PAOLINA. OR THE MILLION AIRE'S PLOT.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10135, 13 January 1911, Page 2

PAOLINA. OR THE MILLION AIRE'S PLOT.

(OUR SERIAL..*

By MARIPOSA WEIR,

Author of "Evadync's Temptation," "A Chase Round the World," etc.

CHAPTER I

sjiaggv hair, made his slight frame seem almost as if it were dwarfed by contrast. At the first glance he inevitably suggested one of those grotesque caricatures of prominent individuals in which the head and face of a giant are united with the trunk and limbs of a mannikin. But "his countenance was strongly expressive of intellect .nci character.

A FEW STROKES OF A PEN

On the north-east corner 01 Stockion and Chestnut Streets, San Fwm;:isco, there stood at the period of our story, a large brownstonc building, far ; more pretentious in. its style of architecture than any other structure designed for u private residence, that, up to thai date, had. been .erected in the city. The wealthy Teuton to whom ithfe ambitious 'pile owed its origin, many; : another, aspiring spirit before him, had coriimenced building his tower without counting the cost thereof, and by the time it was complete, ho was ruined; it could be put to no profitable use, and soon came to be known as "Pfeiffer's Folly." The mansion passed into other hands I and in time became a lodging-house. In the upper story of this monument of foolishness, we find, on the evening of which our story opens, an elderly man', fine-looking, of military bearing, seated before a glowing j grate fire, in one of the three rooms which forms his suite. He and his Chinese servant, Chang, have just returned, after some mission in the •city.

"It is not to li:' presumed," he said, when he seated himself, "that you remember ever to have met me, though perhaps I may be permitted to say without vanity, that I have gome advantages, over the average man in the characteristics that help to secure a place in the recollections of those who have once seen me." • This was Said with a certain humourous significance that made the allusion to the oddity of his personal Jbjppeara-nee sufficiently ?' pointed, 1 . Spiretti, however, replied with the utmost gravity the:t he could not recall any occasion a::on which they had met. ■ , .

"I had the honour," said Guberlet, "of attending a lecture which you delivered at Ravenna twenty years ago."

Spiretti started, and seemed singularly moved. For a -moment he made no reply, but earnestly perused the face of his vi uor. At length he said, slowly and hesitatingly: "A lecture at Ravenna, and by me?"

It is almost ten o'clock, and Doc-, tor Geronimo Spiretti has just dismissed his servant for the night, when he sees on his writing-table a printed card. • * The light-footed Mongolian is about to leave the room, when Dr Spiretti says:

"Yes; I remember it very clearly. I kept a journal or diary, too, in those, my student days, and took notes in shorthand of ah. the lectures F attended. Your- interested me much.: Its subject was, 'The Poisons of the Borgias.' " Doctor Spiretti . rose abruptly. A close observer would have noticed he was annoyed at tins reference, and impatient to leark his, visitor's business. He walked to a sniall sideboard, on which were a decanter of wine and some glasses, leaving offered a glass to his guest ,wlio declined it, lie filled one for himself, and drank it off.

"Wait, Chang," and picking up the card, ,he continues, "What is this? It- must have been left when we were out."

The card bore the words and letters, "Gotho Guberlet, M.D.," in print, and beneath the; name was written in pencil: "Dr Guberlet will call again at ten o'clock to-night on a matter of great moment."

j "Guberlet—Doctor Guberlet," said the old man to himself. "It seems to me that the name is not altogether unfamiliar; but I cannot place it, 'A matter of great moment.' I can make 110 conjecture what business of moment this Doctor Guberlet can have with me, unless indeed he has soma knowledge in regard to my seemingly vain and hopeless search. If he can giye me any light to aid me there, he will be welcome indeed. 'Will call again at 10 o'clock' —it wants now but little of the appointed time. Chang," he. continued,; "descend into tne hall and remain there for a season, that you may admit one who will ask for me."; The Chinaman departed on his 1 errand, and the doctor arose and went to the bed which occupied a . corner of the apartment. From the narrow space between the head of the bed and the wall lie dragged forth a small iron box, the; contents of which, from the effort that seemed required in order to handle it, must have been heavy. ' Taking a key from his pocket he J unlocked the box, raised the lid, and bringing the lamp from the table and placing it on a chair beside him, j commenced counting over a quan- 1 titv of coin contained in the casket, j

'I met you after that," resumed Guberlet, " at the house of .Professor Ludovieo Concini. 1 was then engaged with enthusiasm in the study of anaesthetics-, and the poisons which act most directly upon the brain. You were reputed to have made a specialty of these investigations, and to have been rewarded with some remarkable discoveries." "It is true that at one time I did interest myself in such studies as you allude to," returned Spiretti, "but my success has been exaggerated. What might have been the result had I persevered in thut line of study I cannot t'ell, but shortly after the time to which you refer, I abandoned science and medicine for. a military career, and never resumed the investigations which had once such a fascination for me." 'You disparage tlw value of your discoveries," returned Guberlet, with a little deferential inclination of his shaggy head, "but modesty is ever a true attribute of the savant."

"Let lis not waste time in compliments, Sign or Guberlet," returned Spiretti, "Tell me in what I can serve you?"

'How rapidly it has melted away," he exclaimed after a while. "And what shall be done by and by when, it is all exhausted in this costly and apparently vain pursuit? My days draw toward a close, and I have as yet accomplished nothing. Alas! is. it to be my doom to go to the grave without having discovered the daughter of my little Pao!i»a?" As he uttered this strange soliloquy, his ear caught the sound of footsteps ascending the stairs, and hastily closing and locking the box, he thrust it back into its place and returned to his seat by the fire just as there came a tap at the door of the room. 'Come in," he said.

"You are the possessor of the formula for a certain anaesthetic which was used in Havenna twenty years ago, during the illness of the'. Marchese Ercole Mailiani, who caused so much scandal by his determination to marry a popular actress. If I may make such a .proposition without offence, I desire to purchase the formula."

As lie spoke these words his eye wandered furtively around the poorly furnished apartment, and rested at last upon the almost shabby garmerits of Spiretti. "The, formula is of no value," the latter said, after a pause. "It was useful at the time you speak of because there was no better anaesthetic then known. But science has moved on since then with immense strides. For all the purposes of medicine and surgery yon can now find a far better anaesthetic'than the one you mention at any street cor-; ner; where the red and blue jars proclaim the shop of the apothecary." "You allude to chloroform," said Guberlet, "That which I'wish to obtain lias other properties." , To be Continued.

The door was opened by the Chinaman, and the diminutiye figure of a man was seen bowing on the threshold.

"Doctor Guberlet, I believe?" said the liost, advancing with a gesture of polite welcome. , : . "It is. the name toy 1 which I am called," l'osponded the visitor, "and I,have the honour of presenting'myself to the learned, savant, Doctor Geronimo Spiretti." "I can justly claim neither of the titles, though I am truly. Geronimo Spiretti," replied the latter, offering his guest a chair. Then he made a sign of dismissal to his attendant, who withdrew.

Doctor Guberlet seemed to be a man of at least fifty. His massive head, with its thick covering of