href="@public@vhost@g@gutenberg@html@files@39134@[email protected]#img-179" class="pginternal" tag="{http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml}a">She first thought of changing the clock

He took her straight to the executive chamber of the Black Hundred

Here was an operation that needed all his care and skill.

He examined the blotter with care

The men rioted about the house, searching nooks and corners

They were mapping out a plan when Susan's message came

Norton was idling at his desk when the city editor called him

"Give this to your father. He knows how to read it."

Florence discovers the cave

Florence steals the papers from Braine's pocket

Braine procured a launch and began to prowl about

Braine reached the girl and pulled her into the boat

From the shore came another boat

"They have all three taken out naturalization papers."

"Just a minute, gentlemen!"

The Police Captain's desk

They were tumbling through the library and the living room

Braine sank inertly to the floor, dead

Instantly they sought the fallen man's side

A quick clutch and the policeman had her by the wrist

The Mystic Million

"Florence, that is all yours."

Immediately after the ceremony

After the storm, the sunshine

The Million Dollar Mystery

CHAPTER I

There are few things darker than a country road at night, particularly if one does not know the lay of the land. It is not difficult to traverse a known path; no matter how dark it is, one is able to find the way by the aid of a mental photograph taken in the daytime. But supposing you have never been over the road in the daytime, that you know nothing whatever of its topography, where it dips or rises, where it narrows or forks. You find yourself in the same unhappy state of mind as a blind man suddenly thrust into a strange house.

One black night, along a certain country road in the heart of New Jersey, in the days when the only good roads were city thoroughfares and country highways were routes to limbo, a carriage went forward cautiously. From time to time it careened like a blunt-nosed barge in a beam sea. The wheels and springs voiced their anguish continually; for it was a good carriage, unaccustomed to such ruts and hummocks.

"Faster, faster!" came a muffled voice from the interior.

"Sir, I dare not drive any faster," replied the coachman. "I can't see the horses' heads, sir, let alone the road. I've blown out the lamps, but I can't see the road any better for that."

"Let the horses have their heads; they'll find the way. It can't be much farther. You'll see lights."

The coachman swore in his teeth. All right. This man who was in such a hurry would probably send them all into the ditch. Save for the few stars above, he might have been driving Beelzebub's coach in the bottomless pit. Black velvet, everywhere black velvet. A wind was blowing, and yet the blackness was so thick that it gave the coachman the sensation of mild suffocation.

By and by, through the trees, he saw a flicker of light. It might or might not be the destination. He cracked his whip recklessly and the carriage lurched on two wheels. The man in the carriage balanced himself carefully, so that the bundle in his arms should not be unduly disturbed. His arms ached. He stuck his head out of the window.

"That's the place," he said. "And when you drive up make as little noise as you can."

"Yes, sir," called down the driver.

When the carriage drew up at its journey's end the man inside jumped out and hastened toward the gates. He scrutinized the sign on one of the posts. This was the place:

MISS FARLOW'S PRIVATE SCHOOL

MISS FARLOW'S PRIVATE SCHOOL

The bundle in his arms stirred and he hurried up the path to the door of the house. He seized the ancient knocker and struck several