f
75he
\
B lind M an )
E yej
BY
WILLIAM M ac HARG*** EDWIN BALMER.
V
V
Illustrations by RH.Ltvir^stone
»
ion hurried ahead, he went almost
noiselessly. Hhe stood still, shivering
a little now In the cold t and she Its
tened, she no longer heard hla foot
atepa. What she had don* waa done;
then just aa ah* waa telling herself
that It muet be many momeui* before
•be would know whether be waa com
Ing back, »he heard him returning;
at some little distance, he spoke her
name *o a* not to frighten her Stic
knew at once It waa he, but u change
CIIAI IKII 11 - Hob Connery, conduct«,
K»l»ee order* to hold traiti for • party I In the tone surprised her. Hhe stepped
• men and ■ etri board the train
forward to meet him.
' father of the «Irl. Mr tturna Io the
poreoa for whom the train wss bold
"You found your friend F
rhlllB L>
Eaton, • young man eleo
’’Yes."
boarded the train Porno tallo hlo dsugk
lor and hie e^ rotary l«.n A»ory. to fled
"What did he tell youf 1 mean
®ut what th,, oan ranaarwia* atm
what Is wrong that you did not ex
CHAl'Trit III.—The two make Xtoton's
pect Y'
omfwd'rifto“*' Th* t>B>° *"
b’
She heard bls breath come faal.
"Nothing," he dented.
CHAITKH IV.—Eaton rerelvsa a tola-
"No; you luuat tell met Can't you
gram addreaaod to latwranco filli «ord.
Which he «talma
It warne him ho to I trust Bia!"
being followed
"Trust youl" he cried. He turned
CHAPTEH V -Fanout« through the oar.
to her and seised her hands. "Yo*
Connery notlcoo Ooreer hand hanging
ask me to—trust you r
Outelde the berth If* aaeartolno ttarae't
«YN0P6I»
bail hae recently rung
Perturbed, he
Invaeiigatee and Bride Porno with hlo
ahull crushed
No ratio a aungeon. Dr
atm lalr, on the train.
"Yes: I've trusted you.
Can't you
CHAITKH VI - Sinclair reeognlaoo the
Injured man no Beall Hantolna. who. al
though blind, la a pei ullar power In the
•nancial world aa advtaer to "big Inter
toto"" Hie recovery la a matter of doubt
CHAPTER VI!. — Circumstances
point to Eaton aa Santolne'* aa-
nailant.
CHAPTER VIII.— Eaton 1» practically
disced under arrest. lie refuses to
make explanations aa to his previous
movement* before boarding the train,
but admit* he was the man who
called on Warden th night the finan
cier was murdered.
CHAPTER IX.—Eaton plead* with
Harriet Sarilmne to withhold judg
ment, tolling her he ia in serious
danger, though innocent of the crime
againat her father. He feela the girl
believea him.
CHAPTKH X —Bentota* rocovor* suffi-
clontly lo qusstlon Beton. who rofuaao
lo rovoal hi* Montlty
Tb* flnsncisr ro-
eutr** Eaton lo a'rompany hlm lo tho
hanloln* homo, whor* h* I* I* Ih* ponl-
tton of • *oml-prt*on*r.
CHAITER XI- toc lem meato a rssldsnt
•f ih* hou**. Wallac* lliatchford. and ■
young girl. Mildred Davi* wlth wbom
apparanti* ho I* aruuaintad, though thoy
•onerai ina faci. Eaton** mlaalon I* lo
•ocur* cartaio documento whlch ara vjtel
te bla interrata, and hi* bota« admltlad
lo tha houoa I* a ramarkabla stroks uf
lue*
Tha girl agraoa io ald hlm. H*
bocomaa daaply Intaraotod Ut Hsrrtet ■**-
teine. and aho ta hlm
CHAITER XIL- Harriet toll* Eaton aha
and Ronald A vary act a* “eyes" to ban
tolna. ramllng to him lha docutnonta on
which ha bane* hl* Judgment*
While
walking wllh her. two man ta an auto
mobile deliberately attempt to run Eaton
down. H* ewape* with alight Injuries
Th* girl rwogni*** on* of th* man a*
having bean on th* train oa which Ut*y
ram* from Iteattl*.
CHAPTEH
XIII.-ban tolna questions
Eaton ctoaaly. but the latter I* reticent
The blind man tell* him h* I* convinced
tho wttack made on him on lha train waa
the result of an error, th* attack« hav
ing planned to kill Eaton Rantolne telle
Harriet ah* la to take charge of cartala
paper* • onnr.ted with th* "'iaitron prop-
«tlaa.* which had hitherto b**n In
Avery'* charge.
CHAPTER XV-At th* country club
Eaton reveal* a remark able prod, lency
at polo, eeetnlngly to Av*ry'e gratin a-
tlon
Eaton Induce* Harriet to allow him
to leave tho ground* for a f*w minute*
mat nigpt
(Continued from last week.)
Rhe herself wag trembling with her
dealru to help him, but recollection of
her father held her back; then swiftly
there came to her the thought of Ue-
brlel Warden; becauee Warden had
tried to help him—In gome way and
for gome reaaon which ahe did not
know—Warden had been killed. Ant!
feeling that In helping him there might
be danger to hereelf, ahe auddenly and
eagerly welcomed that danger, and
made her decision.
“You'll promise, Mr. Eaton, not te
try to—leaver’
“Tee."
"Let ua go out," she Mid.
Rhe let! the way downstairs and, tn
tho hall, picked up a cape; he threw
It over her shoulders and brought hla
overcoat and cap. But In hl* absorp
tion he forgot to put them on until,
as they went out into the garden to
gether, ahe reminded him; then he put
on the cap. The night waa dear and
cool, and no one but themeelveo
seemed to be about the house.
"Which way do you want to goF
she asked.
He turned toward the forested
acre* of the grounds which ran down
to a ravine at the bottom of which
a little atream trickle«! toward the
lake. As they approached the side
of thia ravine, a man appeared and
-»
•
f
•he Removed th* Book* In Front ef a
Wall Safa to th* Right of the Doer.
believe a* much In me?"
“Believe In you, Mlae Hantolne!”
He crushed her Angers In his grasp.
“Oh, my God, I wish I could!"
"You wish you couldF she echoed
The tone of It struck her like a blow,
and she tor* her hand* away. “What
do you mean by thatF
He made no reply hut stood staring
at her through the dark. "We must
go back." he said queerty. "You're
cold “
She did not answer but started back
up the path to th* house. He seetned
to have caught himself together
against some Impulse that stirred him
strongly. "The man out there who
mw us?
He will report to your fa
ther, Mis* Santolne?" he asked un
steadily.
"Reports for Father are Arat made
to me."
“1 see." He did not ask her what
ahe m < going to do; If he was assum
ing that her permission to exceed hl*
set limit* bound her not to report to
her father, she did not accept that
assumption, though *he would not re
port to the blind man tonight, for ah*
knew he must now be asleep. But
ahe felt that Eaton was no longer
thinking of thia. Aa they entered th*
house and he helped her lay off her
cape, he auddenly faced her.
"We are tn a strange relation to
each other, Miss Santolne—stranger
than you know," he said unevenly.
She waited for him to go on.
“When the time come* that you
comprehend what our actual relation
la, I—I want you to know that I un
derstand that whatever you have done
was done because you believed It
might bring about the greater good.
I—I have seen In you—In your father
—only kindness, high honor, sympa
thy. If I did not know—"
She started, gazing at him. what he
Mid bad absolutely no meaning for
her. “What la it that you know!” ahe
demanded.
He did not reply; hla hand went out
to hers, seized It, crushed It, and he
started away.
Aa he went up the
atalr*—still. In Ills absorption, carrying
cap anti overcoat—site stood staring
after him In perplexity.
Investigated them. He recognised tha
CHAPTER XVI
girl'* figure and halted.
"It’s all right, Willis,'' alia aald qui
Th* Fight In the Study.
etly.
Eaton dismissed the man who had
"Yea, ma'ain."
been waiting In hla room* for him; he
They paaaed the man and„ went locked the door and carefully drew
down the path Into the ravine and up down all the window shade*. Then he
the tiny valley. Eaton halted.
put hla ovemmt, folded as he had
"You don’t mind waiting here a few been carrying It under hla arm, on
momenta for met”
the writing table In the center of the
"No," ahe eald. "Yon will return mom, and from Its fold* and pockets
hsreF
took a “breast-drill" such as Iron
"Yea,” he Mid; and with that per workers use In drilling steel, an auto
mission, he left her.
matic pistol with three clips of car
Both had apoken so that the man tridges. an electric Aashllght and a
above could not have heard; and Har little bottle of nitroglycerin.
He
riet now noticed that, aa her compan loaded the pistol and put It In hla
to Are bnt as a dull weight with which
to strike. The grip of hla left hand
clamped onto the short steel bar. and
with lipa parted—breathing once. It
seetned, for each heartbeat and yet
choking, auffixatlng—be leaped for
ward.
At the Mme Instant—so that he
could not bars been alarmed by Ea
ton’s leap—the man who had been
working moved his torrij, and the
light fell upon Eaton.
"IxM>k out!“ the man cried in alarm
to hie companion; with the word the
torch vanished.
I The man toward whom Eaton rushed
did not have time to switch off bla
light; he dropped It InatMd; and as
Eaton sprang for him. he crouched.
Euton, aa be struck forward, found
nothing; but below hla knees. Eaton
felt a man's powerful arm* tackling
him; aa he struggled to free himself,
a swift, savage lunge lifted him from
hia feet; he waa thrown and hurled
backward.
Eaton ducked hla bead forward and
struggled to turn, aa he went down,
eo thst a shoulder and not hl* head
or back would strike the Aoor first
He succeeded In this, though In hie
effort he dropped the Jimmy.
He
clung with hl* right band to the pistol,
and as he struck the floor, the pistol
shot off; th* flash of flame spurted
toward the celling. Instantly the grip
below his knees was loosed; the man
who had tackled him and hurled him
hack had recoiled in the darkness
Eaton got to hla feet but crouched
and crept about behind a table, aim
ing hl* pistol over It In the direction
In which be supposed the other men
must be. The sound of the shot had
ceased to roar through the room; the
gases from the powder only made the
air heavier. The other two men tn
the room also waited, invisible and
.silent. The only light, In the great
curtained room, came from the single
electric torch lying on the floor. This
lighted the legs of a chair, a corner
of a desk and a circle of books In tbe
cases on the wall. A* Eaton's eyes
became more accustomed to the dark
ness, he could see vague shapes of
I furniture. If a man moved, he might
be made out; but If he stayed still,
probably he would remain Indistin
guishable.
| The other men seemed also to have
recognized this; no one moved tn the
‘room, and there was complete silence,
i Eaton knelt oo one knee behind hla
table; now he was wildly, exultantly
excited; hla blood leaped hotly to hla
hand pointing hla pistol; he panted,
almost audibly, for breath, but though
hla pulse throbbed through his head
too, his mind was clear and cool as
he reckoned bis situation and bls
chance*. He had crossed tbe Padflc.
the continent, be had schemed and
risked everything with the mere hope
of getting Into this room to discover
evidence with which to demand from
the world righting of the wrong
which had driven him as a fugitive for
Ave year*; and hfre he found the man
who was tbe cause of It all, before
him In the same room a few paces
away In tbe dark t
For It waa Impossible that this was
not that man; and Eaton knew now
that thia was he who must have been
behind and arranging and directing
tbe attacks upon him. Eaton had-not
only seen him and heard hl* voice, but
he had felt hl* grasp; that sudden. In
stinctive crouch before a charge, and
the savage lunge and tackle were tbe
Instant, natural act* of an old lines
man on a championship team In the
game of football as It was played
twenty year* before. That lift of the
opponent off hie feet and the heavy
lunge hurling him back to fall on his
head was what one man—In the
rougher, more cruel days of the col
lege game—had been famous for. On
the football field that throw sufficed
to knock a helmeted opponent uncon
sclous; here It was meant, beyond
doubt, to do more.
Upon so much, at least, Eaton's
mind at once was clear; here was hie
enemy whom he must destroy If he
himself were not first destroyed
Other thoughts, recasting of other re
lations altered or overturned in theli
hearing by the discovery of this man
here—everything else conld and must
wait upon the mighty demand of that
moment upon Eaton to destroy this
enemy now or be himself destroyed.
Eaton shook In his paMlon; yet
coolly ha now realised that hl* left
shoulder, which had taken the shock
of his fall, was numb. He shifted hla
pistol over to cover a vague form
which had seemed to move; but. If it.
had stirred. It was still again now.
Eaton strained to listen.
It seemed certain that the noise of
the «hot. If not the sound of the
struggle which preceded It, must have
raised an alarm. Basil Santolne, as
Eaton knew, slept above; a nurse
must be waiting on duty somewhere
near. Eaton had seen the row of but
ton* which the blind man had within
arm'* length with which he must be
able to summon every servant In the
house.
So It could not last much
longer now—this deadlock In the dark.
And one of the two, at least, seemed
te have recognized that
Eaton had moved, warily and care
fully, but he had moved; a revolver
flashed before him.
Instantly and
without consciousness that hla Anger
pulled the trigger. Eaton’s pistol
flashed back. In front of him. the
flame flashed again, and another spurt
of Are spat at one side.
Eaton flred back at this—he was
prostrate on the floor now, and
whether he had been hit or not he
did not yet know, or whether the
blood flowtng down bla face was only
from a splinter sprayed from the table
behind which he had hid. He flred
again, holding bl* pistol far out to one
aide to confuse the alm of the other*;
he thought that they too were doing
“It’s All Right, Willi*," Rhe «aid Qui the Mme and allowed for it In hls alm.
He pulled hls trigger a ninth time—
etly.
pocket; then he carefully Inspected
the other things.
He raised a shade and window, and
Mt In the dark. The night waa
cloudy and very dark. He gutted at
the south wing of the house; the win
dows of the Orst floor were dosed and
lite curtains drawn; but tonight there
was no light In the room. Thea In the
dark tie moved to th* table where he
had left hl* overcoat, and distributed
In hie pockets and within hie clothing
the article* be bad brought; and now
he felt again In the overeoet and
brought out a abort, strong bar of
steel curved and battened at one end—
■ “Jimmy" for forcing the window*.
Eaton slipped off hla shoe* and went
to hla room door; be opened th* door
and found the hall dark and quiet.
He stepped out, closing bl* door care
fully behind him, and with great cau
tion he descended th* attire. He went
to a window In the drawing room
which waa aet In a recess und ao
placed that It was not visible from
other windows In the house.
Ila
opened thia window and let himself
down upon the lawn. He gulned the
south comer of the wing, unobserved
or al least without sign that he had
been seen, and went on around It.
He stopped at the first high French
window on the south. A* he tried to
slip bls Jimmy under the bottom of
the Msh, the window, to bl* amaze-
meat, opened silently upon Its hinges;
It had not been locked. The heavy
curtain* within bung Just In front of
him; he put out hl* hand and parted
them. Then he started back Io aston
ishment and crouched close to the
ground; Inside the room was a man
moving about, bashing an electric
torch before him and theu exploring
an Instant In darkneea and dashing
hla torch again.
Eaton had not been at all prepared
for thia; now he knew auddenly that
he ought to have been prepared for It
If the man within the room was not
the one who had attacked him with
the motor, he was closely allied with
that man. and what he waa after now
waa the Mme thing Eaton was after.
He drew bl* pistol, and loosing the
Mfety, he made It ready to Are; with
bla left hand, he clung to the short,
heavy Jimmy. He stepped Into th*
great room through the curtains, and
treading nolaeleasly In hla stocking
feet, he advanced upon the man, mov
ing forward In each period of dark-
nera between the flashes of the elec*
trie torch.
Now. at the further side of the
room, another electric torch flashed
out. There were at least two men In
the room, working together—or rather,
one was working, the other super
vising; for Eaton heard now a steady,
almost Inaudible grinding noise ** th*
second man worked.
Eaton halted
again and waited; If there were two,
there might be others.
Hla pulses »ver* beating faster and
hotter, and lie felt the blood rushing
to hl* head and hia hands growing
cold with hl* excitement; but he was
conscious of no fear. He crouched
and crept forward noiselessly again.
No other light appeared In the room,
and there waa no sound elsewhere
from the darknera; but the man who
supervised had moved doser to the
other.
The
grinding
noise
had
stopped; It was followed by a sharp
click; the men. side by side, were
bending over something; and the light
of the man who had been working,
for a fraction of a second shot Into
the face of the other. He muttered
some short, hoarse Imprecation, but
before Eaton heard the voice, he had
stopped as If struck, and his breath
had gone from him.
HI* tnstnnt's glimpse of that face
astounded, stunned, stupefied him.
He could not have seen that man! The
fact was Impossible! He must have
been mad; hie mind must have beconie
unreliable to let him even Imagine It
Then catue the sound of the voice—
the voice of the man whose face he
had seen I It waa he I And, In place
of the paralysis of the first instant
now a wild, savage throe of passion
seised Eaton; his pulses leaped so It
seemed they must hurst hl* veins, and
he gulped and choked. He had not
filled In with Intone fancy the fea
ture* of the man whom he had seen;
the voice witnessed too that the man
in the dark by the wall waa he whom
Eaton—if he could have dreamed such
a fact aa now had been disclosed—
would have circled the world to catch
and destroy: yet now with the de
struction of that man In hie power—
for he had but to alm and empty his
automatic pistol at Ave paces—such
destruction at this moment could not
suffice; mere ehooting that man would
be petty. Ineffectual. Eaton'* fingers
tightened on the handle of hla pistol,
but he held It now not as a weapon
The first known log house, built by
white men within tbe bounds of what
ia now Colorado, was erected in 1816
for a troop of Spanish cavalry patrol-
ing the Arkansas, near the site of
Pueblo.
In * volcanic crater in the Sangro
de Cristo Mountain* in San Isabel
National Forest is an apparently bot
tom less pit, with black marble sides,
ip which depth soundings of 1,50« feet
I have failed to touch bottom.
EFFECTS OF SHADED LIGHTS ARE PLEASING
"N
g.r^u.—rJ
Eaton’* Pistol Flashed Baek.
he had not counted hl* allots, but be
knew he had had seven cartridges tn
the magazine and one in tbe barrel—
and tbe pistol clicked without dis
charging.
He rolled over farther
away from the spot where he had last
flred and pulled an extra clip of car
tridge* from hls pocket.
Tbe blood was flowing hot over hl*
face. He made no effort to staunch
it or even to feel with hls finger* to
And exactly where or bow badly he
bad been hit. He Jerked the empty
cartridge clip from hl* pistol butt and
snapped In the other. He swept hl*
aleeve over hls face to clear tbe blood
from bis brow* and eyes and stared
through tbe dark with pistol at arm's
length loaded and ready.
Blood
spurted over hl* fsce again; another
sweep of hl* sleeve cleared It; and
be moved hls pistol-point back and
forth In the dark.
Surely now the sound of firing in
that room must have reached the man
In the room above; surely be rnpst be
summoning bl* servants.
Eaton listened; there was still no
sound from the rest of the bouse. But
overhead now, be beard an almost Im
perceptible pattering—the sound of a
barefooted man croaslng the floor;
and he knew that tbe blind man In
the bedroom above was getting up.
Shaded lamps and candles are becoming more and more popular for
lighting purposes and tbe effects gained by their use ar* much more pleasing
than the brilliant lighting formerly used. Little, if any, overhead lighting
would be necessary In this living room. A pair of parcbnieat-shaded torchierà
on the table shed a soft glow sufficient for everything except reading, and a
conveniently-placed table and lamp supply a good reading light when deaired.
ON THE JOB!
266 Morrison Street, the Jewelry
Store—and the Optical Store is
square across the street at 269
Morrison Street—I have no other
branch stores. We have a full and
complete shop filled with men
who have been with me for years
and who are true to their em
ployer and their work — Honest,
industrious, Loyal to both you
and me.
Diamonds,
Watches,
Jewelry of modern make.
Our
Optical Store right square across
the street.
DR. HURLEY is in
charge. We want your trade—
your parents have aways traded
here.
STAPLES—The Jeweler
266—269 MORRISON ST., PORTLAND, OREGON
266 Morrison St., Portland, Oregon
CHAPTER XVII
Under Cover of Darkness.
Basil Santolne was oversensitive to
sound, as are most of the blind; In
the world of darkness In which he
lived, sounds were by far the most
significant—and almost the only—
means he had of telling wbat went on
around him; he passed hls life listen
ing for or determining the nature of
sounds. So the struggle which ended
In Eaton’s crash to the floor would
have waked him without the pistol-
shot* Immediately following.
That
roused him wide-awake Immediately
and brought him sitting up In bed. for
getful of hls own condition.
His hand went at once to tbe bell
board. and be rang at the Mme time
for tbe nurse outside hls doer and
for tbe steward.
Santolne did not consider the pos
sibility of robbery of plate or Jewelry
long enough to have been said to con
sider It at all; what he felt was that
the threat which had been hanging
vaguely over himself ever since War
den's murder was being fulfilled. But
It was not Santolne himself that was
being attacked; it was something San
tolne possessed. There was only one
sort of valuable article for which one
might enter that room below. And
those articles—
Santolne pressed all tbe bells again
and then got up. He had heard nbso- >
lutely no sound outside, as must be
made by anyone escaping from the.
room below; but the battle seemed!
over, tine aide must have destroyed
the other.
The blind man stood barefooted on
the floor, hls hands clasping in one of
the bitterest moments of hls rebellion
against, and defiance of, hls helpless-
neM of blindness. Below him—as he
believed—hls servant* had been Mcri- J
Being life for him; there in that room
be held In trust that which affected
the security, the faith, the honor of
others; his guarding that trust In
volved hls honor no less. And partic
ularly, now, he knew he was bound,
at whatever coat, to act; for he did
not doubt now but that hls half-pris- j
oned guest,, whom Santolne had not '
sufficiently guarded, was at the bot
tom of tbe attack. The blind man be- |
lleved, therefore, that It was because
of hls own retention here of Eaton ’
that the attack had been made, hls
servants had been killed, the private
secrets of hls associates were In dan
ger. Undoubtedly there was danger
below; but that was why he did not
call again at the other door for some
one elM to run a risk for him.
He put hls hand on the rail and
started to descend th* stairs. He was
almost steady In step and he bad firm
grasp on the rail; he noticed that now
to wonder at it When he had aroused
at the sound of firing, hls blindness,
as always when something was hap- '
penlng about him. was obtruded upon
him. He felt helpless because he was
blind, not because he bad been In
jured. He had forgotten entirely
that for almost two weeks he had not
stirred from bed; he had risen and
stood and walked, without staggering,
to th* door and to ths top of the ,
stairs before, now, he remembered. So
what he already had done showed him
that he had merely again to put his
Injury from hl* mind and he could
go on. He went down the stair* al
most steadily.
(Continued Next Week.)
Investment Department
Portland Railway, Light
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