NG--CARTE BLANCHE 131

XV. THE KING OF CONFIDENCE MEN 142

XVI. THAT LITTLE DECOY 150

XVII. 'THOSE TWO WOMEN' 155

XVIII. 'IF YOU'LL FIND ONE, I'LL FIND THE OTHER' 166

XIX. 'STRANGE! MISTAKEN! HEARTLESS!' 172

XX. 'WE MUST UNDERSTAND EACH OTHER' 178

XXI. 'LET ME LAUGH!' 191

XXII. 'THERE IS DANGER--NEAR!' 202

XXIII. 'YOU ARE SUFFERING IN MY STEAD' 215

XXIV. 'IT IS OUR FIRST CLUE' 222

XXV. 'IT'S A SNARE' 228

XXVI. A COLUMBIAN GUARD 234

XXVII. 'I'D SWEAR TO THEM HANDS ANYWHERE' 238

XXVIII. 'NOW DOWN!' 249

XXIX. 'FIRE! FIRE! FIRE!' 257

XXX. 'IT SHALL NOT BE ALL SUSPENSE' 263

XXXI. SIR CARROLL RAE 267

XXXII. FOUND DEAD 272

XXXIII. 'A MERCYFUL DISPENSAYSHUN' 281

XXXIV. 'EUREKA!' 293

XXXV. AFTER ALL 302

* * * * *

AGAINST ODDS:

_A DETECTIVE STORY OF THE WORLD'S FAIR_

CHAPTER I.

'CHICARGO GITS MY MONEY.'

'Eureka!'

It was I, Carl Masters, of the secret service, so called, who uttered
this exclamation, although not a person of the exclamatory school; and
small wonder, for I was standing beneath the dome of the
Administration Building, and I had but that hour arrived at the
World's Fair.

I was not there as a sight-seer, not on pleasure bent, and even those
first moments of arrival, I knew well, were not to be wasted.

I had come hither straight from the Terminal Station, seeking this
stately keystone to the great Fair, not to steep my senses and fill my
eyes with beauty in myriad forms, but to seek out the great man whose
masterful hand was to create for me the passport which was to be my
'open sesame' to all within this fair White City's walls; but when I
stood beneath that lofty double dome and looked about me, I forgot all
but the beauty all around, and gazed upon the noble rotunda through
the western