you the invitation of the Duchess with you? "

" Yes, I am going to make some notes on the back of it. Would you
like to see it?" She handed him the letter and then leaned back in her
chair, regarding him closely. The puzzled expression on his face deepened
as he glanced over the invitation, and saw that it was exactly what it
purported to be. He gave the letter back to her, saying, —

" So you are here to see the fashions. It is a subject I know little
about ; but, judging by effect, I should say that the Princess von
Steinheimer has nothing to learn from anyone present. If I may touch
on a topic so personal, your costume is what they call a creation, is it not,
Princess? "

" It isn't bad," said the girl, looking down at her gown and then
glancing up at him with merriment dancing in her eyes. The diplomat
had his elbow resting on the balustrade, his head leaning on his hand,
and, quite oblivious to everything else, was gazing at her with such
absorbed intentness that the girl blushed and cast down her eyes. The
intense admiration in his look was undisguised. "Still," she rattled on
somewhat breathlessly, " one gets many hints from others, and the
creation of to-day is merely the old clothes of to-morrow. Invention has
no vacation so far as ladies' apparel is concerned. ' Take no thought of the
morrow, wherewithal ye shall be clothed,' may have been a good motto
for the court of Solomon, but it has little relation with that of Victoria."

" Solomon — if the saying is his — was hedging. He had many wives,
you know."

" Well, as I was about to say, you must now turn your attention to the
other guests, and tell me who's who. I have already confessed my
ignorance, and you promised to enlighten me."

The young man, with visible reluctance, directed his thoughts from
the one to the many, and named this person and that, while Jennie, with
the pencil attached to her card, made cabalistic notes in shorthand,
economizing thus both space and time. When at last she had all the
information that could be desired, she leaned back in her chair with a
httle sigh of supreme content. Whatever might now betide, her mission
was fulfilled, if she once got quietly away. The complete details of the
most important society event of the season were at her fingers' ends. She
closed her eyes for a moment to enjoy the satisfaction which success
leaves in its train, and when she opened them again found Lord Donal
in his old posture, absorbed in the contemplaf i of her undeniable
beauty,

" I see you are determined I shall have no difficulty in remembering
you next time we meet," she said with a smile, at the same time flushing
slightly under his ardent gaze.

" I was just thinking," he replied, shifting his position a little, " that
the five years which have dealt so hardly with me, have left you five years
younger."

" Age has many privileges. Lord Donal," she said to him, laughing
outright ; " but I don't think you can yet lay claim to any of them. The
pose of the prematurely old is not in the least borne out by your

JENNIE BAXTEE, .TOUENALIST

appearance, however hardly the girl you met in Washington dealt with
you."

" Ah, Princess, it is very easy for you to treat these serious matters
lightly. He laughs at scars who never felt a wound. Time, being above
all things tx-eacherous, often leaves the face untouched the more ett'ectually
to scar the heart. The hurt concealed is ever the more dangerous."

" I fancy it has been concealed so effectually that it is not as deep as
you imagined."

" Princess, I will confess to you that the wound at Washington was as
nothing to the one received at London."

" Yes ; you told me you had been here for a week."

" The week has nothing to do with it. I have been here for a night —
for two hours — or three ; I have lost count of time since I met you."

What reply the girl might have made to this speech, delivered with all
tlie fervency of a man in thorough earnest, will never be known, for at
that moment their trtc-a-UHe was interrupted by a messenger, who said,—

" His Excellency the Austi-ian Ambassador begs to be permitted to pay
liis regards to the Princess von Steinheimer."

Lord Donal Stirling never took his eyes from the face of his
companion, and he saw a quick pallor overspread it. He leaned forward
and whispered, —

" I know the Ambassador ; if you do not wish to meet him, I will
intercept him."

Jennie rose slowly to her feet, and, looking at the young man with a
calmness she was far from feeling, said coldly,' —

" Why should I not wish to meet the Ambassador of my adopted
country ? "

" I know of no reason. Quite the contrary, for he must be an old
friend of yours, having been your guest at the Schloss Steinheimer a year

He stepped back as he said this, and Jennie had difficulty in suppressing
the gasp of dismay with which she received his disquieting disclosure, but
she stood her ground without wincing. She was face to face with the
crisis she had foreseen — the coming of one who knew the Princess, Next
instant the aged diplomat was bending over hei' outstretched hand, which
in courtly fashion the old man raised to his lips.

" I am delighted to have the privilege of welcoming you to this gloomy
old city. Princess von Steinheimer, which you illumine with your presence.
Do you stay long in London ? "

" The period of illumination is short, your Excellency. I leave for
Paris to-morrow."

"So soon? Without even visiting the Embassy? I am distressed to
hear of so speedy a desertion, and yet, knowing the charms of the Schloss
Steinheimer, 1 can hardly wonder at your wish to return there. The
Prince, I suppose, is as devoted as ever to the chase. 1 must censure
his Highness, next time wo meet, for not coming with you to London ;
then I am sure you would have 8taye<l longer witii us."

" The Prmce is a model husband, your Excellency," said Jennie, with a
sly glance at Lord Donal, whose expression of uncertainty increased as
this colloquy went on, " and he would have come to London without a
murmur had his wife been selfish enough to tear him away, from his
beloved Meran."

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JENNIE MIXES WITH THE ELITE OP EARTH

with

" A model husband ! " said the ancient count, with an unctuous chuckle.
" So few of us excel in that respect ; but there is this to be said in our
exculpation, few have been matrimonially so fortunate as the Prince von
Steinheimer. I have never ceased to long for a repetition of the charming
visit I paid to your delightful home."

" If your Excellency but knew how welcome you are, your visits would
not have such long intervals between."

" It is most kind of you, Princess, to cheer an old man's heart by such
gracious words. It is our misfortune that affairs of State chain us to our
pillar, and, indeed, diplomacy seems to become more difficult as the years
go on, because we have to contend with the genius of rising young men
like Ijord Donal Stirling here, who are more than a match for old dogs
that find it iinpossible to learn new tricks."

" Indeed, your Excellency," said his lordship, speaking for the first
time since the Ambassador began, " the very reverse of that is the case.
We sit humbly at your feet, ambitious to emulate, but without hope of
excelling."

The old man chuckled again, and, turnitig to the girl, began to make his
adieux.

"Then my foi-mer rooms are waiting for me at the Castle?" he con-
cluded.

" Yes, your Excellency, with the addition of two red rocking-chairs
imported from Amei'ica, which you will find most comfortable resting-
places when you are free from the cares of State."

" Ah ! The rocking-chairs ! I remember now that you were expecting
them when I was there. So they have arrived, safely, I hope ; but I think
you had ordered an incredible number, to be certain of having at least one
or two serviceable."

" No ; only a dozen, and they all came through without damage."

" You young people, you young people!" murmured the Ambassador,
bending again over the hand presented to him, " what unheard-of things
you do."

And so the old man shuffled away, leaving many compliments behind
liim, evidently not having the slightest suspicion that ht- had met anyone
but the person he supposed himself addressing, for his eyesight was not
of the best, and an Ambassador meets many fair and distinguished women.

The girl sat down with calm dignity, while Lord Donal dropped into his
chair, an expression of complete mystification on his clear-cut, honest
face. Jennie slowly fanned herself, for the heat made itself felt at that
elevated situation, and for a few moments nothing was said by either.
The young man was the first to break silence.

" Should I be so fortunate as to get an invitation to the Schloss Stein-
heimer, may I hope that a red rocking-chair will be allotted to me ? I have
not sat in one since I was in the States."

" Yes, one for you ; two for the An\bassador," said Jennie, with a laugh.

" I shoulil like further to flatter myself that your double generosity to
the Ambassador arises solely from the dignity of his office, and is not in any
way personal."

" I am very fond of ambassadors ; they are coui'teous gentlemen, who
seem t« have less distrust than is exbibited by some not so exalted."

" Distrust 1 You surely cannot mean tliat I have distrusted you,
Princess?" . •• • • ..... : ;. .,.';:. ].<'h

JENNIE BAXTEE, JOUENALIST

" Oh, I was speaking generally," replied Jennie airily. " You seem to
seek a personal application in what I say."

" I admit. Princess, that several times this evening I have been com-
pletely at sea."

" And what is worse, Lord Donal, you have shown it, which is the one
unforgivable fault in diplomacy."

" You are quite right. If I had you to teach me, I would be an
ambassador vithin the next five years, or at least a minister."

The girl looked at him over the top of her fan, covert merriment lurking
in her eyes.

" When you visit Schloss Steinheimer you might ask the Prince if he
objects to my giving you lessons."

Here there was another interruption, and the announcement was made
that the United States Ambassador desired to renew his acquaintance with
the Princess von Steinheimer. Lord Donal made use of an impatient
exclamation more emphatic than he intended to give utterance to, but on
looking at his companion in alarm, he saw in her glance a quick flash of
gratitude as unmistakable as if she had spoken her thanks. It was quite
evident that the girl had no desire to meet his Excellency, which is not
to be wondered at, as she had already encountered him three times in her
capacity of journalist. He not only knew the Princess von Steinheimer,
but he knew Jennie Baxter as well.

She leaned back in her chair and said wearily, —

" I seem to be having rather an abundance of diplomatic society this even-
ing. Are you acquainted with the American Ambassador also, Lord Donal ? "

" Yes," cried the young man, eagerly springing to his feet. " He was
a prominent politician in Washington while I was there. He is an
excellent man, and I shall have no difficulty in making your excuses to
him if you don't wish to meet him."

" Thank you so much. You have now an opportunity of retrieving
your diplomatic reputation, if you can postpone the interview without
offending him."

Lord Donal departed with alacrity, and the moment he was gone all
appearance of languor vanished from Miss Jennie Baxter.

" Now is my chance," she whispered to herself. " I must be in my
carriage before he returns."

Eager as she was to be gone, she knew that she should betray no haste.
Expecting to find a stair at the other end of the gallery, she sought for it,
but there was none. Filled with apprehension that slie would meet Lord
Donal coming up, she had difficulty in timing her footsteps to the slow
measure that was necessary. She reached the bottom of the stair in
safety and unimpeded, but once on the main floor a new problem pre-
sented itself. Nothing would attract more attention than a young and
beautiful lady walking the long distance between the gallery end of the
room and the entrance stairway entirely alone and unattended. She stood
there hesitating, wondering whether she could venture on finding a quiet
side-exit, which she was sure must exist in this large house, when, to her
dismay, she found Lord Donal again at her side, rather breathless, as if he
had been hurrying in search of her. His brows were knit and there was
an anxious expression on his face.

" I must have a word with you alone," he whispered. " Let me con-
duct you to this alcove under the gallery."

ommc

JENNIE MIXES WITH THE ELITE OF EARTH

" No ; I am tired. I am going home."

" I quite understand that, but you must come with me for a moment."

" Must? " she said, with a suggestion of defiance in her tone.

" Yes," he answered gravely. " I wish to be of assistance to you. I
think you will need it."

For a moment she met his unflinching gaze steadily, then her glance
fell, and she said in a low voice, " Very well."

When they reached the alcove, she inquired rather quaveringly — for she
saw something had happened which had finally settled all the young man's
doubts — " Is it the American Ambassador? "

" No ; there was little trouble there. He expects to meet you later in
the evening. But a telegraphic message has come from Meran, signed by
the Princess von Steinheimer, which expresses a hope that the ball will be
a success, and reiterates the regret of her Highness that she could not be
present. Luckily this communication has not been shown to the Duchess.
I told the Duke, who read it to me, knowing I had been with you all the
evening, that it was likely a practical joke on the part of the Prince ; but
the Duke, who is rather a serious person, does not take kindly to that
theory, and if he knew the Prince he would dismiss it as absurd — which it
is. I have asked him not to show the telegram to anyone, so there is a
little time for considering what had best be done."

" There is nothing for me to do but to take my leave as quickly and as
quietly as possible," said the girl, with a nervous little laugh bordering
closely on the hysterical. " I was about to make my way out by some
private exit if I could find one."

"That would be impossible, and the attempt might lead to unexpected
complications. I suggest that you take my arm, and that you bid farewell
to her Grace, pleading fatigue as the reason for your early departure.
Then I will see you to your carriage, and when I return I shall endeavour
to get that unlucky telegi'am from the Duke by teUing him I should like to
find out whether it is a hoax or not. He will have forgotten about it most
likely in the morning. Therefore, all you have to do is to keep up your
courage for a few moments longer until you are safe in your carriage."

" You are very kind," she murmured, with downcast eyes.

" You are very clever, my Princess, but the odds against you were
tremendous. Some time you must tell me why you risked it."

She made no reply, but took his arm, and together they sauntered
through the rooms until they found the Duchess, when Jennie took her
leave of the hostess with a demure dignity that left nothing to be desired.
.\11 went well until they reached the head of the stair, when the Duke, an
ominous frown on his brow, hurried after them and said, —

" My lord, excuse me."

Lord Donal turned with an ill-concealed expression of impatience, but
he was helpless, for he feared his host might not have the good sense to
avoid a scene evei. in his own hall. Had it been the Duchess, all would
have been well, for she was a lady of infinite tact, but the Duke, as he had
said, was a stupid man, who needed the constant eye of his wife upon him
to restrain him from blundering. The young man whispered, " Keep
right on until you are in your carriage. I shall ask my man here to call
it for you, but please don't drive away until I come."

A sign brought a serving man up the stairs.

" Call the carriage of the Princess von Steinheimer," said his master ;

JENNIE BAXTER, JOURNALIST

then, as the lady descended the stair, Lord Donal turned, with no very
thankful feeling in his heart, to hear what his host had to say.

" Lord Donal, the American Ambassador says that woman is not the
Princess von Steinheimer, but is someone of no importance whom he has
met several times in London. He cannot remember her name. Now,
who is she, and how did you come to meet her? "

" My Lord Duke, it never occurred to me to question the identity of
guests I met under your hospitable roof. I knew the Princess five years
ago in Washington, before she was married. I have not seen her in the
interval, but until you showed me the telegi-aphic message there was no
question in my mind regarding her."

'' But the American Ambassador is positive."

" Then he has more confidence in his eyesight than I have. If such a
question, like international difficulties, is to be settled by the Embassies,
let us refer it to Austria, who held a long conversation with the lady in my
presence. Your Excellency," he continued to the Austrian Ambassador,
who was hovering near, waiting to speak to his host, " The Duke of
Chiselhurst has some doubt that the lady who has just departed is the
Princess von Steinheimer. You spoke with her, and can therefore decide
with authority, for his Grace seems disinclined to accept my testimony."

"Not the Princess? Nonsense. I know her very well indeed, and a
most charming lady she is. I hope to be her guest again before many
months are past."

" There, my Lord Duke, you see ever}'thing is as it should be. If you
will give me that stupid telegram, I will make some quiet inquiries about
it. Meanwhile, the less said the better. I will see the American
Ambassador and convince him of his error. And now 1 must make what
excuses I can to the Princess for my desertion of her."

Placing the telegram in his pocket, he hurried down the stair and out to
the street. There had been some delay about the coming of the carriage,
and he saw the lady he sought, at that moment entering it.

" Home at once as fast as you can," he heard her say to the coachman.
She had evidently no intention of waiting for him. He sprang forward,
thrust his arm through the carriage window, and grasped her hand.

" Princess," he cried, " you will not leave me like this. I must see you
to-morrow."

" No, no," she gasped, shrinking into the coi'ner of the carriage.

" You cannot be so cruel. Tell me at least where a letter will reach
you. I shall not release your hand until you promise."

With a quick movement the girl turned back the gauntlet of her long
glove ; the next instant the carriage was rattling down the street, while a
chagrined young man stood alone on the kerb with a long, slender white
glove in his hand.

" By Jove ! " he said at last, as he folded it carefully and placed it in
the pocket of his coat. " It is the glove this time, instead of the slipper ! "

3 \ery

GREAT EVENTS CAST THEIR SHADOWS BEHIND

CHAPTER IX.

itity of

e years

in the

was no

t such a
bassies,
y in my
assador,
)uke of
d is the
■e decide
lony."
d, and a
re many

. If you
ies about
\merican
ake what

,nd out to
carriage,

oaohmian.
forward,
id.

st see you

will reach

,f her long
et, while a
ider white

laced it in
3 slipper!"

JENNIE REALIZES THAT GREAT EVENTS CAST THEIB SHADOWS BEHIND.

Jennie Baxter reached her hotel as quickly as a fast pair of horses could
take her. She had succeeded ; yet a few rebellious tears of disappointment
trickled down her cheeks now that she was alone in the semi-darkness of
the carriage. She thought of the eager young man left standing dis-
consolately on the kerb, with her glove dangling in his hand, and she
l)itterly regretted that unkind fortune had made it possible for her to meet
liiin only under false pretences. One consolation was that he had no clue
to her identity, and she was resolved never, never to see him again ; yet,
such is tl^e contrariness of human nature, no sooner was she refreshed by
this determination than her tears flowed more freely than ever.

She knew that she was as capable of enjoying scenes like the function
she had just left as any who were there ; as fitted for them by education,
by personal appearance, or by natural gifts of the mind, as the most
welcome of the Duchess's guests ; yet she was barred out from them as
effectually as was the lost Pe'"' at the closed gate. Why had capricious
fate selected two girls of probably equal merit, and made one a princess,
while the other had to work hard night and day for the mere right to live ?'
Nothing is so ineffectual as the little word "why"; it asks, but never
answers.

With a deep sigh Jennie dried her tears as the carriage pulled up at the
portal of the hotel. The sigh dismissed all frivolities, all futile "whys";
the girl was now face to face with the realities of life, and the events she
had so recently taken part in would soon blend themselves into a dream.

Dismissing the carriage, and walking briskly through the hall, she said
to the night porter, —

" Have a hansom at the door for me in fifteen minutes."

" A hansom, my lady? " gasped the astonished man.

"Yes." She slipped a sovereign into his hand and ran lightly up the
stairs. The porter was well accustomed to the vagaries of great ladies,
although a hansom at midnight was rather beyond his experience. But if
all womankind tipped s^ generously, they might order an omnibus, and
welcome ; so the hansom was speedily at the door.

Jennie roused the drowsy maid who was sitting up for her.

" Come," she said, " you nmst get everything packed at once. Lay out
my ordinary dress and help me off with this."

" Where is your other glove, my lady? " asked the maid, busily unhook-
ing and untying.

" Lost. Don't trouble about it. When everything is packed, get some
sleep, and leave word to be called in time for the eight o'clock express for
Paris. Here is money to pay the bill and your fare. It is likely I shall
join you at the station ; but if I do not, go to our hotel in Paris and wait
for me there. Say nothing of our destination to anyone, and answer no
(juestions regarding me, should inquiries be made. Are you sure you
understand? "

"Yes, my lady." •

JENNIE BAXTER, JOURNALIST

A few moments later Jennie was in the cab, driving through the nearly
deserted streets. She dismissed her vehicle at Charing Cross, walked
down the Strand until she got another, then proceeded direct to the office
of the Daily Bugle, whose upper windows formed a row of lights, all the
more brilliant because of the intense darkness below.

She found the shorthand writers waiting for her. The editor met her at
the door of the room reserved for her, and said, with visible anxiety on his
brow, " Well, what success ? "

" Complete success," she answered shortly.

" Good ! " he replied emphatically. " Now I propose to read the type-
written sheets as they come from the machine, correct them for obvious
clerical errors, and send them right away to the compositors. You can,
perhaps, glance over the final proofs, which will be ready almost as soon
as you have finished."

" Very well. Look closely to the spelling of proper names and verify
titles. There won't be much time for me to go carefully over the last
proofs."

" All right. You furnish the material, and I'll see that it's used to the
best advantage."

Jennie entered the room, and there at a desk sat the waiting steno-
grapher ; over his head hung the bulb of an electric light, its green
circular shade throwing the white rays directly down on h:« open note-
book. The girl was once more in the working world, and its bracing air
acted as a tonic to her over-wrought nerves. All longings and regrets had
been put off with the Paris-made gown which the maid at that moment
was carefully packing away. The order of nature seemed reversed ; the
butterfly had abandoned its gorgeous wings of gauze, and was habited in
thf •"-« working garb of the grub. With her hands clasped behind
b' jirl paced up and down the room, pouring forth words, two

. to the minute, and sometimes more. Silently one ste lographer,
jiUg in, replaced another, who as silently departed ; and from the
ajoining room, the subdued, nervous, rapid click, click, click of the type-
writing machine invaded, without disturbing, her consciousness. Towards
three o'clock the low drone of the rotaries in the cellar mude itself felt
rather than heard ; the early edition for the country was being run off.
Time was flying — danced away by nimble feet in the West End, worked
away by nimble fingers in Fleet Street (well-named thoroughfare) ; play
and work, work and play, each supplementing the other ; the acts of the
frivolous recorded by the industrious.

When a little more than three hours' dictating was finished, the voice
of the girl, now as hoarse as formerly it had been musical, ceased ; she
dropped into a chiiir and rested her tired bead on the deserted desk,
closing her wearied eyes. Bhe knew she had spoken between 15,0(X) and
20,000 words, a number almost equal in quantity to that contained in
many a book which had made an author's fame and fortune. And all for
the ephemeral reading of a day — of a forenoon, more likely — to be forgotten
when the evening journals came out I

Shortly after the typewriter gave its final click the editor came in.

" I didn't like to disturb you while you were at work, and so I kept at
my own task, which was no light one, and thus I appreciate the enormous
strain that has rested on you. Your account is magnificent, Miss Baxter ;
just what I wanted, and never hoped to get."

GEEAT EVENTS CAST THEIR SHADOWS BEHIND 51

the type-
r obvious
You can,
t as soon

md verify
r the last

3ed to the

ing Bteno-

its green
)pen note-
jracing air
•egrets had
it moment
ersed ; the

habited in
jed behind
ivords, two

iographer,
I from the
)f the type-
Towards
,e itself felt
ng run off.
Ind, worked
ifare) ; play

acts of the

i, the voice
seased ; she
serted desk,

16,000 and
lontained in

And all for
be forgotten

ne in.

so I kept at
he enormous
SiIisB Baxter ;

" I am glad you liked it," said the girl, laughing somewhat dismally at
the croaking sound of her own voice.

" I need not ask you if you were there, for no person but one who was
present, and one who knew how to describe, could have produced such a
vivid account of it all. How did you get in ? "

"In where?" murmured Jennie drowsily. She found difi&culty in
keeping her mind on what he was saying.

"To the Duchess of Chiaelhurst's ball."

"Oh, getting in was easy enough; it was the getting out that was the
(rouble."

" Like prison, eh ? " suggested the editor. " Now, will you have a little
ttine, or something stronger? "

" No, no. All I need is rest."

" Then let me call a cab ; I will see you home, if you will permit me."

" I am too tired to go home ; I shall remain here until morning."

" Nonsense. You must go home and sleep for a week if you want to.
House up ; I believe you are talking in your sleep now."

" I understand perfectly what you are saying and what I am doing. I
have work that must be attended to at eight. Please leave orders that
someone is to call me at seven and bring a cup of coffee and biscuits, or
rolls, or anything that is to be had at that hour. And please don't trouble
furtliei . I am very thankful to you, but will express myself better later
on."

With this the editor had to be content, and was shortly on his way
to his own well-earned rest. To Jennie it seemed but a moment after he
had gone, that the poi-ter placed coffee and rolls on the desk beside her
saying, " Seven o'clock, miss ! "

The coffee refreshed the girl, and as she passed through the editorial
rooms she noted the i- forlorn, dishevelled appearance, which all places
show when seen at an unaccustomed hour, their time of activity and bustle
past. The rooms were littered with torn papers ; waste-baskets over-
flowing ; looking silent, scrappy, and abandoned in the grey morning light
which seemed intrusive, usurping the place of the usual artificial illumin-
ation, and betraying a bareness which the other concealed. Jennie
recognized a relationship between her own up-all-night feeling and the
spirit of the deserted rooms.

At the railway station she found her maid waiting for her, surrounded
by luggage.

" Have you got your ticket ? "

" Yes, my lady."

" I have changed my mind, and will not go to Paris just now. Ask a
porter to put those trunks in the left-luggage office, and bring me the keys
and the receipt."

When this was done and money matters had been adjusted between
them, Jennie gave the girl five pounds more than was d^e to her, and saw
her into the railway carriage, well pleased with the reward. A hansom
brought Jennie to her flat, a'^d so ended the exhausting episode of the
Duchess of Chiselhurst's ball.

Yet an event, like a malady, leaves numerous consequence'' ' its train,
extending, who shall say, how far into the future? The firs, ^^mptom of
tliese consequences was a correspondence, and, as there is no reading
more dreary than a series of letters, mei-ely their substance is given here.

IS2

JENNIE BAXTEE, JOURNALIST

When Jennie was herself again, she wrote a long letter to the Princess
von Steinheimer, detailing the particulars of her impersonation, and beg-
ging pardon " what she had done, while giving her reasons for doing it ;
but, perhaps -/ecause it did not occur to her, she made not the slightest
reference to Lord Donal Stirling. Two answeis came to this — one a
registered packet containing the diamonds which the Princess had pre-
viously offered to her ; the other a letter from the Princess's own hand.
The glitter of the diamonds showed Jennie that she had been speedily
forgiven, and the letter corroborated this. In fact, the Princess upbraided
her for not letting her into the secret eai'lier. " It is just the jolly kind of
thing I should have delighted in," wrote her Highness. " And then, if I
had known, I should not have sent that unlucky telegram. It serves you
right for not taking me into your confidence, and I am glad you had a
fright. Think of it coming in at that inoppoi'tune moment, just as tele-
grams do at a play ! But, Jennie, are you sure you told me everything ?
A letter came from London the day before yours arrived, and it bewildered
me dreadfully at first. Don Sterling, whom I used to know at Washington
(a conceited young fellow he was then — -I hope he has improved since),
wrote to say that he had met a girl at the Duchess of Chiselhurst's ball who
had a letter inviting the Princess von Steinheimer to the festivity. He
thought at first she was the Princess (whi.-h is very complimentary to each
of us), but found later that she wasn't. Now he wants to know, you know,
and thinks, quite I'easonably, tliat I must have some inkling who tbat girl
was, and he begs me, by our old friendship, etc., etc., etc. He is a nice
young man, if a trifle confident (these young diplomatists think they hold
the reins of the universe in their hands), and I should like to oblige him,
but I thought first I would hear what you had to say about it. I am to
address him care of the Embassy at St. Petersburg, so I suppose he's
stationed there now. By the way, how did he get your glove, or is that
merely brag on his part ? He says that it is the only clue he has, and he
is going to trace you from that, it seems, if I do not tell him who you are
and send him your address. Now, what am I to say when I write to St.
Petersburg? "

In reply to this, Jennie sent a somewhat incoherent letter, very different
from her usual style of writing. She had not mentioned the young man in
her former communication, she said, because she had been trying to forgot
the incident in which he was the central figure. In no circumstances could
she meet him again, and she implored the Princess not to disclose her
identity to him even by a hint. She explained the glove episode exactly
as it happened ; she was compelled to sacrifice tlie glove to release her
hand. He had been very kind in helping her to escape from a false
position, but it would bo tec humiliating for her ever to see him or speak
with him again.

When this letter reached tlie Scliloss at Meran, the Princess telegraphed
to London, " Send me the other glove," and Jennie sent it. A few days
later came a further communication from the Princess.

" I have pu/zled our young man quite effectually, I think, clever as lie
imagines iiiinself to be. I wrote him a semi-indignant letter to St. Peters-
burg, and said I tbouglil all along he had not really recognized me iit
the ball, in spite of his protestations at first, Then 1 saw how easily lie
was deluded into the belief that I was some other woman, and ao tlie
temptation to cozen him further was irresistible. Am I not u good actress ?

" Deai
companic
ciua. 1 1
you have
If the glc
hope tl
find the

With
fool as .
I wish
evening.

But

Princess

For mj

little com

unreality

with her

tion of

"ccurrod

"ffice is a

One af

work, an(

"Cadb

you. H,

" You

tbe 8ch](]

'■ As fa

band — a

to unrave

GEEAT EVENTS CAST THEIR SHADOWS BEHIND

'rincess
id beg-
oing it ;
jlightest
— one a
lad pre-
n hand,
speedily
pbraided
r kind of
ihen, if I
■rves you
»u had a
t as tele-
irything ?
ewilderer
ishington
ed since),
s ball who
vity. He
ly to each
you know,
) that girl
3 is a nice

they hold

blige hini,

I am to

ppose he's

or is that
las, and he
ho you are
write to St.

ry different
ung man in
iig to forget
ances coulil
Unclose hev
ode exactly
release her
•om a false
im or speak

telegraphed
A few days

clever as bo
o St. Peters-
nized me at
ow easily be
and so the
iood actress ?

I asked h''m. I went on to say, with some show of anger, that a quiet
flirtation in the gallery was all very well in its way, but when it came to a
voung man rushing in a frenzy bire-headed into the street after a respect-
able married woman who had jast got into her carriage and was about to
(k'ive away, it was too much altogetlier, and thus he came into possession
of the glove. As the remaining glove was of no use to me, I had great
pleasure in sending it to liim, l)ut warned liim that if the story ot the gloves
ever came to the ears of my husband, I should deny having either owned or
worn them. I should like to see Don's amazed look when the other glove
(hops out of my letter, which was a bulky package and cost ever so much
in postage. I think the sending of the glove was an inspiration. I fancy
his lordship will be now completely deluded, and that you need have no
further fear of his finding you."

Jennie read this letter over once or twice, and in spite of her friendly
feeling for the Princess, there was something in the epistle that jarred on
her. Nevertheless she wrote and thanked the Princess for what she had
done, and then she tried to forget all about everything pertaining to the ball.
However, she was not allowed to erase all thought of Lord Donal from her
mind, even if she could have accomplished this task unimpeded. There
shortly arrived a i)rief note from the Princess encioaing a letter the young
diplomatist at St. Petersburg had written.

" Dear Princess " (it ran), — " I am very much obliged to you for the
companion glove, as I am thus enabled to keep one and use the other as a
chia. I see you not only know who the mysterious young lady is, but that
you have since met her, or at least luive been in correspondence with her.
If the glove does not lead me to the hand, I shall pay a visit to you in the
hope that you will atone for your present cruelty by telling me where to
find the owner of both glove and hand."

V/ith regard to this note the Princess had written, " Don is not such a
fool as I took him to be. He must have improved during the last few years.
I wish you would write and tell me exactly what he said to you that
evening."

But with this wish .Jeimie did not comply. She merely again urged the
Princess never to divulge the secret.

For many days Jennie lieard nothing more from -.ny of the actors in the
little comedy, and the episode began to take on in her thoughts that air of
unreality which remote events seem to gather round them. She went on
with her daily work to the satisfaction of her employers and the augmenta-
tion of her own baidcing account, although no experience worthy of record
occurred in her routine for several weeks. But a lull in a newspaper
otlice is seldom of long duration.

One afternoon Mr. Hardwick can)e to the desk at wliich Jennie was iit
work, and said to her, —

" Cadbury Taylor called here yesterday, and was very anxious to see
you. Has he ijeen in again this afternoon } "

" You mean the detective ? No, I haven't seen him since that day at
the Schloss Steinheimer. What did he want with nie?'^

'• As far as I was able to understand, ho has a very important case on
hand — a sort of romance in high life ; and I think he wants your assistance
to unravel it ; it seems to be baffling him."

JENNIE BAXTER, JOURNALIST

" It is not very difficult to baffle Mr. Cadbury Taylor," said the girl,
looking up at her employer with a meny twinkle in her eye.

" Well, he appears to be in a fog now, and he expressed himself to meas
beinjT very much taken with the neat way in which you unravelled the
diamond mystery at Meran, so he thinks you may be of great assistance to
him in his present difficulty, and is willing to pay in cash or in kind."

" Cash payment I understand," said the girl, " but what does he mean
by payment in kind ? "

" Oh, he is vpilling that you should make a sensational article out of the
episode. It deals entirely, h says, with persons in high life — titled
persons — and so it might me .e an interesting column or two for the
paper."

" I see — providing, of course, that the tangled skein was unravelled by
the transcendent genius of Mr. Cadbury Taylor," said the gii-1 cynically.

" I don't think he wants his name mentioned," continued the editor ;
" in fact, he said that it wouldn't do to refer to him at all, for if people dis-
covered that he made public any of the cases intrusted to him, he would
lose his business. He has been working on this problem for several weeks,
and I believe has made little progress towards its solution. His client is
growing impatient, so it occurred to the detective that you might consent to
help him. He said, with a good deal of complacency, that he did not know
you were connected with the Bwjlc, but he put his wits at work and has
traced you to this office."

" How clever he is!" said Jennie, laughing; "1 am sure I made no
secret of the fact that I work for the Daily BikjIc."

" I think Mr. Taylor will have no hesitation in agreeing with you that he
is clever ; nevertheless, it might be worth while to see him and to assist
him if you can, because nothing so takes the public as a romance in high
life. Here is his address ; would you mind calling on him ? "

" Not at all," replied the young woman, copying the street and number in
her note-book.

CHAPTER X.

JBNNIIi; ASSISTS IN 8EAU0HING FOR HERSELF.

Next day Jennie Baxter drove to the address the editor had given her, and
she found Mr. Cadbury Taylor at home, in somewhat sumptuous offices on
the lirst floor. Fastened to his door was a l)ra88 plate, which exposed to
public view the carven words —

CADBURY TAYLOR,

Private Enquiry Agent.

The detective was quite evidently very glad to see her.
" I intended calling to-day at tiie office of the BikjIc on the chance of
finding you," he said; " but 1 am delighted to meet you here, because wo

can talk

this casi

"Ver

"It w

only giv

terest v

standpoi

perhaps,

"He I

Jennie ;

deal of V

point of

touch it.

" Oh,

much eaj

appearar

one havi

world thi

entirely i

" I she

large citj

" You

my word

events th

" Pleas

understai

The dc

the end r

documen

" The

of Chisel!

"The

" Oh, dei

The de

" Why

" Beca

of Chis..

for weoki-

" It ha

by the wi

printed

"So

didn't rea

" You
first part
report of
you reme
the pleas
" You
speaking
" Reall
where wil

JENNIE ASSISTS IN SEARCHING FOR HERSELF 65

can talk without fear of interruption. Has the editor told you anything of
this case ? "

" Very Httle ; he didn't seem to know much about it himself."

" It was impossible for me to go into full particulars with him. I could
only give him a hint or two in order to convey to him some idea of the in-
terest which the mystery, when solved, might have from a newspaper
standpoint. Of course I wished to gain his assistance so that he might,
perhaps, persuade you to help me in this matter."

" He seems to be quite willing that I should lend what aid I can," said
Jennie ; " but I must have full details before I promise. I have a good
deal of work on hand, and, unless this case is interesting from a newspaper
point of view, as you have just said, I don't think that I should care to
touch it."

" Oh, you will find it of great interest," the detective assured her with
much eagearness. " It relates to the sudden and hitherto unexplained dis-
appearance of a woman. That of itself is absorbing, for I may tell you, as
one having a large experience, that there is nothing more difficult in this
world than for any person, and more especially for a woman, to disappear
entirely and leave no trace behind."

" I should have thought it quite easy," said Jennie, "especially in a
large city like London."

" You have given expression to the universal opinion, but I pledge you
my word that a completely successful disappearance is one of the most rare
events that we detectives have to meet with in our line of investigation."

" Please tell me the story," said the girl-; " then we can speak more
understandingly about it."

The detective selected a packet of papers, one of many which occupied
the end of his table. He slipped from it a rubber band which held the
documents together.

" The first act of the drama, if we may call it so, began at the Duchess
of Chiselhurst's ball."

" The Duchess of Chiselhurst's ball I " echoed Jennie, with a shudder.
"Oh, dear! "

The detective looked up at her.

" Why do you say ' Oh, dear ' ? " he asked.

"Because," said the girl wearily, " I am tired hearing of the Duchess
of Chiselhurst's ball ; there seems to have been nothing else in the papers
for weeks past."

" It has excited a great deal of comment," assented the detective ; " and,
by the way, the Daily Bwjle had one of the best accounts of it that was
printed in any rewspaper."

" So I have heard," said Jennie carelessly, " but I must confess that I
didn't read that copy of the Bvglc."

" You amaze mo 1 I should have thought that would have been the
first part of the paper to which any lady would turn. However, the
report of the ball has nothing to do with what we have in hand. Now,
you remember the Princess von Steinheimer, at whose castle I first had
the pleasure of meeting you ? "

" You liad the pleasure of meeting me l)cfore that," said Jennie,
speaking without giving thought to what she said.

" Really I " cried the detective, dropping his papers on the table ; " and
where was that? "

JENNIE BAXTEE. JOURNALIST

"Oh, well, as you have just said — it has nothing to do with this case.
Perhaps I was wrong in saying you saw mp ; it would be more correct to
say that I saw you. You must remembar t'nat you are a public character,
Mr. Taylor."

" Ah, quite so," said the detective complacently, turning to his
documents again. " Now, the Princess von Steinheinier was invited to the
Duchess of Chiselhurst's ball, but she did not attend it."

"Are you sure of that?" said the girl. "I thought her name was
among the list of those present."

" It was in the list, and that is just where our mystery begins.
Someone else attended the ball as the Princess von Steinheinier ; it is this
person that I wish to find."

" Ah, then you are employed by the Duke of Chiselhurst ? "

" No, I am not, for, strangely enough, I believe the Duke thinks it was
actually the Princess who attended the ball. Only one man knows that
the Princess was not present, one man and two women. Of the latter,
one is the Princess von Steinheimer, and the other, the lady who
impersonated her. The one man is Lord Donal Stirling, of the
Diplomatic Service, whose name is no doubt familiar to you. Lord Donal
has done me the honour to place the case in my hands."

" Why does his lordship wish to find this — this — fraudulent person?"
asked Jennie, speaking slowly and with difficulty.

" Because," said the detective, with the air of a man who knows
whereof he speaks, " he is in love with her."

" What makes you think that ? "

" I don't think it, I know it. Listen to his description of her."

The detective chose a paper from among his pile of documents, folded,
labelled, and docketed for reference.

"'The girl is of average height, or perhaps a trifle taller than the
average ; carries herself superbly, like a born duchess. Her eyes are of a
deep, velvety black — ' "

" Dear me ! " cried the girl, " he describes her as if she were a cat 1 "

" Wait a moment," said the detective.

" I don't see much trace of love in that," continued Jennie breathlessly.

"Wait a moment," repeated the detective. "'They Ught up and
sparkle with merriment, and they me't into the most entrancing
tenderness.' "

" Good gracious I " cried Jennie, rising, " the conceit of the man is
illimitable. Does he mean to intimate that he saw tenderness for himself
in the eyes of a woman he had met for an hour or two ? "

" That's just it," said the detective, laughing. " You see the man is head
over ears in love. Please sit down again. Miss Baxter, and listen. 1
know this sentimental kind of writing must be irksome to a practical
woman like yourself, but in our business we cannot neglect even the
slightest detail. Let's see, where was I ?— ' tenderness,' oh, yes. ' Her
hair is of midnight darkness, inclined to ripple, with little whiffs of curls
imperiously defying restraint about her temples. Her complexion is an
pure as the dawn, touched now and then with a blush as delicate as the
petal of a roso.' "

" Absurd I " cried Jennie impatiently. " The complexion of a woman
at a ball t Of course, she put it oa for the occasion."

" Of course," agreed the detective. " But that merely shows you how

iiiorningl
pair, coal
lady horj
mo that
iillow hoi

" Thai
■ittoinpt,

"Oh
and ho

JENNIE ASSISTS IN SEARCHING FOR HERSELF 57

118 case,
irrect to
laracter,

to his
jd to the

ime was

begins,
it is this

cs it was
OW8 that
le latter,
ady who
, of the
,rd Donal

person?"

ho knows

its, folded,

r than the
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•eathlessly.
it up and
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for himself

nan is head
I listen. I
a practical
it even the
yc8. ' Hei
ift's of curls
exion is as
cats as the

)f a woman
W8 you how

deeply in love he is. Lord Donal is quite a young man. He came up to
this room to consult with me, and certainly he doesn't know the difference
lietween a complexion developed in a Surrey lane and one purchased in
New Bond Street."

" Still, the blushing would seem to indicate that the complexion was
genuine," retorted Jennie, apparently quite unflattei'ed by Mr. Taylor's
agreement with the theory she herself had put forward.

" Oh, I don't know about that. I believe modern science enables an
enamelled woman to blush at will ; I wouldn't be sure of it, because it is
outside of my own line of investigation, but I have understood such is the
case."

" Very likely," assented Jennie. " Whai ■ that you have at the bottom
of your packet? "

" That," said the detective, drawing it forth and handing it to the girl,
" is her glove."

Jennie picked up the glove — which, alas ! she had puid for and only
worn on one occasion — and smoothed it out between her fingers. It was
docketed " G ; made by Gaunt et Cie, Boulevard Hausmann ; purchased
ui Paris by one alleging herself to be the Princess von Steinheimer."

" You have found out all about it," said Jennie, as she finished reading
the label.

" Yes, it is our business to do so ; but the glove has not been of much
assistance to us."

" How did he say he became possessed of the glove?" asked the girl
innocently. " Did she give it to him ? "

" No ; he tore it from her hand as she was leaving him in the carriage.
It seemed to me a most ungentlemanly thing to do, but of course it was
not my business to tell Lord Donal that."

" So the glove has not been of much assistance to you. Tell me, then,
what you have done, and perhaps I shall be the better able to advise you."

" We have done everything that suggested itself. We traced the alleged
Princess from the Hotel Bristol in Paris to Claridge's in London. I have
a very clever woman in Paris who assisted me, and she found where the
gloves were bouglit and where the dress was made. Did I read you Lord
Donal's description of the lady's costume ? "

" No, never mind that ; go on with your story."

" Well, Claridge's provided carriage, coachman and footman to take her
to the ball, and this returned with her sometime about midnight. Now,
liere a curious thing happened. The lady ordered a hansom as she passed
the night-porter and shortly after packed off her maid in the cab."

" Her maid ! " echoed Jennie.

" Yes. The maid came down in ordinary street dress shortly after,
deeply veiled, and drove away in the hansom ; the lady paid her bill next
morning and went to the eight o'clock Paris express, with carriage and
pair, coachman and footman. Of course it struck me that it might be the
lady herself who had gone off in the cab, but a moment's reflection showed
me that she was not likely to leave the hotel in a cab at midnight, and
allow her maid to take the carriage in state next morning."

" That doesn't appear reasonable," murmured Jennie. " You made no
attempt, tlien, to trace the maid ? "

" Oh yes, we did. We found the cabman who took her from Claridge's,
and ho left her at Charing Cross Station, but there all brace of her

JENNIE BAXTER, JOURNALIST

vanishes. She probably left on one of the late trains — there are only a
few after midnight — to some place out in the country. The lady took
a first-class ticket to Paris, and departed alone next morning by the eight
o'clock Continental express. My assistant discovered her and took a
snapshot of her as she was walking down the boulevard ; here is the
picture."

The detective handed Miss Baxter an instantaneous view of one of the
boulevards taken in bright sunshine. The principal figure in the fore-
ground Jennie had no diSiculty in recognizing as her own maid, dressed in
that chic fashion which Parisian women affect.

" She seems to answer the description," said Jennie.

" So I thought," admitted the detective, " and I sent the portrait to
Lord Donal. See what he has written on the back."

Jennie turned the picture over, and there under the inscription, " H.
Supposed photo of the missing woman," was written in a bold hand,
"Bosh! Read my description of the girl; this is evidently some Pari.s
lady's maid."

"Well, what did you do when you got this picture back?" asked
Jennie.

" I remembered you, and went to the office of the Daily Bugle. This
brings us to the present moment. You have now the whole story, and I
shall be very pleased to listen to any suggestions you are good enough to
offer."

The girl sat where she was for a few moments and pondered over the
situation. The detective, resting his elbow on the table and his chin in his
hand, regarded her with eager anticipation. The more Jennie thought
, over the matter, the more she was amazed at the man before her, who
seemed unable to place two and two together. He had already spoken of
the account of the ball which had appeared in the Daily Bugle ; of its
accui'acy and its excellence ; he knew that she was a member of the Bugle
staff, yet it had never occurred to him to inquire who wrote that descrip-
tion ; he knew also that she had been a guest at the Schloss Steinheimer
when the invitation to the ball must have reached the Princess. These
facts were so plainly in evidence that the girl was afraid to speak lest some
chance word would form the connecting link between the detective's mind
and the seemingly palpable facts. At last she looked up, the colour
coming and going in her cheeks, as Lord Donal had so accurately
described it.

" I don't think I can be of any assistance to you in this crisis, Mr.
Taylor. You have already done everything that human ingenuity can
suggest."

" Yes, I have — everything that my human ingenuity can suggest. But
does nothing occur to you ? have you no theory to put forward '/ "

" None that would be of any practical advantage. la Lord Donal
certain that it was not the Princess hersel' vvhom he met? Are you
thoroughly convinced that there was really an mpersonation ? "

" What do you mean. Miss Baxter? "

" Well, you met Prince von Steinheimer ; what do you think of him ? "

" I thought him an overbearing bully, if you ask me. I can't imagine
what English or American girls see in those foreigners to cause them to
nuirry. It is the titles, I suppose. The Prince was very violent-
practicftUy ordered me out of the Castle, spoke to his father in-Jaw in the

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— your clil
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remembeij
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disappear!
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disappearf
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lie full
document

" Hero
saying tlij

JENNIE ASSISTS IN SEAECHING FOR HERSELF o9

mo^t p'ei'emptory manner, and I could easily see the Princess was
friglitened out of her wits."

" A very accurate characterization of his Highness, Mr. Taylor. Now,
of course, tlie Princess being a woman — and a young woman — would
naturally be very anxious to attend the Duchess of Chiselhurst's ball,
wouldn't she ? "

" One would think so."

" And, as you have just said, she has a bear of a husband, a good deal
older than herself, who does not in the least care for such functions as that to
which the Princess was invitjd. Is it not quite possible that the Princess
actually attended the ball, but, for reasons of her own, desired to keep the
fact of her presence there a secret ; and you nmst remember that Lord
Donal Stirling had not seen the Princess for live years."

" For five years?" said the detective sharply. " How did you learn
that, Miss Baxter ? "

" Well, you know," murmured the girl, with a gasp, " he met her last
in Washington, and the Princess has not been in America for five years;
asked so you see — "

" Oh, I was not aware that he had met her in America at all ; in fact.
Lord Donal said nothing much about the Princess — all his talk had
reference to this lady who impersonated her."

Jennie leaned back in her chair, closed her eyes for a moment, and
breathed quickly.

" I am afraid," she said at last, " that I do not remember with sufficient
minuteness the details you have given me, to be alile to advise. I can only
suggest that Lord Donal met the Princess herself at the Duchess of
Cliiselhurst's ball. The Princess, naturally, would wish to mislead him
regarding her identity ; and so, if he had not met her for some time — say two
years, or three years, or five years, or whatever the period may be — it is
quite possible that the Princess has changed greatly in the interval, and
perhaps she was not reluctant to carry on a flirtation with the young man
— your client. Of course, she could not allow it to go further than the
outside of the door of the Duke of Chiselhurst's town house, for you must
remember there was her husband in the background — a violent man, as
you have said ; and Lord Donal uuist have thoroughly angered the
Princess by what you term his rudeness in tearing off her glove ; and now
the Princess will never admit that she was at the ball, so it seems to me
that you are wasting your time in a wild goose chase. Why, it is absurd
to think, if there had been a real disappearing woman, that you, with all
your experience and all your fucihties, should not have unearthed lier long
ago. You said at the begiiming that nothing was more difficult tiian to
But (lisai){)ear. Very well, then — why have you been battled? Simply

l)ecause the Princess herself attended the ball, and there has been no
disappearing lady at all."

The detective, with great vehemence, brought down his fist on the talile.

"By Jove!" he cried, "I btjlieve you are right. I have been com-
pletely blinded, the more so that I liav(^ the clue to the mystery right
iiere under my own eyes."

He fumbled for a moment ii l)rou;;bt forth a letter from his p.lo of
documents.

" Here is a note from St. Petersburg, written l)y Ijord Donal himself,
saying the Princess had sent him the companion glove to the ouo you now

- JENNIE BAXTEH, JOURNALIST

have in your hand. He says he is sure the Princess knows who hw
impersonator was, but that she won't tell ; and, although I had read this
note, it never struck mo that the Princess herself was the woman. Miss
Baxter, you have solved the puzzle ! "

" I should be glad to think so," replied the girl, rising, " and I an; very
happy if I have enabled you to give up a futile chase."

" It is as plain as daylight," replied the detective. " Lord Donal's
description fits the Princess exactly, and yet I never thought of her
before."

Jennie hurried away from the detective's office, happy in the belief that
she had not betrayed herself, although she was not blind to the ^act that
her escape was due more to good luck than to any presence of mind of her
own, which had nearly deserted her at one or two points in the conversation.
When LIr. Hardwick saw her, he asked how much space he should have to
reserve for the romance in high life ; but she told him there was nothing
in the case, so far as she could see, to interest any sane reader.

Here matters rested for a fortnight ; then the girl received an urgent
note from Cadbury Taylor, asking her to call at his oflBce next day
promptly at four o'clock. It was very important, he said, and he hoped
she would on no account disappoint him. Jennie's first impulse was not
to go, but she was so anxious to learn what progress the detective had
made in the case, fearing that at last he might have got on the right nack,
that she felt it would be unwise to take the risk of not seeing him. If his
suspicions were really aroused, her absence might possibly serve to con-
firm them. Exactly at four o'clock next afternoon she entered his oflQce
and found him, to her relief, alone. He sprang up from his table on seeing
her, and said in a whisper, " I am so glad you have come. I am in rather
a quandary. Lord Donal Stirling is in London on a flying visit. He called
here yesterday."

The girl caught her breath, but said nothing.

" I explained to him the reasons I have for believing that it was actually
the Princess von Steinheimer whom he met at the Duchess of Chiselhurst's
ball. He laughed at me ; there was no convincing him. He said that
theory was more absurd than the sending him a picture of a housemaid
as that of the lady he met at the ball. I used all the arguments which
you had used, but he brushed them aside as of no consequence, and
somehow the case did not appear to be as clear as when you propounded
your theory."

" Well, what then ? " asked the girl.

" Why, then I asked him to come up here at four o'clock and hear
what an assistant of mine would say about the case."

" At four o'clock ! " cried the girl in terror ; " then he may be here at
any moment."

"He is here now; he is in the next room. Come in, and I will
introduce you, and then I want you to tell him all the circumstances
which lead you to believe that it was the Princess herself whom he met.
I am sure you can place all the points before him so tersely 'hat you
will succeed in bringing him round to your own way of thinking. You
will try, won't you, Miss Baxter? It will be a very great obligement
to me."

" Oh, no, no, no I " cried the girl ; " I am not going to admit to anyone
that I have been acting as a detective's assistant. You had no right to

As Jem

there ai
think of
leaving
whom h
luid do\^
liim, su(
had ope
the inm
wishing

JENNIE ELUDES AN OFFER OF MARRIAGE

bring me here. I must go at once. If I had known this I would not have
come."

" It won't take you five minutes," pleaded Cadbury Taylor. " He is at
this moment waiting for you ; I told him you would be here at four."

" I can't help that ; you had no right to make an appointment for me
without my knowledge and consent."

Taylor was about to speak when the door-handle of the inner room
turned.

" I say, detective," remarked Lord Donal, in a voice of some irritation,
" you should have assistants who are more punctual. I am a very busy
man, and must leave for St. Petersburg to-night, so I oan't spend all my
time in your office, you know."

" I am sure I beg your pardon, my lord," said the detective with great
obsequiousness. " This young lady has some objections to giving her
views, but I am sure you will be able to persuade her — "

He turned, but the place at his side was vacant. The door to the hall
was open, and the girl had escaped as she saw the handle of the inner
door turn. Taylor looked blankly at his client with dropped jaw. Lord
Donal laughed.

" Your assistant seems to have disappeared as completely as did the
lady at the ball. Why not set your detectives on her track? Perhaps
she will prove to be the person I am in search of."

" I am very sorry, my lord," stammered the detective.

" Oh, don't mention it. I am sure you have done all that could be done
with the veiy ineffective clues which unfortunately are our only posses-
sion, but you are quite wrong in thinking it was the Princess herself who
attended the ball, and I don't blame your assistant for refusing to bolster
up an impossible case. We will consider the search ended, and if you
will kindly let me have your bill at the Diplomatic Club before six o'clock
to-night, I will send you a cheque. Good afternoon, Mr. Taylor."

CHAPTER XI.

JENNIE ELUDES AN OFFEB OF MABRIAQE.

As Jennie rapidly hurried away from the office of Mr. Cadbury Taylor,
there arose in her mind some agitation as to what the detective would
think of her sudden flight. She was convinced that, up to the moment of
leaving him so abruptly, he had not the slightest suspicion she herself, to
whom he was then talking, was the person he had been searching for up
mid down Europe. What must he think of one who, while speaking with
liim, suddenly, without a word of leave-taking, disappeared as if the earth
had opened and swallowed her, and all because the handle of the door to
the inner room had turned ? Then the excuse she had given for not
wishing to meet Lord Doual must have struck him as ridiculously inade-

JENNIE^ Baxter; journalist

quate. When she reached her desk and reflected with more calmness over
the situation, she found no cause to censure herself for her hasty
departure ; although she had acted on impulse, she saw there had been
nothing else to do ; another moment and she would have been face to face
with liord Donal himself.

Next day brought a note from the detective which went far to reassure
her. He apologized for having made the appointment without her per-
mission, and explained that Lord Donal's unexpected arrival in London,
and his stubborn unbelief that it had been the Princess herself whom he
m3t at the ball, seemingly left the detective no alternative out to call on
the person who had so persistently advanced the theory, to explain it to
the one most intimately concerned. It had not occurred to him at the
time to think that Miss Baxter might object to meet Lord Donal, who was
an entire stranger to her; but now he saw that he was wrong, etc., etc.,
etc. This note did much to convince Jennie that, after all, the detective
had not seen the clues wh.ch appeared to be spread so plainly before his
eyes. Cadbury Taylor, h >wever, said nothing about the search being
ended, and a few days later Jennie received a disquieting letter from the
Princess von Steinheimer.

" My dear Jennie," her Highness wi'ote, " I am sure the detectives are
after you, and so I thought it best to send you a word of warning. Of
course it is only surmise on my part, but for days there has been a woman
hovering about the cast'e, trying to get information from my servants.
My maid came directly to me and told me what she knew. The woman
detective had spoken to her. This inquisitive person, who had come from
Paris, wished particularly to know whether I had been seen about the
castle during tlie week in which the Duchess of Chiselhurst's ball took
place ; and so this leads me to suppose that some one is making inquii'ies
for you. It must be either Lord Donal Stirling or the Duke of Chisel-
hurst, but I rather think it is the former. I have written an indignant
letter to Lord Donal, accusing him of having caused detectives to haunt
the castle. I have not yet received a reply, but Lord Donal is a truthful
person, and in a day or two I expect to find out whether or not he has a
hand in this business. Meanwhile, Jennie, be on your guard, and I will
w.ite you again as soon as I have something further to tell."

The reading of this letter greatly increased Jennie's fears, for she felt
assured that, stupid as the men undoubtedly were, they verged so closely
on the brink of discovery, they were almost certain to stumble upon the
truth if the investigation was continued. She wrote a hurried note to the
Princess, imploring her to be cautious, and not inadvertently give any
clue that would lead to her discovery. Her letter evidently crossed one
from the Princess herself. Lord Donal had confessed, said the letter, and
promised never, never to do it again. " He says that before my letter was
received he had stopped the detectives, who were doing no good and
apparently only annoying innocent people. He says the search is ended,
as far as the detective is concerned, and that I need fear no more intrusions
from inquiiy agents, male or female. He apologized very handsomely,
but says he has not given up hopes of finding the lady who disappeared.
And now, Jennie, I trust that you will admit my cleverness. You see
that I had only a word or two from my maid as a clue, but I unravelled
the whole plot and at once discovered who was the instigator of it, so I
think I wouldn't make a bad detective myself. I am * mendouslj

JEN I'lE ELUDES AN OFFER OF MARRIAGE

interested in episodes like this. I believe if I had known nothing of the
impersonation, and if the case had been put in my hands, I should have
discovered you long ago. Can't you think of some way in which my
undoubted talent for research may be made use of ? You don't know how
much I envy you in your newspaper office, always with an absorbing
mystery on hand to solve. It must be like being the editor of a puzzle
ilcpartment. I wish you would let me help you next time you have any-
thing important to do. Will you promise?

" When you write again, please send your letter to Vienna, as we are
i,'()ing into residence there, my husband having been unexpectedly called to
the capital. He holds an important position in the Government, as perhaps
you remember."

Jennie was delighted to know that all inquiry had ceased, and slie wrote
a long letter of gratitude to the Princess. She concluded her epistle by
saying : " It is perfectly absurd of you to envy one who has to work as hard
as I. You are the person to be envied. It is not all beer and skittles in a
newspaper office, which is a good thing, for I don't like beer, and I don't
kiiG v what skittles is or are. But I promise you that tlie next time I have
an interesting case on hand I shall write and give you full particulars, and
I am sure that together we shall be invincible."

But one trouble leaves merely to give place to another in this life.
.Jennie was disturbed to notice that Mr. Hardwick was becoming more and
more confidential with her. He sat down by her desk whenever there
was a reasonable excuse for doing so, and he consulted her on matters
important and on matters trivial. An advance of salary came to her, and
she knew it was through his influence with the board of directors.
Although Mr. Hardwick was sharp and decisive in business matters, he
proved an awkward man where his affections were concerned, and he often
came and sat by the girl's desk, evidently wishing to say something, and
yet quite as evidently having nothing to say ; and thus the situation
became embarrassing. Jennie was a practical girl and had no desire to
complicate the situation by allowing her employer to fall in love with her,
yet it was impossible to go to him and ask that his attentions might be
limited strictly to a business basis. The crisis, however, was brought on
by Mr. Hardwick himself. One day, when they were alone together, he
said abruptly, —

" That romance in high life which you were investigating with Mr.
Cadbury Taylor did not come to anything? "

" No, Mr. Hardwick."

"Then don't you think we might enact a romance in high life in this
V(?ry room ; it is high enough from the street to entitle it to be called a
romance in high life," and the editor grinned uneasily, like an unready
man who hopes to relieve a dilemma by a poor joke.

Jennie, however, did not laugh and did not look up at him, but continued
to scribble shorthand notes on the paper before her.

" Ah, Mr. Hardwick ! " she said with a sigh, " I see you have discovered
my secret, although I had hoped to conceal it even from your alert eyes.
I am, indeed, in the situation of Ralph Eackstraw in 'Paiafore,' ' I love,
and love, alas ! above my station,' and now that you know half, you may
HP well know all. It arose out of that unfortunate ball given by the
Duchess of Chiselhurst which will haunt me all the rest of my life, I
fear," said Jennie, still without looking up.

81 JENNIE BAXTER, JOURNALIST

Mr. Hardwiok smothered an ejaculation and was glad that the girl's
eyes were not upon him. There was a pause of a few moments' duration
between them. He took the path which was left open to him, fondly
flattering himself that, while he had stumbled inadvertently upon her
romance, he had kept his own secret safe.

" I — I have no right to intrude on your confidences. Miss Baxter," he
said finally with an effort, " and I hope you will excuse me for — for "

" Oh ! I have been sure for some days you knew it," interrupted the girl,
looking up, but not at him. " I have been neglecting my work, I fear, and
so you were quite right in speaking."

" No, your work is all right ; it wasn't that exactly — but never mind, we
won't speak of this any more, for I see it embarrasses you."

"Thank you, Mr. Hardwick," said Jennie, again bending her eyes on
the desk before her.

The man saw the colour come and go in her cheeks, and thought he
had never beheld anyone so entrancing. He rose quickly, without making
further attempt at explanation, and left the room. One or two tear drops
stained the paper on which the girl was scribbling. She didn't like giving
pain to anyone, but could not hold herself to blame for what had happened.
She made up her mind to leave the Daily Bugle and seek employment
elsewhere, but next day Mr. Hardwick showed no trace of disappointment,
and spoke to her with that curt imperiousness which had heretofore been
his custom.

" Miss Baxter," he said, "have you been reading the newspapers with
any degree of attention lately ? "

"Yes, Mr. Hardwick."

" Have you been watching the drift of foreign politics ? "

" Do you refer to that speech by the Prime Minister of Austria a week or
two ago?"

" Yes, that is what I have in my mind. As you know, then, it
amounted almost to a declaration of war against England — almost, but not
quite. It was a case of saying too much or of not saying enough ; however,
it was not followed up, and the Premier has been as dumb as a graven
image ever since. England has many enemies in different parts of the
world, but I must confess that this speech by the Austrian Premier came
as a surprise. There must have been something hidden, which is not
visible from the outside. The Premier is too astute a man not to
know exactly what his words meant, and he was under no delusion as to
the manner in which England would take them. It is a case, then, of,
' When I was so quickly done for, I wonder what I was begun for' — that
is what all Europe is asking."

"Is it not generally supposed, Mr. Hardwick, that his object was to
consolidate Austria and Hungary ? I understood that local politics were
at the bottom of his fiery speech."

" Quite so, but the x-ousing of the war spirit in Austria and Hungary
was useless unless that spirit is given sopiething to do. It needs a war,
not a threat of war, to consolidate Austria and Hungary. If the speech had
been followed up by hostile action, or by another outburst that would make
war inevitable, I could understand it. The tone of the speech indicates
that the Pi-ime Minister meant business at the time he gave utterance to it.
Something has occurred meanwhile to change the situation, and what that
something is, all the newspapers in Europe have been trying to find out.

JENNIE ELUDES AN OFFEE OF MAERIAGE

We have had our regular Vienna representative at work ever since the
words were uttored, and for the past two weeks he has been assisted by one
of tlio cleverest men I could send him from London ; but up to date, both
have failed. Now I propose that you go quietly to Vienna ; I shall not
let either of the wen know you are investigating the affair at which they
have laboured with such little success ; for both are good men, and I do
not want to discourage either of them ; still, above all things, I wish to
liave the solution of this mystery. So it occurred to me last night that
you might succeed where others had failed. What do you think of it? "

" lam willing to try," said Miss Baxter, as there flashed across her mind
an idea that here was a case in which the Princess von Steinheimer could
he of the greatest assistance to her.

" It has been thought," went on the editor, "that the Emperor is ex-
tremely adverse to having trouble with England or any other country. Still,
if tliat were the case, a new Cabinet would undoubtedly have been formed
after this intemperate address of the Premier ; but this man still holds his
otlice, and there has been neither explanation nor apology from Court or
Caliinet. I am convinced that there is something behind all this, a wheel
witliin a wheel of some sort, because, the day after the speech, there came
j a nuhour from Vienna that an attempt had been made on the life of the
Hinperor or of the Premier ; it was exceedingly vague, but it was alleged
[that a dynamite explosion had taken place in the palace. This was
promptly contradicted, but we all know what official contradictions amount
to. There is internal trouble of some kind at the Court of Vienna, and if
we could publish the full details, such an article would give us a European
reputation. When could you be ready to begin your journey, Miss
I Baxter?"

I am ready now."

' Well, in an affair like this it is best to lose no time ; you can go
[to-morrow morning, then? "

Oh, certainly, but I must leave the ofiBce at once, and you should get
Isonieone to finish the work I am on."
" I vnll attend to that," said the editor.

Tims relieved, Jennie betook herself to a telegraph office. She knew

Ithat if she wrote a letter to the Princess, who was now in Vienna, she

Jwould probably herself reach that city as soon as her note, so she

Itelej^'raphed that something important was on hand which would take her

Ito Vienna by next day's Orient express, and intimated- that it was a matter

111 which she might need the assistance of the Princess. Then she

piastened to her rooms to pack up. That evening there came an answering

Itclef^ram from Vienna. The Princess asked her to bring her ball dress and

all the rest of her finery. The lady added that she herself would be at the

piluay station, and asked Jennie to telegraph to her, en route, the time of

Pier arrival. It was evident that her Highness was quite prepared to

pn^'ai^'e in whatever scheme there was on hand, and this fact encouraged

Jennie to hope that success perhaps awaited her.

-^ JENNIE BAXTEK, JOURNALIST

CHAPTER XII.

JENNIE TOUCHES THE EDGE OF A GOVERNMENT SECRET.

True to her promise, the Princess von Steinheimer was waiting at the
immense railway station of Vienna, and she received her friend with
gushing effusion. Jennie left the train as neat as when she had entered
it, for many women have the faculty of taking long journeys without
showing the dishevelled effect which protracted railway travelling seems
to have upon the masculine, an*^ probably more careless, portion of
humanity.

"Oh, you dear girl ! " cried the Princess ; " you cannot tell how glad I
am to see you. I was just yearning for someone to talk English to. I am
so tired of French and German, although they flatter me by saying that I
speak those two languages extremely well ; yet English is my own tongue,
and it is so delightful to talk with one who can understand every blessed
word you say, which you can easily see those who pretend to speak
English in Vienna do not. What long chats we shall have ! And now
come this way to the carriage. There is a man here to look after your
luggage. You are coming right home with me and are going to stay with
me as long as you are in Vienna. Don't say, ' No,' nor nuike any excuse,
nor talk of going to an hotel, for a suite of rooms is all ready for you, and
your luggage will be there before we are. Now let us enter the carriage,
for I am just pining to hear what it is you have on ha: id. Some delicious
scandal, I hope."

" No," answered Jennie ; "it pertains to Government matters."

"Oh, dear!" cried the Princess; "how tiresome! Politics are so
dull."

" I don't think this case is dull," said Jennie ; " because it has brought
Austria and England to the verge of war."

" What a dreadful idea ! I hadn't heard anything of it. When did
tlxis happen '? "

" Less than a month ago," and Jennie related the whole circumstance,
giving a synopsis of the Premier's speech.

" But I see nothing in that speech to cause war," protested the
Princess. " It is as mild as new milk."

" I don't pretend to understand diplomacy," continued Jennie, blushing
slightly as she remembered Lord ]3onal ; and it seemed that the same
thought struck the Princess at the same moment, for she looked quizzically
at Jennie and burst out into a laugh.

" You may laugh," cried the girl ; " but I tell you that this is a serious
business. They say it only needed a second ' new milk ' speech from the
Premier to have England answer most politely in words of lioney, and
next instant the two countries would have been at each other's throats."

" Suppost! we write to Lord Donal in St. Petersburg," suggested the
Princess, still laughing, " and ask him to come to Vienna and help us?
He understaiuls all about diplomacy. By the way, Jeimie, did Lord
Donal over iindout whom he uiut ut the bail that uight ? "

" No, he
" Don't
romance ui
" It isn't
have been
l)ut if you
hotel."

" Oh, n(

You know

Lord Doni

Jennie, yo

any threat

plays who

But you a

said. No

" I wan

another.

taken in I

unforeseei

what thos

For the pi

trying to i

they have

they faile

Madame 1

" I sug

those dip

" I hav

men I sp<

conceal.

are not lil

world, so

two fello\

" But i

difficult fi

" Beca

and then

posal. 1

these wi\

to get.

men. N

their wiv

TIk) P

" Exo(

gossips

interest i

some iir

l)roposo

shall in'

iiittuonti

lie is a'.

of the pi

JENNIE TOUCHES A GOVEENMENT SECEET

g at the

nd with

entered

without

g seems

artion of

w glad I
o. I am
ig that I
1 tongue,
y blessed
io speak
■^nd now
iter your
3tay with
y excuse,
you, and
carriage,
delicious

s are so

brought

'hen did

nstance,

ted the

flushing
le same
izzically

serious
'oui the
ey, and
)at8."
ted the
)lp us?
i Lord

'* No, he didn't," answered Miss Baxter shortly.

" Don't you ever intend to let him know ? Are you going to leave the
romance unfinished, like one of "-^nry James's novels ? "

" It isn't a romance; it is s. \'' j a very distressing incident which I
liave been trying to forget ever since. It is all very well for you to laugh,
but if you ever mention the subject again I'll leave you and go to an
hotel."

" Oh, no, you won't," chirruped the Princess brightly ; " you daren't.
You know I hold all the trump cards ; at any time I can send a letter to
Lord Donal and set the poor young man's mind at rest. So you see, Miss
Jennie, you will have to talk very sweetly and politely to me and not make
any threats, because I am like those dreadful pgrsons in the sensational
plays who possess the guilty secrets of other people and blackmail them.
But you are a nice girl, and I won't say anything you don't want to hear
said. Now, what is it you wish to find out about this political crisis ? "

" I want to discover why the Premier did not follow up his speech with
another. He must have kno\/n when he spoke how his words would be
taken in England ; therefore it is thought that he* had some plans which
unforeseen circumstances intervening have nuUitied. I want to know
what those unforeseen circumstances were, and what these plans were.
For the past fortnight the Daily Biujle has had two men here in Vienna
trying to throw some light on the dark recesses of diplomacy. Up to date
they have failed, but at any moment they may succeed ; it was because
they failed that I am sent here. Now, have you anything to sugges'",
Madame la Princesse? "

" I suggest, Jeimie, that we put our heads together and learn all that
those diplomatists wish to hide. Have you no plans yourself? "

" I have no very definite plan, but I havj a general scheme. These
men I spoke of are trying to discover what other men are endeavouring to
conceal. All the oilicials are on their guard ; they are highly placed, and
are not likely to be got at by bribery. They are clever, alert men of the
world, so hoodwinking them is out of the question ; therefore I think my
two fellow journalists have a difficult task before them."

" But it is the same task that you have before you ; why is it not as
difficult for you, Jennie, as for them ? "

" Because I propose to work v.ith people who are not on their guard,
and there is where you can help me, if you are not shocked at my pro-
posal. Each official has a wife, or at least most of them have. Some of
these wives, in all probability, possess the information that we would like
to get. Women will talk more freely with women than men will with
men. Now, I propose to leave the officials severely alone and to interview
their wives."

The Princess clapped \wr hands.

" Excellent ! " she cried. " The women of
gossips you ever heard chattering together,
interest in politics, otherwise I suppose I might

some important (jovernment secrets. Now, Jennie, I'll tell you what
l)ropose doing. 1 shall give a fornuil tea next Thursday afternoon.

Vienna are the greatest
I have never taken any
have become possessed of

I
I

shall invitt) to that tea a dozen, or two dozen, or three dozen wives of
iiifluontial officials about the Court. My husl)and will like that, because
1h( is a! 'ys complaining that I do not pay. enough attention to Uie ladies
of the political circle of Vienna. He takes a great interest in politics, you

JENNIE BAXTER, JOURNALIST

know. If we discover nothing at the first tea-meeting, we will have
another, and another, and another, until we do. We are sure to invite tlic
right womsn on one of those occasions, and wlien we find her I'll warrant
the secret will soon belong to us. Ah, here we are at home, and we will
postpone the discussion of our delightful conspiracy until you have had
something to eat and are rested a hit."

The carriage drew up at the magnificent palace, well known in Vienna,
which belongs to the Prince von Steinheimer ; aivl shortly afterwards
Jennie Baxter found herself in possession of the linest suite of rooms she
had ever beheld in her life. Jennie laughed as she looked round her
apartment and noted its luxuriant appointments.

" These are not exactly what we should call ' diggings' in London, are
they?" she said to the Princess, who stood by her side, delighted at the
pleasure of her friend. " We often read of poor yenny-a-liners in their
garrets ; but I don't think any penny-a-liner ever had such a garret as this
placed at his disposal."

" I knew you would like the rooms," cried the Princess gaily. " I like
them myself, and I hope they will help to induce you to stay in Vienna as
long as you can. I have given you my own maid Gretlich. and I assure
you it isn't every friend I would lend her to ; she is a model servant."

" Oh, but you mustn't do that," said Jennie. " I cannot rob you of
your maid and also be selfish enough to monopolize these vooms."

" You are not robbing me ; in fact, I am, periia})s, a little artful in giving
you Gretlich, for she is down in the dumps this last week or two, and I
don't know what in the world is the matter with her. I suspect it is some
love affair ; but she will say nothing, although I have asked her time and
again what is the trouble. Now, you are such a cheery, consoling young
woman that I thought if Gretlich were in your service for a time slie might
bi'ighten up and be her own self again. Ho you see, instead of robbing me,
I am really taking advantage of your good nature."

"Iain afraid you are just saying that to make it easier for me to be
selfish ; still, you are so generous, Princess, that 1 am not going to object
to anything you do, but just give myself up to luxury while I stay in
Vienna."

"That is right. \h, here is Gretlich, Now, Gretlich, I want you to
help make Miss Baxter's stay hero so pleasant that she will never want to
leave us."

" I shall do my best, your Highness," said the girl, with quiet de-
ference.

The Princess left the two alone together, and Jennie saw that Gretlich
was not the least ornamental apjjendagc to the handsdine suit(> of rooms.
Gretlich was an excellent example of that type of lair women for which
Vienna is noted ; but she was, a.* the Princes- ' .id said, extreitu;ly downcast,
and .Feimie, who had a deep sympathy foi ..il who worked, spoke kindly to
the girl and endeavoured to cheer her. 'Inhere was something of miacciis-
tomed tenderness in the eomj)assionate tones of Jennie's voice that touched
the girl, for, after a brief and inelTectual ei'i'ort at self-control, she nroke
<l()wn and wept. To her pitying listener slietold her story. Slie had been
heti'othed to a soldiei' whose regiment was sliitioned in the Hnrg, Wiien
last the girl saw her lover lie wan to he tliat^ night on giiiird in the Treasury,
Before morning acaUisliophe of some kind oecm'red. The girl did not know
quite what luul happened. Some said there had been a dreaillul explosion

and her lo'

betrothed w

secretly, an

publicity.

warned to

several day

not keep hi

he was ill,

mation and

In the pi

as she ende

so much er

here she st

to discover

and her o

stupidity o

before him

less, to obt

the very it

seem to sh

selves to b

In the a

her hand ii

" There

working, a

written wi

tea on Tin

I expect y

conversati

Gretlich '?

the sound

"Oh, y

seems sin

accident i

" What

" Gretl

" Dear

come fro

Treasury

curiosity,

of the Ml

" I wis

about th

regarding.

1 might t

" We t

at onoe f

JENNIE TOUCHES A GOVERNMENT SECRET

11 have
ivite the
warrant
we will
ave liad

Vienna,
er wards
)nis she
nid licr

HI, are

ill the

n their

t as this

and her lover had lost his life. Neither the soldier's relatives nor his
l)etrothed were allowed to see him after the disaster. He had heen buried
secretly, and it appeared to ho the intention of the authorities to avoid all
publicity. The relatives and the betrothed of the dead soldier had been
warned to keep silence and seek no further information. It was not till
several days after her lover's death that GretUch, anxious because he did
not keep his appointment with her, and not hearing from him, fearing that
lie was ill, began to make inquiries ; then she received together the infor-
mation and the caution.

In the presence of death all consolers are futile, and Jennie realized this
as she endeavoured as well as she could to comfort the girl. Her lieart was
so much enlisted in this that perhaps her intellect was the less active ; but
here she stood on the very threshold of the secret she had come to Vienna
to discover, and yet had not the slightest suspicion that the girl's tragedy
and her own mission were interwoven. Jennie had wondered at the
stupidity of Cadbury Taylor, who failed to see what seemed so plainly
l)efore him, yet here was Jennie herself come a thousand miles, more or
less, to obtain certain information, and here a sobbing girl was narrating
the very item of news that she had come so far to learn^all of which would
seem to show that none of us are so bright ami clever as we imagine our-
selves to be.

In the afternoon the Princess entered Jennie's sitting-room carrying in
her hand a bunch of letters.

" There ! " she cried, " while you have been resting I have been
working, and we are not going to allow any time to be lost. I have
writt'ni with my own hand invitations to about two dozen people to our
tea on Thiu'sday ; among others, tlie wife of the Premier, Countess Stron.
I expect you to devote yourself to that lady and tell me the result of the
conversation after it is over. Have you been talking consolation to
Gretlich ? I came up here half an hour ago, and it seemed to me I heard
the sound of crying in this room."

" Oh, yes," said Jennie, " she has l)oen telling me all her trouble. It
seems she had a lover in the army, and ho has i)een killed in some
accident in the Treasury."

" What kind of an accident?"

" Gretlich said there had been an explosion there."

" Dear me ! I never heard of it. It is a curious thing that one must
come from London to tell us our own news. An cxiilosion in the
Treasury ! and so serious that a soldier was killed ! That arouses my
curiositv, so I shall just sit down and write another invitation to the wife
of the Mastcu- of the' Treasury."

" I wish you would, bcciinse I should like to know something further
ai)out this myself, (jrellich s' "ms to have had but scant information
regarding the occurrence, and 1 should like to know more about it so that
I miglit tell her."

" We shall learn all about it from madanie, and 1 must write that note
at once for fear I forget it."

JENNIE BAXTER, JOUBNALIST

CHAPTER XIII.

JENNIE INDULGES IN TEA AND GOSSIP.

On Thursday afternoon there was a briUiant assemblage in the spacious
salon of the Princess von Steinheiuier. The rich attire of the ladies
formed a series of kinetographic pictures that were dazzling, for Viennese
women are adepts in the art of dress, as are their Parisian sisters. Tea
was served, not in cups and saucers, as Jennie had been accustomed to
seeing it handed round, but in goblets of clear, thin Venetian glass, each
set in a holder of encrusted filigree gold. There were all manner of
delicious cakes, for which the city is celebrated. The tea itself had come
overland through Russia from China and had not suffered the deterioration
which an ocean voyage produces. The decoction was served clear, with
sugar if desired, and a slice of lemon, and Jennie thought it the most
delicious brew she had ever tasted.

" I am so sorry," whispered tlic Princess to Jennie when an opportunity
occurred, " but tlie Countess Stron has sent a messenger to say that she
cannot be present this afternoon. It seems her husband, the Premier, is
ill, and she, like a good wife, remains at home to nurse him. This rather
upsets our plans, doesn't it ? "

" Oh, I don't know," replied Jennie. " It is more than likely that the
wife of the Prei.iigr would bo exceedingly careful not to discuss any
political question in ^Iiis company. I have counted more upon the wife of
a lesser official ihan upon the Countess Stron."

" You ai-e right," said the Princess. " And now come with me. I
want to introduce you to the wife of the Master of the Treasury, and from
her, perhaps, you can learn something of the accident that befell the lover
of poor Gretlich."

The wife of the Master of the Treasury proved to be a garrulous old
lady who evidently prided herself on knowing everything that was taking
place about her. Jennie and she became quite confidential over their
goblets of tea, a beverage of which the old lady seemed inordinately fond.
As the conversation between them drifted on, Jennie saw that here was a
person who would take a delight in telling everything she knew, and the
only question which now arose was whether she knew anything Jennie
wished to learn. But before she tried her on high politics the girl
determined to find out more about the disaster that had made such an
abrupt ending to Gretlich's young dream.

" I have been very much interested," she said, "in one of the maids
here who lost her lover some weeks ago in an accident that occurred in
the Treasury. The maid doesn't seem to know very much about what
happened, and was merely told that her lover, a soldier who had been on
guard there that night, was dead."

" Oh, dear, yes ! " whispered the old lady, lowering lier voice, " what a
dreadful thing that was! four men killed and eigiit or nine now in the
hospital. My Jioor hushand has had hardly a wink of sleep since the
event, and the Prenuer is ill in bed through the worry."

JENNIE INDULGES IN TEA AND GOSSIP

" Because of the loss of life ? " asked Jenni* innocently.

"Oh, no, no! the loss of life wouldn't matter; it is the loss of the
money that is the serious thing, and how they are going to replace it or
account for its disappearance I am sure I don't know. The deficiency is
something over two hundred million florins. Was it not awful? "

" Was the building shattered to such an extent? " inquired Jennie, who
did not stop to think that such a sum would replace any edifice in Vienna,
even if it had been wiped off the face of the earth.

" The Treasury was damaged, of course, but the cost of repairs will not
')o great. No, my child, it is a much more disturbing affair than the
(lostruction of any state house in the Empire. What has made the
Premier ill, and what is worrying my poor husband into an untimely grave,
is nothing less than the loss of the war chest."

" The war chest I " echoed Jennie, " what is that ? "

" My dear, every great nation has a war chest. England has one, so
has France, Germany, Kussia — no matter how poor a nation may be, or
liow difficult it is to collect the taxes, that nation must have a war chest.
If war were to break out suddenly, even with the most prosperous country,,
there would be instant financial panic ; ready money would be difficult to
obtain ; a loan would be practically impossible ; and what war calls for
the very instant it is declared is money — not promises of money, not paper
money, not silver money even, but gold ; therefore, every nation which is
in danger of war has a store of gold coin. This store is not composed
mainly, or even largely, of the coins of the nation which owns the store ;
it consists of the sovereigns of England, the louis of France, the
Willems d'or of Holland, the eight-florin pieces of Austria, the double-crown
of Germany, the half-imperials of Russia, the double-Fredmcs of Denmark,
and so on. All gold, gold, gold! I believe that in the war chest of
Austria there were deposited coins of different nations f-^ the value of
something like two hundred million florins. My husband never told me
exactly how much was there, but sometimes when things looked peaceable
there was less money in the war chest than when there was imminent
danger of the European outbreak which we all fear. The war chest of
.Austria was in a stone-vaulted room, one of the strongest dungeons in the
Treasury. The public ai'e admitted into several rooms of the Treasury,
hut no stranger is ever allowed into that portion of the building which
houses the war chest. This room is kept under guard night and day.
For what happened, my husband feels that he is in no way to blame, and
[ don't think his superiors are inclined to charge him with neglect of duty.
It is a singular thing that the day before the disaster took place he of his
own accord doubled the giuird that watched over the room and also the
approaches to it. Tlie war chest was at its fullest. Never, so he tells
me, was there so much money in the war chest as at that particular time.
Somethmg had occurred that in his opinion called for extra watchfulness,
and so he doubled the guard. But about midnight there was a tremendous
explosion. The strong door coninninicating with the passage was
wrenched from its hinges and flung outwards into the hallway. It is said
that dynamite nnist iiave been used, and that in a very large quantity.
Not a vestige of the chest remained l)ut a few splintered pieces of iron.
The four soldiers in the room were blown literally to jiiecen, and those in
the passage-way were stunned by the shock. The fact that thoy were
UDOonscious for sonio minutes seems to have given the criminal, whoever

JENNIE BAXTEE, JOUENALIST

he was, his chance of escape. For, although an instant alarm was sent
out, and none but those who had a right to be on the premises were
allowed out of or in the Treasury, yet no one was caught, nor has anyone
been caught up to this day."

" But the gold, the gold ? " cried Jennie eagerly.

" There was not a florin of it left. Every piece has disappeared. It is
at once the most clever and the most gigantic robbery of money that has
taken place within our knowledge."

" But such a quantity of gold," said Jennie, " must have been of
enormous weight. Two hundred million florins I Why, that is twenty
million pounds, isn't it ? It would take a regiment of thieves to carry so
much away. How has that been done? And where is the gold con-
cealed?"

" Ah, my child, if you can answer your own questions the Austrian
Government will pay you almost any sum you like to name. The police
are completely bafiled. Of course, nothing has been said of this gigantic
robbery ; but every exit from Vienna is watched, and not only that, but
gach frontier is guarded. What the Government wants, of course, is to
get back its gold, the result of years of taxation, which cannot very easily
be re-levied."

" And when did this robbery take place ? " asked Jennie.

" On the night of the 17th."

" On the night of the 17th," repeated the girl, more to herself than to
the voluble old woman ; " and it was on the 16th that the Premier made
his war speech."

"Exactly," said the old lady, who overheard the remark not intended
for her ears ; " and don't you think there was something striking in the
coincidence? "

" I don't quite understO/nd. What coincidence ? "

" Well, you know the speech of the Premier was against England. It
was not a speech made c n the spur of the moment, but was doubtless the
result of many consultations, perhaps with Eussia, perhaps with Germany,
or with Prance — who knows ? We have been growing very friendly with
Eussia of late ; and as England has spies all over the world, doubtless her
Government knew before the speech was made that it was coming ; so tihe
police appear to think that the whole resources of the British Government
were set at the task of crippling Austria at a critical moment."

" Surely you don't mean, madame, that the Government of England
would descend to burglary, robbery — yes, and murder, even, fc r the poor
soldiers who guarded the treasure were as effectually nmrdered as if they
had been assassinated in the street ? Yoii don't imagine that the British;
(lovernment would stoop to such deeds as tiiese? "

The old lady shook her head wisely.

" By the time you are my age, my dear, and have seen as much of
politics as I have, you will know that Governments stop at nothing to
accomplish their ends. No private association of thieves could have laid
such plans as would have done away with two liundred millions of florins,
in gold, unless they had not only ample resources, but also a master brain
to direct them. Nations hesitate at nothing where their interests are
concerned. It was to the interest of no other Empire but England to
deplete Austria at this moment, and see how complete her machinations
are. No nation trusts another, and if Austria had proof that England ia

JENNIE INDULGES IN TEA AND GOSSIP

con-

at the bottom of this Jobbery, she dare not say anything, b3caus2 h°,r war
chest is empty. Then, again, she cannot allow nither Germany or Russia
to know how offectually slie has been robbid, for no one could tell what
either of these nations miglit do und(;r the circumstances. Tlie Govern-
ment fears to let even its own people know what has happened. It is a
stroke of vengeance marvellous in its finality. Austria is crippled for
years to come, unless she finds the stolen gold on her own territory."

The old lady hau worked herself up into such a state of excitement
during her recital that she did not notice that most of her companion
visitors had taken their leave, and when the Princess approached the two,
she arose with some trepidation.

" My dear Princess," she said, " your tea has been so good, and the
company of your young compatriot has been so charming, that I have
done nothing but chatter, chatter, chatter away about things which should
only be spoken of under one's breath, and now I must hurry away. May
I venture to hope that you will honour me with your presence at one of
my receptions if I send you a card ? "

" I shall be delighted to do so," replied the Princess, with that gracious
condescension which became her so well.

The garrulous old lady was the last to take her leave, and when the
Princess was left alone with her guest, she cried, —

"Jennie, I have found out absolutely nothing. What have you dis-
covered ? "

"Everything!" replied the girl, walking up and down the floor in
excitement over the unearthing of such a bonanza of news.

" You don't tell me so ! Now do sit down and let me know the full
particulars at once."

When Jennie's exciting story was finished she said, —

" You see, this robbery explains why the Premier did not follow up hi^
warlike speech. The police seem to think that England has had a hand
in this robbeiy, but of course that is absurd."

" I am not so sure of that," replied the Princess, taking, as she spoke,
the Chicago point of view, and forgetting for the moment her position among
the aristocracy of Europe. " England takes most things it can get its
hands on, and she is not too slow to pick up a gold mine here and there, so
why should she hesitate when the gold is already minted for her? "

" It is too absurd for argument." continued Jennie calmly, " so we
won't talk of that phase of the suoject. I must get away to England
instantly. Let us find out when the first train leaves."

" Nonsense I " protested the Princess ; " what dfi you need to go to
England for? Yov have seen nothing of Vienna."

"Oh, I can see Vienna another time ; I must get to England with this
account of the robbery."

" Won't your paper pay for telegraphing such an important piece of
news ? '

" Oh, yes ; there would be no difl&culty about that, but I dare not trust
either the post or the telegraph in a case like this. The police are on the
v'ltch."

•' But couldn't you send it through by a code? My father always used
to do his cabling by code ; it saved a lot of money and also kept other
people from knowing what his business was."

" I have a code, but i hesitate about trusting even to that."

JENNIE BAXTER, JOURNALIST

" I'll tell you what we'll do," said the Princess. " I want you to stay
in Vienna."

"Oh, I shall return," said Jennie. " I've only just had a taste of this
delightful city. I'll come right back."

" I can't trust you to do anything of the kind. When you get to
London you will stay there. Now here is what I propose, and it will
have the additional advantage of saving your paper a day. We will run
down together into Italy — to Venice ; then you can take along your code
and telegraph from there in perfect safety. When that is done you will
return here i;0 Vienna with me. And another thing, you may be sure
your editor will want you to stay right here on the spot to let him know of
any outcome of this sensational denouement."

" That isn't a bad idea," murmured Jennie. " How long will it take us
to get to Venice? "

" I don't know, but I am sure it will save you hours comparer with
going to London. I shall get the exact time for you in a moment."

Jennie followed the suggestion of the Princess, and together the two
went to the ever-entrancing city of Venice. By the time they reached
there, Jennie had her account written and coded. The long -message was
handed in at the telegraph office as soon as the two arrived in Venice.
Jennie also sent the editor a private despatch giving her address in Venice,
and also telling him the reason for sending the telegi'am from Italy rather
than from Austria or Germany. In the evening she received a reply from
Mr. Hai'dwick. " This is magnificent," the telegram said. " I doubt if
anything like it has ever been done before. We will startle the world
to-morrow morning. Please return to Vienna, for, as you have discovered
this much, I am perfectly certain that you will be able to capture the robbers.
Of course all the police and all the papers of Europe will be on the same
scent, but I am sure that you will prove a match for the whole com-
bination."

"Oh, dear ! " cried Jennie, as she handed the message to her friend.
" What a bothersome world this is ; there is no finality about anything.
One piece of woi-k simply leads to another. Here 1 thought I had earned
at least a good month's rest, but, instead of that, a further demand is made
upon me. I am like the genii in fairy tales : no sooner is one apparently
impossible task accomplished than another is set."

" But what a magnificent thing it would be if you could discover the
robber or robbers."

" Magnificent enough, yes ; but that isn't to be done by inviting a lot of
old women to tea, is i^? "

" True, so we shall have to set our wits together in another direction.
I tell you, Jennie, I know I have influence enough to have you made a
member of the special police. Shall I introduce you as from America,
and say that you have made a speciality of solving mysteries ? An
appointment to the special police would allow you to have unrestricted
entrance to the secret portion of the Treasury building. You would see
the rooms damaged by the explosion, and you would learn what the police
have discovered. With that knowledge to begin with, we might then do
something towards solving the problem."

" Madame la Princesse," cried Jennie enthusiastically, " you are
inspired I The very thing. Let us get back to Vienna." And aocord-
ingly the two conspirators left Italy by the night train for Austria.

JENNIE BECOMES A SPECIAL POLICE OFPICEB 75

CHAPTER XIV.

JENNIE BECOMES A SPECIAL POLICE OFFICER.

When Jennie returned to Vienna, and was once more installed in her
luxurious rooms at the Palace Steinheimer, she received in due time a
copy of the Daily Btujle, sent to her under cover as a registered letter.
The girl could not complain that the editor had failed to make the most of
the news she had sent him. As she opened out the paper she saw the
great black headlines that extended across two columns, and the news
itself dated not from Venice, but from Vienna, was in type much larger
than that ordinarily used in the paper, and was double-leaded. The
headings were startling enough : —

PHANTOM GOLD.

the most gigantic robbery of modern times.

The Austrian War Chest Dynamited.

TWENTY million POUNDS IN COIN LOOTED.

Appalling Disaster at the Treasury in Vienna.

FOUR MEN killed, AND SIXTEEN OTHERS MORE OR LESS SERIOUSLY

INJURED.

" Dear ne ! " the Princess cried, peering over Jennie's shoulder at these
amazing headings, " how like home that looks. The Bugle doesn't at all
resemble a London journal ; it reminds me of a Chicago paper's account of
a baseball match ; a baseball match when Chicago was winning, of course,
and when Anson had lined out the ball from the plate to the lake front,
and brought three men in on a home run at a critical point in the game."

" Good gracious ! " cried Jennie, " what language are you speaking? Is
it slang, or some foreign tongue? "

" It is pure Chicagoese, Jennie, inio which I occasionally lapse even
here in prim Vienna. I would like to see a good baseball match, with the
Chicago nine going strong. Let us abandon this effete monarchy, Jennie,
and pay a visit to America."

" I'll go with pleasure if you will tell me first who I'obbed the war chest.
If you can place your dainty forefinger on the spot that conceals two
hundred million Horins in gold, I'll go anywhere with you."

" Oh, yes, that reminds me. I spoke to my husband this morning, and
asked him if he could get you em-olled as a special detective, and he said
there would be some difficulty in obtaining such an appointment for a
woman. Would you have any objection to dressing up as a nice young
man, Jennie? "

" I would very much rather not ; I hope you didn't suggest that to the
Prince."

The Princess laughed merrily and shook her head.

" No, I told him that I believed that you would solve the mystery if

JENNIE BAXTER, JOURNALIST

anyone could, and, remembering what you had done in that affair of my
diamonds, my luisband has the greatest faith in your powers as an
investigator ; but lie fea; . ■^« authorities here will be reluctant to allow a
woman to have any part in Ine search. They have very old-fashioned ideas
about women in Austria, and think her proper place is presiding over a
tea-table."

" Well, if they only knew it," said Jennie archly, " some things have
been discovered over a teacup within our own memories."

" That is quite true," replied the Princess, " but we can hardly give the
incident as a recommendation to the Austrian authorities. By the way,
have you noticed that no paper in Vienna has said a single word about the
robbery of the war chest? It must have been telegraphed here very
promptly from London, and yet they do not even deny it, which is the
usual way of meeting the truth."

While they were talking, a message came from his Highness, asking if
he might take the liberty of breaking in upon their conference. A few
moments after, the Prince himself entered the apartment and bowed with
courtly deference to the two ladies.

" I have succeeded," he said, " beyond my expectations. It seems that
a newspaper in London has published an account of the whole affair, and
the police, who were £.-t their wits' end before, are even more flustered now
that the account of the I'obbery has been made public. By the way, how
did you learn anything about this robbery ? It did not strike me at the
time you spoke about Miss Baxter's commission this morning, but I have
been wondering ever since."

" Jennie received a paper from London," said the Princess hurriedly,
" which said the war chest of Austria had been robbed of two hundred
million florins, but there is nothing about it in the Vienna Press."

" No," replied the Prince ; " nor is there likely to be. The robbery is
now known to all the world except Austria, and I imagine nothing will be
said about it here."

"Is there, then, any truth in the report?" asked the Princess
innocently.

"Truth! It's all truth; that is just where the trouble is. There is
little use of our denying it, because this London paper is evidently well
informed, and to deny it we should have to publish something about the
robbery itself, which we are not incHned to do. It is known, however,
who the two correspondents of this London paper are, and I believe the
police are going to make it so interesting for those t\vo gentlemen that
they will be glad to leave Vienna, for a time at least. Of course, nothing
can be done openly, because Englishmen make such a fuss when their
liberties are encroached upon. One of the young men has been lui'ed
across the frontier by a bogus telegram, and I think the authorities will
see that he does not get back in a hurry ; the other we expect to be rid of
before long. Of course, we could expel him, but if we did, it would be
thought that we had done so because he had found out the truth about the
explosion."

" How did you learn of the explosion ? " asked the Princess.

" Oh, I have known all about the affair ever since it happened."

The Princess gave Jennie a quick look, which said as plainly as words,
" Here was the news that we wanted in our household, and we never
suspected it."

JENNIE BECOMES A SPECIAL POLICE OFFICbE 77

" Why didn't you tell me? " cried the Princess indignantly.

" Well, you see, my dear, you never took much interest in politics, and
I did not think the news would have any attraction for you ; besides," he
added, with a smile, " we were all cautioned to keep the matter as secret
as possible."

"Anl wonderfully well you have managed it!" exclaimed the
Princess. " That shows what comes of trusting a secret to a lot of men ;
here it is, published to all the world."

" Not quite all the world, my dear. As I have said, Austria will know
nothing regarding it."

" The Princess tells me," said Jennie, " that you were kind enough to
endeavour to get me permission to make some investigation into this
mystery. Have you succeeded ? "

" Yes, Miss Baxter, as I said, I have succeeded quite beyond my
expectations, for the lady detective is comparatively an innovation in
Vienna. However, the truth is, the police are completely in a fog, and
they are ready to welcome help from whatever quarter it comes. Here is
a written permit from the very highest authority, which you do not need
to use except in a case of emergency. Here is also an order from the
Chief of Police, which will open for you every door in Vienna ; and finally,
here is a badge which you can pin on some not too conspicuous portion
of your clothing. This badge, I understand, is rarely given out. It is
partly civil and partly military. You can show it to any guard, who will,
on seeing it, give you the right-of-way. In case he does not, appeal to his
superior officer, and allow liim to read your police permit. Should that
fail, then play your trump card, which is this highly important document.
The Director of the Police, who is a very shrewd man, seemed anxious to
make your acquaintance before you began your investigation. He asked
me if you would call upon him, but seemed taken aback when I told him
you were my wife's friend and a guest at our house, so he suggested that
you would in all probability wish iirst to see the scene of the explosion,
and proposed that he should call here with his carriage and accompany
you to the Treasury. He wished to know if four o'clock in the afternoon
would suit your convenience ! "

"Oh, yes! " replied Jennie. "I am eager to begin at once, and, of
course, I siiall be much obliged to him if he will act as my guide in the vaults
of the Treasury, and tell me how much they have already discovered."

" You must not expect much information from the police — in fact, I
doubt if they have discovered anything. Still, if they have, they are more
than likely to keep it to themselves ; and I imagine they will hold a pretty
close watch on you, being more anxious to leara what you discover, and
thus take the credit if they can, than to furnish you with any knowledge of
the aft'air tiiey may happen to possess."

" That is quite naturxl, and only what one has a right to expect. I don't
wish to rob the police of whatever repute there is to be gained from
this investigation, and I am quite willing to turn over to them any clues I
may happen to chance upon."

" Well, if you can convince .he Director of that, you will have all the
assistance he can give you. It wouldn't be bad tactics tf j him know
that you are acting merely in an amateur way, and that you have no desire
to rob the police of their glory when it comes to the solving of the
problem."

JENNIE BAXTER, JOURNALIST

Promptly at ioxuc o'clock the Director of the Police put in an appearance
at the Palace Steinheimer. He appeared to be a most obsequious, highly-
decorated old gentleman, in a very resplendent uniform, and he could
hardly conceal his surprise at learning that the lady detective w&s a woman
so young and so pretty. Charmed as he was to find himself in the company
of one so engaging, it was nevertheless evident to Jennie that he placed no
very high estimate on the assistance she might be able to give in solving
the mystery of the Treasury. This trend of mind, she thought, had its
advantages, for the Director would be less loth to give her full particulars of
what had already been accomplished by the police.

Jennie accompanied the Director to that extensive mass of buildings of
which the Treasury forms a part. The carriage drew up at a doorway, and
here the Director and his companion got out. He led the way into the
edifice, then, descending a stair, entered an .irched corridor, at the door of
which two soldiers stood on guard, who saluted as the Chief passed
them.

" Does this lead to the room where the explosion took place ? " asked
Jennie.

"Yes."

" And is this the only entrance ? "

" The only entrance, madame."

" Were the men on guard in this doorway injured by the explosion ? '

" Yes. They were not seriously injured, but were rendered incapable for
a time of attending to their duties."

" Then a person could have escaped without their seeing him ? "

" A whole regiment of persons might have escaped. You will understand
the situation exactly if I compare this corridor to a long cannon, the room
at the end being the breech-loading chamber. Two guards were inside the
room, and two others stood outside the door that communicated with this
corridor. These four men were killed instantly. Of tlie guards inside the
room not a vestige has been found. The door, one of the strongest that can
be made, somewhat similar to the door of a safe, was flung outward
and crushed to the floor the two guards who stood outside it in the corridor.
Between the chamber in which the chest lay and the outside entrance we' 3
sixteen men on guard. Every one of these was flung down, for the blast,
if I may call it so, travelled through this straight corridor like the charge
along the inside of the muzzle of a gun. The guards nearest the treasure
chamber were, of course, the more seriously injured, but those further out
did not escape the shock, and the door by which we entered this corridor,
while not blown from its hinges, was nevertheless forced open, its strong
bolts snapping like matches. So when you see the great distance that in-
tervened between the chamber and that door, you will have some idea of
the force of the explosion."

"There is no exit, then, from the treasure chamber except along this
corridor ? "

" No, madame. The walls at the outside of the chamber are of enormous
strength, because, of course, it was expected that if an attempt at robbery
were ever made, it would be made from the outside, and it is scarcely
possible that even the most expert of thieves could succeed in passing two
guards at the door, sixteen otticers and soldiers along the corridor, two out-
side the Treasury door, and two in the chamber itself. Such a large number
of soldiers were kept here so that any attempt at bribery would be im-

JENNIE BECOMES A SPECIAL POLICE OFFICER 79

im-

possible. Among such a number one or two were sure to be incorruptible,
and the guards were constantly changed. Seldom was either officer or
man twice on duty here during the month. With such a large amount at
stake every precaution was taken."

" Are there any rooms at the right or left of this corridor in which the
thieves could have concealed themselves while they fired the mine ? "

" No, the corridor leads to the treasure chamber alone."

" Then," said Jennie, " I can't see how it was possible for a number of
men to have made away with the treasure in such circumstances as exist
here. '

" Nevertheless, my dear young lady, the treasure is gone. We think
that the mine was laid with the connivance of one or more officers on duty
here. You see the amount at stake was so large that a share of it would
tempt any nine human beings out of any ten. Our theory is that the train
was laid, possibly electric wires being used, which would be unnoticed along
the edge of the corridor, and that the bribed officer exploded the dynamite
by bringing the ends of the wires into contact. We think tlie explosion was
a great deal more severe than was anticipated. Probably, it was expected
that the shock would break a hole from the treasure chamber to the street,
but so strong were the walls that no impression was made upon them, and
a cabman who was driving past at the time heard nothing of the sound of
the explosion, though he felt a trembling of the ground, and thought for a
moment there had been a shock of earthquake."

" You think, then, that the thieves were outside ? "

" That seems the only possible opinion to hold."

" The outside doors were locked and bolted, of course? "

" Oh, certainly ; but if they had a confederate or two in the large hall-
way upstairs, these traitors would see to it that there was no trouble about
getting in. Once inside the large hallway, with guards stunned by the
shock, the way to the treasure chamber was absolutely clear.'

" There were sentries outside the building, I suppose'?"

"Yes."

" Did they see any vehicle driving near the Treasury '? "

" No, except the cab I spoke of, and the driver has accounted satisfac-
torily for his time that night. The absence of any conveyance is the strange
part of it ; and, moreover, the sentries, although pacing outside the walls of
this building, heard nothing of the concussion beyond a low rumble, and
those who thought of the matter at all imagined an explosion had occm*red
in some distant part of the city."

" Then the outside doors in the large hall above were not blown
open?"

"No; the officer reports tha'. they were locked and bolted when he
examined them, which was some minutes, of course, after the disaster had
taken place ; for he, the officer in charge, had been thrown down and
stunned, seemingly by the concussion of air which took place."

As Jennie walked down the corridor, she saw more and more of the
evidences of the convulsion. The thick iron-bound door lay where it had
fallen, and it had not been moved since it was lifted to get the two men
from under it. Its ponderous hinges were twisted as if they had been
made of glue, and its massive bolts were snapped across like bits of glass.
All along the corridor on the floor was a thick coating of dust and debris,
finely powdered, growing deeper and deeper until they came to the entrance

JENNIE BAXTEE, JOUENALIST

of the room. There was no window either in corridor or chamber, and
the way was lit by candles held by soldiers who accompanied them. The
scoria crunched under foot as they walked, and in the chamber itself great
heaps of dust, sand and plaster, all pulverized into minute particles, lay in
the corners of the room, piled up on one side higher than a man's
head. There seemed to be tons of this debris, and as Jennie looked up
at the arched ceiling, resembling the roof of a vaulted dungeon, she saw
that the stone itself had been ground to fine dust with the tremendous force
of the blast.

" Where are the remnants of the treasure chest ? " she asked.

The Director shook his head. " There are no remnants ; not a vestige
of it is to be found."

" Of what was it made ? "

" We used to have an old treasure chest here made of oak, bound with
iron ; but some years ago, a new receptacle being needed, one was especi-
ally built of hardened steel, constructed on the modern principles of those
burglar-proof and fire-proof safes,"

" And do you mean to say that there is nothing left of this? "

" Nothing th.t we iiave been able to discover."

" Well, I have seen placcis where dynamite explosions liave occurred,
but I know of nothing to compare with this. I am sure that if dynamite
has been used, or any explosive now generally obtainable, th(;re would
have been left, at least, some renn'.ant of the safe. Hasn't this pile of
rubbish been disturbed since the explosion ? "

" Yes, it has been turned over ; we made a search for the two men, but
wo found no trace of them."

" And you found no particles of iron or steel? "

" The heap throughout is just as you see it on the surface — a fine,
almost impalpai)le dust. We had to exercise the greatest care in searching
through it, for the moment it was disturbed with a shovel it tilled the air
with sufl'ocating clouds. Of course we shall have it removed by-and-by,
and carted away, but I considered it better to allow it to remain here until
we had penetrated somewhat further into the mystery than we have
already done."

Jennie stooped and picked up a handful from the heap, her action caused
a n)ist to rise in the air that made them both choke and cough, and yet she
was instantly struck by the fact that her handful seemed inordinately
heavy for its bulk.

" May I take some of this with me ? " she asked.

" Of course," replied the Director. " i ,vill have a packet of it put up
for you."

" I would like to take it with mo now," said Jemiie. " I have curiosity
to know exactly of what it is composed. Who is the Government analyst?
or have you such an olVicial ? "

" Herr Feltz, in Mu; (Iraul.'Mistrasse, is a famous analytical chemist ; you
cannot do better tnan go to Inm."

" Do you tliink he knows anything about explosives ? "

" I si, Ud suppose so, but if not, h(( will certainly bo able to tell you
who the best man is in that line."

The Director ordered one of the soldiers who accompained him to lind a
small paper hag, and fill it with soini^ dust from the treasure chamber,
When this was done, ho haride i the package to Jennie, who Baid, —

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JENNIE BESTOWS INFORMATION UPON THE CHIEF 81

" I shall go at once and aee Herr Feltz."

" My carriage is at your disposal, madame."

" Oh, no, thank you, I do not wisli to trouble you further. I am very
much obhged to you for devoting so much time to me already. I shall
take a fiacre."

"My carriage is at the door," persisted the Director, " and I will
instruct the driver to take you directly to the shop of Herr Feltz ; then no
time will be lost, and I think if I am with you, you will be more sure of
attention from the chemist, who is a very busy man."

Jennie saw the Director did not wish to let her out of his sight, and
although she smiled at his suspicion, she answered politely, —

" It is very kind of you to take so much trouble and devote so much of
your time to me. I shall be glad of your company if you are quite certain
I am not keeping you from something more important."

" There is nothing more important than the investigation we have on
hand," replied the Chief grimly.

CHAPTER XV.

JENNIE BESTOWS INFORMATION UPON THE CHIEF OF POLICE.

A FEW minutes af ( r leaving the Treasury building the carriage of the
Chief stopped in front of the shop of Herr Feltz in the wide Grauben-
strasse. The great chemist himself waited upon them and conducted them
to an inner and private room.

" I should be obliged to you if you would tell me the component parts
of the mixture in this package," said Jennie, as she handed the filled paper
bag to the chemist.

"How soon do you wish to know the result?" asked the man of
chemicals.

" Aii soon as possible," replied Jennie.

" Could you give m? until this hour to-morrow?"

" That will do very nicely," replied Jennie, looking up at the Director of
Police, who nodded his head.

With that the two took tlieir leave, and once more the Director of Police
politely handed the girl into his carriage, and they drove to tlu; I'alace
Steinheimer. Here she again thanked him cordially for his attentions
during the day. The Director answered, with equal suavity, that his duty
had on this occasion been a pleasure, and asked lier permission to call at
the same hour the next afternoon and take her to the clieniist, To this
Jennie assented, and cheerily bade him good-evening,

JENNIE BAXTEE, JOUENALIST

The PrinceBS was waiting for her, wild with curiosity to know what had
happened.

" Oh, Jennie ! " she cried, " who fired the mine, and who robbed the
Government? "

Jennie laughed merrily as she replied, —

" Dear Princess, what a compliment you are paying me ! Do you think
that in one afternoon I am able to solve a mystery that has defied the
combined talents of all the best detectives in Austria ? I wish the Director
of Police had suoh faith in me as you have."

" And hasn't he, Jennie ? "

" Indeed he has not. He watched me every moment he was with
me, as if he feared I would disappear into thin air, as the treasure
had done."

" The horrid man ! I shall have my husband speak to him, and rid you
of this an: ance."

" Oh, n ,, Princess, you mustn't do anything of the kind. I don't mind
it in the least ; in fact, it rather amuses me. One would think he had some
suspicion that I stole the money myself.'

" A single word from the Prince will stop all that, you know."

" Yes, i know. But I really want to help the Director ; he is so utterly
stupid."

" Now, Jennie, take ofifyour hat and sit down here, and tell me every
incident of the afternoon. Don't you see I am just consumed with
curiosity? I know you have discovered something. What is it?"

" I will not take off my hat, because I am going out agaui directly ; but,
if you love me, get me a cup of that delicious tea of yours."

" I shall order it at once, but dinner will be served shortly. You are
surely not going out alone to-night ? "

" I really must. Do not forget that I have been used to taking care of
myself in a bigger city than Vienna is, and I shall be quite safe. You will
please excuse my absence from the dinner-table to-night. '

" Noisense, Jennie I You cannot be allowed to roam round Vienna in
that Bohemian way."

"Then. Princess, I must go to an hotel, for this roaming round is
strictly nucessary, and I don't want to bring the Palace Steinheimer into
disrepute."

" Jennie, I'll tell you what we will do ; we'll both bring it into disrepute.
The Prince is dining at his club to-night with some friends, so I shall order
the carriage, and you and I will roam round together. You will let me
come, won't you ? Where are you going ? "

" I am going to the Graubenstrasse to see Herr Fcltz."

"Oh, I know Herr Feltz,.aiul a dear old man be is; he will do any-
thing for me. If you want a favour iriu Herr l^'eltz, yuu had better take
me with you."

"I shall be delighted. Ah, here comes the tea! But what is the
use of ordering the carriage ? wo can walk tliero in a very iew
minutes."

" I think we had better have the carriage. The Prince would be wild if
he heard that we two went walking a!)out the streets of Vienna at night.
So, Jennie, we must pay some respect to conventionality, and we will take
llu! carriage. Now, tell me where you have been, and what you have seen,
iind all about it."

to the P
"I'll
what the
the ana
there to-

"Bec
him ear
analysis

With
. wraps oi
strassi!.
cii'cnnnsl

" Dis.i

A glai
his mast

" He
Princ(!8s
He grei
astonishi
a few h(i

" I Wl
earlier tl

The n
reply.

JENNIE BESTOWS INFOEMATION UPON THE CHIEF 83

Over their belated decoction of tea Jennie related everything that had
happened,

" And what do you expect to learn from the analysis at the chemist's,
Jennie?"

" I expect to learn something that will startle the Director of
Police."

"And what is that? Jennie, don't keep me on tenterhooks in this
provoking way. How can you act so ? I shall wrrite to Lord Donal and
tell liim that you are here in Vienna, if you don't mind."

" Well, under such a terrible threat as that, I suppose I must divulge
all my suspicions. But I really don't know anything yet ; I merely
suspect. The weight of that dust, when I picked up a handful of it,
83emed to indicate that the gold is still there in the rubbish heap."

" You don't ftieau to say so ! Then there has been no robbery
at all ? "

" There may have been a robbery planned, but I do not think any thief
' got a portion of the gold. The chances are that they entirely under-
estimated the force of the explosive they were using, for, unless I am very
much mistaken, they were dealing with something a hundred times more
powerful than dynamite."

" And will the chemical analysis show what explosive was used? "

" No ; it will only show of what the di'bris is composed. It will settle
the question whether or not the gold is in that dust-heap. If it is, then I
think the Government will owe me some thanks, because the Director of
Police talked of carting the rubbish away and dumping it out of sight
somewliore. If the Government gets back its gold, I suppose the question
of who fired the mine is merely of academic interest."

" The carriage is waiting, your Highness," was the announcement made
to the Princess, who at once jumped up, and said, —

" I'll ha ready in five minu d. I'm as anxious now as you are to hear
what the chemist has to say ; but I thought you told me he woxildn't have
the anaiy.sis ready until four o'clock to-morrow. What is the use of going
there to-iiight ? "

" Because I am reasonably certain that the Director of Police will see
him early to-morro^v morning, and I want to get the first copy of the
analysis myself."

With that the Princess ran away and presently reappeared with her
. wraps on. The two drove to the shop of Herr Feltz in the Grauben-
strasse, and were told that the chemist could not be seen in any
circHunstances. Ho had left orders that he was not to be disturl)ed.

" Disobey those orders and take in my card," said the Princess.

A glance at the card ilissolved the man's doul)ts, and he departed to seek
his master.

" He is woi ling at tlio analyHis now, I'll warrant," whispered the
Princess to her companion. In a short time Herr Feltz himself appeared.
He greeted the Princess with most deferential respect, but seemed
astonished to find in her company the young woman who had called on him
a few hours previously with the Director of the Police.

" I wanted to ask you," said Jennie, " to finish your analysis somewhat
earlier than four o'clock to-morrow. I suppose it can be done ? "

The man of scicnco smiled and looked at her for a moment, but did not
reply.

JENlSflE BAXTER, JOURNALIST

" You will oblige my friend, I hope," said the Princess.

" I should bo delighted to oblige any friend of your Highness," answered
the chemist slowly, " but, unfortunately, in this instance I have orders
from an authority not to be disputed."

" What orders ? " demanded the Princess.

" I promised the analysis at four o'clock to-morrow, ivnd at that hour it
will be ready for the young lady. I am ordered not to t'.hovv the analysis
to anyone before that time."

" Those orders came from the Director of Police, I suppose ? "

The chemist bowed low, but did not speak.

" I understand how it is, Jennie ; he came here immediately after
seeing you home. I suppose he visited you again within the hour after he
left with this young lady — is that the case, Herr Feltz? "

" Your Highness distresses me by asking questions that I am under
pledge not to answer."

" Is the analysis completed ? "

" That is another question which I sincerely hope your Highness will •
not press."

" Very well, Herr Feltz, I shall ask you a qiiestion or two of which you
will not be so frightened. * I have told my friend here that you would do
anything for me, but I see I have been mistaken."

The chemist made a deprecatory motion of his hands, spreading them
out and bowing. It was plainly apparent that his seeming discourtesy
caused him deep regret. He was about to speak, but the Princess went
impetuously on.

" Is the Director of Police a friend of yours, Herr Feltz ? I don't mean
merely an official friend, but a personal friend ? "

" I am under many obligations to him, your Highness, and besides that,
like any other citizen of Vienna, I am compelled to obey him when he
commands."

" What I want to learn," continued the Princess, her anger visibly
rising at this unexpected opposition, " is whether you wish the man well
or not? "

" I certainly wish him well, your Highness."

" In that case know that if my friend leaves this shop without seeing the
analysis of the material she broughc to you, the Director of Police will be
dismissed from his office to-morrow. If you doubt my infUuMice with my
husband to have that done, just try the experiment of sending us away
uiiHatislicd,"

The old man bowed his white head.

" Your Highness," he said, " I shall take the responsibility of refus-
ing to obey the orders of the Director of Police. Excuse me for a
moment."

He retired into his don, and presently emerged with a sheet of paper in
bis hand.

"Ft must 111 understood," be said, addressing Jennie, "that the
analysis is but roughly made. I intended to devote the night to a more
minute scrutiny."

" All I want at the present moment," said Jennie, " is a rough
analysis."

"There it is," said the chemist, baudiiig her the paper.

She read, —

Jennie bestows information upon the chief ab

Calcium

Iron

Quartz

Feldspar ]

Mica

Gold

Traces of other substances

Total ...

_3J
100

Jennie's eyes sparkled as she looked at the figures before her. She
banded the paper to the Princess, saying, —

" You see, I was right in my surmise. More than one-third of that
heap is pure gold."

" I should explain," said the chemist, " that I have grouped the quartz,
feldspar, and mica together, without giving the respective portions of each,
becTiUse it is evident that the combination represents granite."

"I understand," said Jennie; "the walls and the roof are of
granite."

" I would further add," continued the chemist, " that I have never met
gold so finely divided as this is."

" Have you the gold and other ingi'edients separated ? "

" Ycs, madame."

" I shall take them with me, if you please."

The chemist shortly after brought her the components, in little glass
vials, labelled.

" Have you any idea, Herr Feltz, what explosive would reduce gold to
such fine powder as this ? ' '

" I have only a theori'tical knowledge of explosives, and I know of
nothing that would produce such results as we have here. Perhaps
Professor Carl Seigfried could give you some infoi'mation on that point.
The science of detonation has been his life study, and he stands head and
shoulders above his fellows in that department."

" Can you give me his address ? "

The chemist wrote the address on a sheet of paper and handed it to the
young woman.

" Do you happen to know whether Professor 'Seigfried or bis assistants
have been called in during this investigation ? "

" What investigation, madame ? "

" The investigation of the recent terrible explosion."

" I have heard of no explosion," replied the chemist, evidently
bewildered.

Then Jennie remembered that, while the particulars of the disaster in
the Treasury were known to the world at largo outside of Austria, no
knowledge of the catastrophe bad got abroad in Vienna.

"The Professor," continued the chemist, noticing .Jennie's hesitation,
" is not a very practical man. Ho is deeply learned, anci has made some
great discoveries in pure science, but he has done little towanls applying
his knowledge to any <!Voryday useful purpose. If "ou meet him, you will
find him a dreamer atul a theorist. But if you oncj succeed in interesting
bim ill any matter, ho will prosecute it to the very end, quite regardless of
the tim(! bo spends or tlin calls of duty elsewhere."

" Then he is jiiat the man 1 wish to see," said Jennie decisively, and

JENNIE BAXTER, .lOl KNAI.IS'I'

with that they took leave of the chemist and once more entered the
carriage.

" I want to drive to another place," said Jennie, " before it gets too
late."

" Good gracious ! " cried the Princess, " you surely do not intend to call
on Professor Seigfried to-night ? "

" No; but I want to drive to the o. .ce of the Director of Police."

" Oh, that won't take us long," said the Princess, giving the necessary
order. The coachman took them to the night entrance of the central
police station by the Hohenstaufengasse, and, leaving the Princess in the
carriage, Jennie went in alone to speak with the ofKcer in charge.

" I wish to see the Director of Police," she said.

" He will not be here until to-morrow morning. He is at home. Is it
anything important? "

" Yes. Where is his residence ? "

" If you will have the kindness to inform me what your business is,
madame, we will have pleasure in attending to it without disturbing Herr
Director."

" I must communicate with the Director in person. The Princess von
Steinheimer is in her carriage outside, and I do not wish to keep her
waiting." At mention of the Princess the officer bestirred himself and
became tremendously polite.

" I shall call the Director at once, and he will be only too happy to
wait upon you."

" Oh, have you a telephone here? and can I speak with him myself
without being overheard ? "

"Certainly, madame. If you will step into this room with me, I will
call him up and leave you to speak with him."

This was done, and when the Chief had answered, Jennie introduced
herself to him.

" I am Miss Baxter, whom you were kind enough to escort through the
Treasury building this afternoon."

" Oh, yes," replied the Chief. " I thought we were to postpone further
inquiry until to-morrow."

" Yes, that was the arra;igement ; Init I wanted to say that if my plans
are interfered with ; if 1 am kept under surveillance, I shall be compelled
to withdraw from the search."

A few moments elapsed before the Chief replied, and then it was with
some hesitation.

" I should be distressed to have you withdraw ; but, if you wish to do
so, that nuisl l)e a matter entirely for your own consideration. F have my
own duty to perform, and I must carry it out to thu best of my poor
ability."

"Quite so. I am obliged to you for speaking so plainly. I rather
surmised this afternoon that you looked upon my help in the light of an
interference."

"I should not have used the word interference," continued the Chief;
" but I must confess that I never knew good results to follow amateur
efforts, which could not have been obtained nmch more speedily and
effectually by the regular force under my command."

" Well, the regular force under your commaiul lias been at work several
weeks ana has apparently not accomplished very much. I have devoted

JEN]

part of ai
should h
impart to
the credil
your com
" Perfe
" Then
robbery."
"No r
speaking
" lam
be but trii
practicall;
than one-
good frien
ment itsel
Feltz, so 1
effectually
he is a n
missal to
I have th(
" Wait-
phono. "
me, and
explosion,
" That ]
ing yoi
jxpect me
plosion w(
would pro
leaving th
impatience
Herr Dire
" No, nc
be kind en
"The]
and I do
" Then
" Why
the labour
" Oh, m
in a thou
meddle in
convinced
" Perfec
Herr Feltz
standing
Your cond
commandi
charactcri;
municate,
" Thank

JENNIE BESTOWS INFOEMATION UPON THE CHIEF 87

part of an afternoon and evening to the matter, so before I withdraw I
should like to give you some interesting information *which you may
impart to the Government, and I am quite willing that you should take all
the credit for the discovery, as I have no wish to appear in any way as
your competitor. Can you hear me distinctly? "

" Perfectly, madame," replied the Chief.

" Then, in the first place, inform the Government that there has been no
robbery."

" No robbery ? What an absurd statement, if you will excuse me
speaking so abruptly ! Where is the gold if there was no robbery ? "

" I am coming to that. Next inform the Government that their loss will
be but trifling. That heap of lUhris which you propose to cart away contains
practically the whole of the missing two hundred million florins. More
than one-third of the heap is pure gold. If you want to do a favour to a
good friend of yours, and at the same time confer a benefit upon the Govern-
ment itself, you w'U advise the Government to secure the services of Herr
Feltz, so that the g^jld may be extracted from the rubbish completely and
effectually. I put in a word for Herr Feltz, because I am convinced that
he is a itiOst cc ,t vnan. To-night his action saved you from dis-

missal to-morr i,nerefore you should be grateful to him. And now
I have the honour uO wish you good-night."

'* Wait — wait a moment ! " came in beseeching tones through the tele-
phono. " My dear young lady, pray pardon any fault you have to find with
me, and remain for a moment or two longer. Who, then, caused the
explosion, and why was it accomplished ? "

" That I must leave for you to find out, Herr Director. You see, I am

ing you the results of merely a few hours' inquiry, and you cannot
jxpect me to discover everything in that time. I don't know how the ex-
plosion was caused, neither do I know who the criminals are or were. It
would probably take me all day to-morrow to find that out ; but as I am
leaving the discovery in such competent hands as yours, I must curb my
impatience until you send me full particulars. Pf
Herr Director."

" No, no, don't go yet. I shall come at once to the
be kind enough to stop there until I arrive."

" The Princess von Steinheimer is waiting for me in her cari'iage outside,
and I do not wish to delay her any longer."

" Then let me implore you not to give up your researches."

"Why? Amateur efforts are so futile, you know, when compared with
the labours of the regular force."

" Oh, my dear young lady, you must pardon an old man for what he said
in a thoughtless moment. If you knew how mo,ny useless amateurs
meddle in our very difficult business you would excuse me. Are you quite
convinced of what you have told me, that the gold is in the rubbish heap?"

" Perfectly. I will leave for you at the office here the analysis made by
Herr Feltz, and if I can assist you further, it must be on the distinct under-
standing that you are not to interfere again with whatever I may do.
Your conduct in going to Herr Feltz to-night after you had left me, and
commanding him not to give me any information, I should hesitate to
characterize by its right name. When I have anything further to com-
municate, I will send for you."

" Thank you ; I shall hold myself always at your command."

io, once agam, good-night,
station, if you will

JENNIE BAXTEE, JOURNALIST

This telephonic interview being happily concluded, Jennie hurried to the
Princess, stopping on her way to give the paper containing the analysis to
the official in charge . id telling him to hand it to the Director when he
returned to his desk. This done, she passed out into the night, with the
comfortable consciousness that the worries of a busy day had not been
without their compensation.

CHAPTER XVI.

JENNIE VISITS A MODERN WIZARD IN HIS MAGIC ATTIC.

When Jennie entered the carriage in which her friend was waiting, the
other cried, " Well, have you seen him ? " apparently meaning the Director
of Police.

" No, I did not see him, but I talked with him over the telephone. I
wish you sould have heard our conversation ; it was the funniest inter-
view I ever took part in. Two or three times I had to shut off the
instrument, fearing the Director would hear me laugh. I am afraid that
before this business is ended you will be very sorry I am a guest at your
house. I know I shall end by getting myself into an Austrian prison.
Just think of it ! Here have I been ' holding up ' the Chief of Police
in this Im.perial city as if I were a v.'ild western brigand. I have been
terrorizing the man, brow-beating him, threatening him, and he the person
who has the libei-ty of all Vienna in his hands ; who can have me dragged
off to a dungeon-cell any time he likes to give the order."

" Not from the Palace Steinheimer," said the Princess, with deci-
sion.

" Well, he might hesitate about that ; yet, nevertheless, it is too funny
to think that a mere newspaper woman, corning into a city which contains
only one or two of her friends, should dare to talk to the Chief of Police
as I have done to-night, and force him actually to beg that I shall remain
in the city and continue to assist him."

" Tell me what you said," asked the Princess eagerly ; and Jennie
related all that had passed between them over the telephone.

" And do you mean to say calmly that you are going to give that man the
right to use the astounding information you have acquired, and allow him
to accept complacently all the hxdos that such a discovery entitles you
to?"

" Why, certainly," replied Jennie. " What good is the kudos to
me ? All the credit I desire I get in the office of the Daily Bugle in
London.

JENNIE VISITS A MODEKN WIZARD IN HIS DEN m

" But, you silly girl, holding such a secret as you held, you could have
made your fortune," insisted the practical Princess, for the principles
which had heen instilled into her during a youth spent in Chicago had not
been entirely eradicated by residence in Vienna. " If you had gone to
the Government and said, ' How much will you give me if I restore to you
the missing gold ? ' just imagine what their answer would be."

" Yes, I suppose there was money in the scheme if it had really been a
secret. But you forget that to-morrow morning the Chief of Police would
have known as much as he knows to-night. Of course, if I had gone alone
to the Treasury vault and kept my discovery to myself, I might, perhaps,
have ' held up ' the Government of Austria-Hungary as successfully as I
' held up ' the Chief of Police to-night. But with the Director watshing
everything I did, and going with me to the chemist, there was no possi-
bility of keeping the matter a secret."

" Well, Jennie, all I can say is that you are .?. very foolish girl. Here
you are, working hard, as you said in one of your letters, merely to make
a living, and now, with the greatest nonchalance, you allow a fortune to
slip through your fingers, i am simply not going to allow this. I shall
tell my husband all that has hajipened, and he will make the Govern-
ment treat you honestly, if not generously. I assure you, Jennie, that
Lord Donal — no, I won't mention his name, since you protest so
strenuously— but the future young man, whoever he is, will not think the
less of you because you come to him with a handsome dowry. But here
we are at home ; and I won't say another word on the subject if it annoys
you."

When Jennie reached her delightful apartments — which looked even
more luxuriantly comfortable bathed in the soft radiance that now flooded
them from quiet-toned shaded lamps than they did in the more garish
light of day — she walked up and down her sitting-room in deep meditation.
She was in a quandary — whether or not to risk sending a coded telegram
to her paper was the question that presented itself to her. If she were
sure that no one else would learn the news, she would prefer to wait until
she had further particulars of the Treasury catastrophe. A good deal
would depend on whether or not the Director of Police took anyone into
his confidence that night. If he did net, he would be aware that only
he and the girl possessed this important piece of news. If a full account
of the discovery appeared in the next morning's Daily Bugle, then, when
that paper arrived in Vienna, or even before, if a synopsis were telegraphed
to the Government, as it was morally certain to be, the Director would
know at once that she was the correspondent of the newspaper whom he
was so anxious to frighten out of Vienna. On the other hand, her friend-
ship with the Princess von Steinheimer gave her such influence with the
Chief's superiors, that, after the lesson she had taught him, he might
hesitate to make any move against her. Then, again, the news that
to-night belonged to two persons might on the morrow come to the know-
ledge of all the correspondents in Vienna, and her efforts, so far as the
BiKjlc was concerned, would have been in vain. This consideration

decided tlio girl, and, casting off all sign of hesitation, she sat down at her
writing table and began the fii-st chapter of the solution of the Vienna
mystery. Her opening sentence was exceedingly diplomatic : " The
Chief of Police of Vienna has made a most startling discovery." Beginning
thus, she went on to details of the discovery she had that day made.

JENNIE BAXTBE, JOURNALIST

When her account was finishtd and codified, she went down to her hostess
and said,—

" Princess, I want a trustworthy man, who will take a long telegram to
the central telegraph office, pay for it, and come away quickly hefore any-
one can ask him inconvenient questions."

" Would it not be better to call a Dienstmanner ? "

"A Dienstmanner? That is your commissionaire, or telegraph
messenger ? No, I think not. They are all numbered and can be
traced."

" Oh, I know ! " cried the Princess ; " I will send our coachman. He
will be out of his livery now, and he is a most reliable man ; he will
not answer inconvenient questions, or any others, even if they are
asked."

To her telegram for publication Jennie had added a private despatch to
the editor, stating that it would be rather inconvenient for her if he
published the account next morning, but she left the decision entiiely with
him. Here was the news, and if he thought it worth the risk, he might
hold it over ; if not, he was to print it regardless of consequences.

As a matter of fact, the editor, with fear and trembling, held the news
for a day, so that he might not embarrass his fair representative, but so
anxious was he, that he sat up all night until the other papers were out,
and he heaved a sigh of relief when, on glancing over them, he found that
not one of them contained . an inkling of the information locked up in his
desk. And so he dropped off to sleep when the day was breaking. Next
night he had nearly as much anxiety, for although the Biujlc would
contain the news, other papers might have it as well, and thus for the
second time he waited in his office until the other sheets, wet from the
press, were brought to him. Again fortune favoured him, and the
triumph belonged to the Bugle alone.

The morning after her interview with the Director of Police, Jennie,
taking a small hand-satchel, in which she placed the various bottles
containing the different dusts which the chemist had separated, went
abroad alone, and hailing a fiacre, gave the driver the address of Professor
Carl Seigfried. Ti:e carriage of the Princess was always at the disposal
of the girl, but on this occasion she did not wish to be embarrassed with so
pretentious an equipage. The cab took her into a street lined with tall
edifices and left her at the number she had given the driver. The
building seemed to be one let out in flats and tenements ; she mounted
stair after stair, anci only at the very top did she see the Professor's name
painted on a doc Here she rapped several times without any attention
being paid to her Suii..iions, but at last the door was opened partially by a
man whom she took, quite accurately, to be the Professor himself. His
head was white, and his face deeply wrinkled. He glared at ber through
his glasses, and said sharply, " Young lady, you have made a mistake ;
these are the rooms of Professor Carl Seigfried."

" It is Professor Carl Seigfried that I wish to see," replied the girl
hurriedly, as the old man was preparing to shut the door.

" What do you want with him ? "

" I want some information from him about explosives. I have been told
that he knows mc e abou*; explosives than any other man living.'

" Quite right — he does. What then? "

" An explosion has taken place producing tho most remarkable results.

JENNIE VISITS A MODEEN WIZARD IN HIS DEN 91

They say that neither dynamite nor any other known force could have had
such an ei't'ect on metals and minerals as this power has had."

" Ah, dynamite is a toy for children ! " cried the old man, opening the
door a little further and exhihiting an interest which had, up to that
moment, heen absent from his manner. " Well, where did this explosion
take place ? Do you wish me to go and see it ? "

" Perhaps so, later on. At present I wish to show you some of its
effects, but I don't propose to do this standing here in the passage-
way."

" Quite right — quite right," hastily ejaculated the old scientist, throwing
the cloor wide open. "Of course, I am not accustomed to visits from
fashionable young ladies, and I thought at first there had been a mistake ;
but if you have any real scientific problem, I shall be delighted to give my
attention to it. What may appear very extraordinary to the lay mind will
doubtless prove fully explainable by scientists. Come in, come in."

The old man shut the door behind her, and led her along a dark passage,
into a large apartment, whose ceiling was the roof of the building. At first
.sight it seemed in amazing disorder. Huge as it was, it was cluttered with
curio IS shaped machines and instruments. A twisted conglomeration of
glass tubing, bent into fantastic tangles, stood on a central tabb, and had
evidently been occupying the Professor's attention at the time he was
interru )ted. The place was lined with shelving, where the walls were not
occupirj 1 by cupboards, and every shelf was burdened with bottles and
apparatus of different kinds. Whatever care Professor Seigfried took of
his apparatus, he seemed to have little for his furniture. There was hardly
a decent ciiair in the room, except one deep arm-chair, covered with a
tiger's skin, in which the Professor evidently took his ease while meditat-
ing or watching the progress of an experiment. This chair he did not offer
to the young lady ; in fact, he did not offer her a seat at all, but sank
down on the tiger's skin himself, placed the tips of his fingers together,
and glared at her through his glittering glasses.

" Now, young woman," he said iiM'uptly, " what have you brought for
me? Don't begin to chatter, for my time is valuable. Show me what
yr ■! have brought, and I will tell you all about it ; and most likely a very
simple thing it is."

Jennie, interested in so rude a man, smiled, drew up the least decrepit
bench she could find, and sat down, in spite of the angry mutterings of her
irritated host. Then she opened her satchel, took out the small bottle of
gold, and handed it to him without a word. The old man received it some-
what contemptuously, shook it backward and forward without extracting
the cork, adjusted his glasses, then suddenly seemed to take a nervous
interest in the material presented to him. He rose and went nearer the
light. Drawing out tiie cork with trembling hands, he poured some of
the contents into his open palm. The result was startling enough. The
old man flung up his hands, letting the vial crash into a thousand pieces
on the floor. He staggered forward, shrieking, " Ah, mein Gott — mein
Gott ! "

^aen, to the consternation of Jennie, who had already risen in terror
from her chair, the scientist plunged forward on his face. The girl had
-Ufiiculty in repressing a shriek. She looked round hurriedly for a bell to
ring, but apparently there was none. She tried to open the door and cr
for help, but in her excitement could neiiher find handle mr latch

W%'

IMAGE EVALUATION
TEST TARGET (MT-3)

{./

:/-

1.0

I.I

11.25

1^12^ |2.5

150 ^^^ PI^B

1^ 12.2

Mi U4

12.0

1-4 lilll.6

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Photographic

Sciences

Corporation

33 WEST MAIN STRfET

WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580

(7)6) 872-4503

4^^^^

Ilk

JENNIE BAXTER, JOURNALIST

" So he sent you here ? "
"It is as I tell you. Herr

seemed to be locked, and the key, doubtless, was in the Professor's
pocket. She thou^^ht at first that he had dropped dead, but the continued
moaning as he lay on the floor convinced her of her error. She bent over
him anxiously and cried, " What can I do to help you ? "

With a struggle he muttered, " The bottle — the bottle — in the cupboard
behind you."

She hurriedly flung open the doors of the cuplroard indicated, and found
a bottle of brandy, and a glass, which she partly filled. The old man had
with an effort struggled into a sitting posture, and she held the glass of
fiery liquid to his pallid lips. He gulped down the brandy, and gasped,
" I feel better now. Help me to my chair."

Assisting him to his feet, she supported him to his arm-chair, when he
shook himself free, crying angrily, ' Let me alone ! Don't you see I am
all right again? "

The girl stood aside, and the Professor dropped into his chair, his
nervous hands vibrating on his knees. For a long interval nothing was
said by either, and the girl at last seated herself on the bench she had
formerly occupied. The next words the old man spoke were, " Who sent
you here ? "

' No one ; I came of my own accord. I wished to meet someone who
had a large knowledge of explosives, and Herr Feltz, the chemist, gave me
your address."

" Herr Feltz ! Herr Feltz ! " he repeated.

" No one sent me here," insisted the girl.
Feltz merely gave me your address."

" Where did you get that powdered gold ? "

" It came from the (h'bris of an explosion."

" I know ; you said that before. Where was the explosion ? Who
caused it?"

"That I don't know."

" Don't you know where the explosion was? "

" Yes, I know where the explosion was, but I don't know who caused
it."

" Who sent you here ? "

" I tell you no one sent me here.'

" That is not true ; the man who aaused the explosion sent you here.
You are his minion. What do you expect to find out from me ? "

" I expect to learn what explosive was used to produce the result that
seemed to have such a remarkable effect on you."

" Why do you say that ? It had no effect on me. My' heart is weak. I
am subject to such attacks, and I ward them off with brandy. Some day
they will kill me. Then you won't learn any secrets from a dead man, will
you ? "

" I hope, Professor Seigfried, that you have many years yet to live,
and I must further add that I did not expect such a reception as I have
received from a man of science, as I was told you Were. If you have no
information to give to me — very well, that ends it ; all you have to do is to
say so."

" Who sent you here ? "

" No one, as I have repeated once or twice. If anyone hod, I would
give him my opinion of the errand when I got back. You refuse, then, to
tell me anything about the explosive that powdered the gold ? "

JENNIE VISITS A MODERN WIZARD IN HIS DEN

"Refuse? Of course I reiuse 1 What did you expect ? I suppose the
man who sent you here thought, because you were an engaging young
woman and I an old dotard, I would gabble to you the results of a life's
work. Oh, no, no, no; but I am not an old dotard. I have many years
to live yet."

" I hope so. Well, I must bid you good morning. I shall go to some-
one else."

The old man showed his teeth in a forbidding grin.

" It is useless. Your bottle is broken, and the uiaterial it contained is
dissipated. Not a trace of it is left."

He waved his thin, emaciated hand in the air as he spoke.

" Oh, that doesn't matter in the least," said Jennie. " I have seve.al
other bottles here in my satchel."

The Professor placed his hands on the arms of his chair, and slowly
raised himself to his feet.

" You have others," he cried, "other bottles? Let mo see them — let
me see them ! "

" No," replied Jennie, " I won't."

With a speed which, after his recent collapse, Jennie had not expected,
the Professor ambled round to the door and placed his back against it.
The glasses over his eyes seemed to sparkle as if with fire. His talon-like
fingers crooked rigidly. He breathed rapidly, and was evidently labouring
under intense excitement.

" Who knows you came up to see me ? " he whispered hoarsely, glaring
at her.

Jennie, having arisen, stood there, smoothing down her perfectly fitting
glove, and answered with a calmness she was far from feeling, —

" Who knows I am here ? No one but the Director of Police."

" Oh, the Director of Police ! " echoed the Professor, quite palpably
abashed by the unexpected answer. The rigidity of his attitude relaxed,
and he became once more the old man he luul appeared as he sat in a heap
in his chair. " You will excuse me," he muttered, edging round towards
the chair again ; " I was excited."

" I noticed that you were, Professor. Bu*^ before you sit down again,
please unlock that door."

" Why ? " ho asked, pausing on his way to the chair,

"Because I wish it open."

" And I," he said in a higlior tone, " wish it to remain looked until we
have come to some understanding. I can't let you go out now ; but I shall
permit you to go unmolested as soon as you have made some explanation
tome."

" If you do not unlock the door immediately I shall take this machine and
fling it through the front window out on the street. The crashing glass on
the pavement will soon bring someone to my rescue. Professor, and, as I
have a voice of my own and small hesitation about shouting, I shall have
Httle difficulty in directing the strangers where "to come."

As Jennie spoke she moved swiftly towards the table on which stood the
strange aggregation of reflectors and i)ont glass tubing.

" No, no, no I " screamed the Professor, springing between her and the
table. " Touch anything but that — anything but that. Do not disturb it
an inch — there ia danger— death not only to you and me, but jj'.'riiaps to the
whole city. Keep away from it I "

JENNIE BAXTER,* JOURNALIST

" Very well, then," said Jennie, stepping back in spite of her endeavoui'
to maintain her self-control ; " open the door. Open both doors and leave
them 80. After that, if you remain seated in your chair, I shall not touch
the machine, nor shall I leave until I make the explanations you require,
and you have answered some questions that I shall ask. But I must have
a clear way to the stair, in case you should become excited again."

"I'll unlock the doors; I'll imlock both doors," replied the old man
tremulously, fumbling about in his pockets for his keys. " But keep
away from that machine, unless you wafit to bring swift destruction on
us all."

With an eagerness that retarded his speed, the Professor, constantly
looking over his shoulder at his visitor, unlocked the first door, then hastily
he flung open the second, and tottered back to his chair, where he
collapsed on the tiger skin, trembling and exhausted.

" We may be overheard," he whined. " One can never tell who may
sneak quietly up the stair. I am surrounded by spies trying to find out
what I am doing."

" Wait a moment," said Jennie.

She went quickly to the outer door, found that it closed with a spring
latch, opened and shut it two or three times until she was perfectly familiar
with its workings, then she closed it, drew the inner door nearly shut, and
sat down.

" There," she said, " we are quite safe from interruption, Professor
Seigfried ; but I must request you not * ■ ove from your chair."

" I have no intention of doing so," m . ared the old man. " Who sent
you? You said you would tell me. 1 think you owe me an expla-
nation."

" I think you owe me one," replied the gixl. " As I told you before, no
one sent me. I came here entirely of my own accord, and I shall en-
deavour to make clear to you exactly why I came. Some time ago there
occurred in this city a terrific explosion "

"Where? When?" exclaimed the old man, placing his hands on the
arms of his chair, as if he would rise to his feet.

" Sit where you are," commanded Jennie firmly, "and I shall tell you
all I can about it. The Government, for reasons of its own, desires to keep
the fact of this explosion a secret, and thus very few people outside of
official circles know anything about it. I am trying to discover the cause
of that disaster."

" Are you — are you working on behalf of the Government ? " asked the
old man eagerly, a tremor of fear in his quavering voice.

" No. T am conducting my investigations quite independently of the
Government?"

" But why ? But why ? That is what I don't understand."

" I would very much rather not answer that question."

" But that question — everything is involved in that question. I must
know why you are here. If you are not in the employ of the Government,
in whose employ are you ? "

" If I tell you," said Jennie with some hesitation, " will you keep what
I say a secret?"

" Yes, yes, yes ! " cried the scientist impatiently.

" Well, I am in the service of a London daily newspaper."

" I see, I see ; and tliey have Beut you here to p«blish broadcast over

on the

I must
jrnnient,

5ep what

JENNIE VISITS A MODERN WIZARD IN HIS DEN 95

the world all you can find out of my doingg. I knew you were a spy the
moment I saw you. I should never have let you in."

" My dear sir, the London paper is not even aware of your existence.
They have not sent me to you at all. They have sent me to learn, if
possible, the cause of the explosion I spoke of. I took some of the debris
to Herr Feltz to analyze it, and he said he had never seen gold, iron,
feldspar, and all that, reduced to such fine, impalpable grains as was the
case with the sample I left with him. I then asked him who in Vienna
knew most about explosives, and he gave me your address. That is why
I am here."

" But the explosion — you have not told me when and where it
occurred I "

" That, as I have said, is a Government secret."

" But you stated you are not in the Government employ, therefore it
can be no breach of confidence if you let me have full particulars."

"I suppose not. Very well, then, -the explosion occurred after
midnight on the seventeenth in the vault of the Treasury."

The old man, in spite of the prohibition, rose uncertainly to his
feet.

Jennie sprang up and said menacingly, " Stay where you are ! "
" I am not going to touch you. If you are so suspicious of every move
I make, then go yourself and bring me what I want. There is a map of
Vienna pinned against the wall yonder. Bring it to me."

Jennie proceeded in the direction indicated. It was an ordinary map of
the city of Vienna, and as Jennie took it down she noticed that across the
southern part of the city a semi-circular line in pencil had been d'.awn.
Examining it more closely, she saw that the stationary part of the
compass bad been placed on the spot where stood the building which
contained the Professor's studio. She paid closer attention to the pencil
mark and observed that it passed through the Treasury building.

" Don't look at that map ! " shrieked the Professor, beating the air with
his hands. " I asked you to bring it to me. Can't you do a simple action
like that without spying about ? "

Jennie rapidly unfastened the paper from the wall and brought it to
him. The scientist scrutinized it closely, adjusting his glasses the better
to see, then deliberately tore the map into fragments, numerous and
minute. He rose — and this time Jennie made no protest — went to the
window, opened it, and flung the fluttering bits of paper out into the air,
the strong wind carrying them far over the roofs of Vienna. Closing the
easement, he came back to his chair.

" Was — was anyone hurt at this explosion ? " he asked presently.
" Yes, four men were killed instantly, a dozen were seriously injui'ed
and are now in hospital."

" Oh, my God — my God I " cried the old man, covering his face with
his hands, swaying from side to side in his chair like a man tortured with
agony and remorse. At last he lifted a face that had grown more pinched
and yellow within the last few minutes.

" I can tell you nothing," he said, moistening his parched lips.
" You mean that you will tell me nothing, for I see plainly that you
know everything."

*' I knew nothing of any explosion until you spoke of it. What have I
to do with the Treasury or the Government ? "

JENNIE BAXTER, JOURNALIST

" That is just what I want to know."

" It is absurd. I am no conspirator, but a man of learning."

" Then you have nothing to fear, Herr Seigfried. If you are innocent,
why are you so loth to give me any assistance in this matter ? "

" It has nothing to do with me. I am a scientist — I am a scientist.
All I wish is to be left alone with my studies. I have nothing to do with
governments or newspapers, or anything belonging to them."

Jennie sat tracing a pattern on the dusty floor with the point of her
parasol. She spoke very quietly : —

" The pencilled lino which you drew on the map of Vienna passed
through the Treasury building ; the centre of the circle was this garret.
Why did you draw that pencilled semi-circle ? Why were you anxious
that I should not see you had done so? Why did you destroy the
map?"

Professor Seigfried sat there looking at her with dropped jaw, but be
made no reply.

" If you will excuse my saying so," the girl went on, " you are acting
very childishly. It is evident to me that you are no criminal, yet if the
Director of Police had been in my place he would have arrested you long
ago, and that merely because of your own foolish actions."

" The map proved nothing," ho said at last, haltingly, " and besides,
both you and the Director will now have some difficulty in finding it."

" That is further proof of your folly. The Director doesn't need to find
it. I am here to testify that I saw the map, saw the curved lino passing
through the Treasury, and saw you destroy what you thought was an
incriminating piece of evidence. It would he much bettor if you would
deal as frankly with me as I have done with you. Then I shall give you
the best advice I can — if my advice will be of any assistance to you."

" Yes, and publish it to all the world ! "

" It will hav(J to be published to all the world in any case, for, if I leave
here without full knowledge, I will simply go to the police office and there
tell what I have learned in this room ! "

" And if I do speak, you will still go to the Director of the Police and
tell him what you have discovered I "

" No, I give you my word that I will not I "

" What guarantee have I of that? " asked the old man suspiciously.

•• No guarantee at all except my word t "

" Will you promise not to print in your paper what I tell you?"

" No, I cannot promise that I "

" Still, the newspaper doesn't matter," continued the scientist. " The
story would be valueless to you, because no one would believe it. There
is little use in printing a story in a newspaper that will be lauglicd at, is
there? However, I think you are honest, otherwise you would have
promised not to print a hne of what I tell you, and thc'ii I should liavo
known you were lying. It was as easy to promise that as to Bay you
would not tell the Director of Police. I thought at first some sciontifio
rival had sent you hero to play the spy on mo, and learn what I was doing.
I assure you I heard nothing about the oxploHJon you speak of, yot 1 was
certain it had occurred somewhere along that lino which I drew on tl <•
map. I hofl hoped it was not serious, and bogun to believe it was i ci
The anxiety of the laut month has ntiariv driven mo insane, and, as you
say quito truly, my actions have been childish."

JENNIE VISITS A MODERN WIZARD IN HIS DEN 97

The old man in his excitement had rip'^n from his chair and was now
pacing up and down the room, running liis fingers distractedly through
his long white hair, and talking more to aimself than to his auditor.

Jennie had edged her chair nearer to the door, and had made no protest
against his rising, fearing to interrupt his flow of talk and again arouse his
suspicions.

" I have no wish to protect my inventions. I have never taken out a
patent in my life. What I discover I give freely to the world, hut I will
not he robbed of my reputation as a scientist. I want my name to go
down to posterity among those of the great discoverers. You talked just
now of going to the police and telling them what you knew. Foolish
creature ! You could no more have gone to the central police office
without my permission, or against my will, than you could go to the
window and whistle back those bits of paper I scattered to the winds.
Before you reached the bottom of the stairs I could have laid Vienna in a
mass of ruins. Yes, I could in all probability have blown up the entire
Empire of Austria. The truth is, that I do not know the limit of my
power, nor dare I test it."

" Oh, this is a madman ! " thought Jennie, as she edged still nearer to
the door. The old man paused in his walk and turned fiercely upon
her.

" You don't believe me ? " he said.

" No, I do not," she answered, the colour leaving her cheeks.

The aged wizard gave utterance to a hideous chuckle. He took from
one of his numerous shelves a hammer-head without the handle, and for a
moment Jennie thought he was going to attack her ; but he merely handed
the metal to her and said, —

" Break that in two. Place it between your palms and grind it to
lK)wder."

" You know that is absurd ; I cannot do it."

" Why can't you do it'?"

" Because it is of steel."

" That is no reason. Why can't you do it ? "

He glared at her fiercely over his glasses, and she saw in his wild eye
all the enthusiasm of an nstructor enlightening a pupil.

" I'll tell you why you „an't do it ; because every minute particle of it is
held together by an enormous force. It may be heated red-hot and beaten
into this shape and that, but still the force hangs on as tenaciously as the
grip of a giant. Now suppose I had some substance, a drop of which,
placed on that piece of iron, would release the force which holds the
particles together — what would happen ? "

" I don't know," replied Jennie.

"Oh, yes you do ! " cried the Professor impatiently ; " but you are like
livery otiier woman — you won't take the trouble to think. What would
happen is this. The force that held the particles together would be
released, and the hammer would fail to powder like that gold you showed
me. The explosion that followed, caused by the sudden release of the
|K)wer, would probably wreck this room and extinguish both our lives.
You understand that, do you not'? "

" Yes, I think I do."

" Well, here is something you won't understand, and probably won't
l)elieve when you hear it. There is but cue force iu this world and but

JENNIE BAXTER, JOURNALIST

one particle of matter. There is only one eleraent, wbich is the basis of
everything. All the different shapes and conditions of things that we see
are caused by a mere variation of that force in conjunction with numbers
of that particle. Am I getting beyond your depth? "

" I am afraid you are, Professor."

" Of course ; I know what feeble brains the average woman is possessed
of; still, try and keep that in your mind. Now listen to this. I have
discovered how to disunite that force and that particle. I can, with a
touch, fling loose upon this earth a giant whose strength is irresistible and
immeasurable."

" Then why object to making your discovery public? "

" In the first place, because there are still a thousand things and more
to be learned along such' a line of investigation. The moment a man
announces his discoveries, he is first ridiculed, then, when the truth of
what he affirms is proven, there rise in every part of the world other men
who say that the^ knew all about it ten years ago, and will prove it too —
at least, far enough to^ delude a gullible world ; in the second because I am
a humane man, I hesitate to spread broadcast a knowledge that would
enable any fool to destroy the universe. Then there is a third reason.
There is another who, 1 believe, has discovered how to make this force
loosen its grip on the particle — that is Keely, of Philadelphia, in the
United States "

" What 1 You don't mean the Keely motor man ? " cried Jem ie,
laughing. " That arrant humbug t • Why, all the papers in the world have
exposed his ridiculous pretensions ; he has done nothing but spend other
people's money."

" Yes, the newspapers have ridiculed him. Human beings have, since
the beginning of the world, stoned their prophets. Nevertheless, he has
liberated a force that no gauge made by man can measure He has been
boastful, if you like, and has said that with a teacupful of water he would
drive a steamship across the Atlantic. I have been silent, working away
with my eye on him, and he has been working away with his eye on me,
for each knows what the other is doing. If either of us discovers how to
control this force, then that man's name will go down to posterity for ever.
He has not yet been able to do it ; neither have I. There is still another
difference between us. He appears to be able to loosen that force in hiss
own presence ; I can only do it at a distance. All my experiments lately
have been in the direction of making modifications with this machine, so
as to liberate the force within the compass, say, of this room ; but the
problem has baffled me. The invisible rays which this machine sends out,
and which will penetrate stone, iron, wood, or any other substance, must
unite at a focus, and I have not been able to bring that focus nearer me
than something over half a mile. Last summer I went to an uninhabited
part of Switzerland and there continued my experiments. I blew up at
will rocks and boulders on the mountain sides, the distances varying from
a mile to half a mile. I examined the results of the disintegration, and
V nen you came in and showed me that gold, I recognized at once that
someone had discovered the secret I have been trying to fathom for the
last ten years. I thought that perhaps you had come from Keely. I am
now convinced that the explosion you speak of in the Treasury was caused
by myself. This machine, which you so recklessly threatened to throw
out of the window, accidentally slipped from its support when I was work-

JENNIE VISITS A MODERN WIZARD IN HIS DEN 99

basis of
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I have

, with a

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e it too —
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was caused

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was work-

ing here some time after midnight on the seventeenth. I placed it
immediately as you see it now, where it throws its rays into mid-air, and
is consequently harmless ; but I knew an explosion must have taken place
m Vienna somewhere within the radius of luilf a mile. I drew the pencilled
semi-circle that you saw on the map of Vienna, for in my excitement in
placing the machine upright I had not noticed exactly where it bad
ix)inted, but I knew that, along the Hne I had drawn, an explosion must
have occurred, and could only hoj)e tliat it luul not i)een a serious one,
which it seems it was. I waited and waited, hardly daring to leave my
attic ; but hearing no news of any disaster, I was torn l)etween the
anxiety that would naturally come to any humane man in my |)osition —
who did not wish to destroy life — and the fear that, if nothing had
occurred, I hiwl not actually made the discovery I thought I had made.
You spoke (if my actions being childish ; but when I realized that I had
myself been the cause of the explosion, a fear of criminal prosecution came
over me. Not that I should object to imprisonment if ihey would allow
me to continue my experiments ; but that, doubtless, they would not do,
for the authorities know nothing of science, and care less."

In spite of her initial scepticism, Jennie found herself gradually coming
to believe in the efficiency of the harmless-looking mechanism of glass and
iron which she saw on the table before her, and a sensation of horror
held her spellbound as she gazed at it. Its awful possibilities began
slowly to develop in her mind, and she asked luseathlessly, —

" What would happen if you were to turn that machine and point it
towards the centre of the earth ? "

" I told you what would happen. Vienna woidd lie in ruins, and
possibly the whole Austrian Kmpire, and perhaps some adjoining countries
would become a mass of impalpable dust. It may be that the world itself
would dissolve. I cannot tell what the magnitude of the result might be,
for I have notdared to risk the exjM'riinent."

"Oh, this is too frightful to think about," she cried. "You must
destroy the machine. Professor, and you must never make another."

"What! And giv., up the hope that my name will descend to
posterity? "

" Professor Seigfried, when once this machine becomes known to the
world, there will be no posterity for your name to descend to. With the
present hatred of nation agamst nation, with different countries full of those
unimprisoned maniacs whom we call Jingoes — men preaching the hatred
of one people against another — how long do you think the world will last
when once such knowledge is abroad in it? "

The Professor looked longingly at the machine he had so slowly and
painfully constructed.

" It would be of nnicli ust * humanity if it were but benevolently
employed. With the coal-iields overywhore diminishing, it would supply
a motive force for the univers' that would last through the ages."

" Professor Seigfried," exclaimed Jeimie earnestly, " when the Lord
permits a knowledge of that machine to becouie common property, it is
His will that the end of the world shall come."

The Professor said nothing, hut stoixl with deeply wrinkled brow, gazing
earnestly at the mechanism. In his hand was the hammer-head which
he hiul previously given tt) the girl ; his arm went up and down as if he
were estimating its weight ; then suddenly, without a word of warning, he

100

JENNIE BAXTER, JOURNALIST

raised it and sent it crashing through the machine, whose spHntering glass
fell with a musical tinkle on the floor.

Jennie gave a startled cry, and with a low moan the Professor struggled
to his chair and fell, rather than sat down, in it. A ghastly pallor over-
spread his face, and the girl in alarm ran again to the cupboard, poured
out some brandy and offered it to him, then tried to pour it down bis
throat, but bis tightly set teeth resisted her efforts. She chafed his rigid
hands, and once he opened bis eyes, slowly shaking bis head.

" Try to sip this brandy," she said, seeing his jaws relax.

" It is useless," he murmured with difficulty. " My life was in the
instrument, as brittle as the glass. I have "

He could say no more. Jennie went swiftly downstairs to the office of
a physician, on the first floor, which she hatl noticed as she came up.

The medical man, who knew of the philosopher, but was not personally
acquainted with him, for the Professor had few friends, went up the steps
three at a time, and Jennie followed him more slowly. He met the gir' at
the door of the attic.

" It is useless," he said. " Professor Seigfried is dead ; and it is my
belief that in his taking away Austria has lost her greatest scientist."

"I am sure of it," answered the girl, with trembling voice; "but
perhaps after all it is for the best."

" I doubt that," said the doctor. " I never feel so like quan-elling with
Providence as when some noted man is removed right in the midst of his
usefulness."

"I am afraid," replied Jennie solemnly, " that we have hardly reached
a state of development that would justify us in criticizing the wisdom of
Prov" lence. In my own short life I have seen several instances where it
seemed that Providence intervened for the protection of His creatures ;
and even the sudden death of Professor Seigfried does not shake my belief
that Providence knows best."

She turned quickly away and went down the stall's in some haste. At
the outer door she heard the doctor call down, " I must have your name
and address, please."

But Jennie did not pause to answer. She had no wish to undergo cross-
exatnin^tion at an inquest, knowing that if she told the truth she would
not be believed, while if she attempted to bide it, unexpected personal
inconvenience might arise from such a course. She ran rapidly to the
street corner, hailed a fiacre and drove to a distant part of the city"; then
she dismissed the cab, went to a main thoroughfare, took a tramcar to the
centre of the town, and another cab to the Palace.

ing glass

jtruggled
lor over-
1, poured
iown his
bis rigid

JENNIE ENGAGES A ROOM IN A SLEEPING CAR 101

CHAPTER XVII.

JENNIE ENOAQE8 A ROOM IN A SLEEI'INO CAR.

is in the

( office of
up.

)er8onally
the HtepB
the gir' at

it is my

St."

ce; "but

slling with
idst of his

ly reached
wisdom of
s where it
creatures ;
! my heUef

baste. At
your name

ergo cross-
she would

d peraonal

idly to the
city; then

acar to the

Jennie had promised Professor Seigfried not to communicate with the
Director of Police, and she now wondered whether it would be breaking
her word, or not, if she let that official know the result of her investiga-
tion, when it would make no diflference, one way or the other, to the
Professor. If Professor Seigfried could have foreseen his own sudden
death, would he not, she asked herself, have preferred her to make public
all she knew of him ? for had he not constantly reiterated that fame, and
the consequent transmission of his name to posterity, was what he worked
for ? Then thei'e was this consideration : if the Chief of Police was not
told how the explosion had been caused, his fruitless search would go
futilely on, and, doubtless, in the course of police inquiry, many innocent
persons would be arrested, put to inconvenience and expense, and there
was even a chance that one or more, who had absolutely nothing to do
with the affair, might be imprisoned for life. She resolved, therefore, to
tell the Director of the Police all she knew, which she would not have done
had Professor Seigfried been alive. She accordingly sent a messenger for
the great official, and just as she had begun to relate to the impatient
Princess what had happened, he was announced. The three of them held
convention in Jennie's drawing-room with locked doors.

" I am in a position," began Jennie, " to tell you how the explosion in
the Treasury was caused and who caused it ; but before doing so you must
promise to grant me two favours, each of which is in your power to bestow
without inconvenience."

*' What are they ? " asked the Director of Police cautiously.

" To tell what they are is to tell part of my story. You must first
promise blindly, and afterwards keep your promise faithfully."

" Those are rather unusual terms. Miss Baxter," said the Chief; "but
I accede to thom, the more willingly as we have found that all the gold is
still in the Treasury, as you said it was."

" Very well, then, the first favour is that I shall not be called to give
testimony when an inquest is held on the body of Professor Carl
Seigfried."

" You amaze me ! " cried the Director ; " how did you know he was
dead ? I had news of it only a moment before I left my office."

" I was with him when he died," said Jennie simply, which statement
drew forth an exclamation of surprise from both the Princess and the
Director. " My next request is that you destroy utterly a machine which
stands on a table near the centre of the Professor's room Perhaps the
instrument is already disabled — I believe it is — but, nevertheless, I shall
not rest content until you have seen that every vestige of it is made away
with, because the study of what is left of it may enable some other
scientist to put it in working order again. I entreat you to attend to this
matter yourself. I will go with you, if you wish me to, and point out the
instrument in case it has been moved from its position."

102

JENNIE BAXTER, JOURNALIST

" Tlio room is soalod," said the Director, " and nothing will he touched
until I arrive there. What is the nature of this instrument? "

" It is of a nature so deadly and destructive tliat, if it got into the hands
of an anarchist, he could, alone, lay the city of Vienna in ruins."

"Good heave ^!" cried the horrified oflicial, whoso bane was the
anarchist, and Jt ie, in mentioning this particular type of criminal, had
builded better tha she knew. If she had told him that the Professor's
invention might enable Austria to conquer all the surrounding nations,
there is every chance that the machine would have been carefully pre-
served.

" The explosion in the Treasury vaults," continued Jennie, " was acci-
dentally caused by this instrument, although the machine at the moment was
in a garret half a mile away. You saw the terrible efifect of that explosion ;
imagine, then, the destruction it would cause in the hands of one of
those anarchists who are so reckless of consequences."

" I shall destroy the instrument with my own hands," asserted the
Director fervently, mopping his pallid brow.

Jennie then went on, to the increasing astonishment of the Princess and
the Director, and related every detail of her interview with the late Pro-
fessor Carl Seigfried.

" I shall go at once and annihilate that machine," said the Director,
rising when the recital was finished. " I shall see to that myself. Then,
after the inquest, I shall give an order that everything in the attic is to be
destroyed. I wish that every scientific man on the face of the earth could
be safely placed behind prison bars."

" I am afraid that wouldn't do much good," replied Jennie, " unless
you could prevent chemicals being smuggled in. The scientists would
probably reduce your prison to powder, and walk calmly out through
the dust."

Mr. Hardwick had told Jennie that if she solved the Vienna mystery she
would make a European reputation for the Daily Bugle. Jennie did more
than was expected of her, yet the European reputation which the Bugle
established was not one to be envied. It is true that the account
printed of the cause of the explosion, dramatically completed with the Pro-
fessor's tragically sudden death, caused a great sensation in London. The
comic papers of the week were full of illustrations showing the uses to
which the Professor's instrument might be put. To say that any sane man
in England believed a word of the article would be to cast an undeserved
slight upon the intelligence of the British public. No one paused to think
that if a newspaper had published an account of what could be done by the
Rfintgen rays, without being able to demonstrate practically the truth of the
assertions made, the contribution would have been laughed at. If some
years ago a newspaper had stated thaA a man in York listened to the
voice of a friend at that moment standing in London, and was not only abk;
to hear what his friend said, but could actually recognize the voice speaking
in an ordinary tone, and then if the paper had added that, unfortunately,
the instrument which accomplished this had been destroyed, people
would have denounced the sensational nature of modern journalism.

Letters poiu-ed in upon the editor, saying that while, as a general rule,
the writers were willing to stand the ordinary lie of commerce daily printed
in the sheet, there was a limit to their credulity and they objected to be
taken for drivelhng imbeciles. To complete the discomtiture of the Daily

JENNIE ENGAGES A ROOM IN A SLEEPING CAR 103

Bugle, the Government of Austria published an official statement, which
Reuter and the special con'espondents scatU red broadcast over the earth.
The statement was written in that calm, seriouti, and consistent tone which
diplomatists use when uttering a falsehood of more than ordinary dimen-
sions.

Irresponsible rumours had been floating about (the official proclamation
began) to the effect that there had been an explosion in the Treasury at
Vienna. It had been stated that a large quantity of gold had been stolon,
and that a disaster of some kind had occurred in the Treasury vaults. Then
a ridiculous story had been printed which asserted that Professor Seigfried,
one of Austria's honoured dead, had in some manner that o^voured of the
Black Art, encompassed this wholesale destruction. The Government now
begged to make the following declarations : First, not a penny had been
stolen out of the Treasury ; second, the so-called war-chest was intact ;
third, the two hundred million florins reposed securely within the bolted
doors of the Treasury vaults ; fourth, the coins were not, as had been
alleged, those belonging to various countries, which was a covert intimation
that Austria had hostile intent against one or the other of those friendly
nations. The whole coinage in this falsely named war-chest, which was not
a war-chest at all, but merely the receptacle of a reserve fund which Austria
possessed, was entirely in Austrian coinage ; fifth, in order that these
sensational and disquieting scandals should be set at rest, the Government
announced that it intended to weigh this gold upon a certain date, and it
invited representatives of the Press, from Russia, Germany, Fi-ance, and
England to witness this weighing.

The day after this troy-weight function had taken place in Vienna, long
telegraphic accounts of it appeal ed in the English press, and several solemn
leading articles were put for^.ard in the editorial columns, which, without
mentioning the name of the Daily Bugle, deplored the voracity of the
sensational editor, who respected neither the amity which should exist
between friendly nations, nor the good name of the honoured and respected
dead, in his wolfish hunt for the daily scandal. Nothing was too high-
spiced or improbable for him to print. He traded on the supposed gullibility
of a fickle public. But, fortunately, in the long run, these staid sheets
asserted, such actions recoiled upon the head of him who promulgated
them. Sensational journals merited and received the scathing contempt of
all honest men. Later on, one of the reviews had an article entitled " Some
Aspects of Modem Journalism," which battered in the head of the Daily
Bugle as vdth a sledge hammer, and in one of the quarterlies a professor at
Cambridge showed the absurdity of the alleged invention from a scientific
point of view.

" I swear," cried Mr. Hardwick, as he paced up and down his room,
" that I shall be more careful after this in the handling of truth ; it is a most
dangerous thing to meddle with. If you tell the truth about a man, you
are mulcted in a libel suit, and if you tell the truth about a nation, the
united Press of the country are down upon you. Ah, well, it makes the
battle of life all the more interesting, and we are baffled to fight better,
as Browning says."

The editor had sent for Miss Baxter, and she now sat by his desk while he
paced nervously to and fro. The doors were closed and locked so that
they might not be interrupted, and she knew by the editor's manner that
something important was on hand. Jennie had returned to Loudon after a

104

JENNIE BAXTER, JOURNALIST

month's stay in Vienna, and had been occupied for a week at her old
routine work in the office.

" Now, Miss Baxter," said the editor, when he had proclaimed his dis-
trust of the truth as a workable material in journalism, " I have a plan to
set before you, and when you know what it is, I am quite prepared to hear
you refuse to have anything to do with it. And, remember, if you do un-
dertake it, there is but one chance in a million of your succeeding. It is
on this one chance that I propose now to send you to St. Petersburg "

" To St. Petersburg ! " echoed the girl in dismay.

" Yes," said the editor, mistaking the purjiort of her ejaculation, " it
is a very long trip, but you can travel there in great comfort, and 1
want you to spare no expense in obtaining for yourself every luxury that
the various railway lines afford during your jom-ney to St. Petersburg and
back."

"And what am I to go to St. Petersburg for?" murmured Jennie
faintly.

" Merely for a letter. Here is what has happened, and what is happen-
ing. I shall mention no names, but at present a high and mighty personage
in Russia, who is friendly to Great Britain, has written a private letter,
making some proposals to a certain high and mighty personage in
England, who is friendly to Russia. This communication is entirely
unofficial ; neither Government is supposed to know anything at
all about it. As a matter ' of fact, the Russian Government have a
suspicion, and the British Government have a certainty, that such a docu-
ment will shortly be in transit. Nothing may come of it, or great things
may come of it. Now on the night of the 21st, in one of the keeping cars
leaving St. Petersburg by the Nord Express for Berlin, there will travel a
special messenger having this letter in his possession. I want you to take
passage by that same train and secure a compartment near the messenger,
if possible. This messenger will be a man in whom the respective parties to
the negotiation have implicit confidence. I wish I knew his name, but I
don't ; still, the chances are that he is leaving London for St. Petersburg
about this time, and so you might keep your eyes open on your journey
there, for, if you discovered him to be your fellow-passenger, it might
perhaps make the business that comes after easier. You see this letter,"
continued the editor, taking from a drawer in his desk a large envelope, the
flap of which was secured by a great piece of stamped seal mg- wax. " This
merely contains a humble ordinary copy of to-day's issue of the Bugle, but
in outside appearance it might be tn!;on for a duplicate of the letter which
is to leave St. Petersburg on thtj 2ist Now, what I would like you to do
is to tal. this envelope in your hand-bag, and if, on the journey back to
London, you have an opportunity of securing the real letter, and leaving
this in its place, you will have accomplished the greatest service you have
yet done for the paper."

" Oh 1 " cried Jennie, rising, " I couldn't think of that, Mr. Hardwick — I
couldn't think of doing it. It is nothing short of highway robbery I "

" I know it looks like that," pleaded Hardwick ; " but listen to me. If
I Wb.-e going to open the letter and use its contents, then you might charge
me with instigating theft. The fact is, the letter will not be delayed ; it
will reach the hands of the high and mighty personage in England quite
intact. The only difference is that you will be its bearer instead of the
messenger they send for it."

amount
of tlu;
box, iiii
"I

JENNIE ENGAGES A BOOM IN A SLEEPING CAR 106

old

" You expect to open the letter, then, in some surreptitious way — some
way that will not be noticed afterwards? Oh, I couldn't do it, Mr.
Hardwick."

" My dear girl, you are jumping at conclusions. I shall amaze you
when I tell you that I know already practically what the contents of that
letter are."

' ' Then what is the use of going to all this expense and trouble ti-ying to
steal it?"

'* Don't say ' steal it,' Miss Baxter. I'll tell you what my motive is.
There is an official in England who has gone out of his way to throw
obstacles in mine. This is needless and irritating, for generally I manage
to get the news I am in quest of ; but in several instances, owing to hia
opposition, I have not only not got the news, but other papers have. Now,
since the general raking we have had over this Austrian business, quite
aside from the fact that we published the exact truth, this stupid old
official duffer has taken it upon himself to be exceedingly sneering and
obnoxious to me, and I confess I want to take him down a peg. He hasn't
any idea that I know as much about this business as I do — in fact, he
thinks it is an absolute secret ; yet, if I liked, I could to-morrow nullify all
the arrangements by simply publishing what is already in my possession,
which action on my part would create a, furore in this country, and no less
of a furore in Russia. For the sake of amity between nations, which I am
accused of disregarding, I hold my hand.

" Now, if you get possession of that communication, I want you to
telegraph to me while you are C7i route for London, and I will meet you
at the terminus ; then I shall take the document direct to this official, even
bef'^re the regular messenger has time to reach him. I shall say to the
official, ' There is the message from the high personage in Russia to the
high personage in England. If you want the document, I will give it to
you, but it must be understood that you are to be a little less friendly
to certain other newspapers, and a little more friendly to mine, in
future.'"

" And suppose he refuses your terms? "

" He won't refuse them ; but if he does I shall hand him ttie envelope
just the same."

'* Well, honestly, Mr. Hardwick, I don't think your scheme worth the
amount of money it will cost, and, besides, the chance of my getting hold
of the packet, which will doubtless be locked safely within a despatch-
box, and constantly under the eye of the messenger, is most remote."

"I am more than willing to risk all that if you will undertake the
journey. You speak lightly of my scheme, but that is merely because you
do not understand the situation. Everything you have heretofore done
has been of temporary advantage to the paper ; but if you carry this off, I
expect the benefat to the Bugle will be lasting. It will give me a standing
with certain officials that I have never before succeeded in getting. In
the first place, it will make them afraid of me, and that of itself is a
powerful lever when we are trying to get information which they are
anxious to give to some other paper."

" Very well, Mr. Hardwick, I will try ; though I warn you to expect
nothing but failure. In everything else I have endeavoured to do, I have
felt confident of success from the beginning. In this instance I am as sui'e
1 Bhall fail. •

106

JENNIE BAXTEE, JOURNALIST

" As I told you, Miss Baxter, the project is so difficult that your
failure, if you do fail, will merely prove it to have been impossible,
because I am sure that if anyone on earth could carry the project to
success, you are that person ; and, furthermore, I am very much obliged
to you for consenting to attempt such a mission."

And thus it was that Jennie Baxter found herself in due time in the
great capital of the north, with a room in the Hotel de I'Europe over-
looking the Nevski Prospect. In ordinary circumstances she would have
enjoyed a visit to St. Petersburg ; but now she was afraid to venture out,
being under the apprehension that at any moment she might meet Lord
Donal Stirling face to face, and that he would recognize her ; therefore
she remamed discreetly in her room, watching the strange street scenes
from her window. She found herself scrutinizing everyone who had the
appearance of being an Englishman, and she had to confess to a little
qualm of disappointment when the person in question proved to be some
other than Lord Donal ; in fact, during her short stay at St. Petersburg
she saw nothing of the young man.

Jennie went, on the evening of her arrival, to the offices of the Sleeping
Car Company, to secure a place in one of the carriages that left at six
o'clock on the evening of the 21st. Her initial difficulty met her when she
learned there were several sleeping cars on that train, ; she was
puzzled to know which to select. She stood there, hesitatiUj^, /ith the
plans of the carriages on the table before her.

"You have ample choice," said the clerk; "seats are not usually
booked so long in advance, and only two places have been taken in the
train, so far."

" I should like to be in a <■ irriage containing some English people,"
said the girl, not knowing what excuse to give for her hesitation.

" Then let me recommend this car, for one compartment has been taken
by the British Embassy — Room C, near the centre, marked with a
cross.'

" Ah, well, I will take the compartment next to it — Room D, isn't it ? "
said Jennie.

" Oli, I am sorry to say that also has been taken. Those are the two
which are bespoken. I will see under what name Room D has been
booked. Probably its occupant is English also. But I can give you
Room B, on the other side of the one reserved by the Embassy. It is a
two-herth room, Nos. 5 and 6."

" That will do quite as well," said Jennie.

The clerk looked up the order book, and then said, —

" It is not recorded here by whom Room D was reserved. As a usual
thing," he continued, lowering his voice almost to a whisper and looking
furtively over his shoulder, " when no name is marked down, that means
the Russian police. So, you see, by taking the third room you will not
only be under the shadow of the British Embassy, but also under the
protection of Russia. Do you wish one berth only, or the whole room ?
It is a two-berth compartment."

" I desire the whole room, if you please."

She paid the price and departed, wondering if the other room had
really been taken by the police, and whether the authorities were so
anxious for the safety of the special messenger that they considered it
neoessany to protect him to the frontier. If, in addition to the natural

JENNIE ENDURES A TERRIBLE NIGHT JOURNEY 107

precautions of the messenger, there was added the watchfulness of one or
two suspicious Russian poHcemen, then would her difficult enterprise
become indeed impossible. On the other hand, the ill-paid policemen
might be amenable to the influence of money, and as she was well supplied
with the coin of the realm, their presence might be a help rather than a
hindrance. All in all, she had little liking for the task she had under-
taken, and the more she tliought of it, the less it commended itself to her.
Nevertheless, having pledged her word to the editor, if failure came it
would be through no fault of hers.

CHAPTER XVIII.

JENNIE ENDUBE8 A TBRBIBLE NIGHT JOr tNEY.

Jennie went early to>the station on the night of tho 2l8t and entered the
sleeping car as soon as she was allowed to do so. ' (i conductor seemed
unaccountably flustered at her anxiety to get to her room, and he examined
her ticket with great care ; then, telling her to follow him, brought her to
Room B, in which were situated berths 5 and 6, upper and lower. The
berths were not made up, and the room showed one seat, madei to accommo-
date two persons. The conductor went out on the platform again, and
Jennie, finding herself alone in the carriage, walked up and down the
narrow passage-way at the side, to get a better idea of her surroundings.

Room A.

Room H.

Room C. Room D.

1 2

Berths.

3 4

Berths.
5 6

Berths.

7 8
9 10

Berths.

11 12

Door.

Passage.

Plan uf Slgepinq Cab.

Room C, next to her own, was the one taken by the British Embassy.
Room D, still further on, was the one that appeared to have been retained
by the police. She stood for a few moments l)y tho broad plate-glass
window that lined the passage and looked out at tlie crowded platform.
For a time she watched the conductor, who appeared to be gazing
anxiously towards the direction fi*om which passengers streamed, as if
looking for someone in particular. Presently a big man, a huge overcoat

108

JENNIE BAXTER, JOURNALIST

belted round him, with a stern bearded fa.ce — looking, the girl thought,
typically Russian — strode up to the conductor and spoke earnestly with
hira. Then the two turned to the steps of the car, and Jennie fled to her
narrow little room, closing the door all but about an inch. An instant
later the two men came in, speaking together in French. The larger man
had a gruff voice and spoke the language in a way that showed it was not
native to him.

" When did you learn that he had changed his room ? " asked the man
with the gruff voice.

" Only this afternoon," replied the conductor.

" Did you bore holes between that and the adjoining compartment? "

"Yes, Excellency; but Azof did not tell me whether you wanted the
holes at the top or the bottom."

" At the bottom, of course," replied the Russian. " Any fool might
have known that. The gas must rise, not fall ; then when he feels its
effect and tumbles down, he will be in a denser layer of -it, whereas, if we
put it in the top, and he fell down, he would com.e into pure air, and so
might make his escape. You did not bore the hole over the top berth, I
hope? "

" Yes, Excellency, but I bored one at the bottom also."

" Oh, very well, we can easily stop the one at the top. Have you
fastened the window ? for the first thing these English do is to open a
window."

" The window is securely fastened, your Excellency, unless he breaks
the glass."

" Oh, he will not think of doing that until it is too late. The English
are a law-abiding people. How many other passengers are there in the
car?"

" Oh, I forgot to tell you, Excellency, the Room B has been taken by
an English lady, who is there now."

" Ten thousand devils ! " cried the Russian in a hoarse whisper. " Why
did you not say that before? "

The voices now fell to so low a murmur that Jennie could not dis-
tinguish the words spoken. A moment later there was a rap at her door,
and she had presence of mind enough to get in the further corner, and say
in a sleepy voice, —

"Gome in! "

The conductor opened the door.

" Voire billet, s'il vous plait, madame."

" Can't you speak English ? " asked Jennie.

The conductor merely repeated his question, and as Jennie was shaking
her head the big Russian looked over the conductor's shoulder and said in
passable English, —

" He is asking for your ticket, madam. Do you not speak French ? "

In answer to this direct question Jennie, fumbling in her purse for her
ticket, replied, —

"T. speak English, and I have already sbown him my ticket."

She handed her broad-sheet sleeping-car ticket to the Rusi3ian, who had
pushed the conductor aside and now stood within the compartment.

" There has been a mistake," he said. " Room C is the one that has
been reserved for you."

"I am sure there isn't any mistake," said Jennie. "I booked berths

conspirat
Petersbu:
French, -
" Cone
"Tbisl
"Excellol

JENNIE ENDUEES A TEEEIBLE NIGHT JOUENEY 109

5 and 6. See, there are the numbers," pointing to the metallic plates by
the door, " and here are the same numbers on the ticket."

The Eussian shook his head.

" The mistake has been made at the oflBce of the Sleeping Car
Company. I am a director of the Company."

" Oh, are you ? " asked Jennie innocently. " Is Eoom C as comfortable
as this one ? ' '

" It is a duplicate of this one, madam, and is more comfortable, because
it is nearer the centre of the car."

" Well, there is no mistake about my reserving the two berths, is
there?"

" Oh, no, madam, the room is entirely at your disposal."

" Well, then, in that case," said Jennie, " I have no objection to making
a change."

She knew that she would be compelled to change, no matter what her
ticket recorded, so she thought it best to play the simple maiden abroad,
and make as little fuss as possible about the transfer. She had to rearrange
the car in her mind. She was now in Eoom C, which had been fii'st
reserved by the British Embassy. It was evident that at the last moment
the messenger had decided to take Eoom A, a four-berth compartment at
the end of the car. The police then would occupy Eoom B, which she
had first engaged, and, from the bit of conversation she had overheard,
Jennie was convinced that they intended to kill or render insensible the
messenger who bore the important letter. The police were there not to
protect, but to attack. This amazing complication in the plot concentrated
all the girl's sympathies on the unfortunate man who was messenger
between two great personages, even though he travelled apparently under
the protection of the British Embassy at St. Petersburg. The ''act, to put
it baldly, that she had intended to rob him herself, if opportunity occurred,
rose before her like an accusing gliost. " I shall never undertake anything
like this again," she cried to herself, " never, never," and now she
resolved to make reparation to the man she had intended to injure. She
would watch for him until he came down the passage, and then warn him
by relating what she had heard. She had taken off her hat on
entering the room ; now she put it on hurriedly, thrusting a long pin
through it, As she stood up, there was a jolt of the train that caused her
to sit down again somewhat hurriedly. Passing her window she saw the
lights of the station ; the train was in motion, " Thank Heaven ! " she
cried fervently, " he is too late. Those plotting villains will have all their
trouble for nothing."

She glanced upwards towards the ceiling and noticed a hole about an
inch in diameter bored in the thin wooden partition between her
compartment and the next. Turning to the wall behind her she saw that
another hole had been bored in a similar position through to Eoom B.
The car had been pretty thoroughly prepared for the work in hand, and
Jennie laughed tio^ily to herself as she pictured the discomfiture of the
conspirators. The train was now rushing through the suburbs of St.
Petersburg, when Jennie was startled by hearing a stranger's voice say in
French, —

" Conductor, I have Eoom A ; which end of the car is that? "

" This way, Excellency," replied the conductor. Everyone seemed to be
" Excellency " with him.

110

JENNIE BAXTER, JOURNALIST

A moment later, Jennie, who had again risen to her feet, horrified to
learn that, after all, the messenger had come, heard the door of his room
click. Everything was silent save the purring murmur of the swiftly
moving train. She stood there for a few moments tense with excitement,
then bethought herself of the hole between her present compartment and
the one she had recently left. She sprang up on the seat, and placing her
eye with some caution at the hole, peered through. First she thought the
compartment was empty, then noticed there hatl been placed at the end by
the window a huge cylinder that reached nearly to the ceiling of the room.
The lamp above was burning brightly, and she could see every detail of
the compartment, except towards the floor. As she gazed a man's back
slowly rose ; he appeared to have been kneeling on the floor, and he held
in his hand the loop of a rubber tube. Peering downwards, she saw that
it was connected with the cylinder, and that it was undoubtedly pouring
whatever gas the cylinder contained through the hole into Room A. For
a moment she had difficulty in repressing a shriek ; but realizing how
perfectly helpless she was, even if an alarm were raised, she fought down all
exclamation. She saw that the man who was regulating the escape of gas
was not the one who had spoken to the conductor. Then, fearing that he
might turn his head and see her eye at the small aperture, she reached up
and covered the lamp, leaving her own room in complete darkness.
The double covering, which closed over the semi-globular lamp like
an eyelid, kept every ray of light from penetrating into the compart-
ment she occupied.

As Jennie turned to her espionage again, she heard a blow given to the
door in Room A that made it chatter, then there was a sound of a heavy
fall on the floor. The door of Room B was flung open, the head of the
first Russian was thrust in, and he spoke in his own language a single
gruff word. His assistant then turned the cock and shut off the gas from
the cylinder. The door of Room B was instantly shut again, and Jennie
heard the rattle of the key as Room A was being unlocked.

Jennie jumped down from her perch, threw off her hat, and, with as
little noise as possibl slid her door back an inch or two. The conductor
bad unlocked the doui uf Room A, the tall Russian standing beside him
saying in a whisper, —

" Never mind the man, he'll recover the moment you open the door and
window ; get the box. Hold your nose with your fingers and keep your
mouth shut. There it is, that black box in the corner."

The conductor made a dive into the room, and came out with an
ordinary black despatch-box.

The policeman seemed well provided with the materials for his burglarious
purpose. He selected a key from a jingling bunch, tried it ; selected
another ; then a third, and the lid of the despatch-box was thrown back.
Ho took out a letter so exactly the duplicate of the one Jennie possessed
that she clutched her own document to see if it were still in her pocket.
The Russian put the envelope between hi9 knees and proceeded to lock the
box. His imagination had not gone to any such refinement as the placing
of a dummy copy where the oi'iginal had been. Quick as thought Jennie
acted. She slid open the door quietly and stepped out into the passage.
So intent were the two men on their work that neither saw her. The tall
man gave the box back to the conductor, then took the letter from between
his knees, holding it in his right hand, when Jennie, as if swayed by the

sphel
they I
inveff
migl
low, [
agaii
remc
to a
they I
tlie

JENNIE SNDUBES A TEEEIBLE NIGHT JOURNEY 111

motion of the car, lurched against him, and, with a sleight of hand that
would have made her reputation on a necromantic stage, she jerked the
letter from the amazed and frightened man, at the same moment allowing
the bogus document to drop on the floor of the car from her other hand.
The conductor had just emerged from Room A, holding his nose and looking
comical enough as he stood there in that position, amazed at the sudden
apparition of the lady. The Russian struck down the conductor's fingers
with his right hand, and by a swift motion of the left closed the door of
Compartment A, all of which happened in a tenth of the time taken to
tell it.

" Oh, pardon me ! " cried Jennie in English, " I'm afraid a lurch of the
car threw me against you."

The Russian, before answering, cast a look at the floor and saw
the large envelope lying there with its seal uppermost. He quietly
placed his huge foot upon it, and then said, with an effort at
politeness, —

"It is no matter, madam. I fear I am so bulky that I have taken up
most of the passage."

" It is very good of you to excuse me," said Jennie ; " I merely came
out to ask the conductor if he would make up my berth. Would you be
good enough to translate that to him ? "

The Russian surlily told the conductor to attend to the wants of the
lady. The conductor muttered a reply, and that reply the Russian
translated.

" He will be at your service in a few moments, madam. He must first
make up the berth of the gentleman in Room A."

" Oh, thank you very much," returned Jennie. " I am in no hurry ;
any time within the hour will do."

With that she retired again into her compartment, the real letter
concealed in the folds of her dress, the bogus one on the floor under
the Russian's foot. She closed the door tightly, then, taking care that she
was not observed through either of the holes the conductor had bored in
the partition, she swiftly placed the important document in a deep inside
pocket of her jacket. As a general rule, women liave inside pockets in
their capes, and outside pockets in their jackets ; but Jennie, dealing as
she did with many documents in the course of her profession, had had this
jacket especially made, with its deep and roomy inside pocket. She sat on
a corner of the sofa, wondering what was to be the fi'te of the unfortunate
messenger, for, in spite of the sudden shutting of the door by the Russian,
she caught a ghmpse of the man lying face downw irds on the floor of his
stifling room. She also had received a .whiff of the sweet, heavy gas
which had been used, that seemed now to be tincturing the whole atmo-
sphere of the car, especially in the long narrow passage. It was not likely
they intended to kill the man, for his death would cause an awkward
investigation, while his statement that he had been rendered insensible
might easily be denied. As she sat there, the silence disturbed only by the
low, soothing rumble of the train, she heard the ring of the metal cylinder
against the woodwork of the next compartment. The men were evidently
removing their apparatus. A little later the train slowed, finally coming
to a standstill, and looking out of the window into the darkness, she found
they were stopping at an ill-lighted country station. Covering the Ught in
the ceiling again, the better to see outside, herself unobserved, she noted

! ti

!• I

119

JENNIE BAXTER, JOURNALIST

the oonduotor and another man place the bulky cylinder on the platform,
without the slightest e£fort at concealment. The tall Russian stood by and
gave curt orders. An instant later the train moved on again, and when
well under way there was a rap at her door. When she opened it, the
conductor said that he would make up her berth now, if it so pleased her.
She stood out in the corridor while this was deftly and swiftly done. She
could not restrain her curiosity regarding the mysterious occupant of Room
A, and to satisfy it she walked slowly up and down the corridor, her hands
behind her, passing and repassing the open door of her room, and
noticing that ever and anon the conductor cast a suspicious eye in her
direction.

The door of Room A was partly open, but the shaded lamp in the ceiling
left the interior in darkness. There was now no trace of the intoxicating
gas in the corridor, and as she passed Room A she noticed that a fresh
breeze was blowing through the half open doorway, therefore the window
must be up. Once ao she passed her own door she saw the conductor
engaged in a task which would keep him from looking into the corridor for
at least a minute, and in that interval she set her doubts at rest by putting
her head swiftly into Room A, and as swiftly withdrawing it. The man
had been lifted on to his sofa, and lay with his face towards the wall, his
head on a pillow. The despatch-box rested on a corner of the sofa, where,
doubtless, he had left it. He was breathing heavily like a man in a
drunken sleep ; but the air of the room was sweet and fresh, and he would
doubtless recover.

Jennie still paced up and down, pondering deeply over what had
happened. At first, when she had secured the important document, she
had made up her mind to return it to the messenger ; but further
meditation induced her to change her mind. The messenger had been
robbed by the Russian police ; he would tell his superiors exactly what had
happened, and yet the letter would reach its destmation as speedily as if
he had brought it himself — as if he had never been touched. Knowing the

fmrpose which Mr. Hardwick had in his mind, Jennie saw that the
atter now was of tenfold more value to him than it would have been had
she taken it from the messenger. It was evident that the British
Embassy, or the messenger himself, had suspicions that an attempt was to
be made to obtain the document, otherwise Room C of the sleeping car
would not have been changed for Room A at the very last moment. If,
then, the editor could say to the official, " The Russian police robbed
your messenger in spite of all the precautions that could be taken, and
my emissary cozened the Russians ; so, you see, I have accomplished
what the whole power of the British Government \yas powerless to
effect ; therefore it will be wisdom on your part to come to terms
with me."

Jennie resolved to relate to Hardwick exactly how she came into
possession of the document, and she knew his alert nature well enough to
be sure he would make the most of the trump card dealt to him.

" Your room is ready for you," said the conductor in French.

She had the presence of mind enough not to comprehend his phrase until,
with a motion of his hand, he explained his meaning. She entered her
compartment and closed the door.

Having decided what disposal to make of the important document, there
now arose in her mind the disquieting problem whether or not it would be

JENNIE ENDURES A TERRIBLE NIGHT JOURNEY 113

allowed to remain with her. She cogitated over the situation and tried to
work out the mental arithmetic of it. Trains were infrequent on the
Russian railways, and she had no means of estimating when the burly
rufliian who had planned and executed the robbery would get back to St.
Petersburg. There was no doubt that he had not the right to open the
letter and read its contents ; that privilege rested with some higher official
in St. Petersburg. The two men had got off at the first stopping place.
It was quite possible that they would not reach the capital until next
morning, when the Berlin express would be well on its way to the frontier.
Once over the frontier she would be safe ; but the moment it was found
that the purloined envelope merely contained a copy of an English news-
paper, what might not happen? Would the Russian authorities dare
telegrapli to the frontier to have her searched, or would the big official who
bad planned the robbery suspect that she, by legerdemain, had become
possessed of the letter so much sought for ? Even if he did suspect her,
111! would certainly have craft enough not to admit it. His game would
rather be to maintain that this was the veritable document found in the
Kngtishman's despatch-box ; and it was more than likely, taking into
consideration the change of room at the last moment, which would show
tlie officials the existence of suspicion in the messenger's mind, or in the
minds of those who sent him, the natural surmise would be that another
messenger had gone with the real document, and that the robbed man was
merely a blind to delude the Russian police. In any case, Jennie con-
cluded, there was absolutely nothing to do but to remain awake a/1 night
and guard the treasure which good luck had bestowed upon her. She
stood up on her bed, about to stuff her handkerchief into the hole bored in
the partition, but suddenly paused and came down to the floor again. No,
discomforting as it was to remain in a room under possible espionage, she
dared not stop the openings, as that would show she had cognisance of
them, and arouse the conductor's suspicion that, after all, she had under-
stood what had been said ; whereas, if she left tbtjm as they were, the fact
of her doing so would be strong confirmation of her ignorance. She took
from her bag a scarf, tied one end round her wrist and the other to the
door, so that it could not be opened, should she fall asleep, without
awakening her. Before entrenching herself thus, she drew the eyelids
down over the lamp, and left her room in darkness. Then, if anyone did
spy upon her they would not see the dark scarf which united her wrist
with the door.

In spite of the danger of her situation she had the utmost difficulty in
keeping awake. The rumble of the train had a very somnolent effect, and
once or twice she started up, fearing that she had been slumbering. Once
she experienced a tightening sensation in her throat, and sprang to the
floor, seeing the rising gas somehow made visible, the colour of blood.
The scarf drew her to her knees, and for a moment she thought someone
clutclied her wrist. Panting, she undid the scarf and flooded the room
with light. Her heart was beating wildly, but all was still, save the ever-
present rumble of the ti-ain rushing through the darkness over the bound-
less plains of Russia. She looked at her tiny watch, it was two o'clock in
the morning. She knew then that she must have fallen asleep in spite of her
strong resolutions. The letter was still in the inside pocket of her jacket,
and all was well at two in the morning. No eye appeared at either of the
apertures, so she covered up the light once more and lay down again,

114

JENNIE BAXTER, JOURNALIST

sighing to think how rumpled her dainty costume would look in the
morning. Now she was resolved not to go to sleep, if force of will could
keep her awake. A moment later she was startled by someone beating
down the partition with an axe. She sprang up, and again the scarf pulled
her back. She untied it from her wrist una noticed that daylight flooded
the compartment. This amazed her ; how could it be daylight so soon ?
Had she been asleep again, and was the fancied battering at the door with
an axe merely the conclusion of a dream caused by the conductor's knock ?
After a breathless pause there came a gentle rap on her door, and the voice
of the conductor said, —

" Breakfast at Luga, madame, in three-quarters of an hour."
" Very good," she replied in English, her voice ti'embling with fear.
Slowly she untied the scarf from the door and placed it in her handbag.
She shivered notwithstanding her effort at self-control, for she knew she
had slept through the night, and far into the morning. In agitation she
unbuttoned her jacket. Yes ; there was the letter, just where she had
placed it. She dare not take it out and examine it, fearing still that she
might be watched from some unseen quarter, but " 1?hank God," she said
to herself fervently, " this horrible night is ended. Once over the frontier
I am safe." She smoothed and brushed down her dress as well as she
was able, and was greatly refreshed by her wash in cold water, which 10
one of the luxuries, not the least acceptable, on a sleeping car.

JENNIE EXPEBIENCES THE SUEPBISE OF HER LIEE 116

CHAPTER XIX.

J'^KNiE EXPERIENCES THE SURPRISE OP HER LIFE.

At nine o'clock the long train came to a standstill, seventeen minutes
late at Luga, and ample time was allowed for a leisurely breakfast in the
buffet of the station. The restaurant was thronged with numerous
passengers, most of whom seemed hardly yet awake, while many were
unkempt and dishevelled, as if they had had little sleep during the
night.

Jennie found a small table and sat down beside it, ordering her coffee
and rolls from the wrater who came to serve her. Looking round at the
cosmopolitan coLipany, and listening to the many languages, whose clash
gave a Babel air to the restaurant, Jennie fell to musing on the strange
experiences she had encountered since leaving London. It seemed to her
she had been taking part in some ghastly nightmare, and she shuddered as
she thought of the lawlessness, under cover of law, of this great and
despotic empire, where even the ruler was under the surveillance of his
subordinates, and could not get a letter out of his own dominion in safety,
were he so minded. In her day-dream she became conscious, without
noting its application to herself, that a man was standing before her table ;
then a voice which made her heart stop said, —

" Ah, lost Princess ! "

She placed her hand suddenly to her throat, for the catch in her breath
seemed to be suffocating her, then looked up and saw Lord Donal Stirling, in
the ordinary everyday di' ^s of an English gentleman, as well groomed as if he
had come, not from a tr, , but from his own house. There was a kindly
smile on his lips and a sparkle in his eyes, but his face was of ghastly
pallor.

" Oh, Lord Donal I " she cried, regarding him with eyes of wonder and
fear, " what is wrong with you? "

•' Nothing," the young man replied, with an attempt at a laugh ;
" nothing, now that I have found you, Princess. I have been making a
night of it, that's all, and am suffering the consequences in the morning.
May I sit down ?"

He dropped into a chair on the other side of the table, like a man
thoroughly exhausted, unable to stand longer, and went on, —

" Like all dissipated men, I am going to break my fast on stimulants.
Waiter," he said, " bring me a large glass of your best brandy."

•' And, waiter," interjected Jennie in French, " bring two break-
fasts. I suppose it was not a meal that you ordered just now. Lord
Donal ?

" I have ordered my breakfast," he said ; " still, it pleads in my favour
that I do not carry brendy with me, as I ought to do, and so must drink
the vile stuff they call ;heir best here."

" You should eat as veil," she insisted, taking charge of him as if she
had every right to do so.

116

JENNIE BAXTER, JOURNALIST

" All Bhall be as you say, now that I have the happiness of seeing you
sitting opposite me, but don't be surprised if I show a most unappreciative
appetite."

" What is the matter ? " she asked breathlessly. "You certainly look
very ill."

" I have been drugged and robbed," he replied, lowering his voice. " I
imagine I came to close quarters with death itself. I have spent a night
in Hades, and this morning am barely able to stagger ; l)ut the sight of

you, Princess Ah, well, I feel once more that I belong to the land

jf the living ! "

" Please do not call me Princess," said the girl, looking down at the
tablecloth.

" Then what am I to call you, Princess? "

" My name is Jennie Baxter," she said in a low voice.

"Miss Jennie Baxter?" he asked eagei'ly, with emphasis on the first
word.

" Miss Jennie Baxter," she answered, still not looking up at him.

He leaned back in his chair and said, —

" Well, this is not such a bad world, after all. To think of meeting you
here in Russia ! Have you been in St. Petersburg, then ? "

"Yes. I am a newspaper woman," explained Jennie hurriedly.
" When you met me before, I was there surreptitiously — fraudulently, if
you like ; I was there to — to write a report of it for my paper. I can
never thank you enough. Lord Donal, for your kindness to me that
evening."

" Your thanks are belated," said the young man, with a visible
attempt at gaiety. " You should have written and acknowledged the
kindness you are good enough to say I rendered to you. You knew my
address, and etiquette demanded that you should make your acknowledg-
ments."

" I was reluctant to write," said Jennie, a smile hovering round her lips,
" fearing my letter might act as a clue. I had no wish to interfere with
the legitimate business of Mr. Cadbury Taylor."

" Groctt heavens ! " cried the young man, " how came you to know
about that ? But of course the Princess von Steinheimer told you of it.
She wrote to me charging me with all sorts of wickedness for endeavour-
ing to find you."

" No, Lord Donal, I did not learn it from her. In fact, if you had
opened the door of the inner room at Mr. Cadbury Taylor's a little quicker,
you would have come upon me, for I was the assistant who tried to
persuade him that you really met the Princess von Steinheimer."

Lord Donal, for the first time, laughed heartily.

"Well, if that doesn't beat all! And I suppose Cadbury Taylor
hasn't the slightest suspicion that you are the person he was looking
for?"

" No, not the slightest."

"I say! that is the best joke T have heard in ten years," said Lord
Donal ; and here, breakfast arriving, Jennie gave him his directions.

" You are to drink a small portion of that brandy," she said, " and then
put tlie rest in your coffee. You must eat a good breakfast, and that
will help you to forget your troubles — that is, if you have any real
troublos."

take

"I
now,
Don."

"N
like th

He
a man
the a

JENNIE EXPEEIENCES THE SURPRISE OF HER LIFE 117

you had
i quicker,
I tried to

"Oh, my troubles are real enough," said the young man. " When 1
met you before, Princess, I was reasonably successful. We even talked
about ambassadorships, didn't we, in spite of the fact that ambassadors
w .3 making themselves unnecessarily oiitrusive that night? Now you
see before you a ruined man. No, I am not joking ; it is true. I was
given a commission, or, rather, knowing the danger there was in it, I
begged that the commission might be given me. It was merely to take a
letter from St. Petersburg to London. I have failed, and when that is
said, all is said."

" But surely," cried the girl, blushing guiltily as she realized that this
was the man she had been sent to rob, " you could not be expected to
ward off such a lawless attempt at murder as you have been the victim
of?"

" That is just what I expected, and what I supposed I could ward off.
In my profession — which, after all, has a great similarity to yours, except
that I think we have to do more lying in ours — there must be no such
word as fail. The very best excuses are listened to with tolerance,
perhaps, and a shrug of the shoulders ; but failure, no matter from what
cause, is fell doom. I have failed. I shall not make any excuses. I will
go to London and say merely, ' The Russian police have robbed me.' Oh,
I know perfectly well who did the trick, and how it was done. Then I
shall send in my resignation. They will accept it with polite words of
regret, and will say to each other, ' Poor fellow, he had a brilliant career
before him, but he got drunk, or something, and fell into the ditch.' Ah,
well, we won't talk any more abou>, it."

" Then you don't despise the newspaper profession. Lord Donal? "

" Despise it ! Bless you, no ; I look up to it, belonging myself to a
profession very much lower down in the scale of morality, as I have said.
But, Princess,' he added, leaning towards her, " will you resign from the
newspaper if I resign from diplomacy ? "

The girl slowly shook her head, her eyes on the tablecloth before
her.

" I will telegraph my resignation," he said impetuously, " if you will
telegraph yours to your paper."

" You are feehng ill and worried this morning. Lord Donal, and so you
take a pessimistic view Ife. You must not resign."

" Oh, but I must. I ^ave failed, and that is enough."

" It isn't enough. You must do nothing until you reach London."

" I like your word must, Jennie," said the young man audaciously. " It
implies something, you know."

"What do IS it imply, Lord Donal?" she asked, glancing up at
him.

" It implies that you are going to leave the ' Lord ' off my name."

" That wouldn't be very difficult," replied Jennie

" I am delighted to hear you say so," exclaimed his lordship ; " and
now, that I may know how it sounds from your dear lips, call me
Don."

"No; if I ever consented to omit the title, I should call you Donal. I
like the name in its entirety."

He reached his hand across th.i table. " Are you willing, then, to accept
a man at the very lowest ebb of his fortunes ? I know that if I were of
the mould that heroes are made of, I would hesitate to proffer you a

118

JENNIE BAXTEE, JOUENALIST

blighted life. But I loved you the moment I saw you ; and, remembering
my fruitless search for you, I cannot run the risk of losing you again ; I
have not the courage."

She placed her hand in his and looked him, for the first time, squarely
in the eyes.

" Are you sure, Donal," she said, " that I am not a mere effigy on
which you are hanging the worn-out garments of a past affection ? You
thought I was the Princess at first."

" No, I didn't," he protested. " As soon as I heard you speak, I knew
you were the one I was destined to meet."

" Ah, Donal, Donal, at lovers' perjuries they say Jove laughs. 1 aon't
think you were quite so certain as all that. But I, too, am a coward, anU
I dare not refuse you."

Lord .'"'onal glanced quickly about him ; the room was still crowded.
Even the Berlin Express gave them a long time for breakfast, and was in
no hurry to move westward. His hurried gaze returned to her and he
sighed.

" What an unholy spot for a proposal ! " he whispered ; " and yet they
call Eussia the Gx'eat Lone Land. Oh, that we had a portion of it entirely
to ourselves 1 "

The girl sit there, a smile on her pretty lips that Lord Donal thought
most tantalizing, A railway official announced in a loud voice that the train
was about to resume its journey. There was a general shulfiing of feet as
the passengers rose to take their places.

" Brothe/rs and sisters kiss each other, you know, on the eve of a
railway journey," said Loi'd Donal, taking advantage of the confusion.
Jennie Baxter made no protest.

"There is plenty of time," he whispered. "I know the leisurely
nature of Eussian trains. Now I am going to th" telegraph office to
send in my resignation, and I want you to come with me and send in
yours."

" No, Lord Donal," said the girl.
" Aren't you going to resign ? " ho asked, in surprise.
" Yes, all in good time ; but you are not."

" Oh, I say," he cried, " it is really imperative. I'll tell you all about it
when w« get on the train."

" It is really imperative that you should not send in your resignation.
Indeed, Donal, you need not look at me with that surprised air. You may
as well get accustomed to dictation at once. You did it yourself, you know.
You can't say that I encouraged you. I eluded the vigilant Cadbury
Taylor as long as I could But, if there is time, go to the telegraph office
a: d send a message to the real Princess, Palace Steinheimer, Vienna.
Say you are engaged to be married to Jennie Baxter, and ask her to
tele" aph you her congratulations at Berlin."

" 11 do it," rephed the young man with gratifying alacrity.
Wuen Lord Donal came out of the telegraph office, Jennie said to him,
" Wait a moment while I go into the sleeping car and get my rugs and
handbag."

" I'll go for them," he cried impetuously.

" Oh, no," she said. " I'll tell you why, later. The conductor is a
villain and was in collusion with the police."

" Oh, I know that," said Lord Donal. " Poor devil, he can't help

JENNIE C0NVEBSE8 WITH A YOUNG MAN

119

aimaelf; he must do what the police order him to do, while he is in
Bussia."

"I'll get my things and go i^to an ordinary first class carriage. When
I pass this door, you must et your belongings and come and find
me. There is still time, and I don't want the conductor to see us
together."

" Very well," said the young man with exemplary obedience.

CHAPTEE XX.

JENNIE CONVERSES WITH A YOUNG MAN SHE THINKS MUCH OF.

When the train started, they were seated together in a cartiage far
forward.

"One of my failings," said the girl, "is to act first, and think after-
wards. I am sorry now that I asked you to send that telegram to the
Pri- ess."

" vNThy?"

" Because I have a great deal to tell you, and perhaps you may wish to
withdraw from the rash engagement you have undortaken."

" A likely thing !" cried the ardent lover. " Indeed, Miss Princess, if
you think you can get rid of me as easily as all that, you are very much
mistaken."

" Well, I want to tell you why I did not allow you to resign."

Slowly she undid the large buttons of her jacket, then, taking it by the
lapel and holding it so that no one else could see, she drew partly forth
from the inside pocket the large envelope, until the stamp of the Embassy
was plainly visible. Lord Donal's eyes opened to their widest capacity,
and his breath seemed to stop.

" Great heavens ! " he gasped at last, " do you mean to say you have
it?"

" Yes," she said, buttoning up her jacket again. " I robbed the robbers.
Listen, and I will tell you all that happened. But, first, are you
armed?"

" Yes," he replied, " I have a trumpery revolver in my pocket ; little
good it did me last night."

" Very well, we shall be across the frontier by noon to-day. If the
Bussian authorities find before that time Low they have been checkmated,
and if they have any suspicion that I am the cause of it, is it not likely
that they will have me stopped and searched on some pretence or
other?"

120

JENNIE BAXTEE, JOUENALIST

Lord Donal pondered for a moment. "They are quite capable of it,"
he said ; " but, Jennie, I will fight for you against the whole Eussian
Empire, and somebody will get hurt if you are meddled with. The police
will hesitate, however, before interfering with a messenger from the
Embassy, or anyone in his charge in bi-oad daylight on a crowded train.
We will not go back into that car, but stay here, where some of our fellow-
countrymen are."

" That is what I was going to propose," said Jennie. " And now hsten
to the story I have to tell you, and then you will know exactly why I came
to Eussia."

" Don't tell me anything you would rather not," said the young man
hurriedly.

" I would rather not, but it must be told," answered the girl.
The story lasted a long time, and when it was ended the young man
cried enthusiastically in answer to her question, —

"Blame you? Why, of course I don't blame you in the slightest. It
wasn't Hardwick who sent you here at all, but Providence. Providence
brought us together, Jennie, and my belief in it hereafter will be
unshaken."

Jennie laughed a contented little laugh, and said she was flattered at
being considered an envoy of Providence.

" It is only another way of saying you are an angel, Jennie," rem.arked
the bold young man.

They crossed the frontier without interference, and, once in Germany,
Jennie took the object of so much contention and placed it in the hands of
her lover.

" There," she whispered, with a tiny sigh, for she was giving up the
fruits of her greatest achievement, " put that in your despatch box, and
see that it doesn't leave that receptacle until you reach London. I hope
the Eussians will like the copy of the Daily Biujle they find in their
envelope."

■ The two chatted together throughout the long ride to Berlin, and when
11 p.m. and the Schleischer station came at last, they still seemed only to
have begun their conversation, so much more remained to be told.
The telegram from the Princess was handed to Lord Donal at Berlin.
"I congratulate you most sincerely," she wired; "and tell Jennie the
next time you see her" — Lord Donal laughed as he read this aloud—" that
the Austrian Government has awarded her thirty thousand pounds for her
share in enabling them to recover their gold, and little enough I think it is,
considering what she has done."

" Now, I call that downi'ight handsome of the Austrian Government,"
cried Lord Donal. " I thought they were going to fight us when I read the
speech of their Prime Minister, but, instead of that, tliey are making
wedding presents to our nice girls."

" Ah, tliat comes througli the good-heartedness of the Princess, and the
kindness of the Prince," said Jennie. " He has managed it."

" But what in the world did you do for the Austrian Goveanment,
Jennie'?"

" That is a long story, Donal, and I think a most interesting one."
" Well, let us thank heaven that we have a long journey for you to tell
it and me to listen."
And saying this, the unabashed, forward young man took the liberty of

JENNIE CONVEESES WITH A YOUNG MAN

121

kissing his fair companion good-night, right there amidst all the turmoil
and bustle of the Schleischer Bahnhof in Berlin.

It was early in the morning when the two met again in the restaurant
car. Tho train had passed Cologne and was now rushing up that
picturesque valley through which runs the brawling little river Vesdre.
Lord Donal and Jennie had the car to themselves, and they chose a table
near the centre of it and there ordered their breakfast. The situation was
a most picturesqm one. The broad, clear plate glass windows on each side
displayed, in rapid succession, a series of landscapes well worth viewing ;
the densely wooded hills, the cheerful country houses, the swift roaring
stream lashing itself into fleecy foam ; now and then a glimpse of an old
ruined castle on the heights, and, in the deep valley, here and there a
water mill.

It was quite evident that Jennie had slept well, and, youth being on her
side, her rest had compensated for the nightmare of the Eussian journey.
She was simply but very effectively dressed, and looked as fresh and pretty
and cool and sweet as a snowdrop. The enchanted young man found it
impossible to lure his eyes away from her, and when, with a little laugh,
Jennie protested that he was missing all the fine scenery, he answered that
he had something much more beautiful to look upon ; whereat Jennie
blushed most enticingly, smiled at him, but made no further protest.
Whether it was his joy in meeting Jennie, or the result of his night's sleep,
or his relief at finding that his career was not wrecked, as he had imagined,
or all three together, Lord Donal seemed his old self again, and was as
bright, witty, and cheerful as a boy home for the holidays. They enjoyed
their breakfast with the relish that youth and a healthy appetite gives to a
dainty meal well served. .The rolls were brown and toothsome, the butter,
in thick corrugated spirals, was of a delicious golden colour, cold and crisp.
The coffee was all that coffee should be, and the waiter was silent and
attentive. Eussia, like an evil vision, was far behind, and the train sped
through splendid scenery swiftly towards England and home.

The young man leaned back in his chair, interlaced his fingers behind his
head, and gazed across at Jennie, drawing a sigh of deep satisfaction.

" Well, this is jolly," he said.

" Yes," murmured Jennie, " it's very nice. I always did enjoy foreign
travel, especially when it can be done in luxury ; but, alas ! luxury costs
money, doesn't it? "

" Oh, you don't need to mind, you are rich."

" That is true > I had forgotten all about it,"

" I hope, Jennie, that the fact of my travelling on a train de luxe has not
deluded you regarding my wealth. I should have told you that I usually
travel third class when I am transporting myself in my private capacity. I
am wringing this pampered elegance from the reluctant pockets of the
British taxpayer. When I travel for the British Government I say, as
Pooh Bah said to Koko in the ' Mikado,' ' Do it well, my boy,' or words to
that effect."

" Indeed," laughed Jennie, " I am in a somewhat similar situation ; the
newspaper is paying all tho expenses of this trip, but I shall insist
on returning the money to the Btiglc now that I have failed in my
mission."

" Dear me, how much more honest the newspaper business is than
diplomacy I The idea of returning any money never even occurred to me.

122

JENNIE BAXTER, JOURNALIST

The mere suggestion freezes my young blood and makes each particular hair
to stand on end like quills upon the fretful porcupine. Our motto in tha
service is, Get all you can, and keep all you get."

" But then, you see, your case differs from mine ; you did your best to
succeed, and I failed through my own choice ; and thus I sit here a traitor
to my paper."

" Well, Jennie," said the young man, picking up the despatch-box, which-
he never allowed to leave his sight, and placing it on the table, " you've
only to say the word, and this contentious letter is in your possession again.
Do you regret your generosity ? "

" Oh, no, no, no, no, I would not have it back on any account. Even
looking at the matter in the most materialistic way, success means far more
to you than it does to me. As you say, I am rich, therefore I am going to
give up my newspaper career. I suppose that is why women very rarely
make great successes of their lives. A woman's career so often is merely
of incidental interest to her ; a man's career is his whole life."

" What a pity it is," mused the young man, " that one person's success
usually means another person's failure. If I were the generous, whole-
souled person I sometimes imagine myself to be, I should refuse to accept
success at the price of your failure. You have actually succeeded, while I
have actually failed. With a generosity that makes me feel small and
mean, you hand over your success to me, and I selfishly accept it.
But I compound with my conscience in this way. You and I are to be
married ; then we will be one. That one shall be heir to all the successes
of each of us and shall disclaim all the failures of each. Isn't that a good
idea?"

" Excellent," replied Jennie ; " nevertheless, -I cannot help feeling just
a little sorry for poor Mr. Hardwick."

" Who is he — the editor ? "

" Yes. He did have such faith in me that it seems almost a pity to
disappoint him."

" You mustn't trouble your mind about Hardwick. Don't think of him
at all ; think of me instead."

" I am afraid I do, and have done so for some time past ; nevertheless, I
shall get off at Lifege and telegraph to him that I am not bringing the
document to London."

" I will send the telegram for you when we reach there ; but, if I
remember rightly what you told me of his pui-pose, he can't be very deeply
disappointed. I understood you to say that he did not intend to publish
the document, even if he got it."

*' That is quite true. He wished to act as the final messenger himself,
and was to meet me at Charing Cross Station, secure the envelope, and
take it at once to its destination."

" I must confess," said the young man, with a bewildered expression,
"that I don't see the object of that. Are you sure he told you the
truth?"

" Oh, yes. The object was this. It seems that there is in the Foreign
OflBce some crusty old curmudgeon who delights in baffling Mr. Hardwick.
This official — I forget his name ; in fact, I don't think Mr, Hardwick told
me who he was — seems to forget the Daily Bugle when important items of
news are to be given out, and Mr. Hardwick says that he favours one of
the rival papers, and the Biigle has been unable, so far, to receive any-

thin k

cutsif

Jei

JENNIE CONVERSES WITH A YOUNG MAN

123

thing like fair treatment from him ; so Mr. Hardwick wanted to take t!ie
document to him, and thus convince him there was danger in making an
enemy of the Daily Biigle. As I understood his project, which didn't
commend itself very much to me, Hardwick had no intention of making a
bargain, but simply proposed to hand over the document, and ask the
Foreign Office man to give the Btcgle its fair share in what was going."

" Do you mean to say that the official in question is the man to whom I
am to give this letter ? "

"Yes."

" Oh, my prophetic soul, my uncle ! Why, that is Sir James Cardiff,
the elder brother of my mother ; he is a dear old chap, but I can well
understand an outsider thinking him gruff and uncivil. If the editor
really means what he says, then there will be no difficulty and no dis-
appointment. If all that is needed is the winning over of old Jimmy to be
civil to Hardwick, I can guarantee that. I am the especial protege of my
uncle. Everything I know I have learned from him. He cannot under-
stand why the British Government does not appoint me immediately
Ambassador to France ; Jimmy would do it to-morrow if he had the power.
It was through him that I heard of this letter, and I believe his influence
had a good deal to do with my getting the commission of special messenger.
It was the chagrin that my uncle Jimmy would Imve felt, had I failed, that
put the final drop of bitterness in my cup of sorrow when I came to my
senses after my encounter with the Russian police. That would have
been a stunning blow to Sir James Cardiff. We shall reach Charing
Cross about 7.30 to-night, and Sir James will be there with his brougham
to take charge of me when I arrive. Now, what do you say to our settling
all this under the canopy of Charing Cross Station ? If you telegraph Mr.
Hardwick to meet us there, I will introduce him to Sir James, and he will
never have any more trouble in that quarter."

" I think," said the girl, looking down at the tablecloth, " that I'd
rather not have Mr. Hardwick meet us."

" Of course not," answered the young man quickly. " What was I
thinking about ? It will be a family gathering, and we don't want any
outsiders about, do we ? "

Jennie laughed, but made no reply.

124

JENNIE BAXTER, JOURNALIST

CHAPTER XXI.

JENNIE KEEPS STEP WITH THE WEDDING MABCH

They had a smooth and speedy passage across from Calais to Dover, and
the train drew in at Charing Cross Station exactly on time. Lord Donal
recognized his uncle's brougham waiting for him, and on Isanding the
young lady out of the railway carriage he espied the old man himself
closely scrutinizing the passengers. Sir James, catching sight of him,
came eagerly forward and clasped both his nephew's hands.

" Donal," he cried, " I am very glad indeed to see you. Is everything
right?"

" As right as can be, uncle."

" Then I am glad of that, too, for we have had some very disquieting
hints from the East."

" They were quite justified, as I shall tell you later on ; but meanwhile,
imcle, allow me to introduce to you Miss Baxter, who has done me the
honour of promising to be my wife."

Jennie blushed in the searching rays of the electric light as the
old man turned quickly towards her. Sir James held her hand in
his for some moments before he spoke, gazing intently at her. Then
he said slowly, " Ah, Donal, Donal, you always had a keen eye for the
beautiful."

" Oh, I say," cried the young man, abashed at his uncle's frankness, " I
don't call that a diplomatic remark at all, you know."

" Indeed, Sir James," said the girl, laughing merrily, " it is better than
diplomatic, it is complimentary, and I assure you I appreciate it. The
first time he met me he took me for quite another person."

"Then, whoever that person is, my dear," replied the old man, "I'll
guarantee she is a lovely woman. And you nuistn't mind what I
say ; nobody else does, otherwise my boy Donal here would be much
higher in the service than the present moment finds hiir • but I am
pleased to tell you that the journey he has now finished will jjrove greatly
to his advantage."

" Indeed, uncle, that is true," said the youn<7 man, looking at his
betrothed, " for on this journey I met again Miss Baxter, whom, to my
great grief, I had lost for some time. And now, uncle, I want you to do
me a great favour. Do you know Mr. Hardwick, editor of the Duilij
Bugle .? "

" Yes, I know him ; but I don't like him, nor his paper either."

" Well, neither do the Russians, for that matter, by this time, and I
merely wish to tell you that if it hadn't been for his action, and for the

the

JENNIE KEEPS STEP WITH THE WEDDING MARCH 125

promptness of a member of his staff, I should have failed in this mission.
I was drugged by the Russian pohce and robbed. Miss Baxter, who was
on the train, saw something of what was going forward, and succeeded,
most deftly, in despoiling the robbers. I was lying insensible at the time
and helpless. She secm-ed the document and handed it back to me
when we had crossed the frontier, leaving in the hands of the Russians
a similar envelope containing a copy of the Daily Btujlc ; therefore,
uncle, if in future you can do anything to oblige Mr. Hardwick, you
will help in a leasure to cancel the obligation which our family owes
to him."

"My dear boy, I shall be delighted to do so. I am afraid I have been
rather uncivil to him. If you wish it, I will go at once and apologize to
him."

"Oh, no," cried Jennie, "you must not do that; but if you can
help him without jeopardizing the service, I, for one, will be very
glad."

" So shall I," said Donal.

The old man took out his card-case, and on the back of his card
scribbled a most cordial invitation to Hardwick, asking him to call on him.
He handed this to Jennie, and said, —

" Tell Mr. Hardwick that I shall be pleased to see him at any
time."

" And now," said Lord Donal, " you must let us both escort you home
in the carriage."

" No, no. I shall take a hansom, and will go directly to the office of
the Bugle, for Mr. Hardwick will be there by this time."

" But we can drive you there."

"No, please."

She held out her hand to Sir James and said, with the least bit of hesita-
tion before uttering the last word, " Good night — uncle."

" Good night, my dear," said the old man, " and God bless you," he
added with a tenderness which his appearance, so solemn and stately, left
one unprepared for.

Lord Donal saw his betrothed into a hansom, protesting all the while
at thus having to allow her to go off unprotected.

" What an old darling he is," murmured Jennie, ignoring his protests.
" I think if Mr. Hardwick had allowed mo to look after the interests
of the paper at the Foreign Ofhce, *8ir James would not have snubbed
me."

" If the Foreign Office dared to do such a thing, it would hear of some-
thing not to its advantage from the Diplomatic Service ; and so, good-
night, my dear." And, with additions, the nephew repeated the
benediction of the uncle.

Jennie drove directly to the office of the Daily Bugle, and, for che last
time, mounting the stairs, entered the editorial rooms. She found Mr.
Hardwick at his desk, and he sprang up quickly on seeing who his visitor
was.

" Ah, you have returned," he cried. " You didn't telegraph to me, so I
suppose that means failure."

" I don't know, Mr. Hardwick. It all depends on whether or not your
object was exactly what you told me it was."

" And what was that ? I think I told you that my desire was to get

126

JENNIE BAXTER. JOURNALIST

possession of the document which was being transmitted from St.
Petersburg to London."

" No ; you said the object was the mollifying of old Sir James Cardiff,
of the Foreign Office."

" Exactly ; that was the ultimate object, of course."

" Very well. Read this card. Sir James gave it to me at Charing
Cross Station less than half an hour ago."

The editor took the card, turned it over in his hands once or twice, and
read the cordial message which the old man had scrib'^ied on the back
of it.

" Then you have succeeded," cried Hardwick. " You ^oc the document ;
but why did you give it to Sir James yourself, instead of letting me hand it
to him ? "

" That is a long story. To put it briefly, it was because the messenger
carrying the document was Lord Donal Stirling, who is — who is — an old
friend of mine. Sir James is his uncle, and Lord Donal promised that he
would persuade the old man to let other newspapers have no advantages
which he refused to the Daily Bugle. I did not give the document to Sir
James, I gave it back to Lord Donal."

"Lord Donal Stirling — Lord Donal StirUng," mused the editor.
" Where have I heard that name before ? "

" He is a member of the British Embassy at St. Petersburg, so you may
have seen his name in the despatches."

" No. He is not so celebrated as all that comes to. Ah, I remember
I met the detective the other night and asked him if anything

of that romance in
your assistance. He said

high life, to solve which he had

the search for the missing lady had

mentioned the name of Lord Donal Stirling as

who had been engaged in the pursuit of the

now.

had come

asked

been abandoned, and

the fooUsh young man

unknown."

Jennie coloured at this and drew herself up indignantly.

" Before you say anything further against Lord Donal," she cried hotly,
" I wish to inform you that he and I are to be married."

" Oh, I beg your pardon," said the editor icily. "Then, having failed
to find the other girl, he has speedily consoled himself by — "

" There was no other girl. I was the person of whom Mr. Cadbury
Taylor was in search. I willingly gave him valuable assistance in the
task of failing to find myself. Having only a stupid man to deal with, I
had little diflBculty in accomplishing my pturpose. Neither Mr. Taylor nor
Mr. Hardwick ever suspected that the missing person was in their own
employ."

" "Well, I'm blessed ! " ejaculated Hardwick. " So you baffled Cadbury
Taylor in searching for yourself, as you baffled me in getting hold of the
Russian letter. It seems to me, Miss Baxter, that where your own
inclinations do not coincide with the wishes of your employers, the interests
of those who pay you fall to the ground."

" Mr. Cadbury Taylor didn't pay me anythmg for my services as
amateur detective, and he has, therefore, no right to grumble. As for the
St. Petersburg trip, I shall send you a cheque for all expenses incurred as
soon as I reach home."

" Oh, you mistake me," asserted Mr. Harwick earnestly. " I had no
thought of even hinting that you have not earned over and oyer

old

forg

JENNIE KEEPS STEP WITH THE WEDDING MAECH 127

again all the money the Daily Btigle has paid you ; besides, I was
longing for your return, for I want your assistance in solving a mystery
that has rather puzzled us all. Paris is in a turmoil just now over
the— "

Jennie's clear laugh rang out.

" I am going over to Paris in a day or two, Mr. Hard wick, to solve the
mystery of dressmaking, and I think, from what I know of it already, it
will require my whole attention. I must insist on returning to you the
cost of the . Petersburg journey, for, after all, it proved to be rather a
personal excursion, and I couldn't think of allowing the paper to pay for
it. I merely came in to-night to hand you this card from Sir James
Cardiff, and I also desired to tender to you personally my resignation.
And so I must bid you good-bye, Mr. Hardwick," said the girl holding
out her hand ; " and I thank you very much indeed for having given me a
chance to work on your peper."

Before the editor cou reply, she was gone, and that good man sat
down in his chair bewildered by the suddenness of it all, the room looking
empty and dismal, lacking her presence.

" Confound Lord Donal Stirling 1 " he muttered under his breath,
and then, as an editor should he went on impassively with his night's
work.

had

was intended that the wedding should be rather a quiet affair, but
circumstances proved too strong for the young people. Lord Donal was
very popular and the bride was very beautiful. Sir James thought it
necessary to invite a great many people, and he intimated to Lord Donal
that a highl) placed personage desired to honour the function with his
presence. And thus the event created quite a Uttle flutter in the smart
set. The society papers aflSrmed that this elevated personage had been
particularly pleased by some diplomatic service which Lord Donal had
recently rendered him ; but then, of course, one can never believe what
one reads in the society press. However, the man of exalted rank was
there, and so people said that perhaps there might be something in the
rumour. Naturally there was a great turn-out of ambassadors and
ministers, and their presence gave colour and dignity to the crush at St.
George's, Hanover Square. The Princess von Steinheimer made a special
journey from Vienna to attend, and on this occasion she brought the
Prince with her. The general opinion was that the bridegroom was a very
noble-looking fellow, and that the bride, in her sumptuous wedding
apparel, was quite too lovely for anything.

The Princess was exceedingly bright and gay, and she chatted with her
old friends the Ambassadors from Austria and America.

" I'm so sorry," she said to the Ambassador from America, " that I did
not have time to speak with you at the Duchess of Chiselhurst's ball, but
I was compelled to leave early. You should have come to me sooner.
The Count here was much more gallant. We had a most delightful
conversation, hadn't we, Count? I was with Lord Donal, you
remember."

" Oh, yes," replied the aged Austrian, bowing low ; " I shall not soon
forget the charming conversation I had with your Highness, and I hope

128

JENNIE BAXTEE, JOUENALIST

yoii, on your part, have not forgotten the cordial invitation you gave me
to visit again your castle at Meran."

" Indeed, Count, you know very well how glad I am to see you at any
time, either in Vienna or at Meran."

The American Ambassador remained silent, and glanced alternately
from the bride to the Princess with a puzzled expression on his
face.

The mystery of the Duchess of Chiselhurst's Ball proved too much
for him, as the search for the missing lady liad proved too much for
Mr. Cadbury Taylor.

THB aND.

■N •,