Part 9 (2/2)

Miss Dalrymple, four or five days before Mr Heatherbloom's term of service came to an end, had expressed a desire to revisit her old home and friends in the West One of a party made up mostly of other Californians--now residents of New York city--the girl had failed to appear on the private car at the appointed ti her behind At the first ientleret at having reached the station too late owing to circumstances she would explain later, and announced her intention of co on, with her maid, in a few days They were not to wait anywhere for her but to go right along

The party did; it was sorry to have lost one of itsram had been forwarded to the Van Rolsen house, in New York, asking just when Miss Dalryriress

Miss Van Rolsen gasped when thiswoed by Miss Van Rolsen--had left the house for the train to which the private car was attached; neither had been heard froone as planned; she had received no word froht-hearted, heedless co of that It was possible Miss Dalrymple had actually missed her train; but if so, why had she not returned to her aunt's house?

Where had she gone? What had become of her? No trace of her could be found Certain forces in the central railroad office at New York could not discover any evidence that the young girl had taken a subsequent train There was no record of her name at any ticket office; no state-roorao and other points west failed to elicit satisfactory information of any kind

Miss Van Rolsen found herself with so real to worry about; she rose to the occasion; her niece, after all, was everything to her The Van Rolsen millions were ultimately for her, and the old lady's every airl She had been proud of her beauty, her social triureat deter problem

Could people thus completely disappear nowadays? It see behind closed doors in her library, to the private agent of the secret-service bureau whoed to differ from her and pointed to a nue andRansom--the ”Black Hand”--Who could say what secret influences had been at work in this case? It was a very important one; Miss Dalrymple had money of her own; she was known to be her aunt's heiress The conclusion?--But this was not Morocco, or Turkey, Miss Van Rolsen somewhat vehemently returned

True; we have had, however, our ”civilized” Ransuilis, answered the agent and mentioned a number of names in support of his theory No doubt, after an interval, Miss Van Rolsen would have news of her niece--through those who had perpetrated the outrage; or she irl herself After that it was a question of negotiating, or, while professing to deal with the perpetrators, to ferret theerous, for those who stoop to this particular crime are usually of a desperate type; he and Miss Van Rolsen could consider that question later Meanwhile she irl would, no doubt, be well treated

Had the speaker looked around at this ht have observed that the heavy curtains, drawn before the door leading into the hall and closed by Miss Van Rolsen, rossed at the far end of the room, noticed The drapery wavered a ra to be from Miss Dalryent went on--very easily have been sent by some one else; no doubt, had been The miscreants had seized upon a lucky combination of circumstances; for two or three days, while Miss Dalry across the continent, they, unsuspected and unmolested, would be afforded every opportunity to convey her to soe It was a cleverly planned coup, and could not have been conceived and consummated without--here he spoke slowly--inside assistance

The curtain at the doorway again stirred

”And now, Madaent ”I should like to know so about them”

”My servants, sir, are, for the most part, old and trusted”

”'For the ht at the phrase ”We will deal first with those who do _not_ co man recently employed that I have not been at all pleased with He leaves to-oing out of the area ith the dogs as I came in?”

She answered affirmatively

”H--mn!” He paused ”But tell me why you have not been pleased with hi here”

Miss Van Rolsen did so in a voice she strove to uise its tremulousness, or the feverish anxiety that consu irrelevances, but the visitor did not interrupt her Instead, he studied carefully her face, pinched and worn; the angular figure, slightly bent; the fingers, nervously clasping and unclasping as she spoke He watched her through habit; and still forbore speaking, even when she referred to the escape of her canine favorite froh the listener's eyes had, at this point, dilated slightly

”After his carelessness in this et away from the house at once,” observed Miss Van Rolsen, ”without availing hiive hiht appeared in his eyes

”Perhaps,” added Miss Van Rolsen, ”you attach no significance to the fact?”

”On the contrary, I attach every importance to it Has it not occurred to you there was a little collusion in this ?”

”Collusion?” Miss Van Rolsen's accents expressed incredulity ”Youwoman wouldn't even accept the reward And it was not a small one!”

”Two hundred or so dollars, ma'am! Not her stake!” he murmured satirically ”I am afraid two hundred thousand dollars would be nearer the mark these people have set for themselves!”

”But she didn't ask for a place here; only for me to look over her references--one was from a lady I knew in Paris--and to recommend her to my friends--”