Produced by Charles Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team THE TREASURE-TRAIN BY ARTHUR B. REEVE FRONTISPIECE BY WILL FOSTER CONTENTS CHAPTER I. THE TREASURE-TRAIN II. THE TRUTH-DETECTOR III. THE SOUL-ANALYSIS IV. THE MYSTIC POISONER V. THE PHANTOM DESTROYER VI. THE BEAUTY MASK VII. THE LOVE METER VIII. THE VITAL PRINCIPLE IX. THE RUBBER DAGGER X. THE SUBMARINE MINE XI. THE GUN-RUNNER XII. THE SUNKEN TREASURE I THE TREASURE-TRAIN "I am not by nature a spy, Professor Kennedy, but--well, sometimes one is forced into something like that." Maude Euston, who had sought out Craig in his laboratory, was a striking girl, not merely because she was pretty or because her gown was modish. Perhaps it was her sincerity and artlessness that made her attractive. She was the daughter of Barry Euston, president of the Continental Express Company, and one could readily see why, aside from the position her father held, she should be among the most-sought-after young women in the city. Miss Euston looked straight into Kennedy's eyes as she added, without waiting for him to ask a question: "Yesterday I heard something that has made me think a great deal. You know, we live at the St. Germaine when we are in town. I've noticed for several months past that the lobbies are full of strange, foreign-looking people. "Well, yesterday afternoon I was sitting alone in the tea-room of the hotel, waiting for some friends. On the other side of a huge palm I heard a couple whispering. I have seen the woman about the hotel often, though I know that she doesn't live there. The man I don't remember ever having seen before. They mentioned the name of Granville Barnes, treasurer of father's company--" "Is that so?" cut in Kennedy, quickly. "I read the story about him in the papers this morning." As for myself, I was instantly alive with interest, too. Granville Barnes had been suddenly stricken while riding in his car in the country, and the report had it that he was hovering between life and death in the General Hospital. The chauffeur had been stricken, too, by the same incomprehensible malady, though apparently not so badly. How the chauffeur managed to save the car was a miracle, but he brought it to a stop beside the road, where the two were found gasping, a quarter of an hour later, by a passing motorist, who rushed them to a doctor, who had them transferred to the hospital in the city. Neither of them seemed able or willing to throw any light on what had happened. "Just what was it you overheard?" encouraged Kennedy.