MADEMOISELLE NAMELESS.
Both lads were surprised, not to say startled. She saw this plainly, and
laughed softly, fluttering a jeweled fan.
“You are Americans,” she said positively. “You are not accustomed to
some things you find in Paris.”
“That is very true,” murmured Jack Diamond, a frown on his face.
Frank lay back in his chair and studied the woman. He saw she had a
beautiful neck and chin, while there was something strangely fascinating
about the eyes seen through the twin holes in the mask. They were
coal-black, like her hair, and seemed forever in motion. When the
woman’s lips parted, she showed two rows of pearly teeth.
“How do you think I know you are Americans?” she asked.
“Give it up,” said Diamond.
“I know—I read it in your face. I can read other things there. I read
that you are friends—very great friends.”
“Astonishing!” said Jack, with mild sarcasm, while Frank continued to
keep silent.
The woman turned on Merry.
“You are so still all at once! You suspect something—me? Ha! ha! ha!
Because I wear this mask? Oh, no, no! Why, I can do that here. No one
minds it. They know me. I tell them their fortunes. All have heard me.
You want me to tell your fortune—yes?”
She leaned forward, seeming to peer more closely into Frank’s face.
“Your past is all written there,” she declared. “I see it plain. In
America, though young, already you are famous. It is wonderful! No man
as young as you has ever become so famous in America. You are known all
over the land, and there all young men long to be like you.”
Frank smiled.
“I fear you are given to exaggeration and flattery,” he said.
She shook her head.
“I speak the truth as I read it. Is it not true?”
She turned in her appeal to Jack. The Virginian remembered how famous
Frank had become in a short time, and he said:
“To some extent it is true, but it’s an easy guess.”
The woman shrugged her shapely shoulders and fluttered her fan.
“Oh, not so easy!” she exclaimed. “I have but begun. When I am done, say
I am an impostor—if you can.”
“I beg your pardon,” came quietly from Frank; “I must tell you honestly
that I take no stock in the mummery of fortune-telling. I do not wish to
seem rude, but you are interrupting——”
“I know; still you will thank me when I am done. I am going to tell you
of the terrible dangers you have been in, of the deadly perils to come,
and how you may escape them. This night you have been in danger! This
night you have been close to death! You escaped by a miracle.”
“Where were you that you learned so much?”
“I read it in your face, but the stars tell me many things. To-night the
stars have told me of you, Frank Merriwell.”
She knew his name!
Frank’s interest increased swiftly, and she laughed as she saw it.
“I knew you would listen,” she declared. “No one refuses to listen to
me.”
“You must have been listening to our conversation,” said Diamond.
Again she shrugged her shoulders.
“I do not need to do that. I heard some words just when I came up. I
heard you speak of Dreyfus, the traitor. But I did not need that to tell
me you were interested in him. You hope to see him free again.”
“As hope thousands of good citizens of France.”
“No; they are not good citizens! But why argue! It was not for that I
sat here. I was tired, and I needed amusement. It would amuse me to
astonish you by reading your fortune. Monsieur Merriwell was warned of
his danger. He might have escaped it, but he chose not to do so. He came
near losing his life. If he heeds not the warning he has received, he
will yet lose his life.”
“How do you know so much?” cried Jack.
“You must be connected with the Anti-Dreyfus League,” muttered Frank.
She shook her head.
“It is not well for a foreigner to come to France and have so much
knowledge. It is not fortunate for him if he meets wrong ones and takes
too much interest in Dreyfus, the Jew. It may be thought he has come to
France for that very reason, and then his peril shall be great, for
hundreds of good men have sworn to protect the honor of France with
their very lives.”
“Who are you that knows so much?” asked Frank sharply.
“I am called Mademoiselle Nameless.”
“Nameless?” muttered Jack, instantly thinking of the man who called
himself “Mr. Noname.”
“Yes, I am called that, and it is enough for you to know me by that
name.”
“Why do you refuse to tell us your true name?” asked Merry.
“My true name is something I tell nobody.”
“Then remove your mask and show your face.”
She drew back.
“If I see fit to warn you of your great danger, and still keep my face
concealed, I have a right.”
“You cannot explain how it is you know so much.”
“The stars conceal nothing from Mademoiselle Nameless.”
“You cannot make a level-headed American take stock in such trash.”
“It matters little. You must know I have told you nothing but the truth.
There is but one thing for you to do, Frank Merriwell. You have been
marked for death, and there is but one way to escape.”
“How is that?”
“Abandon everything and fly from France without delay.”
“Like a cowardly cur!” exclaimed Merry. “No, thank you!”
“Beware!”
“If I am murdered, it will simply be another human life added to the
list set against the wretches who are exerting every power to keep an
innocent man on Devil’s Island. I know all about the time-limit, and I
have yet several days left before the murderous band will carry their
threat into full execution.”
“You cannot be sure of that.”
“It has been thus with others.”
“But you have lifted your hands against those who seek to protect the
honor of France.”
“I’ve simply tried to expose the human whelps who seek to murder me!”
“It is enough. By that you have added to the peril that besets you. At
any time destruction may swoop down upon you. Heed my warning. Fly from
France!”
“Oh, I rather think you are making this thing much worse than it really
is.”
“Not the least.”
“If I am slain by the Black Brothers, I have friends who will take my
place in the work of hunting the dastardly band down.”
“There will be no proof that you are slain by them. Remember how others
have fallen. There were no marks of violence on them. The thought should
chill your heart with terror. I tell you to go, Monsieur Merriwell. I
beg you to go. It is your only way to escape death. You must listen to
me.”
She leaned on the table, all eagerness and excitement, her eyes dancing.
Somehow those eyes made Frank think of a snake. They seemed to fascinate
him.
“Tell me why you are so eager for me to go?” he asked.
“I cannot tell you, save that I am earnest, for I know what it means to
you. Promise me you will drop this Dreyfus affair and leave the country.
If you do that, your life may be spared. If you do not promise, your
doom is sealed, and death may swoop down on you at any moment.”
“It is remarkable that you should know so much about me, a stranger, and
take so much interest in me. I believe you must somehow get close to the
Black Brothers. Can you deny it?”
“I deny nothing!” she proudly cried. “You may think what you like! I
have warned you. Once, for the last time, I tell you your doom is
sealed!”
She had closed her fan, and now she leaned across the table, reaching as
if she would tap Frank on the wrist with it, by the way of emphasis. It
was his left wrist she attempted to touch with the fan.
And he had no warning thrill to tell him of the frightful peril that was
so near.
A hand came down over the woman’s shoulder, grasped her wrist, held it!
Another hand snatched that fan from her grasp before it had touched
Frank Merriwell!
“Even the rattlesnake gives warning before striking!” said a deep,
well-known voice.
“Mr. Noname!” exclaimed Frank.
It was the Mystery who had suddenly appeared and snatched the fan from
the woman’s hand.
“Mr. Noname and Mademoiselle Nameless!” murmured Jack Diamond, looking
from one to the other. “Which is the greater mystery?”
The woman had fallen back in her chair, and she was staring at the
Mystery through the twin holes in her sable mask, her bosom rising and
falling tumultuously. The Man Without a Name fixed her with a steady,
piercing, accusing look. There was horror and condemnation in his gaze,
and she seemed to feel it.
“When the enemies of Dreyfus are forced to get a woman to do their
wretched work of murder, they have fallen pretty low!” said the man,
with deep contempt.
“Murder?” came from Frank.
“What does he mean?” gasped Jack.
The woman seemed to force a laugh from her lips, which had grown
colorless beneath their rouge.
“What are you talking about, you old fool?” she exclaimed, rather
coarsely. “You are crazy! You should be incarcerated in an asylum, and
not permitted to run around here and frighten folks with your wild
babble.”
Mr. Noname drew himself up, speaking quietly, so that he did not seem to
be saying anything unusual. In fact, everything that had taken place at
that table had occurred so quietly that those at the tables in the
immediate vicinity were not aware anything out of the ordinary was
happening.
“Others whom I have exposed in their deviltry have tried to make the
public believe me insane,” said Mr. Noname. “They have not been
successful, for always have I proved everything I have charged against
them. You, woman with the hidden face, I charge with an attempt at
murder!”
Again she forced that scornful laugh.
“Gentlemen,” she said, turning to Merry and Diamond, “will you be good
enough to call a waiter. I wish to enter complaint against this crazy
man.”
“Call a waiter,” said Mr. Noname. “I will call one for you.”
He did so, making a signal which caused one of the waiters to approach.
“Now enter your complaint!” said the Mystery, in a low, cold tone of
voice, his eyes fixed on the woman; “but remember that I have this fan
in my possession.”
The waiter came up, and asked what was wanted.
“The lady requested that you be summoned,” said Mr. Noname. “She is the
one who wants you.”
The waiter turned toward her inquiringly. She hesitated, while Mr.
Noname regarded her in grim, unbroken silence. All at once she laughed.
Then she ordered absinthe for herself, and told the waiter to bring any
drinks the others might wish.
The waiter looked to the others for orders, but received none. He
departed.
“Oh, why do you stare at me like that, old man?” cried the masked woman.
“I stare at you because I can see beneath that mask; I can see beneath
the flesh that covers your bones; I can see the grinning death-head you
carry on your shoulders!”
“How terrible! You would do well at frightening children. Why, you would
be as good as a jack-in-the-box! Give me back my fan.”
“No.”
“You will not?”
“No.”
“It belongs to me. You have no right to take it! Give it back!”
“No.”
The Man of Mystery was perfectly calm and determined in his refusal.
Frank and Jack looked on wonderingly. The woman turned swiftly on Frank
Merriwell.
“I appeal to you!” she cried. “You are a gentleman. Will you see me
insulted and robbed of my fan in such a manner?”
“You do well to appeal to one you were about to strike like a snake!”
said Mr. Noname, with a sneer. “A few moments ago you thought to destroy
him, and now you appeal to him to protect you from insult! You do well!”
“He is mad!” gasped the woman.
“She knows I speak the truth,” spoke the Mystery. “She cannot deny it.”
“I do deny it!”
“Indeed! I can prove every word I have spoken.”
“You can prove nothing! Who will believe anything you may say, old fool!
Give me that fan!”
She reached for it in a commanding manner. He leaned forward, as if to
comply, but made a sudden motion, as if he would tap her on the wrist
with the fan, as she had been about to tap Frank Merriwell when it was
snatched from her hand. She jerked her hand back, with a low cry of
terror!
Although the face of Mr. Noname remained as stern and grave as that of a
stone image, a sound like a scornful, triumphant laugh escaped his lips.
“It’s all I ask,” he said. “Just hold out your wrist and permit me to
tap you lightly with this fan.”
She made no move to do so.
“If you will do that,” said the man, “I’ll promise to restore the fan to
you instantly.”
Still she sat silent. The waiter came with the drink she had ordered.
She threw a piece of money on the table, then caught up the glass and
swiftly swallowed its contents.
Immediately she seemed to recover her nerve.
“You can see that he is crazy, Monsieur Merriwell,” she said to Frank.
“No one but a crazy man would make such a proposition.”
“You attempted to tap Frank Merriwell on the wrist with this fan, which
you held in a peculiar manner. All I ask before restoring it to you is
that I may tap you on the wrist in like manner.”
“The desire of an insane person!” she declared.
To Jack Diamond it seemed that she was right, but something told Frank
Merriwell that Mr. Noname knew very well what he was about.
The Man of Mystery said:
“I presume you have heard that it is best to humor the insane in any
little whims they may have. That being the case, why not humor me now.
It is a simple thing I ask, and entirely harmless, of course. Why not
permit me to tap you on the wrist with this fan, Mademoiselle Nameless,
as you call yourself?”
“Because I do not choose to do so.”
“Because you know such a blow would be followed by death, swift, sure,
and certain!” declared the Mystery fiercely. “Because you know the end
of your life would come as came the end of the miserable wretches
condemned by the Anti-Dreyfus League. Because you know the poison would
be injected into your veins, and in a few hours it would reach a vital
spot!”
“Look out for him!” cried the woman. “He is about to become violent!”
“This fan is a deadly instrument!” continued the strange old man. “Had
you tapped Frank Merriwell with it, no power on earth could have saved
him from death!”
She sprang up with a scream that attracted attention.
“He is mad!” she cried, pointing at Mr. Noname. “You can see it in his
eyes! He is about to attack me! Help! help!”
She turned to flee, and the man reached out to grasp her. In a moment
there was a great commotion in the theater. Two or three men leaped
between the woman and Mr. Noname, offering her protection. But she
waited for nothing. With all haste, she made her escape.
“It is too bad for her to get away like that,” said the Man of Mystery,
sitting down quietly at the table.
The men turned to look at him. Some of them were threatening, some
talked of having him arrested. He paid not the slightest attention to
them, apparently, but he leaned across the table and spoke to Jack and
Frank in a low tone of voice.
This is what he said:
“These men are members of the highest degree in the Anti-Dreyfus League!
They are sworn to commit murder, if needs be, to keep the prisoner of
Devil’s Island safe in his cage of iron!”
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