Copyright, 1900, by

ARTHUR W. MARCHMONT.

CONTENTS.

Chapter Page
I. A Night Adventure in Sofia[ 1]
II. “Now You Will Have to Join Us”[ 11]
III. The Princess Christina[ 21]
IV. “The Web is Wide, the Meshes hard toBreak”[ 32]
V. “Spernow”[ 43]
VI. The Duel and After[ 54]
VII. At the Ball [ 67]
VIII. At the Palace[ 79]
IX. “I have Unbounded Faith in You”[ 90]
X. “In the Name of a Woman”[ 101]
XI. Betrayed[ 112]
XII. The Spy [ 123]
XIII. Face to Face[ 135]
XIV. The Countess’s Ruse[ 148]
XV. A Hopeless Outlook[ 161]
XVI. “If I Were a Woman”[ 171]
XVII. A Dastardly Scheme[ 183]
XVIII. The Fight[ 194]
XIX. My Arrest[ 202]
XX. A Warning[ 214]
XXI. Fight or Flight[ 226]
XXII. The Hour of Indecision[ 236]
XXIII. In Full Cry[ 247]
XXIV. The Attack[ 257]
XXV. Suspense[ 267]
XXVI. A Forlorn Hope[ 280]
XXVII. A Friend in Need[ 291]
XXVIII. A Fearsome Dilemma[ 303]
XXIX. General Kolfort to the Rescue[ 313]
XXX. The Push for the Frontier[ 323]
XXXI. The Ruined Hut[ 335]
XXXII. “Greater Love Hath no Man”[ 352]
XXXIII. The End[ 358]

IN THE NAME OF A WOMAN

CHAPTER I
A NIGHT ADVENTURE IN SOFIA

“Help!”

The cry, faint but strenuous, in a woman’s voice, rang out on the heavy hot night air, and told me that one of those abominable deeds that were so rife in the lawless Bulgarian capital was in progress, and I hastened forward in angry perplexity trying to locate the sound.

I knew what it meant. I had been strolling late through the hot, close streets between the Park and the Cathedral, when a woman closely hooded had hurried past me, dogged by a couple of skulking, scuttling spies, and I had turned to follow them. Across the broad Cathedral Square I had lost sight of them, and, taking at random one of the streets on the opposite side of the square, I was walking and listening for some sound to guide me in their direction.

“Help!” came the cry again, this time close to me from behind a pair of large wooden gates, one of which stood ajar. I pushed it open and crossed the courtyard before a large house, loosening as I ran the blade of the sword-stick I carried. The house was in darkness in the front, and as I dashed round to the back the cry was uttered for the third time, while I caught the sounds of struggling.