LADY ATHLYNE BY BRAM STOKER PAUL R. REYNOLDS NEW YORK COPYRIGHT. Copyright, 1908, by BRAM STOKER CONTENTS. I. On the “Cryptic” II. In Italy III. De Hooge’s Spruit IV. The Bird-cage V. An Adventure VI. True Heart’s Content VII. A Discussion VIII. “Look at Me!” IX. The Car of Destiny X. A Letter XI. The Beautiful Twilight XII. Echo of a Tragedy XIII. Instinctive Planning XIV. A Banquet on Olympus XV. “Stop!” XVI. A Painful Journey XVII. The Sheriff XVIII. Pursuit XIX. Declaration of War XX. Knowledge of Law XXI. Application of Law XXII. The Hatchet Buried XXIII. A Harmony in Gray LADY ATHLYNE CHAPTER I. ON THE “CRYPTIC” On the forenoon of a day in February, 1899, the White Star S. S. _Cryptic_ forced her way from Pier No. 48 out into the Hudson River through a mass of floating ice, which made a moving carpet over the whole river from Poughkeepsie to Sandy Hook. It was little wonder that the hearts of the outwardbound passengers were cheered with hope; outside on the wide ocean there must be somewhere clear skies and blue water, and perchance here and there a slant of sunshine. Come what might, however, it must be better than what they were leaving behind them in New York. For three whole weeks the great city had been beleaguered by cold; held besieged in the icy grip of a blizzard which, moving from northwest to south, had begun on the last day of January to devastate the central North American States. In one place, Breckenridge in Colorado, there fell in five days--and this on the top of an accumulation of six feet of snow--an additional forty-five inches. In the track swept by the cold wave, a thousand miles wide, record low temperatures were effected, ranging from 15° below zero in Indiana to 54° below at White River on the northern shore of Lake Superior.