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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 11, 1917)
8 TTTT3 SUNDAY . OREGOXIAN, PORTXAST), 11, 1917. INTRODUCTION On her 21t birthday, hen she Is to take over control of her for- ftune, Patrla Charming flnda her guardian lassasstnated by Japanese in her New York home. A letter written by the murdered tman tells of a secret vault beneath the library containing $100,000,000. hoarded by Jfatria's patriotic progenitors to combat the toeriia of National "unprepareaness oi fwhlcn trust Patria becomes sole executrix and warns against Baron Huroki. alleged Ihead of the Japanese secret service in America. Japanese invade the house and faet It afire while Patrla. is inspecting the treasure vault with Captain Donald Parr, or khe United States Secret Service. The two icecap by an underground passage to a arden behind the bouse. : iT" - "1 . ' ' . t nnrpiliiii. In or)ilrh the rnl I aT ' ' ' i . i J Patria Channing la played by T X X v ! i i ' - I i Mrs. Vernon Castle, supported 1T J ' - ' - -4 I . " - . " L V' 1 . Milton Sills as Donald Parr. War- I - 1 - V -ftXf:1--- -ill - " rT An f 1 ner Oland aa Baron Huroki. f , , , , "'- - "J ! L : ;1 Dorothy Green as Fanny Adair, t . ' r ' r'i 1 jf ' l and a cast of exceptional merit. I !' .( -f " i I Read this story now. then see It J ' ' jT f 4 ' v i ' i ' ' 1 V all in motion pictures. Produced . V ( i I " taxj. I ? $ j - 4 ' " ' by the International Film Serv- A Ji- " . " 1 jt ' - . C x. . t , i I ice. Inc.. under the direction of i w' ' : : j .. ' f ' 1 3 a t Wharton. Inc. Copyright Star f i v , . ". '1 ( - li'Qni i ' W - Company. 1916. All foreien rights t f - SSn.JL " " ' ' 1 i - ' I reserved. f j A t - ' - ' - X ! -i ESJTI AV,-X lV f? M5r.' V 1 , J EPISODE THREE. I I I X -,- l.Vrt " VV , -i"- -'- ' ' i - Xi, ' - N j f I r ' ?h:x :'XjH . v. tl .iwr .- r rtiv,.. n .rr ttX - : . a . : . :u J: .. .. iaU. i i? LL ill Ayy iOcSrc S?z? Gt-f..zj- J7! rial CJonnn? SszcSjl es.tt&2 of tiitz Tr-cz c?Si zr bsgS? & 7r-&7tsna jQyr zcS CZjQ Pc?f??i WINGED MILLIONS. Tne IHsconxagrer of Interference. yrTTHEN, some so minute later, Patria Channlng and Captain " ' Parr re-entered the walled gar- en they were no more alone; three en accompanied them, plain citizens ill. of manner and appearance so little omantic that the girl found It some- fvhat difficult to accept them for what hey really were, on the word of Cap aln Parr highly efficient operatives if the United States Secret Service. Kone but would have been readily ost in a crowd, and he whom Parr pre sented as a Mr. Kyley. his, most valued o-worlfer In the service, possessed a lereonallty so colorless and unassum ng that he might have moved unques ioned in almot any stratum of society. Vet it was this one who took over emporary charge of the treasure with he utmost eang f roid for all the vorld as though he were asked to safe guard a hundred cents instead of a lumlred millions of dollars. Though by this time the firemen had xtLnguitshed the flames, the first and econd stories of the house were a moking, streaming mass of wreckage hat precluded utterly any attempt to xamine the approach to the treasure ault via the library. Unless the blaze iad weakened the supports of that nassive marble chimneypiece, however, secret entrance beneath it re gained as immovably in place as Parr1 .ad left it; while Parr had secured the ault doors on the inside, against pos rble discovery by the Japanese in endiaries, before finding a way of es ape by the subterranean passage; and olice still watched the front of the ouse and would, Kyley guaranteed, ill the last of the treasure had been emoved through the garden. "It's safe enough," he said, returni ng from exploration of the under round way in company with Parr almost too safe. If you ask me. That oor down there is shut for keeps; e'U want an acetylene torch to cut hrough it before we can call this a novlng day. I'll be going after that ow, if you don't mind. Burgess and larvey here will stop on the job and eo that nobody makes trouble before get back." ApprovTng this arrangement, Patrla urned to Captain Parr. 'And now," she said with a weary ittle smile, "you may take me to reakfast at the Ritz, for I'm famished. vnd I'll call Newport on long distance tid soothe Aunt Amelia down and get er to send my maid In with some- hing else for me to wear. The resilience of . youth is a most mazing thing; she was so fagged out vith the emotional and physical strain f her sleepless night that she felt arely able to climb back Into the ansom, and once settled in its cushions as aware of little more than that onsciousness was stealing away on frowsy wings. But she roused without omplaint at the end of their long iptown Jaunt and once she had fresh ned up her appearance and made a amous breakfast, forgot entirely her atigue and refused point blank to isten to Parr's recommendation that he leave the rest of the morning's vork to him while she retired to her ooms for a little well-earned rest. "I won't!" she declared flatly. "And hat's my last word. I never felt bet er in my life, and I'm going back with on immediately. ... Besides. I ouldn't possibly sleep till I knew that reasure was safely put away. It's not 'S if it were my money, you know; it's - trust, a sacred trust; it's really a natter of the Channtng honor." V hen that had been said. Parr found o more excuse for disputing her will, 'ogether they taxied back to the vailed garden. Kyley himself had only lust returned kith a mechanic and the acetylene orch apparatus. His fellow workers In the Secret Fervice remained in undisturbed pos- ession of the garden, with nothing -nore to report than that they had bserved no suspicious circumstances f any sort, ' . It was Burgess who offered this eassurance a tubby litAle man with . low-pitched, pleasant voice and mild, riendly eyes. He had just finished peaking when he started violentty, rled out in sharp pain, clapped a hand to his left breast, stood for a noment swaying whle a look of acute. mazed protest widened on his coun enance and dropped dead at their eet, shot through the heart. Transfixed in horror, Patria stood tarting Incredulously - down at the Ittle man. It never occurred to her o move and seek safety for herself. ot so the others: as one man Kyley, larvey ana tne mechanic ducked to over beneath the wall, while Parr de ayed only to grasp Patria almost oughly by the wrist and drag her vith him. "That corner house," he said sharply o Ryley, indicating an unoccupied dwelling which adjoined the Channlng esidence on the Fifth-avenue side somebody stationed In an upper room' behind those shutters with a gun of orae sort, Maxim-sftenced. That shot ouldn't have come from any other luarter. Here: take care of Miss Chan ling, please: pn't let her expose her elf. I'm( going to have a try for our ;ay assassin." . Bent almost ' double, be ran In the helter of the wall to the rear of tit palf-burned house, and, catching the ow Bin 01 a. winaow, , easily swung jaimself up and into the library. 1 ne room naa barely escaped becom ng a total wreck was in truth little' letter; yet there remained of the floor ng a web of charred and greasy tim bers strong enough to sustain a man's veight. Parr picked a gingerly war -iut to the entrance hall, found ths tairs negotiable, and within a very iftle time was climbing out on the roof hrough a broken skylight. Nor was e in any way surprised to find the cuttle on the roof of the corner house pen recently broken open, if he read he signs aright. Stealthily, then, automatic In . hand. paptain Parr let himself down into rhat ostensibly vacant residence, stole iack through the upper hallway - and suddenly threw open the door to one of fhe rear rooms. Simultaneously a little man who had been kneeling at one of the shuttered windows swung round, and whipped two shots at Parr from a heavy revol ver furnished with a Maxim silencer. Parr's answering shot rang brutallj loud. The little man dropped his revol ver and subsided into a curiously dis heveled heap, quite dead.' The captain delayed only long enough to make sure that there was no other occupant of the- room, and to verify the fact, which he had all along suspected, that the murderer was a Japanese. "Left here to discourage any attempt of ours to break into that vault," he surmised. "That means the enemy has surprised our secret Is probably even now trying to get away with the loot. ..." Throwing open the shutter, ha called to Ryley in the garden that the danger had been done away with, then turned and set himself to hasty exploration of the corner house. He found no living soul therein, but every evidence that many had been in lawless possession of the premises not long since. The place had been gutted quick ears caught the sound of a foot step beyond that breach? If so, it must be Captain Parr's, beyond a doubt. In the utmost confidence that this would prove to be the case, Patria sprang lightly through the breach. Instantly a loop of stout line settled over her head and shoulders, pinning both her arms to her sides. Another followed it and another, half hitches thrown with deft expertness. Betore she could utter the cry that choked her throat she was bound and helpless in the power of a sullen ruffian who was deaf - to tears and prayers, and proceeded calmly to rope the girl to the back of a heavy chair, and tNen, kneeling, to strike a match and light a sputtering fuse. This done, be moved quickly out into the adjoining cellar, abandoning his victim to certain anni hilation. She needed almost a minute before she comprehended her danger. Then her eyes followed the fuse to the desti nation of that slowly crawling spark of its furniture, the trail of whose hasty of fire to a bundle of sulphur-colored sucks which she knew intuitively must be dynamite. Then the vault echoed with her screams, answered by voices from be yond the steel door to the underground passage, where Ryley and his asso ciates were at work with the acetylene torch whose flame already was eating through the metal as though so much papier mache. But, however rapidly It worked, It could not possibly be swift enougn to compass Patria's salvation. Long be fore the Secret Service men could hope to enter the vault it and they and she would be erased by that imminent ex plosion. Of a sudden the girl stilled her cries. In her struggles she had freed one hand from Its bonds. And in the pocket of her coat, convenient to that hand, lay the dainty little revolver she had on impulse snatched up on leaving her boudoir in Newport the night before. There was just a chance. She was a fair shot, and the fuse was slow burning. If she could only contrive to break It with a bullet. . . . Working the weapon with great diffi culty out of her pocket, she aimed as best she might and fired. Twice she missed. But the third bul let struck the fuse fairly and snapped it in twain. Then the revolver slipped from her nerveless grasp and she sank back un conscious in her bonds. Thus Kyley and the others found her removal led Parr to and through the front door. As he ran out Into the avenue a casual-minded policeman, strolling past, saw Parr, and stopped and stared. "And where might you be goin' so held?" he inquired with elaborate sar casm "with a sun in your hand this bright and early morning?" ' Parr Ignored the sarcasm, and lost no time about persuading the man of his bona fides. "Have you noticed anybody leaving this house?" he pursued; "I've noticed about two dozen leaving it and that's about all they did leave. A big guy bossin' the job tells me the Japanese Consul has purchased the property and Is moving every stick out before refurnishing. Three van-loads they carted away and in a hell of a hurry they were, at that." "And you stood by and let them get away with it?" "What business was It of mine? Parr hastily pocketed his pistol lest he slay the fellow then and there. "Which way did they go?" j The policeman obligingly jerked a thumb westwards. "They made off that way," said he. "But where they were bound, I dunno." Parr fancied he could hazard a shrewd guess. He ran hastily across the ave nue and down the side street. And. so running, he disappeared for a time from human ken. The Hole In the Wall. Ignoring the protests of Mr. Kyley, Patria crept along under cover of the wall to the window through which she had watcheo. Parr disappear, and climbed through. Just why she elected to follow him she could hardly have said. There lurked in the back of her mind a half formulated thought that be was ex posing himself to grave danger in her service, and that she shouldn't permit him to brave it alone. But she could never have explained how she reckoned her society would mitigate his danger. She was Inside the house before she appreciated that sFre had yielded . to what was most probably a 'foolish Im pulse. But then pride forbade a re treat even as curiosity urged her on. She turned to the stairway and. once she had surmounted the difficulties of the few lower steps that had been gnawed away by flames, was not long in finding the same way up to the roof that Parr had found. But she moved with less confidence than he. and so was some five minutes after him In de scending into the corner house. The first thing to greet her as she hurried through the upper hallway was the grinning mask of a dead Japanese huddled up on the floor of the back room; and turning from this in dread and disgust she ran blindly down the stairs. But she discovered no sign' of Captain Parr or indeed of anybody else and though she stopped at the front door long enough for a hasty glance 'Out into tne avenue, the man when, some 10 minutes later, they at length broke through the steel door. The open air of the garden revived her. By the time a cab had been called she had recovered sufficiently to ap preciate that Captain Parr had disap peared. Her last instructions to Ryley were simple and direct: "The money doesn't matter. . But never rest till you've found Cap tain Parr!" THE SANDAL Luck of a sort played into the hands of Captain Parr that morning. , He found no difficulty about trailing three, heavy-laden moving vans across - the lower West Side to the waterfront, where he arrived in time even to see the last of the vans, now empty, whip briskly out of a pierahed and up the street. Delaying only long enough to note the license number of the vehicle, be darted briskly Into the piershed and at discretion lost himself among its shadows; In which business luck of a sort again was with him. For he barely escaped being spotted by two particularly grim and repulsive-looking young Japanese, who had appar ently been posted near the entrance for the express purpose of preventing es pionage. It so happened that Parr en tered at the precise moment when a signal of some sort from the far end of the dock drew the attention of the two. As they turned to look back ho dodged in behind a mountain of bar rels, and made his furtive way on Into the gloomy Interior of the structure. It was a busy place, a-roar with the activities of a multitude of longshore men. On either side steamers were taking in cargo, with every indication of furious effort to get finished with the job and away. But which was whichi Aboard one the Channing "Pre paredness" Fund had been stowed and presently would be outward bound. Parr was well persuaded of that. But which? Skulking in the darker recesses of the shed, he spied vigilantly. Presently a lull fell in the sound and fury of cargo lading on one side of the pier. Preparations were made to take in the gangplanks, x Dock laborers concerned themselves with the cables that moored the vessel. Its deep throated whistle blasted a warning once, twice and again. Down the pier stood guard near its entrance. As they Jumped aboard the last gangplank was withdrawn. The vessel began to sheer away from the pier. Parr hastened to the nearest opentnj and waited there till, overhead, an open cargo port In the ship's painted flank moved past. At peril of his lire he leaped, caught the lower Up of the opening, and scrambled aboard, to'find himself in 'tween-decks gloort and definitely committed to the most des perate adventure of his history. Let hts presence aboard that vessel be sus pected, and the most optlmistie of in surance actuaries would rate his life the worst of risks.- It seemed impossible that he could have escaped observation. Yet, appar ently, he had; and that despite the fact that not far distant a number of effi cient, deadly little Japanese deckhands were busy stowing cargo at the behest of a boatswain. Flat on his stomach. Parr squirmed to a temporary refuge amid a nest of bales'. Eavesdropping attentively upon the conversation of the deckhands, he learned all he needed to know--dis-covered that he had stowed away aboard the "Sandal" of Yokohama, bound for Vera Cruz: that she had sailed with considerable suddenness, three days before her scheduled sailing date; that she carried passengers of some importance but these were not named) and a cargo -consisting of arms and ammunition for the Carransista forces; finally, that a treasure of vast value had been brought aboard at the last moment and stored In a strongly guarded stateroom in the officers' quar ters. Aa the freighter drew out to mid stream and began to drop down the river the deckhands trotted off on other business and left the stowaway to di gest his information and formulate bis plans. The last proved no easy matter. What one man could be expected to accomplish against a shipload was a riddle that baffled Parr's wits for the beet part of a long hour. Satisfied that the Channlng treasure had been brought aboard the "Sandal," and quite read:' to believe that Baron Huroki and his pet Mexican, Senor Juan de Lima, had not only been actively concerned in its theft, but had sailed in charge ot it. he still failed to puzzle out any ! feasible way to Inform the authorities ran alertly the two Japanese who had and cause the detention of the freighter NEWS FROM 0REG0NIAN FOLK IN NEW YORK CltY (Continued From First Page.) Sir Cecil and Lady Spring-Rice and it is surmised that the wedding, which is to be in April, will take place at the embassy. Rumor has It that the young couple will leave for England immediately after the ceremony. V A novel effort to raise money Is be ing made by ome of the young women members of the 'Vacation Association, who enjoy the benefits of that organi zation. They are attempting to raise a mile of pennies., which would be the equivalent of J900, by the holding of weekly dances, to which an admission of 16 cents, to be paid in pennies, is charged. The "Buy a Day" campaign, which is meeting with such great suc cess, is also for the benefit of the Va cation Association. Some interested individuals have not been content with the pffrchase of but one day, and have taken a full week. A very large representation of Ore gonians attended the last of the Sun day "at homes," given by Miss Emelie Frances Bauer, during the month of January. These receptions, which are annual affairs, are looked forward to by leading musicians of the metropolis as well as by the laymen lovers of mu sic, as a common meeting ground of she sought was by that time several i delightful informality. Among those blocks away. But this she couldnt know; and be lieving that he must still 'be somewhere in the house, she pursued her investiga tions; in the course of which, descend ing to the cellar, she discovered irre futable evidence of what Parr had sur mised to his own- satisfaction. If he hadn't stopped to verify it, that the treasure1 vault of the Channing house had been looted through a breach in the connecting wall. How the thiejves had got hold of that secret which she had supposed to be private to herself. Captain Parr and the Secret Service operatives Patria could by no means guess. But there was the broken wall to prove they had; and beyond it, clearly revealed in lamplight, that sacked vault yawned, despoiled of all its store of gold and securities, hopelessly empty, if far from swept and garnished. Or was it empty altogether T Had her present were Mrs. Fanny Carson Piatt, Mrs. S. Z. Mitchell. Mrs. A. J. Meier, Mrs. Henry Haussman, Miss Margery Haussman, Mrs. C. M. Maxwell, Mra May Dearborn Schwab. Miss Ruth Frances Miller and Mr. and Mrs. George Black. Mrs. Alex Bernstein and Miss Bauer entertained on Thursday afternoon in honor of Mrs. A. J. Meier. Mrs. Abe Meier, Mrs. Max Flelschner and Captain Sainuelson at a box party at Carnegie Hall to hear the Symphony Orchestra, with Mischa Elman as soloist. ... Mr. and Mrs. J. Clemson left New York this week after a stay of a month in the metropolis. From here they went to Pittsburg, where they will re main for a few days, and then will ac company Daniel Clemson, father of Mr. Clemson, and another brother and his wife to Southern California. Daniel Clemson, who is one of the leading financiers of Pittsburg, "has not been in very robust health since the death of his wife, about a year ago, and it is hoped that this trip to the land of sunshine will be of material benefit to him. Mr. and Mrs. Pierre L. Barbey are among the most popular of the younger married set at Palm Beach and are in cluded in all of the season's festivities-. They are both very fond of outdoor sports and Mrs. Barbey is one of the leading surf-boat riding enthusiasts. - Mrs. John Bell, who spent several weeks with her daughter. Mrs. S. Z. Mitchell, Is now staying with another daughter, Mrs. C M. Maxwell, at her apartment at 490 West End avenue. Mrs. Bell is In splendid health and goes for daily drives. Miss Ruth Gutty is taking & post graduate course at Columbia College, In this city, Mrs. A. J. Meier. Mr. and Mrs. Abe Meier and Harold Meier interrd leaving New York about the middle of the present month for their home in Fort land. Mrs. J. D. Farrell bas altered her original plans, which would have taken her back to Portland Immediately, and will remain In the East for the present, as there Is a possibility of Mr. Farrell joining her here. Miss Helen Farrell, who is a student at Miss Baldwin's school, near Bryn Mawr, Is spending a few days with her mother at the Plaza. A. J. Burke, a prominent wool man of Portland and of Pendleton, is at the Hotel Astor. He and Isidore Koshland, who Is likewise at the Astor, expect to leave for the West early in the week. . Mrs. - Thomas Honeyman is at the Hotel Gotham, where Mrs. David Lewis will join her in a few days. Mra Hon eyman plans to return to Portland very shortly. Mrs. Bernard bers, of Portland, ac companied by her brother-in-law, George Albers, of Seattle, and his wife, and another brother, Frank Albers, of 1 . San Francisco, have been spending the past two weeks: in this city, attending the opera and theaters, and participat ing in the Winter gaieties. From here the entire party will go to Washing ton. D. -C, then to various other cities. Including New Orleans, and a number of Southern resorts, before 'returning to their homes. Mr. and Mrs. Max Hirsch arrived on Thursday and are at the Hotel Bilt more. They expect to remain about a month. Robert fi. Whltehouse, of Portland, is at the Hotel Manhattan. Mr. and Mrs. T. J. Armstrong are at the Hotel Savoy for a short visit. Mra A. B. Palmer, of Portland, is at the Hotel Belmont. , Mrs. Isam White and Miss Edith Nana, who have spent the past month at the Hotel Biltmore in this city, left early in the week for Palm Beach, where they will remain for two or three weeks, after which they will re turn to Portland to prepare for a trip to the Orient.. Glen Miller, who was In New York for the Automobile Show, left several days ago for the West. Fred D. Swaeey la at the Hotel Mc Allln. Mr. and Mra. Henry R. Hoyt, of No. 2 East Seventy-fifth street, entertained at the opera, on Monday of the week, a party Including their daughter, Mrs. Henry L. Corbett. Mrs. Corbett, who prior to her marriage was an active member of the Junior League of this city, has many friends in the metropo lis, who eagerly anticipate her visits to her old home. The small son of Mrs. 6. Unander has now entirely recovered from his in disposition and she Is once more able to take part In the social activities of the Winter. " Frank Water house, of Seattle, and Miss Mary Waterhouse are at the Tan derbilt. Mr. and Mrs. Elsasser, who are well known in Portland, where they have visited frequently, are at the Hotel Astor for a few weeks stay, Ludwig Hirsch will leave shortly for California, where he will be joined by Mrs. Hirsch, and together they will go to Del Monte for a short stay, later re turning to Portland. and the arrest of the thieves without sacrificing the neck of Donald Parr. Huddled in the shelter of the bales, the yonng man commanded a view through the cargo port; and his thoughtful gaze had long been fixed upon that breadth of harbor water slip ping past so slowly and steadily before he distilled an inspiration from its hue. And even as he began to take cogni zance of the fog. Parr heard the jingle of signals In the engine-room below his hiding place. And Immediately the pulsings of the engines ceased. For a little the "Sandl" drifted with steadily slackening way. Then the anchor was dropped, with chain roaring through hawse-holes, and the freighter settled down to wait the lifting of the fog. In this combination of circumstances Parr thought to see his chance. The ship could not be far from land; and he was a strong swimmer. If he could slip unseen over the side and swim to the shore, or even to a friendlier ves sel's decka . . With every precaution, he stole out to the main deck and was instantly been unnoticed. She heard nevei7 a sound, saw never a sign of any huipan thing about the freighter. And pires ently she swung her almost wayljess craft in under the side of the anchored ship, and. rising, fished with a befet hook 'for a loop of cable that hiinff untidily from an open port. Catchitag this, she made painter fast, and wCth. little difficulty scrambled up the sf4e and In through the port to receive ; a grinning welcome from half a doz.rn Japanese sailors who had been patient- -ly waiting. Her disgust was as extreme aa he efforts to escape were unavailing. She, was promptly seized, if not ungently. and escorted up from the lower deck, to be presented to the captain at tha foot of the bridge companion ladder. From this personage she received a courteous bow, a sharp scrutiny, scant consideration. For though he had an intelligent face and looked and carried himself like a man of education, he refused flatly to understand English or to regard her as anything more than espied by a barefooted little monkey of a sailor, whose shriek of warning rang some strange stray of the sea. A few out the instant his vision comprehended brusque commands in his Japanese, and the f&CA of A str&nffer. Failing In an attempt to gain the side his way barred by. half a dozen Japanese who seemed veritably to spring up fjom between deck, seams Parr took flight to the bridge deck by way of a most convenient companion ladder; but gaining it only to find his plight nothing bettered; willing little assassins made toward him from fore and aft the moment he appeared. His next resort was one of despera tion. Charging through a stateroom door half open to the deck, he slammed, bolted it and swung round to find him self in the wireless room, confronted by a Japanese operator who seemed to lack something of the readiness of his fellows, since he failed to recover from his surprise before Parr had him cov ered with his automatic. Blows on the panels of the door were sounding as Parr backed the little brown "man Into his chaij and with a significant gesture of the pistol com manded: "Take my dictation! And. mind you, no shenanigans I can read your send ing by ear!" The operator nodded: his slender, deft fingers gripped keys and switches. His eyes he kept steadfast to the face of the American while the latter dic tated, and the crash and craokle of the spark filled that narrow Bpace with false thunder. When a shuttered port behind Parr s head was broken In. and a revolver through the opening stamped a cold ring on his temple, he stopped dictat ing, dropped his pistol and elevated both hands. At the same time the little wireless operator lunged forward from his chair, clipped Parr's waist with two sinewy arms, and bore him to the floor. The Needle In the Haystack. It was mldafternoon when .Patria's maid answered a knock at the door and brought back to the semi-distracted girl an envelope of the Marconi com pany. Tearing It open. Patria read hastily an unfinished message: "Miss- Patria Channing. "Ritz-Carlton. New York: "Fog-bound in lower bay aboard Japanese freight steamer Sandal. Treas ure aboard. U'ell Ryley." There was no signature; none was needed. Tossing the message to the maid. Patria turned in frantic haste to the clothing Annie had out on the bed preparatory to hanging the gar ments up. "Help me into this Immediately." the girl insisted, making a selection. "Then, if you can get Mr. Ryley on the tele phone, read him that message and say I've started to answer it In person. No don't ask questions. Just finish dress ing me and don't bother." But before long Patrla interrupted her dressing of her own volition to seize the telephone and secure connec tion with a yacht club whose floats were moored in the Hudson not far from Claremont. A taxicab whose chauffeur risked his license for a lady's whim bore her up town with such expedition that, in less than 20 minutes from the time she had telephoned, ahe hurried down the gang way to a float, beside which waited a motorboat built on racing lines. ,Two mechanics were tuning up the motor. Impatiently waiting till they pronounced It fit. Patrla refused their further services, jumped into the boat and ordered it cast off. Not until it was well away so far distant that the fog had blotted the club landing out astern did she feel conscious of any lessening of nervous tension. Now at least little as she could possibly hope for, who must grope blindly over a blind sea for a goal of uncertain whereabouts she waa doing what she could; she was trying to find the man who had proved himself never for an instant unready to risk his life In her Interests, and whose life, she never doubted, was now more grimly imperiled than It ever yet bad been. And even though she were to find him. by some wild whirl of the wheel of chance to come upon that vessel of all those hundreds which haunted that fog-bound harbor what then could ahe do? She never stopped to question .her ability to aid the man or hinder his enemies and hers; if she were hap pily to be permitted to do anything Helpful; it would only be when she had found this man who (she was now ready to admit) meant more to her than all the treasure in the world. It was her business first to find him, then to fret about rescuing him.. ... Once through the Narrows, however, once astray in the lower bay, she per force slowed down, for very lack of any means of guessing where to turn. And for a space of time that seemed many weary hours she wandered hither and yon over the face of that sullen sea, aimlessly save as she essayed ever and aga(n to trace some fog-warning to its source, in the forlorn hope that it might prove to be the floating prison of her lover. Is there a Providence in especial charge of lovers? Who shall deny the fact? What else led Patria's errant boat to that quarter of the harbor where lay the Sandal She found herself at length staring with Incredulous eyes up at that name lettered in faded gold across the stern of an idle vessel Quite automatically she shut off the purring of her motor. Under decreasing momentum the small boat moved quick ly round the bulk of the larger, while she stared and wondered to see no curi ous head peering down at her over that high rail. , It seemed her approach must have Patria waa led off to be locked up in a small, neat stateroom overlooking the upper aecic If they had counted on any lack of courage and resource as an infirmity of her sex. these Japanese had reckoned without Patria. She was no sooner alone than alert to find a way of es cape. The door waa atout and stoutly locked, but the shuttered port aeemed a frail barrier to one of the least de termination. Before attacking it. however, aha took the precaution of slipping off her sport skirt, for the greater freedom of her slender, knickerbockered legs if by any chance she should be suffered to escape the stateroom. Then waiting till she heard no sound of any voice or footfall on the deck beyond the shutter, aht shattered this with two sharp blowa of a abool and was through the opening in a twink ling. An Instant more and she ha3 leaped upon the rail and waa poised to dive. An officer made for her as she hesi tated there transiently to measure the distance to the water. But hfts arms, that would have drawn her back in their embrace, hugged only air; Patria was already under water. She came up within two yards of her motor-boat, struck out, and was climb ing its gunwales when several other splashes alongside gave warning that the pursuit had taken to the w.tber aa cheerfully as she. In this extremity .the. boathook (served her well. She clouted more thrm one close-shaven, brownish poll with Jt and planted Its point against the ch est of more than one who sought to tollow her over the side of her motor-boMt, be fore she could get the engine ;roing. And when that happened she gtt a taste ot what Japan's resentment might -mean. For aa she sheered off and her small craft gathered speed, a shower of gul lets spattered round it, fired from fine freighter's decks. But their aim was indifferent, Patrfo was too quickly lost in the fog. Svnset and CleartBir Sktea. In a pitchy dark compartment of tThe Sandal's hold, wrists and ankles .in irons, Donald Parr lay in an extreme unease, little tempered by the fact th.at he was but semi-conscious. A blow on the head during the scuf fle in the wireless room had prove mercifully anodynous. For he had been, severely manhandled before ironed and. imprisoned. Now he had knowledge neither of hi whereabouts save that he was not far from bilge or of how long he had lain, these insensible. Vaguely he apprehended that the ship was once more under steam. -But ha suffered too much to reason from this that the fog must have lifted. ... It was, in fact, only just lifting at that sunset hour. And as the evening breeze gained strength and swept clear the face of the sea. it showed those on the Sandal's bridge the slender, grace ful, white shape of a Naval Reserve cutter standing between her and the open sea. Aboard the cutter Patrla Channing Indicated the freighter with a trem bling hand. A moment later a two-pounder spoke from the cutter's deck and lta shot dropped neatly beneath the Sandai'j bows. Now the freighter had drifted al most dangerously near inshore during that afternoon of fog, while the cutter was still well out. She would need several minutes in which to lay her boats alongside the Japanese more minutes by several than the Japaneee would require in which to land her own boats on the nearby, low-lying shore. And the crew of the freighter, no more than her passengers, desired to become prisoners of the United States Government There followed, consequently, some thing of a scramble aboard the Sandal. But her boats were launched quickly and In sailorly taehton. and were act ually heading shoreward and pulling fast by the time the cutter's were well started toward their destination. But before the Japanese abandoned the freighter. Donald Parr waa briefly entertained by a fugitive caller. A manhole above his head was sud denly opened. An active little officer slipped down the iron ladder to th plat s whereon the American, rested. Without noticing Parr in any way. the officer moved off into the gloom, and -for a moment was busy in coma mys terious fashion. He reappeared, pur-, sued by a noise of gushing water, swarmed briskly up the ladder, recios Ing the manhole. Parr moved uneasily In his irons, cold water was swiftly enveloping his body In a pool Then abruptly he un derstood, and with desperate effort got . upon his feet. His tongue clove to the roof of his mouth and his heart was like a mad thing in his breast. For the seacocks had been opened to scuttle the ship and be was penned In there to die by drowning in the dark. When the Naval Reserve men opened the manhole they Found Parr clinging with his manacled hands to the upper rungs of the ladder his head barely out of water. But he wasn't long about regaining his poise when they bore him up to Patria on 'the deck. Under the influ- ' ence of that surprise he was even able to muster a flickering smile when the lieutenant, in command of the boarding parfy laughingly explained that hia S life had never been in real danger, slnce the Japanese had tried to scuttle the Sandai at a point so shoal that she could not have eunk, or even have filled beyond the point the waters had reached when Parr was rescued. As for the treasure that waa saved without any loss whatsoever. (To be continued.) 1 I rz&L& "' Uli wu.J furnish jCKf ME MtAPfSU K i