One Wonderful Night

ne or inopportune-the choice of an adjective depending solely on the varying points of view of the one who gave and the one who received that powerful thump on the

t messages were sent to two consulates and the Port Authorities of New York. In the result, a fast steam-yacht drew up alongside the vessel w

inutes. Consequently, some slight delay was experienced, and, with the best of good will on the part of the officials, t

sworn at en route by endangered pedestrians and enraged drivers of horsed vehicles; the growing torrent of ill wishes thus engendered may have exercised some unrecognized form of telepathy at No. 1000, because a regulating valve in the steam-

n being could perceive other than the occasional "cussedness" which inanimate objects can

pants; being a free-born American of Irish ancestry, name of Rafferty, he would certainly have bandied contumely with Count Ladislas Vassilan had not the Earl interven

d it is absolutely essential, for her own welfare, not to mention other considerations, that the wedding, which is to take place to-night, shall be prevented. Two European consuls and several important men in your own city have helped me to land this evening from a vessel which will not

during this impressive harangu

asn't Mr. de Courtois, my lord. They wanted to find out where a clergyman lived, an' I couldn't tell them-not about the Protestant Episcopal, I mean, my lord-but the driver of the taxi remembered that there was a

ot de Courtois?" queri

d under that name hereabouts nearly every

held fast to that theory, in part, even after he had been painfully disillusioned as

, for Valletort, though thin and hawk-nosed, was an aristocrat in every inch, whereas Count Ladislas Vassilan wore the stage aspect of a successful

stuck, an' my name ain't what it is if that wedding isn't over and done with by this time. An'

been up some time, but, so far as he was concerned, the incidents which followed his precipitate descent from the automobile were merely catastrophic. He had seen a vivid, violet-colored star clo

ellow downed you like a prize-fighter. Who was he? Not Jean de Courtois, I'll swear, so where has de Courtois gone? Can't you stand up? It's damn s

a coward nor a weakling, but h

?" he demanded. "Ad cad y

by the roots," said the Earl testily. "He pushed me back into the l

e Earl's handkerchief, he tugged viciously at the old-fashioned bell-

, and showed it, but her democratic respect for titles yielded t

ppeared from the depths, she asked him to "look a

ith a towel ad pledty of cold water?" said

ant to the aged minister, but the ways and language of the fo'c's'l came back

all right," he gasped. "How did you get it? Did

snarled the Count. "Cad't you see that I wadt

n't be surprised if a slab of raw beefsteak across yer lamps wouldn't be a b

from the library, he suddenly rec

leading the way to the basem

e Count's hectoring methods would certainly have stiffened the worthy old gentleman's back, whereas he yielded readily to the E

entleman, I assure you. And he had not the least semblance to a foreigner.

s muster with the average man, who also connotes no differenc

accustomed to Frenc

ble witness," and the minister produced the

ed that Hermione's unfavorable picture of her father had been tinged by a high-spirited girl's hatred of the marriage which he was forcing

st him far more than he dreamed, since he examined neither the actual certificate nor the r

n English sound to his name. Probably my daughter taught him. Hard though it is for a father t

ial career, and had, in many instances, compared the subsequent lives of his matrimonial clients with the impressions formed during the cerem

ss gory, and the two visitors disappeared, whereup

shook his ca

see the other guy-beg pardon, sir, I mean the other gentleman-an' he'll be lucky if he gets to bed to-night without being clubbed by

lli

t my young days, of co

his bride could hardly have got clear away from 56th

wish I hadn't closed t

ds of horrified prote

tar of the Sea we had a first mate who could man-handle anybody, but even he would have had to use a belayin' pin to stamp his trad

de Courtois fitted in so ill with the knock-down blow delivered to a portly individual like Ladislas Vassilan that he began to compare the remarks of the elevator man at 1000 59th Street with the confusion in the clergyman's mind on the question of names. Then, though the light had been dim, and his mind was given more to the recognition of his daughter tha

culent visage, and noted his water-soaked and blood-stained clot

uld be produced again, "I regret that I cannot reopen that matter to-night. To-morr

or the marriage of a man with a French name, whereas admittedly you have ma

int. Your lordship may be assum

f Jean de Courtois, an undersized Frenchman whom I know by sight, whereas my unfortunate friend is a

ubt, born of a vague memory, began to intrude into his own m

rument connected with the flaying of whales-and the bridegroom could certainly not be described as 'an undersized Frenchman' by anyone

t exist between license and certificate, there could be no dispute as to the bold signature "John D. Curtis" in the r

of Jean de Courtois. The hunters, of course, credited Hermione with a talent for craft and duplicity which she certainly did not

clothing without finding any positive clew to his name. His linen was marked H. R. H., and certain laundry marks might serve to establish his identity after long and patient inquiry, but the detective who had charge of the case felt that

faculty of observing minute facts which had escaped others while investigating a crime had earned him the r

urtis is the man who witnessed the murder, and who will be our most

was Curtis," com

be justified, but Steingall

egram and the bill, and the postmarks on the letters. Can he,

kely thing,

pened. Anyhow, let us get hold of hi

they had been talking, and entered the hotel. Here, excitement was still at fever heat. The press had heard of the murder, and a numb

of the strain. He glared wildly at Steingal

to whom I have answered 'No' in th

s the dry response. "Pull yourself together,

ered the copper-plate script, "you see I am not here for amus

en up, but I have sent to

mean? Is the

y lock in the hot

you kn

ing, short of break

lexed, but the police

ith a smile, though the smile boded evil

ly when he registered?" demand

by the Lusitania. He

d Steingall produced a card, on which C

ay," he continued, addressing the clerk, "

es

see anyth

out a train to Montclair. She was five minutes making up her m

de Curtis, who saw the whole

ss tha

into the

ters had scalped him, metaphorically speaking, and his brain was seething. He said "No" when he meant "Yes," and "Ye

that night. Perhaps, next morning, when he ha

wandered away in this fashion, wearing a st

" said the police

must force that doo

ce to the overcoat, but he was ready eno

ngineer, and tell him t

heard his story. If such a man had committed the most daring crime recorded in New York during a decade,

top of it. The man yelled, thinking he was being plunged headlong into tragedy, but Steingall switched on the lights, and four pairs of eager eyes peered at nothing in particular. They found the golf clubs, which partially explained the blocking of the door, though it did not occur to any of them at once that the open window might have caused the bag to fall. They rummaged Curtis's portmanteaux and steamer tr

fastened by accident! The man forgot his key. L

upstairs. But an atmosphere of suspicion, of non-comprehension, had been created around the missing man, and it was not to be dispelled, e

d the representatives of the law downstairs. Of course, their departure from the hall and their prolonged absence had been noted by the phalanx of reporters, and t

ave any of you boys come

w the riot? I guess no

is colleagues vouched fo

gall?" demanded the journalist

't know

Curtis

you something-I shan't be happy ti

. Curtis, of Pekin,' really

re police officers present, I want them to unde

ll dressed, and bearing the unmistakable tokens of good social standing. With him was a foreigner, a most truculent looking person, whose collar,

you are, sir?"

said the stranger, "and this

silan is not a

, b

ny chance, a

e nationality of either of us is unimportant.

d the Earl, but kept that microsc

hat John D. Curtis must be f

hy

a dangerous a

be a friend of John D. Curtis. My name is Howard Devar, and I'll stand for John D. all the

nother interruption held them agog. A stout, middle-aged man, followed by a stouter matron, bustled into t

D. Curtis is a tou

aunt," chimed

onroe County, Indi

ace P. Curtis," a

ard the Lusitania.... Now, my lord, we are three to