La Grande evening observer., August 07, 1917, Image 3

TUESDAY, AUGUST 7, 1917.
LA GRANDE EVENING OBSERVER.
PAGE THREB
SYNOPSIS.
' On WInward Island Palldorl Intrigues
Mrs. Golden Into an appearance of evil
Which causes Gulden to capture and tor
ture the Italian by branding his face and
crushing his hand. Palldorl Hoods the Is
land and kidnaps Golden's llttlo daughter
Margery. Twelve years later in New York
Masked One rescues Margery from Le
gar and takes hex to her father's home,
whence she Is recaptured. Margery's
mother fruitlessly Implores Golden to find
their daughter. The Laughing Musk
again takes Murgery away from Legar.
Legar sends to Golden a warning and a
demand for a portion of the chart of
.Windward Island. Margery meets her
mother. The chart Is lost In a fight be
tween Manloy and one of Legar's hench
men, but Is recovered by the Laughing
Mask. Count Da Espares- figures in a
dubious attempt to entrap Legor and
claims to have killed him. Golden's house
is dynamited during a masked ball. Le
gar escapes but Da Esparea is crushed In
the ruins. Margery rescues the Laughing
Mask from the police. Mauley finds Mar
gery not indifferent to his love. He saves
her from Maukl's poisoned arrows. Man
ley plans a mock funeral wldch fails to
accomplish the desired purpose, the cap
ture of the Iron Claw and his gang. Mar-
?' :ery is saved from death at the hands of
he Iron Claw by the Laughing Mask. An
attempt by the Iron Claw to blow up the
O'Mara cottage 1b frustrated in the nick
of time. The Laughing Mask discloses
Ills Identity to JMaigery.
FOURTEENTH EPISODE
The Plunge for Life.
l A atranee mood of happiness, as un
reasoning as It was Inexplicable,
seemed to have taken possession ot
Margery Golden. A less timorous light
shone from the depths of her pool
brown eyes. At all times of the day,
too, she could bo heard singing about
jthe house.
This wayward blltheness of spirit
was something more than a puzzle to
her heavy-browed father, who found
little In the situation Immediately con
fronting him to cause him any undue
llihtnHH nf heart. For that situation
had unexpectedly taken on the form j
of a defeat.
After all Jules Legar's campaign for
the possession ot that pregnant scrap
of parchment which carried the key
to the secret of the lost treasure of
Windward Island, the long-fought-for
document had suddenly disappeared
from the Golden vault. And all evi
dence pointed to the fact that it was
the Laughing Mask who had stolen
the chart and cipher code from the
safe.
Golden was In the midst of his
second conference with the russet
faced Captain Brackett of the head
Quarters staff, when a telephone call
came for that official. The talk over
the wire was one-sided. Then with
great deliberation the official hung
up the receiver and swung about to
Enoch Golden.
"Well, we've got your Laughing
Mask for you." .
"You've got him?" repeated Golden.
"Our man Walcott located him by
trailing his chauffeur. ' And before
nightfall we can have him rounded
up."
, "Where was he found?"
; "JuBt where you'd least expect a
man of that character to be found.
He's hiding in a cave in the Hudson
Palisades, not ten miles from where
we're sitting at the moment, Just above
Coleman's village. And the fact he's
ducked to a Malina like that bears
out what we've always claimed, that
j Crossed to the Cliff Edge.
Ws as big a crook as this Iron Cla
himself. For honest men don't crawl
into river caves!"
Golden was about to reply in the af
firmative to this self-obvious statement
when he was interrupted by the en
trance of his daughter.
"But suppose our fugitive," Bald
the serene-eyed girl as she smiled
down on the somewhat startled police
captain, "had enemies who seemed at
the moment stronger than he was and
at the same time found himself in pos
session of something which it was es
sential that he Bhould guard ? Wouldn't
It seem natural for him to go where
he'd be least likely to be found ?"
The russet-faced captain blinked
stolidly up at her.
"When an honest man has some
thing it seems dangerous to hold, ha
Author of
-The occa.
sional of
fender,' "the
WIRE TAP
PERS," "GUN
runners;etc
Novelized from
THE PAT HE
PHOTO PLAY
OF THE
SAME NAME
goes to the police for protection. When
a crook has made a haul, and Is shaky
about losing his swag, he beats It to
his Malina, to his fence, the same as
your friend the Laughing Mask has
done! And the sooner we get the
wheels moving and root that maakod
ground-hog out of his dugout the bet
ter!" "I'm ready," announced Enoch Gol
den. With a gasp of sudden resolution
Margery rang the bell, called for her
roadster, and struggled into her hat
and coat, as she ran down the sand
stone steps to the street.
She sped off through the ctiy at a
rate that was an open and obvious
violation of all the speed laws. She
laughed rebelliously as, once free ot
the congested ferry traffic, she swung
lightly past the car in which Bhe be
held her own astonished father decor
ously seated, giving him her dust as
she mounted to the crest of the Jersey
hills and struck the road leading north
ward along the wiud-bosomed river.
Then as she swung past still an
other hurrying car the smile sudden
ly died from her face. For she felt
sure that one of the faces in that car
was the face ot Jules Legar himself.
She went on, from that moment,
crowding every inch of speed out of
her car, exulting in the fact of its
power, ignoring the shouts of onlook
ers as she swept up through Coleman's
village, took the turn in a smother ot
dust, and brought the steaming road
ster up sharp against a cedar-hedge
crowning the topmost ridge of the
river cliffs. She leaped boldly through
the hedge and ran to the outermost
lip of the Palisades. There, cupping
her hands to her lips, she called out a
single namo again and again.
From a crevice In the broken rock
face below her a figure wearing a yel
low mask .looked cautiously out and
waved up to her with an equally cau
tious signal. The next "moment she
was clambering nimbly yet carefully
down the ledge of broken rock.
A pair of stalwart young arms wore
waiting to hold her up. But she quick
ly broke away from their clasp.
"Quick, they are coming to capture
you!"
"Who-are?"
"The police. They have found out
you are hiding here. And Legar also
has found out!"
The man in the mask darted back to
a small table on which stood a shaded
lamp. He bent quickly over and blew
out the flame. This left the back of
the cave in darkness. Then he ran
back to where the girl still waited.
"Do you trust me?" he asked.
"I trust you in everything," was her
reply.
"Then listen! The water at the foot
of this cliff is deep. It is a drop of a
hundred feet. But it may be our only
chanco. Are you willing to take that
leap with me?"
"I trust you in everything," she
told him, aB she drew herself up. He
held her there for a moment and then
slipped to the back of the cave. When
he reappeared he carried a rough pine
table in his arms. This he placed
on end close to the entrance of the
cave.
The next moment a shadow dark
ened the mouth of the cave. Silhouet
ted clear against the outer light they
could see the stooping figure of the
Iron Claw.
As he stood there, peering cautious
ly about the ledge of the rockshelf,
he was stealthily Joined by his fol
lowers. "They're coming," the Laughing
Mask whispered to Margery Golden,
as he drew her closer In beside the
rocky wall ot the tunnel. Then, using
the up-ended table as a screen, he
advanced with her toward the cave
mouth, slowly, silent, foot by foot.
They were within six feet of the
opening when Legar turned about to
give a word or two of command to his
followers. Two figures, those of a
masked man holding a slender girl
firmly by the hand, came running out
ot the cave.
So suddenly did they come that they
scattered Legar's men as they ad
vanced. And before those astounded
men could recover either their foot
ing or their wits, the man in the mask,
holding the girl close to his side, had
crossed to the cliff-edge and had taken
a flying leap out into space.
An involuntary gasp ot consterna
tion burst from that startled group ot
gangsters as they stood watching the
clasped figures hurtle through the
air, strike the surface of the water
clean, and go down into its blue
depths. Then, after what seemed an
Interminable wait, a second shout,
as involuntary, apparently, as the first,
burst from the watchers as they be
held the two figures reappear, swim
ming strongly side by side along the
undulating surface ot the water. But
that Bhout was not a prolonged one.
It merged suddenly Into calls and cries
of a somewhat different character, for
with that repeated Bhout Legar and
his men had betrayed their position to
a russet-faced police captain and six
talwart men at his heels.
The next moment there wm g
charge In force down the broken face
ot the cliff. And as the minions of
the law descended on the cave-mouth
the evil-eyed group gathered there
erupted into sudden life. There was a
wild scramble up the rock-ledges,
quick encounters and combats, blows
and counterblows, the Impact ot ash
Eight-sticks on resounding skulls, the j
capltulatu cry ot half-stunned cap
tives. But Legar fought, backed close
against the rock, with the ferocity of
a wildcat holding oft every attack and
with his flailing iron claw sweeping
back every assailant Then, swing
ing about, he leaped up the cliff-face,
springing from rock to rock with the
agility ot a mountain goat
At tho top of the cliff, when Enoch
Golden himself, side by slde'wlth the
police captain, attempted to bar that
flight, the fugitive bowled over those
two rotund figures and bolted north
ward along the topmost ridge of the
cliff, heading for the timber not more J
than a hundred yards away.
But by this time two ot the officers,
recovering their wind and burning
with tire indignities to which they
had been subjocted, had caught sight
ot the fugitive and started in pursuit
They ran woll, and they ran deter
minedly. Legar, realizing that they
were gaining on him, and further real
izing that he could not keep up his
gait for long, voored suddenly toward
the river, where a road-builders' tool
shed stood at the extreme end of a
rock-cut aloag the cliff-top. Through
the doorway of this shed he darted,
with his two pursuers, now Joined by
a third officer, not a hundred yards be
hind him.
Running to the far end ot the shack,
ho sent his wooden arm crashing
through the window, leaped to the sill,
and stared out. Below him lay the
Hudson. Crouching low, he leaped
out into space and then dropped like a
plummet to the river below.
The Octopus Bomb.
Margery faced the supreme dilemma
of her life.
The girl walked slowly to the still
open window and gazed out, but the
An Involuntary Gasp of Consternation Burst From Them.
mental problem that engrossed her
preoccupied her attention to the exclu
sion of everything else. Then a voice
behind her spoke:
"Can you see any of them?"
Margery turned to the man in the
yellow mask, who stood close behind
her.
No," said Margery, in answer to his
question. "We have a few minutes
grace. Do you think it surely the
wisest thing to do; do you think it nec
essary beyond all doubt that I go away
with you? I know you must realize
what that must mean to me I can
not but think of father!"
I have thought of everything you
have said everything you have even
thought," said the Laughing Mask
gently. "But it is no longer sale for
you to stay here. I had to tell you
this. And I had to get from your fa
ther's vault the thing that will clear
me of some, at least, of the crimes Le
gar has fastened upon me Legar s
confession."
"Then, come, let us hurry," said
Margery.
The two of them then stole quietly
down through the shadowy house to
the library.
The Laughing Mask went swiftly to
the vault and in a moment its heavy
door swung open. But the next min
ute a tingle of alarm swept through
Margery's body, for the call bell of the
telephone on the rosewood desk sud
denly rang through the room. By this
time, the Laughing MaBk was within
the vault, but the shrill of that bell
brought him out into the room.
"Don't answer it!" warned the girl.
"But Wilson or another of the serv
ants will surely come to answer it," ex
plained the Laughing Mask as be
moved toward the only door that be
had not locked on entering the library.
"The confession have you got It?"
asked Margery, not heeding what he
bad said, so great was the tonslon of
her mind.
"It is where It Is safe," quietly re
plied the Laughing Mask.
"Then I'll shut the vault door," she
aid
He stood watching her as in j
crossed the room to the vault and
swung to the heavy safe door.
With an oddly birdlike movement ot
the head the girl stopped and stared in
tently at his figure, clearly outlined
against the dark foldB of the portieres
behind him. Then, instead ot locking
the vault door, she took four swift
steps to the heavily carved teakwood
table to her right In another moment
she had caught up a Roman lamp of
solidly cast bronze and, with all her
strength, hurled it at the swaying por
tiere behind him. "Legar!" was her
cry. And at the same moment she ut
tered.a shrill cry ot warning.
It was time. From behind one of
the folds ot the portiere she had
glimpsed an iron claw at the end of a
preternaturally long arm. And as this
iron claw was lifted high in the air she
cried out as she caught sight of the
glint of a naked steel knife blade
Her warning was sufficient. Lightly
the Laughing Mask leaped to one side,
By this time Legar was in the room
Itself, and as he advanced he drew
a revolver from his pockot.
But the man in the mask was more
agile than his enemy. He swung
Margery about in a twinkling and
whisked her back to the vault, where
with one tug of bis free hand he
swung the vault door open. Legar fired,
but the bullet ricocheted harmlessly
against the open sate front ot steel.
"Father keeps a navy revolver in the
coin drawer of the vault here," whis
pered Margery as the man in the mask
pushed her more deeply into the
shadow of the protecting door. .
At the moment that the Laughing
Mask swung about and tugged open
the coin drawer Wilson and a round
eyed footman, having heard the sound
of the shot and having previously
failed to get any answer to the tele
phone, came running to the library
door. But before they could open that
door Legar, realizing that his time was
short, had taken matters into his own
hands. Charging bodily against the
still half-open vault door, he swung it
shut upon the Laughing Mask and
Margery before they had time to
realize his Intent. Thon Legar threw
on the lock, spun the dial and wheeled
around to cover the two white-faced
and gaplng-tnouthed servants with bis
revolver.
With a flourish of his revolver he
waved them to the door and would
have reached it himself had' he not
at that moment heard the entrance
door ot the Golden mansion flung open
and the noise of many feet sounding
on the stairs a minute later.
Slamming the room door shut upon
Wilson and the footman, Legar, his
look of triumph gone from his features,
stared frantically around the room. He
dashed to a Foruglan panel screen ot
ancient design, its panels fashioned in
sixteenth century tapestry, and
crouched behind it, his revolver BtiU
in his hand.
As Legar found this precarious hid
ing place, the door of the room
opened and Enoch Golden entered
amid a clattor of hurrying foot and a
babble of voices. Wilson, for the third
time, tried to explain to his master
what had happened.
"Margery! My daughter shut up in
the vault, you say, Wilson?" cried her
father.
"Yes, sir, shut up in there with the
man In tho yellow mask, the man as
these officers, sir, have been looking
for!"
Golden strode over to the vault door.
His face was pale and he breathed
hard as he stooped over the lock dial.
The man in the yellow mask, If he
folt any fear for the outcome of this
his most precarious adventure among
the innumerable strange predicaments
that his self-appointed guardianship of
Margery Golden had flung htm into,
gave expression to none. He reassured
her gently and chldod her, even, for
her seeming lack of confidence in him.
"Have you forgotten, my dear, that
I have the confession of Legar?" he
whispered to bor. "That alone means
safety, for it will take care of most ot
the crimes which the Iron Claw bas
fastened upon me."
He took from a pocket and hand
ed to the girl a little bard black
ovotd. In her band, It felt to her touch
to be like a cako ot soap, only there
were what seemed to be tiny tentacles
upon It
The clicking levers were beginning
to work more rapidly. In another mo
ment the great vault door would swing
open to what? '
"Quick, .Margery," he whispered,
"what I have just given you is what
I have called the octopus bomb. It will j
save us, it the need should be dire, if
there should be no other manner ot
escape."
As the man in tho mask finished the
rapidly spoken words the door ot the
vault swung outward. Margery stepped
forward.
The dotectives, with whom the room
swarmed, paid no heed to Margery.
Their (marry emerged from the gloom
of the) fault a moment after her. He
glanced about from revolver muzzle
to revolver muzzle, all leveled at him.
Margery glanced back at the Laughing
Mask as he stood thuB, facing this des
perate donouement Then she orled
out involuntarily, for one ot the detec
tives bad approached ' the Laughing
Mask, raiBed his hand to the mask It
self and was about to tear it off. But
the Laughing Mask stepped backward
and with a gesture commandingly
stopped him. '
"One moment. If you please, gentle
men. There Is no need tor this. My
mask stays where it is. As for the
crimes which you seem to think are
matter for these revolvers I believe
this confession of the Iron Claw ac
counts for the chief ot them and,
therefore, for the rest"
The captain was about to glance at
it, but turned to Golden for a word of
instruction. The next moment there
was a crash at the other side. of the
room. Legar had heard every word
from his hiding place behind the an
tique screen and he knew that this was
the most desperate case for his for
tunes that had yet befallen. As the
captain stretched forth his hand, ex
tending the confession to Golden, Le
gar, with a rush, dashed past him,
grasped the confession from his fingers
and made for the window. Snatching
his cap down over bis eyes, he
plunged head flrat through the glasB,
shuttering it to splinters.
Legar had flashed across the room
like a missile from a catapult. Three
of the detectives were knocked from
their foot. The others gaped at the
shattered window. The captain was
the first to recover his wits. He
shouted an angry command, one of his
men threw up the battored sash and
the rest leaped out.
Inside the Golden library, the deteo-;
tive who had tried to disclose the iden-,
tlty of the Laughing tilask was again
intent upon solving this mystery. That
is why he had remained behind. I
"It's no use, your time's come. Oft
with the mask, I tell you!" I
The Laughing Mask looked straight
into the beady eyes before him and he
saw that their gaze was not of the
sort that is ppen to argument or per
suasion. Thon he looked Btendlly on
beyond to where Margery stood, be
hind the detective.
Margery understood his glance and
Interpreted his gesture aright She
deftly slipped the octopus bomb from
her handkerchief, In which she had
held it, clutched tightly within her
fingers, ever since she and the Laugh
ing Mask had left the vault As the
detective strode forward to peer the
more closely at what he expected to
see revealed Margery hurled the bomb
to the floor.
The next moment' the room was
filled
With an Impenetrable cloud ot
black smoke. Completely it enveloped
everyone and everything in the library.
Gradually the black, sootlike pall
'rose to the high celling of the library.
disclosing Margery, her father and the
detective to one another. But the
Laughing Mask had vanished. The de
tective dashed to the door leading to
the adjoining reception hall and flung
It open. Golden followed and both ran
through this spacious chamber and on
to the stairs. Margery, still apprehen
sive for the safety of the man in the
yellow mask, ran after the searchers,
who were fairly baffled.
As soon as all three wero clear ot
the reception hall the Laughing
Mask's head emerged from a large
ancient Roman vase; swiftly, he
climbed from out its great sheltering
bowl and stepped noiselessly back to
the library.
Silently tho Laughing Mask lifted
the window and climbed over the sill.
In another moment he had leaped to
the ground below. But ho had not
reckoned upon the quick discourage
ment, that overtakes that limp arm of
the law known as a central ofllce de
tective. Tbo half dozen of the type,
with tholr chief, who bad pursued Le
gar when their revolvers failed to stop
him, had quickly given up the chase.
They were walking briskly when the
captain quickly motioned to his men
to hug the wall of the house. Some
thing at the shattered window of the
library bad caught his attention. It
was a man's back. The man was
astride the window sill. The captain
then recognized the hat of the Laugh
ing Mask. The captain halted his men,
who wore still some fifty feet from the
window. The Laughing Mask straight
ened up as he reached the ground be
neath the window, and, for an instant,
again he faced his enrr But in a
flash he turned and dur. around the
corner of the house.
When the captain and his men
reached the first house corner they
stopped to search the vista down the
second house wall. Already the
.Laughing Mask was around the next
corner and it did not dawn on the
detectives that the man they were
hunting would do anything but make
for the hedge as Legar had done.
As a fact, Legar was still where he
had eluded pursuit He drew forth
the confession that ha had sought so
long. He beld It to the light so thag
he could read it and then, with 'big
claw, be tore the paper to shreds.
The Laughing Mask, toohad beat
the detectives. - He ran with all the
fleotness of foot that his athletio build
and slim strength could muster, out
beyond the Golden grounds and down
the nearest street to the trolley lined
As he reached the tracks a car, Just
from the barns, came to a stop and;
the Laughing Mask boarded it at !
leap. . The conductor ot the car bad,
gone to the signal box nearby. As thai
Leaped to the 8111. I
man finished setting the signal the
Laughing Mask saw the group of de
tectives at the head of the street a
right angles to the tracks, dashing to.
wards him. In another minute they
would reach the car.
He slipped his revolver from his coat
pocket and ran through the car. With
a bound he was upon the front plati
form and slipped the catch of the door
behind him. As the motorman faced
about, the Laughing Mask's revolves
was thrust into his face.
"Start the car now!" cried the
Laughing Mask.
Instead, the motorman lifted the con
troller handle from the box and would
have struck the Laughing Mask's re-
vnlvAii riot-tr-l t-tu V a 1 a rial" otanniul
I v v us, uuiiui wub miu iHiiWi nvvyiv
back and thruBt the motorman off the
platform with a terrific shove ot bla
foot. The motorman tumbled over In
the dust ot the roadway and before he
could regain hlB feet the Laughing
, Mask had the spare controller handle
1 out of the tool box and bad started the
car at full speed.
I Leaving the controller box for an
Instant he gazed backward. The de
detectives had stopped a passing au
tomobilo and were piling into it, The
car gained momentum, and soon it
careened along the rails, swinging
around curves with two wheels in al
and ever bettering its speed.
Nevertheless, the automobile, now
driven by one ot the detectives, could
not to be outdistanced. It was now
scarcely more than a hundred yards be
hind. The car was approaching another
slight upgrade, preparatory to dash
ing across the highest bridge on the
road. As the car struck the level
stretch of track at the entrance to the
hrldirA nhiitmpnt. nsrain tta momentum
I grnvei u .t rnRh .need. Now It waa
, ganing on the automobile as the car
. (ul, of defectives, in its turn, struck
the upgrade. A new plan flashed
through the Laughing Mask's mind.
He looked back to measure the dis
tance between the car and the automo
bile The car gave a lurch as it struck
the bridge swttch-frog, in another mo
ment it had left the rails and then It
hurtled against the guard rail, smashed
it and plunged downward.
As the car disappeared from the
sight of the detectives in the pursu.
ing automobile, Golden gave an invol
untary cry.
"Drive on over the end of the
bridge," commandod Goldon, "and let
us go down below."
The Bearchers went down the de
clivity to the waterside and there lay
the wrecked trolley car, smashed to
splinters. The detectives scattered
along the bank ot the river, hunting
for some sign of the Laughing Mask,
but there was none.
"We have hunted all along tbo
shore," reported one of the detectives
to tho captain, "but thore is no sign
of tho Laughing Mask's body. It must
have been carried on down the river
and over the falls."
For the policemen and Golden, tho
quest was ended. They drove back
to tho Golden mansion and then the
captain and his men took their leave.
Golden, still somewhat unnerved at
tho fate that ho believed had at last
overtaken the Laughing Mask for the
eyes make the brain an appalling wit
ness of what the ears would record
only a meager Impression Golden)
mounted the stairs of his home. '
Margery, wide-eyed, stood at the
stairhead. What Golden had Just seen
was still pictured, in some sort on hla
face.
"Father," she cried out, "what Is it.
what has happened?"
"The Laughing Mask," he said, "baa
met a terrible death."
And then he told her what he had
seen. She looked Into his face, in
credulous, amazed, horror-stricken.
"No! No! It can't bo! "she gasped,
out, like one in a frenzy.
"I saw it with my own eyes," said
her father. i
She gazed at him vacantly, and then
tell into bis arms, bor limn flg
flgurj
shaken by convulsive sobs.
(TO BE) CONTINUEI,
- j