the message had been stamped by the instrument, and proceeded
to select an official envelope in which to inclose it.

"Never mind that. Give it to me at once," said the duke, taking the strip
from the hand of the operator and hastily perusing it.

The message ran thus:

"OLD CHURCH COURT, KENSINGTON, LONDON,

"October 31st, 3 P.M.

"To HIS GRACE THE DUKE OF HEREWARD, Arondelle Arms, Lone, N.B.
She is found. Pray come to London immediately. It is important.

"J.A. SETTER."

CHAPTER XXV.

WHO WAS FOUND!

"She is found."

"Who is found? The lost bride, or that mysterious messenger who was with
the fugitive an hour before her flight, who was suspected to have lured
her away, and who might be able to give a clew to her whereabouts? Good
Heaven! why could not the detective have sent a definite message?"
thought the duke, as he studied the telegram.

Suddenly his face lighted up as he said to himself. "It is Salome who is
found! Of course it must be Salome, since no one else was really lost. It
is Salome, and that is the very reason why Setter spoke so indefinitely;
for I remember now that I instructed him to avoid using the name of the
duchess in any telegram. Salome is found! Ah! I thank Heaven! She is
found! But--" he reflected with a sudden re-action of feeling--"how,
where, when, by whom, under what circumstances was my bride found? Is she
well or ill? Can she give any satisfactory explanation of her absence?"
were the next anxious, soul-racking questions that chased each other
through his mind.

"Oh, for the strong pinions of the eagle, that I might fly to her at once
and satisfy all these anxious doubts," he breathed.

It was now but six o'clock in the afternoon. The first train for London
would not stop at Lone until midnight, and would not reach London until
eight o'clock the next morning--fourteen hours of suspense!

He could not bear that.

The telegraph operator was about to close the office.

The duke stopped him by saying:

"I wish to send a telegram to London."

"It is after hours, your grace," answered the operator, very
deferentially.

"I will pay you whatever you may demand for your extra services, over and
above your usual fee," said the duke.

The operator hesitated.

"That is to say, if there is no rule in your office to forbid it," added
the duke.

"There is no rule to prevent it, your grace. My time is up, and I was
about to go home to supper, that was all. I will s