Charred Wood

"Mon Dieu! Mon Dieu!" she cried, wringing her hands. "Miss Ruth is gone. They have taken her away in a great car. Mon Dieu, Father! Come--come at once!"

The priest stepped into the tree, and Mark followed closely. As he had surmised, the tree was a secret entrance into the grounds of Killimaga. Madame Neuville pointed to the main entrance of the estate and to the road showing beyond the open gates, "The North Road," Sihasset called it.

"That way!" she cried. "They went that way. There were two of them. They were hiding by the wall and seized her just as we were going out. I was behind Miss Ruth and they did not see me at first. I tried to fight them, but one of them struck me and they went off like the wind. Mon Dieu! Mon Dieu! Let me die!"

"Stop, please." The sternness of Mark's voice effectually silenced the weeping woman. "What were those men like?"

"Big, so big. One had bushy eyebrows that frown always. He was dark and short, but he was very large of the shoulders."

Mark turned to Father Murray.

"It is useless to follow in a car, Father. The man she describes is the murderer. I saw the car early this morning; it is a seventy horsepower, and nothing but a racing car could catch it now. The lady is safe, in any event. They will carry her to Washington. When they find she is not the Grand Duchess, they will let her go. Will you come to Washington with me?"

"Her mother was my twin sister, and she herself has been as a daughter to me ever since I first saw her, a babe in arms," replied Father Murray. "Let us go."

Madame Neuville rushed toward the great house, but the two men stepped back through the tree and hurriedly returned to Sihasset.