'WEDNESDAY, MAY 30, 1917.
LA GRANDE EVENtKG OBSERVER.
PAGE THREH
(This serial story la being: shown
and Thursday at ' Colonial theatre.
the Colonial Theatre.)
SYNOPSIS, i
On Windward Island Palldoii Intrigue
9&ra- Golden Into an appearance of evil
-which causes Golden to capture and tor
ture the Italian by branding his t&oe and
-crushing Ills hand. Palldorl opens the
-dyke gates and Hoods the Island and In
the general rush to escape tlie Hood kid
nape Qolden's six-year-old daughter Mar
gor?. Twelve yean later In New York a
jaaaked One nailing himself "the Hammer
of God" rescues an eighteon-year-old girl
from the cadet Cas&vautl, to whom Jules
Zjegar has delivered hor, and t&kuB her to
the home of Knoch Golden, millionaire,
whence she Is recaptured by Legar. Legar
and Stein are discovered by Munkiy, Qol
den's secretary, setting Are to Golden's
buildings, but escape. Margorys mother
fruitlessly Implores Enoch Golden to
find their daughter. The Masked One
again takes Margory away from Legar.
i FOURTH EPISODE
; THE NAME AND THE GAME
Legar had reason to feel well
pleased with his morning's work. De
feated for the timo being. In one quar
ter, he promptly Bwung about and
struck at another.
Hia attack, in this Instance, was di
rected at nothing Icbb than Enoch
Golden's own home. There, effecting
an entrance through a neglected coal
chute before even the servants were
astir, he had crept stealthily upward
until he found rofuge In a trunk room.
Through the door crack of this trunk
room, however, he soon had the dubi
ous pleasure of beholding a Qgure quite
as stoalthy as his own, a figure that
wore a laughing mask and made Its
way cautiously downward to the door
of Enoch Golden's study. On that door
the masked figure, bofore vanishing
as quietly as it had first appeared,
pinned an oblong paper. Stealing up
to it, Legar read:
Enoch Golden: You have proved a
disappointment to me. Despite my
warnings, you still oppress the poor
and abuse your power. Your daugh
ter has been saved from the olutches
of Legar, and at the proper time will
be produced. But that time will not
come until you have changed your
ways of life. So while still you have
the chance, do some good deedl
THE LAUGHING MASK.
. Legar, having thoughtfully perused
this strange warning, promptly added
a postscript:
As a slight sign of my disapproval,
I am appropriating your fifty thousand
dollars from the vaults of the Third
National bank, for which I now take
occasion to thank you.
Ten minutes later Legar had made
his escape from the house and was
speeding southward in his car, to con
fer with his own man as to the ap
proaching assault on Golden's wealth
In the Third National vaults.
The Laughing Mask himself, In the
meantime, was busy with his own en-
I
if W
A Figure That Wore a Laughing Mask.
y terprise. He had rescued Margory
Golden from Legar, it was true, but
her conveyance to a place of safety,
In open daylight, was a much more
difficult problem. In his extremity,
accordingly, he had to resort to those
expedients nearest at hand.
This led him down a secluded by
way, where the powder shack of a con
struction company still stood half way
up a wooden hillside. At the end of
a tunnel piercing this hillside was a
timbered chamber for high explosives.
Guarded as it was with its double lock,
the Laughing Mask seemed an expert
In the manlpulatlbn of such obstacles,
since five minutes' work with his
skeleton keys threw open that well
hidden room. Once there, he even ven
tured to explore his surroundlugB and
take from their case certain small cylin
ders Incased in grease-stained paper.
He did not explain to the already over
puzzled girl, however, that theBe
In motion pictures every Wednesday
Read it in tie Observer and see it at
grease stains were made by a sub
stance known as nitroglycerin, nor
did he explain to her, at the end of
his quiet yet hurried labors, that the
looped Una hanging at the tunnel
mouth was in any way connected with
the fulminate caps which ha had
placed so pregnantly close to hlB bur
ied mine. But It was well, he remem
bered, to be prepared for such men
as Legar and his followers.
"Now," said the masked figure, turn
ing to the girl, "I want you to Btay
here until I get back."
Waiting for her deliverer's return,
however, proved neither a pleasant
nor a tranquillzlng pastime. The girl
became restless. Then she became
worried. Then she even ventured to
creep out along the rough-shored pas
sageway, to where the tunnel opened
on a shelf of rock acd gravel half way
up the hillside. Screened aa it was
with shrubbery she could see little of
the valley before her. The only point
of life that met her gaze was a black
touring car crawling along the valley
road. When that car turned off the
road and twUted and rocked in be
tween the bushes below her she
thought, at first, that it was her un
known guardian returning to her. But
when she saw five men .cautiously
emerge from that half-hidden car and
creep still closer through the under
brush, Bho felt sure that they were
not approaching as friends. For a mo
ment her heart leaped up Into her
mouth. Then she breathed again, for
she saw that they were not approach
ing her hiding place, but apparently
seeking one of their own. And as they
foregathered behind a screen of scrub
oak not more than thirty feet Jolow
her she knew both by their guarded
tones and their general conspiratorial
aspect that they stood intent on their
own ends, quite oblivious of her and
her hiding place.
Her face paled, however, as s!ie
heard the clearer and more authorita
tive tonca of i i of those speakers.
For that voice, ulio knew, belonged to
Lepar, and only to Legur.
The girl, pushing her cautious way
through the bushes, leaned even closer
over the ledge. Then she held her
breath, for she saw that her move
ments had loosened the gravel at hor i
feet and sent a covey of bowlders
careening down the hillside. Tho
voices below at the same timo cams
to a sudden stop. In another moment
sho could hear tho crash of hurrying
feet through tho tangled shrubbery.
Before she could turn mid 11 y Le
gar and his four evil-facod followers
were charging up the slope. They
were upon hor, cutting off her retreat
befove she could dodge back Into the
passageway. Yet she did not surren
der without a struggle. She fought
them back as best she oould, standing
at bay with her back against tho rocky
hlllBlde. It was not until Legar's hand
clamped like a viBe on her arm that
sho screamed, and screamed again.
A masked figure picking his cau
tious way along tho crest of the hill
above them heard that cry and seemed
to understand its meaning. For, on
hearing that repeated scream, he no
longer picked his way, but ran fran
tically, and with all his speed. So pre
cipitately did he scurry down that
rocky hillside, in fact, that he de
scended in a flying leap In the very
midst of Legar's followers clustered
about tho girl. He landed like a
fallen plumb bob, heels down, knock
ing one of the conspirators sprawl
ing over the cliff edge as he came. An
other he sent with a well-aimed blow
in the same direction. The third was
not disposod of so easily. But an
adept Jiu-jitsu twist of the body soon
sent this opponent diving headfore
most into tho looso gravel. It was
then that Legar, seeing his mon going
down about him like ninepluB, re
leased hiB clutch on the girl's arm to
draw his revolver.
At the sumo moment that he did
so the man in the mask, swinging the
girl sharply about, darted for tho tunnel-mouth.
He was through it before
Legar could level his gun and fire. He
waB half-leading, half-dragging the
panting girl down the narrow passage
before any of tho band could follow.
But before he dodged for the hidden
powder house he threw up bis free
hand and caught at the loop which
hung there at the end of his lino. And
he pulled It vigorously as he ran.
The result of that simple movement
was both prompt and appalling. The
thunder of a great detonation shook
the earth. The rocky hillside erupt
ed Into a sudden volcano of flying
earth and gravel, flinging its tons of
debrlB Into the echoing valley. And
under the debris could be seen the
still struggling limbs of Legar and hia
men.
But the man In the mask did not
linger to witness those struggles. He
darted with the white-faced girl out
of the broken tunnel mouth, dragged
her hurriedly up the slope and circled
down through rock and undorbrush to
where his hidden car awaited him.
The 8ecret Attack.
Enoch Golden was no longer a con
temptuously Indifferent man as he
faced his attorney, John Sibley, hur
riedly summoned tor a conference.
"I tell you, Sibley," said the man of
millions, "something has to be done,,
and done soon. I'm surrounded by ene
mies I can't run down, enemies I can't
even understand.- In the first place,
there's this man In a mask stalking
through my house and pinning threats
to my doorpanels. Then "
"Walt," cut in the man of law. "Did
anyone actually see thlB man of the
mask?",
"Yes, Wilson, my butler, came faoe
to face with him as he stepped out of
a passageway. Then, when my secre
tary, Manley, started In pursuit of the
Intruder, Instead of finding a stranger,
in this fool mask, he found his way
blocked by a girl, a girl In a oloak,
who seemed to come there out of thin
air. And that girl, sir, turned out
to be my own daughter, my own
daughter in some miraculous way res
cued from Legar."
"Brought there by the man In the
mask?"
. "Yes, brought there by him. So
she asserts. Yet this stranger, who
brings me back the one thing precious
in my life, on the same day assumes
to criticize my conduct and threatens
to rob me of my money."
"But that threat, as I've already
pointed out. Is foolish. Your money
has all the protection that steel and
civilization can surround it with. It
lies In the vaults of the Third National
bank."
"But I tell you I am surrounded by
enemies, by unknown enemies of great
skill and daring. That has already
been proved. And while they can
never make me cower, they have at
least made me cautious."
"I guess we'd better all go down to
the Third National and make sure
they're not putting their gold and
notes out on tho windowsllls for the
first crook that comes along to carry
off." said the lawyer.
President Stonington of the Third
National received them in his private
office and learned from Sibloy the
reason of his visit. Thnt official, in
fact, was an active sharer in the incre
dulity of the old lawyer. He quietly
touched a bell, sent for a uniformed at
tendant and instructed that attendant
WMAMmMm
"It's the Laughing Mask Agalnl" Said Legar With an Oath.
to, escort his visitor to the bank
vaults.
"Bo so good, Mr. Wells, as to show
our clients that our vaults are not
made of tissue paper."
This the attendant took much prldo
in doing.
The array of defensive measures,
puzzling as it was to the younger mem
bers of the party, served to bring a
sense of assurance to Enoch Golden
himself.
A certain one-armed criminal, nev
ertheless, was at that precise moment
very busily engaged In preparing for
his assault on this Gibraltar ot gold
so proudly regarded aa Impregnable.
Two workmen in the uniform of Gen
eral Electric employees, exploring a
section of abandoned cablo gallory,,
were busily engaged In enlarging a
wire conduit which met this gallery at
right angles. There, by means of an
electric mining drill, they burrowed
like two moles deep beneath the level
of the street along which the traffic
of a great city so ceaselessly ebbed and
flowed. From a manhole opening into
this gallery was quietly passed a huge
cylinder of iron capped by a drum of
zinc having a hinged cover. The two
subterranean workers had been
warned to handle tho cylinder with the
utmost care. And this thoy did, know
ing full well that its weight wns due
to the fact of Its being tightly packed
with high explosive.
Legar himself, In the meantime, hav
ing clothed a number of his henchmen
in uniforms and caps bearing the In
scription "Western National Bank," di
rected his attontion to tho much more
critical task of tracing tho signature,
Henry H. Stonington, on a typewritten
sheet bearing the embossed imprint
of the Third National.
His next move, once he had received
a report that his two gallery workers
had fitted their massive cylinder In tho
wire conduit and pushed It gently but
firmly Into tho uttermost recesses of
that conduit by moans of a Jointed
bamboo polo, was to verify the tlma
at which the detonating clock had
been set, advise his colleagues, and
take up his position In the window of
a building camandlng a view of the
great grant '! oastloned bank itself.
He conn-ud his watch from time
to time, w: "1 bis eyeB always going
hungrily b: 'c to the hcavy-plllared
back entranc Itself.
"In one minute," he announced,
"they'll get a doBe of the medicine they
gave ub this morning." Again he
looked at his watch.
A sudden thud and roar ot sound1
cut off all smaller sounds. Then came
the erles ot terror-stricken human be
ings, shrill calls tor help, hoarse
shouts from stalwart figures In uni
forms, and the sudden shrill of a po
liceman's whistle. The clamor and
tumult of the streets rose above the
quick and ever-nearlng throb ot en
gine bells, the gongs ot ambulances,
the rattle of lron-tlred patrol wagons
poundlnf over car rails, the shouts of
blue-ooated patrolmen already forming
their cordon around the dust-crowned
ruins.
"Fire!" was the cry that filled the
canyon I "The building's on fire I"
And It was then that Legar re
placed bis watch In his pocket, and
tossing aside tho field glasses through
which he had been viewing the street,
showed that he was once more him
self. "Now's the time, men," he an
nounced to his followers, "to get ready
for work I"
The Biter Bitten.
The news of the Third National
bank outrage Boon spread through the
city. And as the resultant fire grew
in intensity the crowd in the neighbor
hood grew in volume. Police reserves,
marshaled by a stalwart and stern
faced captain, had already estab
lished their fire Hues and still fought
back the overcurlous that trampled
the long scorpions of black hose and
kept edging and shouldorlng ever
closer' to the scene ot the great catas
trophe. There was no relaxing of vigilance,
in fact, whon the limousine of Enoch
Ooldon himself came throbbing and
crawling through that densely packed
mob of human bolngs. Golden blmsolf,
alighting from that car, ploaded and
stormed in vain with the Inexorable
officials confronting him. And while
he still frenzledly argued and demand
ed a hearing with the officers in
charge, a second vehicle made Its way
towards tho still smoldering ruins.
This second rohtcle was a motor
truck on which was mounted not only
a number of men in the uniform ot
bank attendants, but also a police lieu-
tenant, who had been requisitioned to
clear a way through the crowd. For
this was not the intrusion of mere cu
riosity seekers. That much the cap
tain In charge of the police lines
promptly discovered when he was on
tho point of ordering both truck and
attendants out of the forbidden terri
tory. For the cool-eyed mnn in com
mand of that truck had come well
armed for any such emergency. Into
the astonished hand of the police offi
cial ho thrust an authoritative-looking
document from the president of the
Third National himself:
This letter of introduction read:
To the Officials in Charge: Act
ing on an emergency decision of our
directors, I herewith authorize the
agents of the Western National Bank
to take possession of and remove the
contents of Third National Bank vaults
to the vaults of the Western National.
As this decision was arrived at to
frustrate any possible Interference
with our gold and collateral when so
obviously exposed, I trust you will do
everything possible to expedite the re
moval of this treasure to a place of
safety.
Yours very truly,
JOHN ELIOT 8T0NINGT0N,
President.
At the Bnme time that tho police
captain, acting on this peremptory or
der, was clearing a path to the neigh
borhood of tho still smoking vaults,
Enoch Golden, with Margory and Man
ley at his side, was fighting to break
through those Jealously guarded fire
lines. And at tho sight of tho motor
truck and tho Western National at
tendants his antics became eveu more
frenzied than before.
"I toil you I've got to got In there!"
he shouted to tho apathetic patrolman
holding him back.
"YeB," agreed the patrolman, "of
courso you'd like to get In there."
"But I tell you I'm Enoch Goldon,"
was tho financier's frantic cry.
"I don't care if you're the president
o' the United States," was the retort.
"You stay out."
It was young Manley himself, who,
watching his chance, Buddcnly slipped
in through tho lines and gained the
side of tho busy captuin before he
could bo stopped. For already the
work of removing the vault contents
was un'U-r way."
"You vo got to keep this gold from
going out," the young man cried Into
the face of the Bomewhat astounded
captain.
"Who are you?" demanded that offi
cial. "And what pipe school did yon
pick that idea from?"
"I picked It from a warning that
came to Enoch Golden this morning. I
toll you you're handing forty millions
to a bunch of crooks on a forged
order I"
The captain called to a couple of
his men.
"Tlerney, and you, Doolan, take this
bug-shooter In charge."
"Then telephone to Stonington him
self,' cried the frantlo Manley strug
gling in the grip ot his captors. Get
him on the wire himself, and see what
he says!"
"Patterson," he called out. "Take
charge here, and don't let this motor
truck move an inch until I verify this
order of Stonlngton's." Then he
turned to Manley. "You come with
me." .
The triumphant light soon went out
of young Manloy's face, however, as
he stood beside the captain in the
telephone booth. He could hear that
official call for the number, ask for
Stonington, and crisply demand of the
banker If the order for the vault trans
fer was autbentlo or not
"Ot courso it's authentic! And I
want to know what this game is!
What are you and your bunch out
there trying to put over?"
But Manley knew what he knew.
"I tell you that wasn't Stonington
that spoke. It couldn't have been!"
cried the desperate young secretary.
The captain was already on his feot
and fighting his way back to the fire
lines.
"Then suppose you go up and tell
him he's been dreaming," mocked the
lrato official. "Then get his affidavit
to that effect and amble back with it."
Manley himself was already darting
for the door.
. "That's Just what I'll do,", he callod
out as ho made for the corner of
Broadway on the run, and there, still
on the run, leaped to the running
board of an empty taxlcab north
bound.
Mauley's wait on Stonlngton's door
Btep was doubly disquieting. Still
more disquieting, however, was that
obeso banker's reply to the questions
so fiercely hurled at him.
"I gave out no such order. And no
such telephone call ever came to my
house tonight!"
"Thon got your phone, quick!" Man
ley warned him. "Get pollco hoad
quarters and Btorj that raid. Stop It In
side of ton minutes or your bank'U
look like a last year's bird neBt!"
The excited man of finance, who
had been shouting to his sorvauts, sud
denly ran to the nearest desk phono,
and struggled with tho instrument But
his strugglus were fruitless."
"My plume's dead," he cried out to
Manley. . "I can't raise central! I,
can't raise anything!"
"Thon beat it for that bank of
yours," advised Manley as he made for
tho door.
"Take me with you; for God's sake
take mo with you," cried Stonington,
catching up his hut and coat and fol
lowing him.
"I can't," retorted the young man
as ho darted for his waiting taxi. "I've
got to look for a crook callod OyBtor
Joe!"
The police lines about the ruins of
tho Third National bank, aa Manley
went scurrying through tho streets lit
tle dreaming that a stranger had pre
ceded him on that errand, had al
ready been strengthened by addition
al reserves as tho great motor truck
with Its bank guards was piled higher
and higher with the gold from the
blistorlng vaults. Then came tho call
for "Gungway!" And it became more
and more evident that no timely in
terception was to rob Legar aud his
men of their spoils. The heavy truck
was already crawling out from the
curb, its great wheels crunching over
cinders and charred wood, aB a mes
senger ran up to the officer in charge,
calling him to tho telophono.
That official held the receiver in his
band as the motor truck, gathorlng
speed as it threaded Its way through
a narrow aisle of open asphalt formed
by surging humanity, rounded the cor
ner into Broadway, thundered north
ward for three blocks, and again
turned eastward.
By tho time John Stonlngton's Ian
daulct reached tho bank, following the
warning already Bent on from head
quarters, an empty vault lay amid the
smoking ruins and Logar's galloon on
wheels, loaded to tho brink with its
stolen gold, had slipped away unchal
lenged through tho darknosB and all
trace of it had been lost.
Tho objective of that wheoled gal
leon, however, Boomed to havo been
nicely appreciated by Oyster Joe, quiet
ly smoking on tho duck of an extremely
powerful-englnud but extromely dirty
launch moored In the shadow of a
wharf. That worthy, Indeed, showed
a marked preference for gloom, since
neither his cabin nor hia dock lampa
wore alight. Equally without light
was tho lumbering truck which
crawled cautiously down to the Hp of
tho wharf, whore, after an exchange
of quiet whistled signals, a number ot
vaguely outlined flguros set about lift
ing a pile of Biuall but sturdy canvas
sacks and boxes from tho motor truck
to the waiting launch. This wua done
In utter silence. The moment the
transfer had been complotod the
launch slipped out from the wharf
shadow.
Morose as seemed tho man steering
that launch, the two nowcoraors who
had been ordered aboard bis craft,
after it had boon bo sllontly and quick
ly loaded, occupied much of his at
tention. It was soon pluln, however,
'hat ho had small wish for conversa
tion with them. When, after three
miles ot silent travel, during which the
white-bearded man at the wheel had
responded with nothing more than a
sulky grunt, one of the newcomers sud
denly struck a match and held It close
to the white-bearded face, the hand
gripping the wheel quite as suddenly
relinquished their hold and fastened
themselves aDout tne throat or tn
overlnqulsltlve cargo sentry. Before
his companion, standing quite close Ur
the bow ot the boat, could quite real
ize the meaning of the movement, the
two men beside the wheel were writh
ing and stamping and panting about
the narrow deck.
Fierce aa that fight was, it was not
a prolonged one. For the white-bearded
man, despite his age, with one final
aWakA .1 J 1 1 A. 1 I. ,
Legar Took Up His Position at a
. Window.
ponent clear of the dock-boards and
lllnglng htm headforemost into the
black water. Then he turned and
traced himself for the charge ot the
docond man. This second man he met
by dropping quite flat and unexpected
ly on the deck itsolf. Ho felt the
charging body go over his own, caught
at one still kicking foot as he twisted
quickly about, and bofore his opponent
could recover from that fall the patri
archal boat owner had assisted his un
welcome guest over the dock-Hp after
his companion.
But, oddly enough, in that struggle
tho bewhlskered old boatman had un
dergone a sudden and startling change.
The clutching fingers of hia enemy in
the second contest along the boatdeck
had burled themselves in the thick
white beard decorating that launch
ownor's chin. And when this enemy
went overboard that fringe of whis
kers went with him, leaving at the
wheel a Bomewhat altered and consid
erably younger looking man. And that
this unknown amender ot destinies
was still Intent on nursing the secret
ot hiu identity was further evidenced
by the fact that, bofore turning his
boat about and facing the ebb-tide cur
rent of the North river, he carefully
adjusted over hiB nose a narrow band
of yellow cloth, with its little apron
of an Inverted crescent. Still later,
aa he clOBoly watched tho light-spangled
shore Hue, he caught sight of
two small winging eyes of green and
red. Accepting this apparently as a
signal, he swung in close under the
shadow of a coal barge and made fast
at tho slip end, where high above him
a waiting taxlcab stood close beside
the stringpieco. Yet, hurried as the
man In the mask seemed to bo, he took
time to sit under one of the cabin
lamps and indite a short epistle. This
epistle, addrossed to "Enoch Golden
and his friends," read as follows:
The Funds of the Third National
bank vault are now In my possession
and will be duly returned to the right
ful owners. But that I may enjoy the
luxury of the game as well as the
name, I am withholding from those re
turned funds the fifty thousand dollars
In gold which was formerly the prop
erty of the man who, by oppressing
the poor, has compelled this action.
When that man looks into his own
heart and returns to the paths of wis
dom, this gold will be returned to him
by
THE LAUGHING MASK.
Still later that night whilo Davie
Manley and Margory Golden and her
father wero arguing and wondering as
to the origin and full meaning of this
strange message, Logar and his mon,
emerging like water rats from the
river-front rendezvous closo beside the
Owl's Nest, pllod Into a harbor launch
with a mufllcd kicker and silently
made tholr way for Oyster Joe's.
Crowding into the dimly lit sail loft
of Oyster Joe, thoy found themselves
confronted, not by the millions in
stolon treasure but by a stiff-Jointed
and blasphemous old man In white
whiskers, tied and lashed to one of
hia own shack beams.
"Don't yelp at me about your
damned gold," cried Oyator Joe, with
a sulphurous string of oaths,- when
ho was able to apeak. "I never saw
any gold! All I saw was that chain
lightning gink in a mask, the gink
who's double-crossed mo twice at the
samo game!"
Legar staggored back Into a broken
chair.
"So it's tho Laughing MaBk again!"
he said with an oath.
(TO BE CONTINUED.) ;
1111 Ifey
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