ELUSIVE ISABEL

BY JACQUES FUTRELLE

WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY ALONZO KIMBALL

1908

TO

THE WONDERFUL WOMAN

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I — MISS ISABEL THORNE

CHAPTER II — MR. CAMPBELL AND THE CABLE

CHAPTER III — THE LANGUAGE OF THE FAN

CHAPTER IV — THE FLEEING WOMAN

CHAPTER V — A VISIT TO THE COUNT

CHAPTER VI — REVELATIONS

CHAPTER VII — THE SIGNAL

CHAPTER VIII — MISS THORNE AND NOT MISS THORNE

CHAPTER IX — FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLARS

CHAPTER X — A SAFE OPENING

CHAPTER XI — THE LACE HANDKERCHIEF

CHAPTER XII — THE VANISHING DIPLOMATIST

CHAPTER XIII — A CONFERENCE IN THE DARK

CHAPTER XIV — A RESCUE AND AN ESCAPE

CHAPTER XV — MASTER OF THE SITUATION

CHAPTER XVI — LETTERS FROM JAIL

CHAPTER XVII — A CALL ON THE WARDEN

CHAPTER XVIII — NOTICE TO LEAVE

CHAPTER XIX — BY WIRELESS

CHAPTER XX — THE LIGHT IN THE DOME

CHAPTER XXI — A SLIP OF PAPER

CHAPTER XXII — THE COMPACT

CHAPTER XXIII — THE PERCUSSION CAP

CHAPTER XXIV — THE PERSONAL EQUATION

CHAPTER XXV — WE TWO

CHAPTER XXVI — IN WHICH THEY BOTH WIN

ILLUSTRATIONS

1. The Handwriting Was Unmistakably That of a Woman.

2. He Found Himself inspecting the Weapon from the Barrel End.

3. A Long Tense Silence when Eye Challenges Eye.

4. 'You Think He Will Weaken; I Know He Will Not.'

5. In a Stride Mr. Grimm Was Beside Her.

ELUSIVE ISABEL

I

MISS ISABEL THORNE

All the world rubs elbows in Washington. Outwardly it is merely a city of evasion, of conventionalities, sated with the commonplace pleasures of life, listless, blasé even, and always exquisitely, albeit frigidly, courteous; but beneath the still, suave surface strange currents play at cross purposes, intrigue is endless, and the merciless war of diplomacy goes on unceasingly. Occasionally, only occasionally, a bubble comes to the surface, and when it bursts the echo goes crashing around the earth. Sometimes a dynasty is shaken, a nation trembles, a ministry topples over; but the ripple moves and all is placid again. No man may know all that happens there, for then he would be diplomatic master of the world.

"There is plenty of red blood in Washington," remarked a jesting legislative gray-beard, once upon a time, "but it's always frozen before they put it in circulation. Diplomatic negotiations are conducted in the drawing-room, but long before that the fight is fought down cellar. The diplomatists meet at table and there isn't any broken crockery, but you can always tell what the player thinks of the dealer by the way he draws three cards. Everybody is after results; and lots of monarchs of Europe sit up nights polishing their crowns waiting for word from Washington."

So, this is Washington! And here at dinner are the diplomatic representatives of all the nations. That is the British ambassador, that stolid-faced, distinguished-looking, elderly man; and this is the French ambassador, dapper, volatile, plus-correct; here Russia's highest representative wags a huge, blond beard; and yonder is the phlegmatic German