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FINAL EPISODE ::| ?? ? :: of ;; TRe j: I Million f 1 Dollar | I Mystery 1 V I V I VM 7T I W V I tTS I V W "V'rT'i" (Oopy right, 1914, by Harold MaoOrath) I CHAPTER XXIII. The Secret of the Million. ^ It will be remembered that Countess Olga, had darlp.-l tha - M {/ VKV W CM I ft D U??lng the struggle between Bralne and bis captors. The police who had followed her were recalled to pursue one of the lesser rogues. This left Olga free for a moment. She stole out and down as far as the landing. Servan, the Russian agent, stood waiting Xor the taxlcab to roll up to f the porte eochere for himself, Bralne, ^ and Vroo; . Norton had taken Florence by tiie hand, ostensibly tt> conduct her to the million. Suddenly Bralne made a dash for liberty. Norton rushed after him. Just as he reached Bralne a shot was heard. Bralne whirled upon his heels and crashed to the floor. Olga, intent upon giving Injury to Norton, whom she regarded equally y with Ilargreave as having brought about the downfall, had hit her lover instead. With a cry of despair^sho dashed ^mck into Florence's room, quite ready to end it all. She raised the revolver to her temple, shuddered, and lowered the weapon; so tenaciously do we cling to life. Below they were all stunned by the suddenness of the shot. Instantly ^ithey sought the fallen man's side and a hasty examination gave them the opinion that the man was dead. Happily a doctor was on the way, Servan having given a call, as one of the Black Hundred had been badly wounded. But what to do with that mad woman u. stairs? Hargreave advised them to wa>L The house was surrounded; she couV not possibly escape save by ^o^e metbbd, and perhaps that would be the best for her. Hargreave looked gravely at Norton as he offered this suggestion. The reporter understood; the millionaire was willing to give the woman a chance. "And you are my father?" said Florence, still hewildored by the amazing events. "But I don't understand!'* her gaze roving from the real Jonea Co her father. "I don't doubt it. child," refilled Hargreave. "I'll explain. When I hired Jones here, who is really .Tedson of Scotland Yard, I did so because wo looked alike when shaven. It was Jedson here who escaped by the balloon; It was Jedson who returned the five thousand to Norton; It was Jedson who was wounded In the arm; It was he who watched the doings of Black Hundred and kept me reasonably well informed. I myself guarded you, my child. Hast night, unbeknown to you, I left, and the real Jones?for It is easier to call him that?took my place." "And I never saw the difference!" exclaimed Florence. "That is natural," smiled the father. "You were thinking of Norton 4here instead of me. Eh?" Florence blushed. "Well, why no*? Here, Norton!" The millionaire took Florence's hand and placed It in the reporter's. "It seems that I've got to lose her after all. Kiss her, man; in heaven's name, kiss her!" And Norton threw his arms around the girl and kissed her soundly, careless of the fact that he was observed by both enemies and friends. Suddenly the policeman who had been standing by the side of Braine ran into the living room. "He's alive! Braine is alive! Ho * Just stirred!" m "What!" exclaimed Norton and t" Hargreave, in a single breath. \ "Yes, sir! I saw his hands move. a good thing we sent for a docTi tor. He ought to be along here about * now." Even as he spoke the bell rang. ana mey an Burgea out into the hall, forgetting for the moment all about the million. Olga hadn't killed the man, then? The doctor knelt beside the stricken man and examined him. He shrugged. "Will he liver ^ "Certainly. A scalp wound that laid him out for a few momenta. He'll be all right in a few days. He waa lucky. A quarter of an inch lower and he'd have passed in his checks." "Good!" murmured Servan. "So our friend will accompany me back to good Russia? Oh, we'll be kind to him during the Journey. Have him taken to the hospital ward at tha ri^mbs. Now for the little lady upstairs." A moment later Rratne opened his eyes and the policeman assisted him, to his feet. Servan with a nod or-i dered the police to help the wound-ed man to the taxicab which had just arrived. Rraine, now wholly conscious, flung back one look of Jhatred toward Hargreave; and that **as the last either Florence or her father ever saw of Riaine of the Dlae.k Hundred?a fine specimen of a man cone wrong: through greed and an ln| ordinate lust for revenge. The policeman returned to Bar* i greave. "It's pretty quiet upstairs," he sug? i gested. "Don't you think, sir, that I'd better try that bedroom door 1 again?" I "Well, if you must," assented Rai* 1 greave reluctantly. "But don't be rough with her if you can help it." | For Bralne he had no sympathy. For eighteen years to have ridden and driven and sailed up and down the world, always confident that sooner or later that demon would find him! He had lost the childhood of his daughter, and now he was to lose her in her womanhood. And because of this implacable hatred the child's mother had died in the Petrograd prison fortress. But what an enemy the man had been! He, Hargreave, ' had needed all ,his wit3 constantly; he had never dared go to sleep ex cept with one eye open. Rut in employing ordinary crooks Braine had at length overreached himself, and now he musj, pay the penalty. The way of the transgressor is hard, and though this ancient saying looks dingy with the wear and tear of centuries, it still holds good. But he felt sorry for the woman up above. She had loved not wisely but too well. Far better for her if she put an end to life. She would not live a year in the God-forsaken snows of Siberia. "My kind father!" said Florence, as if she could read his thoughts. "1 had a hard time of it. my child. It was difficult to play the butler with you about. The times that I fought down the desire to sweep you up in my arms! But 1 kept an iron grip on that impulse. It would have imperiled you. In some manner it would have leaked out, and your life and mine wouldn't have been worth a button." Florence threw her arms around him and held hini tightly. "That poor weak woman upstairs!" she murmured. "Can't they let lier go?" "No, dear. She has lost, and lorera j pay the stakes. n bat's life. Norton,; you knew who I ,.as all the time, j didn't you?" i "I did, Mr. Hargreave. There was! a scar on the lobe of your ear; and! secretly I had often wondered at the1 likeness between von ami tUo rnoi Jones. When I caught a glimpse of j that ear then I knew what the game, was. And I'll ndd you played it ama/r ! ingly well. The one flaw In Braino's > campaign was his hurry. He started tlie ball rolling before getting all the phases clearly established in his; mind. He was a brave man anyhow.' "And do you think that you can lead To be givi day of tti! of Conway I tn tho Fai B (U IIIU I III Automobih For every $5.00 Cash purch our Cash Register, will entil mobile. CONWAY DRUG CO. For every $5.00 cash purch. with every cash purchase, w chance at the Aiitnmnhil<? ? W w m I VI% VII IVMII VI B. T. HYMAN, GROGE A Ticket to the Fair and a CI number pounds Tobacco at c tomobile to the Farmer who: ers Warehouse. P THE HORRY HERA LI Florence to the million?" asked Hargreave, smiling. "For one thing, it is in her room and has always been there. It never was in the chest." "Not bad, not bad," mused the father. "But perhaps after all it will be best if you show it to her yourself." "Just a little uncertain?" jibed the millionaire. "Absolutely certain. I will whisper in your ear where it is hidden." Norton leaned forward asHargreave bent attentively. "You've hit it," said the millionaire. "But how in the world did you guess it?" "Because it was the last place anyone would look for it. I judged at the start that you'd hide it in Just such a spot, in some place where you could always guard it and lay your hands on it quickly if needs said must." - ' ? ??... * . "l*rn mighty glad you were on my side," said Hargreave. "In a few minutes we'll go up and take a look at those packets of bills. There's a very unhappy young woman there at present." "Is it in my room?" cried Florence Hargreave nodded. Meantime Countess Olga hovere' between two courses; abraveattemr to escrpe by the window or to tun the revolver against her heart. I* either case there was nothing left i; life for her. The man she loved wa dead below, killed by her hand. Sh felt as though she was treading air ii some fantastical nightmare. Sh? could not go forward or backward, an her heels were always within read of her pursuers. So this was the end of things? Thdreams she had had of going awa with Braine to other climes, the haj piness she had pictured, all iner chimeras! A sudden rage swept ove her. She would escape, she. woulr continue to play the game to the end She would show them that she hat been the man's mate, not his plian tool? She raised the window and i slipped the policeman who had pp tiently been waiting for her. Instan' ly she placed the revolver at her ten pie. A quick clutch and the polio* man had her by the wrist. She mad one tigerish effort to free hersel., shrugged and signified that she sur-1 rendered. "I don't want to hurt vmi mfoc. ? i Raid the policeman, "but if you make any attempt to escape I'll have to put the handcuffs on you." "I'll go quietly. What are you going to do with me?" "Turn you over to the Russian agent. Me has extradition papers, and I guess it's Siberia." "For me?" She laughed scornfully. "Do I look like a woman who would fro fn *>" HE AUTOI en away on ! Fair by tra ing reliable i who will gi1 r and chant ! as follows ase or the return of $5.00 wor tie the holder to a Free Ticket at HOI ise or return of $5.00 worth of C ill entitle the holder to a Free Ti R. SOUTHERLAI | lance at the Automobile to the F tur House each day, and one ticki se Tobacco brings the highest pi LANTERS WAREHOUSE ? 111 mmmmexnmammmmmmm P, CONWAY, S. 0. "Be careful, miss. As I said, I don't want to use the .cuffs unless 1 have to." She laughed again. It did not have a pleasant sound in the officer's ears. He had heard women, on suicide bent, laugh Hhe that. "I'll ask you for that ring on your Anger/' "Do you think there is poison tn It?" "I shouldn't be surprised," he admitted. She 8lipped the ring from her finger and gave it to him. "There is poison in it, so be careful how you handle it," she said. The policeman accepted it gingerly and dropped it into his capacious pocket. It tinkled as it fell against the handcuffs. "Before you take me away I want you to let mo see . . . my man." "I can do that." At that moment the other policeman broke in the door. "All right, Dolan; she's given utf the game." one uiun t Kin the man after all," said Officer Dolan. "He's alive?" she screamed. "Yes; anil they've taken him of? to the Tombs. Just a scalp wound. He'll be all right in a day or two." "Alive!" murmured Olga. She had not killed the man she loved, then? And if they were indeed taken to Siberia she would be with him until the end of things. With her handsome head proudly erect she walked toward the door. She paused for a moment to look at the portrait of Hargreavo. Somehow it jeemed to smile at her ironically. Then on down the stairs, between the two officers, she went. Her glance traveled coolly from face to face and ^topped at Florence's. There she saw pity. "You are sorry for me?" she asked, skeptically. "O, yes! I forgive you," said the j generous Florence. "Thanks. Officers, I am ready." I So Countess Olga passed through j 'lie hall door forever. How many ' imes had she entered it, with guile and treachery in her heart? It was ! he game. She had played it and lost, 1 and she must pay her debts to Fate, the fiddler. Siberia! The tin or lead mines, the ankle chains, the knout, and many things that were far worse to a beautiful wnmnn Won bo long as Uraine was at her side she would suffer all these things without a murmur. And always there would be a chance, a chance! When they heard the taxicab rumble down the driveway to the street Hargreave turned to Florence. "Come along, now, and we'll have the had taste taken off our tongues. To win out is the true principle of the last Ha 4"S?>Ijf IC UUMHd I ;es on the I th of Cash Receipts from I id a Chance at the Auto- I DRY HARDWARE CO. I lash Tickets, given by us I cket to the Fair and a I 4D FURNITURE CO. I armor selling the greatest I et and a chance at the au- I rice per pound, at Plant- I ,nre. It takes off some of the tinsel and glamour, but the end is worth while." They all trooped up the stairs to Florence's room. So wonderful Is the power and attraction of money that they forgot the humiliation of their late enemies. Hargreave approached the portrait of himself, took it from the wall, pressed a button on the back, which fell outward. Behold! There, in neat packages of a hundred thousand each,! lay the mystic million! The specta-. tors were awed into silence for a moment. Perhaps the thought of each was identical?the long struggle, the terrible hazards, the deaths that had taken place because of this enormous sum of money. A million, sometimes called cool, why nobody knows! There it lay, without feeling, without emotion; yellow notes payable to bearer on demand. Presently Florence gasped, Norton sighed, and Hargreave smiled. The face 9f Jones (or Jedson) alone remained impassive. A million dollars is a marvelous sight. Few people have ever seen it, not even millionaires themselves. I dare say you never saw it, and I'm 1 tolerably certain 1 never have, or will! A million, ready for eager, careless fingers to spend or thrifty fingers to multiply! What Correggio. what Rubens, what Titian could stand beside it? None that 1 wot of. "Florence, that is all yours, to do ? ..? * - ?iui iiu-ase, 10 spend when and how you will. Share it with your husband to be. lie is a brave and gallant young man and is fortunate in finding a young woman equally brave and gallant. For the rest of my days I expect peace. Perhaps sometimes Jones here and 1 will talk over the strange things that have happened; but we'll do that only when we haven't you young folks to talk to. After your wedding Journey you will return here. While I live this shall be your home. I demand that much. Free! No more looking over my shoulder when I walk the streets, no more testing windows and doors. I am myself again. I take up the thread 1 laid down eighteen years ago. Have no fear. Neither Braine nor Olga will ever return. Russia has a giMp of steel." Three weeks later Servan, the Russian agent, left for Russia with his three charges?Olga, Braine and Vroon. It was a long journey they went upon, something like ten weeks, I nlwn\?o u.o4?Vi^.> ? ' * .. o nmviicu, mwaj's unuer mo strictest guard, compelled to eat with wooden forks and knives and spoons. Waking or sleeping they knew no rest from espionage. From Paris to I Berlin. from Berlin to Petrograd. then known as St. Petersburg; and then began the cruel journey over the mighty steppes of that barbaric wil. derness to the Siberian mines. The , way of the transgressor is hard. | On the same day that Olga, Braine and Vroon made their first descent Into the deadly mines Florence and Norton were married. After the i storm the sunshine; and who shall deny them happiness? Immediately after the ceremony the two sailed for Europe on their honeymoon; and it is needless to say that some of the million went with them, but there was no mystery about it! [THE END.] r "Cured" m Mrs. Jay McGee, of Steph- $ ? cnville, Texas, writes: ' For (nine (9) years, I suflered with & womanly trouble. 1 had ter- i? rible headaches, and pains in jL my back, etc. it seemed as if lljJ I would die. I suffered so. A* M(| last. ! decided to try Cardui, & the woman's tonic, and it 3J helped me right away. The | full treatment not only helped wa I me, but if cured me." pk il TAKE II Cardui j The Woman's Tonic m Cardui helps women in time <31 of greatest need, because it 9 contains ingredients which act &l specifically, yet gently, on the m weakened womanly organs. Si . So, if you feel discouraged, Kl blue, out-of-sorts. unable to El , f 4 do your household work, on account of your condition, stop El ' WI worrying and give Cardui a ? KI trial. 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The emperor's action was taken when he assumed command of all of Russia's armed force on land and sea, it developing that he had placed himself at the head of Russia's naval as well as her military forces. I Grand Duke Nicholas is appointed vice roy of the Caucasus and commander-in-chief of the Southern front. p .. . i \r i ' rr .1.1 rr _ . _ Ltouiit Vi)ii v uruiilftUii-LJa&nKOi t vice roy of the Caucasus, is attached to the emperor's personal staff. German submarine activity off thhe coast, resulted in the sinking of two British vessels. The crews were saved The guns presumably from a German submarine sank the 1,000 ton British steamer Doro. Her crew was saved. SflVAn'o? ovlillni'ir O. a "1" k,vl,,?n uibliivi.v Utv 17?IIUUC continued in its efforts to break up the enemy's operations on the left. The central section was held by Grand Duke Nicholas and efforts of Germans to drive a wedge through the swamps proceed very sloflv. The Western wing, in ^or^mand of Gen. Ivanroff, made a stubborn stand against the Austrians and Germans who are engaged in a tremendous effort to drive thj? Russians from Austrian soil. I Weather conditions which in past wars have proved an efficient ally of the Russians, are again intervening. A dispatch in a Copenhagen newspaper says the rivers have been swollen by autumn rains to such an extent that they promise to form an impassable barrier to a further advance of the invaders. The dispatch represents the immediate objective of the AustroGerman campaign to be the seizure of the entire railroad system from Riga to Lemberg, thus insuring control of lines of communication for a further penetration of White Russia. One the other fronts events pointed to a concerted movement by the Allies The French commander-in-chief, Gen. J off re, returned from a visit to his Italian colleague, Gen. Cadorna. British warships along the Belgian coast joined the chorus of artillery fire Jllnncv fllrk Wni'J.M." 4' ? * 11 11 ...w uvoiciii i nun, /\ii mis gives support to the growing belief in London that an offensive development will soon mark the progress of the Allies. The coast of Ireland was again visited by dirrigibles which caused some fires and ten persons were killed and 4(> others were wounded. <> Petition For Final Settlement and Discharge. STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA, County of Horry. In the Court of Probate. Ex parte Mrs. Jane I^ewis, Administratrix. In re The Estate of Sol Lewis, deceased. To All and Singular the Kindred and Creditors of Sol Lev/is, dee'd: lake notice, that the undersigned administratrix of the above named estate will appiy to the Hon. J. S. Vaught, Judge of Probate of Horry bounty, at his office in the Court house at Conway, S. t\, on the 4th day of October A. 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