The Sunday Oregonian., June 18, 1916, SECTION SIX, Page 3, Image 73

THE SUNDAY OREGOXIAX, PORTIiAXU, JUXE 18. 1916.
&f ARTHUR STRINGER
NOVELIZED FROM THE PATHE PHOTO
J?LAV OF THE, 5AT1E NAME
TWELFTH EPISODE.
' The Hannttd Canvas.
THE daughter of Dan O'Mara was a
very happy girl. So happy, in
fact, was the freckled-nosed Peg
gy that there were times when the
cheer novelty of her good fortune some
what frightened her. For the tide' had
turned. The O'Mara family, as Peggy
put It. was at last In clover. ,That mys
terious Tighter of wrongs known as the
Laughing Mask had interested himself
In getting honest work for Dan O'Mara.
And that gracious-eyed lady known as
Margory Golden, once she had realized
the true position of the family, had be
come equally interested in doing what
she could for the spindle-legged Peggy.
It is true, none the less, that this last
mentioned young lady's benefactress
bad been momentarily nonplussed by
Peggy's choice of a vocation when this
choice was placed before her.
"What would you like ( to do most?"
Margory had asked at the endof her
second trip to the O'Mara cottage with
a bundle of clothes for the all but
breathless Peggy.
"Be a artist's model!" promptly an
nounced the rapt-eyed factory girL
"But why a model?" asked the
amazed Miss Golden.
"To dpll up in glad rags and get
xneself painted!" explained the dreamer
of the dye vats. And odd as that choice
seemed to her, Margory Golden did not
depart from her promise. She sought
out her artist friend, Frank Aimick,
and inveigled him to experiment with
a new and somewhat untried model.
Frank Aimick, however, soon found
the ardent-eyed young Peggy more of
a help. to him than he had anticipated,
fihe was dramatic by nature, eager to
succeed and tireless in her determina
tion to hold the most difficult pose,
once she realized what was expected of
her. Some of her unctuous yet uncouth
attitudinizing, in fact, brought a smile
to the fact of the busy artist.
But that smile was never broader
than when he noticed her standing
wide-eyed before the large canvas
above the fireplace at the end of his
studio. For this painting, which bore
the title of "The Vigilante," was a re
markable piece of work, in more ways
than one. It showed the life-size fig
ure of a frontiersman staring out into
the loom, with leveled carbine at his
buckskinned shoulder. But the arrest
ing feature of the painting lay in the
fact that both the eyes of the figure
teemed always to be directed at the
spectator, no matter what position spec
tator might take. It stood there like
an armed and menacing sentinel, seem
ing to command every omner of the
high-walled studio.
"That guy gives me the willies!" Peg
try protested, as she made her way back
to the model throne.
"Why?" asked the smiling man. at
the easel.
"He keeps such a bead on you, no
matter where you get in this room,"
.was the girl's reply.
"That's why I keep him here. - To
pee that you never do anything wrong,
Peggy, or that carbine of his will call
you to account."
Peggy O'Mara accordingly conducted
herself with all due decorum, during her
working hours in the studio. And those
hours took unto themselves wings, for
she was happy In her work and even
happier in her knowledge that her
father's troubles were over.
But destiny, in the form of one Jules
Legar, had secretly ordained that his
happiness should not be a lasting one.
For Peggy O'Mara was no longer a
trivial factor In the activities of the
Iron Claw. This slip of a girl had
brought defeat to his plans when suc
cess seemed well within his hand. And
for these humiliations Legar decided
that the girl should pay, and pay to the
full.
The modest home of the OTOaras.
Jiowever. had no inkling of this decision
until Dan O'Mara himself, wandering
about his combination kitchen and living-room
In search of his pipe, was
somewhat startled to see a sauare of
paper pinned to the faded door panel.
Peggy herself. Joining her father, was
equally mystified by this slip of paper,
for its surface showed nothing but a
Tound blot or two of black ink on a
equare of white. Neither Dan O'Mara
nor his daughter had any reason to
Know the meaning of the spotted warn
ing, any,more than they knew that one
Mauki, the stealthy emissary of the
Iron Claw, stood hidden behind " the
walls of one of the three cottages com
manding a clear view of the O'Mara
home.
They had no 'way of knowing tliat
this Etna Mauki lurked there behind a
shuttered window, patiently watching
hour after hour the house across the
way. Close beside him as he watched
stood a magazine rifle to which a Max
im silencer had been adjusted. And on
the floor beside the rifle lay yet another
weapon. This, however, was a weapon
of defense, for it consisted of a craft
ily constructed cape which, for purposes
of disguise, could be promptly convert
ed Into a woman's skirt.
So sure was Mauki of his defensive
arrangements that when he caught
Bight of Peggy O'Mara and her father
at the window he promptly reached for
his rifle, adjusted the barrel between
the shutter slats and took aim. Then he
pulled the trigger.
The next moment a bullet went
crashing through the window of the
O'Mara home.
Instinctively the two startled figures
leaped away from the window. As they
did so they realized that a third person
bad entered the room. And a second
glance showed them that it was the
Laughing Mask himself.
He stood for a moment or two, star
ing face upward on the floor. Then he
started at the shattered window. The
next moment he was pushing Peggy
and Dan O'Mara bodily back from that
equare of light.
"But what's the meanln of all this,
anyway?" demanded the astonished
householder.
"It means that a bullet came through
that wlndcrw," the Laughing Mask ex
plained. "And I know that bullet was
intended for your daughter here."
"But who'd be shootin' at me daugh
ter?" persisted Dan O'Mara.,
"The man whose plans she double
crossed at the dye works, the Iron Claw
bimself or somebody posted about her
by the Iron Claw!"
The next moment the Laughing Mask
bad caught a broom from the corner
and about It was draping one of Fegmy
O'Mara's well-worn waists. Above this
be placed the girl's hat. tying it in
place with a scarf. Jhen dropping to
s- ?3!SrS
I f - - . , ' i
l ' jute.
" mi tnt-"?mmm n mm wmiiMmwmi-immntimbimM-itomSto owwt-'!j4 una i 4nrT AiKiii " " , mi V iTninfiin -- - ' rrr - - -
S : ZZCXKK I ji K J.,igjft
his knees welt out of sight on one
side of the window, he slowly advanced
his improvised dummy Into the square
of light, -
-
That rough outline of a human figure
was scarcely In position at the window
before a second pane crashed in and tb6
broom was knocked from the hand of
the masked man holding it.
"That shot could have come only
from one of those three houses across
the way. And it's ten to one it's frbm
that empty house on the rlghtl"
He drew away from the window and
stood for a moment in deep thought.
"O'Mara, I want you to slip out by
your back door and get help. Call on
any neighbors you can trust in a case
like this. Then hurry back here, for I
don't want that scoundrel to suspect
his plans haven't worked out exactly
as he imagines!"
"We'll get the devil!" announced
O'Mara as he slipped away. And while
waiting for his return the Laughing
Mask sent Peggy for a cupful of flour.
With this he powdered her hands and
blanched her thin young voice. Dan
O'Mara had stepped back Into the house
before the masked visitor had com
pleted his task.
"Now, I want that sniper to think
he's done his work. 1 don't want him to
break from cover until your friends
have surrounded that house. o take
your daughter and carry her out. Just
as though she were a dead girl."
Dan O'Mara, doing as he was direct
ed, stepped from the doorway with his
own white-faced daughter hanging limp
in his arms. He ftcted his part with a
sincerity that was not without convic
tion. For, two minutes after he had
staggered into the open with that ap
parently sad burden, the sniper from
the shuttered house was detected slip
ping out of a cellar window and scurry
ing along a broken fence.
That escape, however, came before
Dan O'Mara's friends could completely
take up their position about the sus
pected house. But one of those friends
caught sight of the fugitive in the
stratige looking cape, the alarm was
given and the pursuit began.
It was not a long chase,- but it was
a stern one. Determined as those in
dignant factory toilers were to run
down the mysterious gunman so wan
tonly threatening their homes, the flee
ing Maukix proved himself startllngly
fleet of foot. He gained sufficiently
on his pursuers to round a corner,
dodge into an empty coal shed and
emerge a moment later as a stooped old
woman in amber-colored spectacles and
a rusty gray wig appeared. Being ob
viously hard of hearing, this same old
woman could not give much informa
tion to the group of excited men sud
denly accosting her as she hobbled
across the street.
Five minutes later a swarthy-skinned
man with wiry black hair was hurry
ing across country to one of the well
concealed dens of Jules Legar, where
he duly reported to the Iron Claw the
news of his enemy's ruse and bis own
narrow escape.
Before the second day had passed
Legar had evolved yet another plan for
the subjugation of his enemies. This
took the form of a decoy message de
livered to the unsuspecting Peggy
O'Mara, purporting to be a hasty re
quest from Frank Aimick to come to
his studio at 9 o'clock that night, to
the end that he might hurry to com-
Pletion one of his unfinished canvases
for which the girl was acting as a
costume model. Legar and two of his
followers, in the meantime, entered
Aimlck's studio on the pretense of be
ing a fire marshal's inspector, caught
the artist off his guard and carried him,
bound and gagged and helpless to
one of the small back rooms of the stu
dio building.
Peggy herself, before starting out m
answer to that summons, was stiu
somewhat uneasy in mind over recent
events. So she left word with her
father to caii tor her not later than ii
o'clock.
But more than Dan O'Mara called for
his daughter that night, for 10 minutes
after her departure from the cottage
Margory Goiden'a limousine drew uj
at the door. Margory's eyes widened
when o Mara explained the reason of
his daughter's absence from home.
"But an artist like Frank Aimick
would never be able to work at night."
she argued, with growing alarm. "He
must have daylight for working in
color." ,
Dan O'Mara turned to the table at
his side.
"Here's his message, plain as day,
written in his own handwritln'," was
the puzzled workman's only explana
tion. Margory took the
hand and studied it-
message In her
Then her color
faded a little.
"That Is not Frank Aimlck's writ
ing!" she suddenly announced.
O'Mara stared at her.
"Then whose is it?" he demanded.
. "That's more than I can say. But I
feel sure it means some danger to Peg
gy!" "But what can we do?"
We can get to that studio as fast
aa my car can carry us AnJ we mu.t
pick up what help we can on the way!"
Peggy O'Mara, in the meantime, was
being confronted by more than one
surprise. The first came with her ar
rival at the Aimick studio, when the
stranger who opened the door in re
sponse to her knock informed her that
the artist was out, but would return In
a minute or two. The second came
with the quiet movement of yet another
man who sidled up to the studio door
and promptly locked and barred It. But
the greatest surprise of all awaited her
as she turned from the door and saw
Legar himself standing before her.
with a calm smile of triumph on his
face. She know then, for the first
time, the peril of her position.
She stood thereT white lipped, staring
from one evil face to the other as Le-
gar's companions closed in about her.
"You're a fine bunch o' cradle-snatch-
There's many a squire to a Norman crown,
(T lmd where the grown folk bide)
v , . , . , . . , , '
Has loosed the bridle and galloped down -
To win his Spurs though the false knights frOWn
And wear the plume of pride.
I wist that you know of the golden game,
(In the land where the grown folk prate)
How each to the other awards the blame,
a friend breaks faith, or a hope
And dragons guard the gate,
"
.
Now, a broken faith is a haggard boon,
(In the land where the grown folk be)
ft, each rider COHieS, late Or SOOn,
A ji, wyvr y)-QT,y.V, yl T
" ?x
When "Never you mind," said
5"$: v-
v4
ers!" she finally and wrathfully burst
out at tnem, with the ultimate and
reckless anger of desperation In her But even before those mumbled
eyes. : "You're a grand army o' heroes, words were spoken the swarthy
you are, to come five strong agin" a girl skinned Mauki, trying to hold the still
ime me: ,
"Stop that brat!" commanded the Irate
Legar. And there was a general move-
ment in the direction of the blazing-
eyed, girl.
There was one man in that group,
however, who did not Join in that move
ment. The reason for this lay in the
fact that at that moment he happened
to be looking up at the painting ot
"The Vigilante." He stared deliberately
up at the painted figure staring In turn
so challengingly down at him. Then he
shifted his position a little, apparently
dart little bigger
than
knitting
needle.
The next moment
a second man.
moving across the room to catch up a
curtain cord with which to tie the
captured srirl. felt- a sudden stinar In
his hip, stopped abruptly and pointed
with a shout of anger toward the
canvas above the mantel.
v,i. v,i . j , .... . ,
Still another of Legars followers.
not realizing the meaning of that cry.
stepped forward and stared at the
painting. Out of the barrel end of
the painted rifle as he did so shot still
another dart which buried itself his
necK.
Th'
darts!" he mumbled, as thickly
perturbed hv the dlrnvrv that- t Vi vitiuro at tne same time i nat . . u , -: . ,l iu my tr&veun wnere
eyesof5 the painted "n"rJ. ? the? "Mar, realizing that she was SS' ilolPyL JQn .te.l.ghts shine, or know the rea-
r.ebervePrant - ZX 1.. he pro- pTrtr
He was about to reach for a Vyg SlfS? the,t rHl
easel peg to fling at the canvas when " ... But Margory was alreadv stealing their messenger hU a!ady got awly7"
he suddenly straightened up. clapped . , , . along the shadowy roadside to the "I've my own g-etawav to m.t. Vnrf
a hand to his shoulder and turned H 'J"? th,at fla"k ttack. bow- spot where she. had seen Legar creep I guess ThatTenough for me "sunen"y
a
When he was a squire to a Norman king,
(In the land where little boys be)
His horse a lath, and his rein a string,
He galloped away from the milkhouse spring
To tryst by the acorn tree.
I wist you knew of the golden game,
(In the land of your lost renown)
How the cloth-yard arrow whirred and came
From the hazel copse that the bandits claim
- And rider and roan went down.
Now, a lilac root is a tricky thing, '
(In the land where little boys be)
For it tripped a squire of a Norman king
TiH he sped for his mother's comforting;
And "Never you mind," said she.
goes lame.
""u,luuc'
fihe.
mr- -
: ::..':. :- . - " F . j ..."
as a drunken man might.
TV darts
're drugged!"
etrugglirg Pegy o Mara down on
divan, fe't a sharp pain above
shoulder blade, turned about and saw
Legar run across 'the room and catch
up the heavy brass fire tongs from be'
Bide the mantel end.
"The painting!" squeaked Mauki.
staggering out against trie model
throne.. "The painting it is spitting
steel at us."
Lega", however, was no longer In
need ot that warning. Standing. to one
side of the mantel, close beside the
wall, he attacked the huge canvas with
his f.re tongs, beating in the center of
Out from behind the tattered canvas
h.H . i
... . 0 , u u. man ncauuK a jriiuw
mask, tossing to one side a slender
blowpipe as he came. Before he could
r.ai- w(. - . ,,
.... , ; . ' . . ?.
"""'-xyegar nimsen
a revolver from his pocket. This he
leveled directly at the bodv of i th
L.urhlnir Mav Rut hn j
pull the trigger Peggy's tabouret
struck against his outstretched arm,
knocking the weapon up in the air.
By this time the Laughing Mask
was up cn bis feet and face to face
with his enemy. Before tne revolver
could sgaln be brought Into play the
. v. - , -. . ... examined them minutelv. wirienori hi t . .. . . . . '
PVfl Dixit! TV
two had clinched. -Then the Iron Claw
went down before a clean-cut blow
from his opponent. He recovered him
self sufficiently, however, to roll ot
where his fallen revolver lay. But be
fore he could level that firearm at
his adversary the Laughing Mask, re-
memberlng that even the officers of the
law were o lot ger his friends, dived
out through a small door at the rear
of the studio and disappeared from
ei.tht, for already the sound of O'Mara
And his rescuing party could be heard
as they swarmed up the stairs.
The Iron Claw himself he
stared 'helplessly about the disroan-
tied studio. Then the Instinct of self-
preservation reasserted Itself. He ran
to the back of the noom. dived into a
kitchenette, found a small door in its
wall. swung it open. discovered a
-dumb waiter shaft in front of him and
escaped to the street.
Tke Corridors of Dread.
Marjory Golden, as she sat in the
taxicab which carried her homeward,
was comforted by the thought that
she lied at least saved the life of a
factory girl to whom she stood In
debted for her own escape from death.
St ?SUU:r th W th" h. ,hd 8ent
Dan O'Mara and his exhausted daugh
ter surely nome in her luxurious
limousine even reconciled her to the
somewhat stuffy aired public convey
ance in which she found herself, fihe
blinked meditatively out at the back
01 tne neavy-iacea driver so sullenly
and yet so adroitly piloting her
through the tangle of traffic Then floor. And this, obviously, had re
the abstraction suddenly went from leased a steel arm which had swumr
her eyes and the listlessness from her suddenly forward and swept the start
f - - x,. uly.
the red-wneeled taxicab Immediately
in front of her she caught slRht of a
peering face. And it took no second
glance to tell her that It was the deep
seared face of the Iron Claw himself.
When she looked again, however, the
face was no longer in sight. Yet at the
next corner the red-wheeled taxicab
suddenly swung off Broadway and
started westward. Increasing its speed
as It went.
The next moment Margory was
shouting to her sullen-faced driver:
"Follow that red-wheeled taxi." she
told him, pointing down the side
street. "Keep within sighfof It, what
ever happens!" '
Her cnauffeur,. once he had taken
the corner, looked back at her over
his heavy shoulder. -
"Say, lady, what's this goln" to be,
anyway, a Ben Hur race on rubber
tires?"
"I don t know what it's goln' to be,"
was Margory-s retort. "But there is
an ext--a $11 in it if you only keep that
car In sight!"
Soon they had left the city well be
hind them and were in that twilight
zone which is neither quite rural nor
quite urban. But Margory. the mo
ment she law the red-wheeled taxicab
come to a stop, commanded her driver
to araw in under the shadow of
a dense row of catalpa. trees. There,
from the running board of her car, she
beheld Lee-ar te
p out on the road, pay
hl cheuffeur and stand looking after
the departing taxicab until It disap-
v ' " " into ne lurnea
about, pushed his way in through a
tangle of shrubbery, and left the lonely
roadside as empty as a desert trail.
I nen the resolute-browed vounr
woman turned to her chauffeur.
Im going to follow that man. If
I fall to return here .inside of ten
minutes I want you to get any help
you can ana come arter me."
Margory held a counln of hill out
to him. He took them in his hand.
ttoon.ri ly, .r,H r-r ,M. ... '
nel. feeling her way cautiously alomr
th mnnh v,ivV-v ... ,,r
.. . w. ..n .. v. n ua nans,
She came to a turn, buttressed with
heavier masonry, and padded along
this wall until her groping fingers
c"16 contact with a light switch
xnis, alter a moment
thought, she
on. The next mc
ber of bulbs along the corridor roof
above her flowered into light.
staring ahead ot her, she saw that
tne corridor enaea in nothing but a
blank wall. But as she stSred In-
tently at the wall she detected on one
id of It a partially conoealed electric
be wary of approach to any of Legar's
fastnesses. Then, as she advanced,
sudden stoo. For she
saw on the flagstone upon which she
was about to teD a small cross. There
was also a minute crevice, unnotlceable
In its companions, about this quadran-
gle so suspiciously marked by its
cross. So she stepped carefully over
the suspected area, crept forward to
the button and touched it with a tenta
tive finger. tip.
The next moment a remarkable
thing happened. A section of the
heavy masonry shutting off the end
of the corridor at that touch swung
silently about on Its axis, leaving an
aperture wide enough for a human
body to pass through. The girl, hold
ing her breath, stepped through the
ponderous masonry. Then a sudden
pang of fear took possession of her.
for she noticed that the moment her
left hand left the revolving stone It
swung back Into place, sbuttlng off
all retreat. But she breathed again
when she found a wrought-lron handle
set In the back of the vstone and dis
covered by actual experiment that It
could be swung Into place without
difficulty by anyone Inside the cham
ber where she stood.
This chamber, she saw was empty,
except for two mysterious strands of
iron chain that ran from celling to
floor, close against the wall, while
against the other stood a deal table
and . rAmrt couch, across which lav a
couple of very dirty blankets. But the "lender body, as though in mute
along the floor at the far end of the acknowledgment that she knew It was
room her quick eye detected a thin already too late. For the fuse, she
pencil of light. She tiptoed quietly could see. was burning down into the
forward until she stood close to the nd of the cylinder Itself. She even
door above this Illuminated crevice, closed 4ier . eyes, awaiting the In
Then she' stooped lower, listening in- evitable.
tently, for the sound of muffled voices She opened them again at the sound
came to her from the room within. of a sudden step. She opened them to
"I- tell you we cannot afford to fall see a masked figure dart into the room.
In this move," she heard the vice of catch up the smoking metal cylinder
Legar himself announce. "The thing's nd with one and the eame movement
got to be settled, and settled before burl It out through the open window,
morning!" Tn next moment a great detonation
"But how?" asked , one of his fol- shook the walls of that house, rattiina;
lowers. (he windows and driving a cloud of
"With two poands of guncotton and mingled dust and smoke in through
time fuse." waa Legar's reply. every opening.
"In the O'Mara cottager' asked an- The bomb had exploded. But the
other voice. Jiouse of O'Mara still stood. And Peggy
"Yes; I want that cottage wiped off nd her father stared open-mouthed at
the face of the earth, and the family the newcomer, who. Instead of staring
with it! And I want it done before back at them, stood Intently regarding
mominsr Margory Oolden.
Margory listened, oblivious of the "The Laughing Mask!? said that
passing of time, as the conspirators somewhat shaken young lady in little
behind the closed door continued to de- more than a whisper.
bate on their plan of action. Then she "At your servloe!" replied the man
started, even as much as they did. when In the yellow mask with a half-hum-tbe
sudden buzzing of an electric an- ble and half-mocking bow, as he stood
nunclator warned that Intent group of for one fleeting moment In the narrow
an intruder's approach. doorway.
It was than and only, then that jCTo be. continued next wk.v ,
-..- .
Pf -rUilWySfrin ff71
girl remembered her parting message
to the taxicab driver. But she had no
time to Intercept that driver, for al
ready she could hear the sound of steps
crossing the stone floor of the inner
chamber. All that was left her to do
" iv nan iu mv camp cot. arop oowa
on the stone floor beslde.lt and then roll
deftly in behind the soiled blankets
draped untidily along its side.
The next moment Legar and his men,
were in the outer chamber. While one
of tHe men crept to a secret outlook
beard those crvlc n the farther wall Legar htm
retner and stepped to one of the control chains
w.h.lch raa tr.on aOT to ceiling on the
. . " " "i" P'"
. started Into action some
""yfteflous mechanism which the
w S . 1 coula not ue compre-
hend. She saw them run back to ihn
Inner room and stand waiting while
Legar manipulated still another secret
spring which threw open a hidden door
In the back wall of that room. And that
door, she surmised, led by some un
known passage to the outer world.
But Margory did not give much
thought to this, for there came to her
as she regained her feet the repeated
cry of a human being, a cry husky with
h nVasoVrV.wg V; back 4 the
terror, sue ran to the nivot door In
beheld a" sight which made her hinni)
run cold. It took her. in fact, a pon
derable space of time to understand
the scene confronting her. But as she
started out she saw where her unsus
pecting chauffeur had stepped on the.
croBs-marKea nagstone. for it was now
several Inrh.nlnu-.nK.nik.......
ura incruaer nat against the stone walL
holding him there as in a vie. And as
siooa pinioned there a great block
of granite, released by some hidden
machinery, was slowly descending from
the roof of the corridor. It was as
cending straight over the head of the
Imprisoned chauffeur and before many
minutes, it wsa plain to see, it would
crush his body under Its many tonned
massiveness as easily as a sledge ham
mer might crush an angleworm. It was.
in fact, already bearing down on his
bewildered head before Margory folly
awakened to the Imminence of his peril,
v j n rememberlng the chain which she
had seen Legar manipulate. Marjory
ran back Into the room, caught at first
one of these chains and then at the
other, and succeeded in bringing the
unseen machinery to a stop. The de
scending mass of granite was arrested,
the great steel arm swung back into
place and the terrified chauffeur, still
dazed, but little the worse for his ex
perience, was able to stagger to his
feet. But If his body had escaped in
Jury, his dignity had not escaped hurt.
"Let me at "em!" he shouted, bran
dishing the automobile wrench which
he still carried in his hand. "Just let
me at 'em!"
"It s no use.- cried Margory. holding'
.... cfc "They have gone, the lot
of them. And we've srnf fAnA,
quickly or there'll be a whole family
meet a worse fate than yours might
nave been tonight!'
She had taken the wrench from his
nana ana was leading him out of the
tunnel mouth by this time, explaining
that he would have to bring his taxicab
from its hiding place and at once start
In nursuit rf th, t -w n..
time, with that chauffeur, discretion,
.Decome me better part of valor.
"Not much!" he announced with de
cision. "That guy can blow up the
T'v. rj mv em n tki. 1 . '.
nu -L.'ns- jpian i or all I care.
I'm- iroin' f beat it h.v . n..
" """"' l voices a HQ Saw a
SC?t-.5 T"-.Z eo. to b.e.mie,,ed:
. "w on tne gin ana tne taxi
driver.
Yet that sullen-spirited driver.
when cornered, fought with an energv
so explosive, that the entire circle be
came involved In the struggle. It was
Legar himself and only Legar who had
the presence of mind to direct his at
tention toward the girl. He swung sud
denly about and started for her. She
saw him coming, raised the heavv
wrench which she still carried in her
i,j -j ,, ; . :r, . .
f "".and 8ent " flat aS"st hi. bony
temple.
klT,. .w" ?a.2mp..lI . JfX'.i"
shadows, looked back for a moment and
fn 'LlV " D useles
J! Ae.
. '"'"s"1"' "r, were not on
"at vanishing taxicab ae she raced
Vp V narrow walk and pounded
frantically on the faded panel of the
" w" "inning more
r Inmates of that hourt and the
r ,,iV .v. y , .'
l""1?" them. So color
moment might
ess. in fact.
her face as the bewildered Dan
O'Mara opened the door that he started
back in alarm. And her words were
even more disturbing.
"Come away!" she called out. "Come
quick or it will be too late!"
She ran to the window. Lying In
the flower box she saw a heavy cylin
der of metal. Even before she" caught
sight of the time fuse which quietly
hissed and burned at one end of the
cylinder, the knew what it was. It
was the infernal machine which Le
gar's agent had placed there to destroy
the house. And at any moment the ex
plosion might take place.
Yet Margory caught the heavy cyl
inder up in her hands. She even tried
to blow out the fuse. But this was
useless. Then she tried to tear It
away. But the second effort was
equally fruitless. And sheer panic took
possession of her at the thought of her
helplessness. The bomb dropped from i
her fingers to the floor. She made one
Instinctive effort to warn poor young
Peggv O'Mara away as the girl ran to
her side. But Instead of repeating that
warning she let her arms close about
lr3Tl 109.0