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King Country Chronicle, Volume III, Issue 188, 6 September 1909, Page 4

erous under-hand meanness, and whei in schoolboy literatim-. I r«d oJ some spies Iwing hunted and hanged my sympathies were with the nice who did the hanging. But it is one thing to read about a ragged missha'xin brute, with a slouching trait. and a shifty eye, being justly condemned to death, and another to sit side by side with a splendid specimen of womanhood —physically at any rate —and to know that you have handed her over to the vengeance of a crowd of remorseless criminals.

There was obviously only one part. I had got her into trouble ; I must get her out of it. "What then arc your movements, so far ns you have be.-n able to arrange ? " I asked in as kindly a tone as I could adopt. "For the last two days I have acted merely as occasion prompts," -he said, looking up for the first time since I called her a spy. "I -saw that De Risque suspected me, and T took the first train I could get to Ilorlin. intending to get back to St. Petersburg by a circuitous route having left word at the pension in Paris l hat I had received a sudden and unexpected engagement as Trench governess in a wealthy family. I was up at the railway station to get information about the trains, when I saw the men loitering about, and I took refuge in a ladies' waiting room on one of the side platforms. As I chanced to look through th<» window. I saw you looking out of the carriage door and a sudden inspiration seized mi to warn you. 1 saw that no official iap[wned to be standing near your :loor, and I rush .! out just as the "rain niov<d. IX- Ri.*;qu?. you say. was on the platform. lie had come jp So watch you.*' "Then he will watch in vain," I Mid. "I have only taken a ticket to the nine!ion. and my destination after that is a goo.l way from, the Uii.'.y haunts of i::. u."

"If he is no: i:i the train you arc *nfe for the pres.nt." '•f i!ti not i!:is:k h- i., in th* train. Ii wr.i:!d h; ; -.<- |..!••! too hazardous to •oaril it at th> \>-.: -.• it •• -as moving, •ven if th« oniS.ds <i. I i.ot i'it:riviii* ; ami now :liat you have told -ne your story, wiil you make yourself comfortable again and let us talk the matter over calmly? Your main olij.-«t at present is to get to Si. Petersburg. There y<.u wiil be protected by yotir —colleagues." "Yes, I .shall Ikj as safe as a prisoner, and the Kmpress Dowager may release me from my oath. But we are many miles from St. Petersburg, and I clar.' no' ask t-. • protection of Ihe police in any other country." The police ! (Jood idea ! Surely thai was tin- right thin;*- to do. And I urged the counters to let me appeal to ihem at next station. "You do not understand." she safd iadly. "My < ;vlers ai\ imperative. I nui'!. on no account reveal my identity. I am dealing with a secret society to-day ; to-morrow. I may he " Again she averted her •; es, and I understood. Beneath my brea h I cursed a system of government that wotdd drag women into work of this sort. The wretched lady I saw in a moment, was running a terrible risk in conliding l.i r secret own to me. If we lived through this hideous business, and 1 saw her again in the Courts of my own country, I should never I e able to divest myself of the •iiispii 'mi that she was there as a spy. Jn Kngland that would only mean social ostracism. But if she hud to tell her tale to continental police they would take a different vi-w of their duty. Scheme after scheme I invent d as the train rushed on and each was discarded as impracticable as soon as I began to reason out details. By sheer force of circumstances I drifted into the plan of doing nothing. So as the train went on. the woman would havo to conic on also. And why should she not come on ?

1 had stumbled upon tin- one only solution of the problem. Slie must come on with me lo Heir Von C!rahnun. lift ween us we must invent some plausible excuse for her journ.-y unattended and for inflicting an uninvitel guest upon Von Urahaun. The latter task would not be difficult. His hosjiltable instincts would Kettle that, if we could once satisfy his inherited Scottish sense of propriety. "I will take you to St. Petersburg," la said, at length, turning to the countess. "But you must come with me as the guest of my friends for a couple of days, ami \vc v.: : :

come through Berlin together. I must come to Berlin before I set out for- St. Petersburg. But we will divise some plot between us for concealing our movements from your—friends."'.

"But Do Risque—lf De Risque bhouhJ see us ?

"I will shoot him like a dog at sight," I said, pulling out my silver mounted revolver, which I always carry with me when I travel on my delicate missions. "And I will argue the matter out with whoever cares to interfere afterwards." "What was that ? '-' said the countess, starling up as I quietly replaced my weapon in a handy pocket.

Oiu» of the communication doors hail clo.srsl with a very slight bang. ami I sprang towards it. Hut when I op.wd it nobody was in sight in jlirt . i)i-r|(li>i' beyond.

■"The catch of the door had got. loose," I explained to the countess, as T strolled back. -"And now that we have made up our minds what to do, lot us troublo ourselves no moro for the moment about our worries ami perplexities. When we get to the junction we shall probably be able to get a meal of some sort but I have fortified myself meanwhile wit. a little basket of provisions gathered promisciilously from the stoiv at the hoN-1. The waiter has made me up a composite sort of dish, and whether empires flourish or crumble, the loyal subjects of all races must eat.'To be Continu.-d.

lie was a poor and struggling Journalist, and when his pal met him ho w«s carrying a cigar-box under his arm. '•Hullo Jack ! Things improving I suppose '.' Where do you buy your sm.-!« .. ? "- "They arc not cigars. I don't "I'i!)_ iii<>vii,'_r a era in '. "• he moaned. M, S. Laurie, re Awamutu. Laurie': :n= at T Bugg ie s on Hire .