La Grande evening observer., May 23, 1917, Image 3

"WEDNESDAY, MAY 23, 1917.
LA GRANDE EVENING OBSERVER.
PAGE THREE
(This serial story is being shown in motion pictures every Wednesday
and Thursday at Colonial theatre. Head it in the Observer and see it at
the Colonial Theatre.)
SYNOPSIS
W3n Windward Island Palldorl Intrigues'
rs. Golden Into an appearance of evil
!whlch causes Golden to capture and tor
ture the Italian by branding hie face and
lorushlng his hand. Palldorl opens ' the
dyke gates and Hoods the Island and In
the general rush to escape the flood kid
naps Qoldea's six-year-old daughter Mar-
Sury. Twelve years later In New York a
asked One calling himself "the Hammer
of God" rescues an eighteen-year-old girl
rom the cadet Casavantl, to whom Jules
Legar had delivered her, and takes her to
the home of Enoch Golden, millionaire,
whence she is recaptured by Legar. Legar
and Stein are discovered by Manley. Gol
den's seoretary, setting fire to Golden'
buildings, but escape.
j THIRD EPISODE
THE COGNAC CASK
I "Bring that woman In here!" com-'
manded Enoch Golden as he flung
-open his library door. He stepped in
side, the next moment, as the figure
In black, pinioned close between
young Manley and Wilson, the butler,
"was piloted Into the shadowy room.
; "Sit down!" he barked out at the
eilent and motionless figure with the
heavy black veil still draping its face.
' "Manley, is there any chance of
this woman being armed?" Golden
suddenly asked of his secretary.
"She's not armed, sir," was young
Manley's quiet reply, "though it took
a tussle before Wilson and I could
get hold of her."
"Well," Golden said to the veiled
figure in the chair, "what brought you
spying and lurking about my home?"
That waB a question which the wom
an apparently chose to leave unan
swered. "Do you Intend to answer?" de
manded the millionaire. "Or must I
have you put out of this house with
out a hearing?"
"That seems to bo a habit of which i
time has not deprived you," was the
quiet-toned reply.
It was not the muffled sting in those
-words, nor the calm bitterness with
which they were spoken, but more
the voice Itself, with Its ghostly re
minder of other days, that brought
Golden up Bhort.
"Who are you?" he repeated when
he saw that he and the veiled woman
-were alone in the room. "And why
are you here?"
"You will misjudge that?' answered
the woman as she threw back the
heavy foldB of her veil, "as much as
you misjudged my actions of twenty
years ago!"
"Why are you here?" repeated Gold
en, with unconsciously hardening
voice.
"It was love for my daughter!"
The pugnacity went out of the grim
face bent over the desk top.
"What do you know about about
your daughter?" he demanded, not
meeting her gaze.
"I know that she is in danger,. In
terrible danger."
"That means you know where she
is, where she could be found?" was
Golden's quick inquiry.
"That is the one thing that made
me brave enough, or cowardly enough.
"I Could Hear Their Talk Through the Little Kitchen 8llde."
to come to you. I do not know where
she Is. But I know that she can be
found!"
"So you have a suspicion where she
Is?"
"Yes," acknowledged the patient
eyed woman.
"What are those suspicions founded
on?"
"On certain words which I over
heard, words spoken by a very evil
man."
"What is that man's name?"
"He is a one-armed man, named Le
gar." Golden half rose from his chair.
"So you and Legar are still com
Tades, I see!" he cried, turning the
tade of hate in that still open wound
of pride.
"Legar and I never were comrades,
pftw years I hare kept a little res
taurant for art students and shopgirls,
Jnst off Washington square. It Is
near the Italian quarter there. Some-
times a foreigner or two comes In.
mostly by accident But yesterday,)
when I was in the kitchen, three men
came In a hurry. They had dodged
under cover there to escape being
seen by a plain-clothes man. I could
hoar their talk through the little
kitchen slide through which we pass
our dishes. And when I heard their
voices I opened the slide a little, and
I knew at once that one ot the men
was Palldorl, or Legar, as he calls
himself now. He was talking mostly
to a man called Casavantl. Then"
"Walt a minute," Interrupted Gold
en, with his finger on the bell button,
"I want my secretary to hear this."
The woman In black sat silent until
Manley had re-entered the room. Then
Golden motioned for her to continue.
"I heard Legar mention your name,"
she went on, still unmoved by the
older man's half-sneering incredulity.
"Then he blamed Casavantl tor some
scheme that had failed, some scheme
to degrade my Margory. But he had
.the girl back, he said, and this time
he'd expect Casavantl to do his part.
"Casavantl also said he wanted that
woman for himself, and declared she'd
come like a hungry cat when he'd fin
lshed with her. I knew then what he
was. I knew what Legar was plan
ning. It It made me forget every
thing. I started for the table where
they were. I trlod to hold Legar. I
,1 think I called for help. I clung to
him as he staggered toward the door.
But one of bis men struck me. They
escaped, then, for I was too dazed to
do anything more."
It was Manloy who spoke next, an
eager light In his scowling young eyes.
"But where did they say the girl
was?" he asked.
"They did not say. But one of them
spoke of Oyster Joe, who'd stolen
some casks of old cognac. This man
Oyster Joe was sending the casks by
another man named Old Ell to some
secret hiding place."
"But how can that help us?" asked
Manley.
"I thought, with those names to
work, with, I might In some way find
my child, find her and save her. Sure
ly, with money, men oould be hired "
"Do you hoar, Manley," broke In the
grim-Jawed man of millions. "It's
money again! It's always money!"
He wheeled about and confronted the
tired-faced woman. "This Is the sec
ond pretty story I've had to listen to
lately. And, madam, I may as well
tell you now that I don't believe a
single word of it. Whether you're an
other come-on for that Cookson gang
or not, I don't know. I don't even
care. But I know that twenty years
ago you deceived me, and lied to me.
You robbed me of more than my home
then. But you'll never do It a second
time!"
The white-faced woman was also on
her feet by this time.
"I have no wish to go back to the
past," was her coldly-enunciated re
ply. "I expect neither pity nor gen-
erosity from you. But when your own
daughter is in danger, when you could
save her, when " her voice broke as
she saw the look of adamant on Gold
en's face. "Oh, it's no use; it's no
use!" Bhe cried sobblngly as she
turned and groped her way towards
the door.
It was not until that door closed be
hind ber that Golden once more sank
Into his chair. And as he sat there,
wrestling with his own tangled emo
tions before the dark tent of hlB soul,
Manley stood staring down at him
with both studious and puzzled eyes.
"For a man who counts his money
In eight figures," that youth finally de
clared, "I think you're the most un
mitigated ass that ever wore shoe
leather!"
"Wha what's that?" demanded the
astounded millionaire.
"Why, man, are you blind? Can't
you see this woman Is sincere, that
she's telling the truth, that she prob
ably holds In her hand the key of all
your future happiness?" i
"The key to my happiness Is no
longer In that woman's hands," an
nounced Golden. Yet a tremulous .
note in his great voice sent a wave i
ot pity surging through the younger
man, whose arm went out to the stoop-i 1
ing shoulder so close to him. . And!'
that unexpectedly Intimate touch, ap
parently, was too much for the al
ready unnerved man at the desk, for
with a gesture oddly poignant he lift
ed his hand and pressed It against his
closed eyes, as though in an effort to
shut away actualities which were too
dark to be endure.
- Manjoy. as he, did Bo, slipped. hand
in under the lapel of the older man's
coat, lifted a wallet lightly from Its
pocket, and stood upright again.
Then, with a shrug that was almost
one of pity m he looked down at the
still silent millionaire, he turned
away and slipped out of the room.
The departing woman had already
passed through the Btreet door before
he could overtake her. Bhe stopped
wonderlngly at his call to her.
"Mr. Golden, madam, seems to have,
changed his mind. Here are a few
hundred dollars from him, which may
be ot material assistance to you in this
matter you spoke of."
Manley, who bad taken the roll of
bills from the wallet, was quite solemn-faced
as he handed the money to
the equally solemn-faced woman. Yet
the shadow of a smile played about
his lips as he watched the austere
figure In black disappear from sight
Then he turned back to the library.
There he found Golden pacing back
and forth, padding grotesquely about
from pocket to pocket
"Manley, my wallet's gone!" was
the financier's cry.
'Was there any money in it?" In
quired the secretary.
"What d' you suppose I'd keep In
It?" was the impatient demand. "Tal
cum powder? Of course there was
money in it over four hundred dol
lars in greenbacks!"
Manley shook his head in mock sor
row. ' "
"This, sir, looks Ilka very grave
carelessness!"
"It looks like very grave thievery to
me," snapped the older man.
The Emissary in Oak.
Midway botwon that portion of New
-York harbor, known as the Upper bay,
and the open reaches of the sea that
wash up the sands of Manhattan
beach, lies a district that might be fit
tingly denominated as No Man's land.
One of the least savory habita
tions adorning that fringe of a city's
flotsam was the ruinous boathouse of
a certain Oyster Joe.
And Oyster Joe, the river pirate,
looked the part. The unsteadiness ot
his still muscular limbs, the looseness
of his swollen Hps, the unkemptness
of his entire surroundings, all united
to proclaim him a lover of the cup that
can cheer and at the same time inebri
ate. This fact, Indeed, was further
evidenced by the earnestness with
which Oyster Joe, himself making his
way Into the sail loft, lifted a worn
tarpaulin aside and studied a row of
cognac casks.
' So Intent was his study of this
wealth of Joy to be that he saw and
heard nothing of a slender-bodied
stranger who quietly approached his
abode, entered it, and stared studious
ly about What made this intruder
even more mysterious was the fact
that across the upper part of his face
he wore a narrow band of yellow cloth.
The movements of this mysterious
stranger were marked by celerity.
When his investigations. In fact, were
suddenly interrupted by a sound which
grew louder along the narrow road
winding inland through the salty
marshes, he crept to the door, peered
out and prepared himself for a prom
ised intruder. For approaching Oys
ter Joe's boathouse he could plainly
make out a two-horse wagon driven by
a slattern-shouldered and white-bearded
man of about sixty.
The masked Intruder crept back
through the boathouse, entered the
sail loft and stealthily approached the
still musing figure of Oyster Joe. In
a moment be had the old pirate bound
and gagged.
Then, hearing the wagon wheels al
most at the door, the stranger dragged
his Inert captive to a nearby beam,
lashed him to It and over him threw
the tarpaulin from the cognac casks.
Slipping back to the outer rooms
the masked stranger drew his revolver
and stood close in beBlde the shadow
of the door, calmly waiting for the
man who had already alighted from
the wagon.
From the mouth behind the white
whiskers came a squeak, like the
squeak of a rat behind a wainscoting,
as the stranger's revolver was thrust
unexpectedly Into his startled old face.
Before he could quite recover from
that Initial shock of surprise a strand
of rope was around his wrists and he
was being backed unceremoniously
away Into the sail loft.
There, gagged and triced to a beam,
he kept company with his rolling-eyed
and equally mystified confrere, OyB
ter Joe. There he sat blinking about
him as the masked stranger briskly
rolled two of the cognac casks out to
the watting wagon; loaded them on
the platform and as briskly drove
away, taking with him both the time
worn hat and the bottle-green overcoat
of the original driver of that wagon.
But bjfo: debouching from the
open mars'. : mas Into the busier out
skirts of Brooklyn the audacious
abductor o: cognac had converted
hlmBelf into t somewhat startling fac
simile of the earlier owner and driver
of the wagon.
He directed his course towards that
subterranean haven of illicit beverages
known as the Owl's Nest wham
Margory Golden was listlessly mak
ing preparations for the coming meal.
She Btarted suddenly as she stooped
over the fire smoldering In the
blackened fireplace. For from a
crevice in the wall, a crovlce no big
ger than a man's band, a piece ot mor
tar unmistakably flew out and struck
her on the arm. She was still staring
incredulously Into this crevioe when
a flutter of white passed her eyes and
a small square ot paper fell at her feet
close to the edge ot the coals. She un
folded the missive and read:
. "A cask of oognao Is coming. If Le
gar and his men drink from it they
should be dr'--;ed asleep InBlde of ten
minutes. Prccs spring concealed on
top of cask i-- follow directions there.
Don't give up. And If you understand
this, tap twice with the tire tongs."
i Below these words was the sign of
'the Laughing Mask.
So fortifying was this knowledge In
fact that when Casavantl and Legar
himself entered the gloomily-lighted
"l Was Too Dazed
room, Margory Golden no longer,
cringed at the Bound of their voices.
Casavantl, walking over to , her,,
turned her face to the light. He peered!
at it hungrily, from half-closed eyes.
"Legar," he called out to that;
worthy, who had remained at the door
to warn his etlckup to admit nobody
but immediate members of their band,'
"I like the spirit in this girl. She's as
sleek as a she-panther."
Legar's stlckup dodged In through
the door.
"Say, chief, there's an outsider tryin'
to butt in here!"
Both men promptly whooled about
at those somewhat disconcerting
words. .
"Who Is he?" was Legar's quick,
query.
"An ol' boob wit' a bar'l o' brandy.!
Says he's driven in from OyBter
dump!"
Legar looked relieved. Casavantl
even lighted another cigarette.
"That's all right. It's Old Ell. Help
him in with it. But see that nobody
else gets near that outside door."
"There's always help around, Casa
vantl, in a case like this," proclaimed
the scoffing Legar as a wblte-wlilsk-ered
old figure In bottle-green coat
and hat laboriously rolled the cask ot
liquor through the opened door. The
Owl, with unlooked-for nlmbloness In j
one of her years, was already close
at hand, waiting with bung starter and
glasses.
Margory watched the suddenly clam
orous group as they clustered about
the open barrel. Her heart sank as
glasses were refilled and the clamor,
Instead of diminishing, grow louder
and louder.
Then, even as she stood depressed
and troubled by this thought, a soft
pedal seemed to be slowly applied to
the tumult about her. The soporific
Owl herself, stumbling to a chair,
Bank Inertly Into It. Then one after
another they Bank Into dreamless i
stupor. I
It was then, and only then, that '
Margory dared to move. She studl-
ously starod at that uncouth company ,
of sleepers. Then, no longer watch- !
Ing them, but with her eyes on the !
door through which their lookout j
might at any moment appear, she
groped her way to the side of the bar- ,'
rol. There she felt about the black
ened oak barrel top for the hidden
spring. A gasp of reliof escaped her
lips as she found it. The covering fell
back on Its concealed hinge, and float- .
ing inside It she found a white pine
shaving on which was written: j
"Turn barrel and empty. It. Then 1
get In and replace cover. All will be
well." i
The stlckup bo covertly yet bo dis
consolately watching for any suspi
cious approach to Legar's Watergate
quarters, was astonished, a few min
utes later, to bohold the white-whiskered
old man In the bottle-green coat
once more drive up to the door of
the Owl's nest.
"HI, you, gimme a hand with this
bar'l!" that bewhlskered driver com
manded. "What have you got this time?" In
quired the watchman.
"I wob bonehead enough to leave
the wrong cask with the chief! Stung
him with thirty gallonB of 'cooking
sherry' that's about one-half wood al
cohol." "And what's that?" demanded the
lookout, with envious eyes on the
cask.
"This is the real stuff! That raw
dope's for Doolan's election worker a!"
"And the bunch a'ready soused wit'
It!" commented the even more envi
ous etlckup as he helped roll the sec
ond barrel Into Legar's Inner quarters.
Slowly the two men carried out the
barrel and lifted it to the wagon
Then the driver climbed aboard.
It was not until that driver was woll
away from the' -waterfront and had
rounded many a corner, that be ven
tured to pull up and tap on' the oak
staves beside him.
"It's all right!" he called out as be
felt about the rough oak and found
the bidden spring. "Just bold steady
now, and I'll help you out"
The girl uttered a sigh ot thankful
ness as they once more got under way.
e e
The Race for Freedom.
Those two worthies known as Old
Ell and Oyster Joe had, in their time,
struggled with many knots. But nev-
to Do Anything More,'
er had they worked harder than over
the knots ot the mysterious stranger
who had left them trussed and bound
to the beams of their own sail loft
They might, indeed, have remained
gurgling and writhing there like two
tethered copperheads while the care
less tldcB rose and fell about them,
had not one Scupulo visited Coney
Island in his dilapidated car of an'
clent vintage, and having there con
ferred with a lush dip in hiding from
the flatties of Manhattan, decided to
circle homeward by way of Oyster
Joe's, in the hope of that refreshment
wbir'i had more than once cheered
him on his dusty Journeys.
Instead of finding refreshment, how
ever, he unearthed two ferocious-eyed
and dry-throated captives, who, when
released, danced and gesticulated in
coherently about their habitation.
Then, when Bpeech had returned to
them the visit of the mysterious
strangor was explained and the neces
sity of gottlng In touch with Legar
made plain. . ...
It was not long, accordingly, before
three men and a car naively missing
on one cylinder went coughing Inland
along the narrow road threading
those uncounted acres of sea marsh.
They were within fifty paces of a
cross-roads landmark known as Chlm-ney-Pot
Corner when a bellow not un
like that of a branded range steer
burst from the indignant throat of Old
Ell. For that worthy had the unique
experience of beholding not only his
own purloined team and wagon, but
a disconcertingly lifelike replica, of
himself driving it. Scupulo, with the
genius of a true general, arrested the
progress of. that wagon by promptly
stopping his car directly in its track.
This colllaion In no way Improved the
vohlclo of ancient vintage; but sterner
issues wore at hand. A moment later
the belligerent trio from the broken
car were trimphantly charging for
Margory Golden and her guardian.
That guardian, fully realizing the
meaning of the charge, tossed his
reins to tho frightened girl and com
manded hor to drive for all she was
worth. Then he himself prepared for
Invaders.
It was to the first comer that he
directed his main attention, for Scupu
lo, ho noticed, already hold a knife in
hlB swarthy hand. Ono well-placed
kick on tho clenching knuckles, how
ever, sent that glimmering Icicle of
steel circling off Into tho road-dust,
and an equally well-placed blow on tho
Jaw sent the owner of tho knife after
it
In tho meantime, however, both Oys
ter Joe and Old Eli had gained the
wagon platform. The former found
himself suddenly clonchod by the
waist and lifted clear of the wagon.
Why he should so quickly and so vio
lently come Into collision with the
swaying figure of Oyster Joe, like an
alley ball hitting a nine-pin, was a
matter which for all time remained a
mystery to him. But over the Bide of
the thundering wagon the two figures
suddenly toppled, rolling along the
dust with limbs Interlaced and claw
ing hands unreasonably clenched in
each other's hair. And before they re
gained either their feet or their men
tal faculties, the wagon Itself was well
on Its way.
Yet the driver of that wagon knew
that his escape was only a temporary
one.
"We've got to get out ot this!" he
called to the lurching girl at his side,
as he seized the reins and caught up a
whip. "We've got a run of a mile and
more before we can reach Bohawkin
bridge and help!"
He lashed the team forward. "We've
got to get to that bridge!"
The girl suddonly caught at his arm.
"I can see a carl" she called out
"It's following us) It's gaining on usl"
Again the driver plied his whip.
"Are they still gaining?" he asked, '
a moment later. -
"Yes," was the girl's answer. "But,
see, there's the bridge ahead of usl" I
"By the help ot God, we can make
It!" suddenly exulted the man at the)
relnB, for already his tired team watl
plunging up the Incline of the bridge
approach. They were on the bridge
now, thundering across the draw. I
A power house attendant framed tail
his grimy doorway, stared at them tad.
wonder. !
'Lift your drawl" frenzledly com-
manded the stranger. "Stop that carlj
God's sake stop that car!" i.
ut the mail In the Jumper saw BA
reason for any such action. The otheri
brushing him aside, leaped to the cow
trol lever. The outraged brldgetender
at the same moment leaped for the In
truder. But that Intruder, for all this sud
don attack, was not to be turned from
his' purpose. The lever was thrown
over and one end of the massive draw,
responding to the impulse of the equal
ly massive machinery, rose' slowly,
from the Up of the dusty roadway.'
Legar's car was already thundering
across Its span as that network of
stool began to lift.
; But the increasing incline ot the
draw, for all the car'B momentum,
sucked from that straining engine lta
added strength, retarded a little and .
yet a little more the hurrying wheels.
But in the ascension of the draw-end
there was no delay. ' '
It was then and then only that a
sudden .shout rose from the. car. Five
men, realizing what lay before them,,
stood up In their seats as that throbs
blng and pulsing thing on wheels,
mounting to the edge of the draw, for
one" moment poised there, and then
dropped, like a poolball in Its pocket
to tho riverbed below. - , . - i
It was not until then that, the be
whlskered man at the control lever be
came fully conscious of the fact that
the engineer In the oll-stalned Jumper
was striking and clawing at. his Intent
body. He endured that assault until
the lever had been reversed 'and the
draw started back on its , descent.
Then, , wheeling, the stranger sped
across the draw and leaped into the
waiting wagon. ' r
"Look!" cried the girl, pointing tor
the riverbed beneath them.
1 There the stranger could see Legar
and two or three of his men clinging
to a row of broken piling like limpets
about a river derelict.
"I was hoping," said the stranger
as ho caught up the reins, "that this
would be the last of him!"
"Why should you hope that?" asked
the girl at his side as they went lurch
ing onward again.
"I hoped It for your sake," was his
answer.
"But who are you, that you should
do all this for me?"
"Look back and make sure we're not
ft 3P v' i .
He Directed His Course Toward the
Owl's Nest.
being followed," was tho stranger's an
swer. "Then I'll tell you!"
Tho girl starod back along the dusty
roadway. But along that roadway was
nothing to be seen.
What she saw when Bhe turned
again, though, was a gray wig and a
fringe of yellowish-white whiskers
lying in the bottom of the wagon.
And when she lifted her eyes to tho
Btranger's face she beheld on that
face, suddenly rejuvenated, the nar
row band ot a yellow maBk, a yellow
mask which covered the eyes and the
upper part of the head. But belowthe
mask. Intimidating as it was in its
mystery, she could see that the mouth
was a smiling one. ,
(TO BE CONTINUED.) '
1