HEPPNER GAZETTE TIMES, HEPPNER, OREGON, THURSDAY, MARCH 4, 1926.
PAGE THREE
cioedE a DCRAN CO.
A Sequel to Bulldog Drummond.
BY CYRIL MmiLE
SYNOPSIS
CHAPTER I. To a gathering of anar
chist in Barking, London suburb, Zaboleff,
foreign agitator, tells of the operations of
a body of men who have become a menace
to their activities. He is interrupted by
the men he is describing (the Black Gang),
who break up the meeting, sentencing some
of the participants to condign punishment
and carrying away others. A memorandum
found on Zaboleff gives an address in Hox
ton, London, which the leader of the at
tacking party considers of importance.
CHAPTER II. Sir Bryan Johnstone, di
rector of criminal investigation, hears from
Inspector Mclver, sent to arrest Zaboleff
the night before, of his discomfiture. He
had been seized and chloroformed and his
raid frustrated. Hugh Drummnd, man of
leisure and old friend of Johnstone's ar
rives and tells of seeing the kidnapers and
their victims. He becomes an unpaid agent
of the police, to be under the direction of
Mclver, and takes up his duties at once.
CHAPTER III. A "Mr. William Atkin
son," ostensibly pawnbroker and money
lender, really Count Zadowa, director of
anarchy in England, does business in an
other London suburb. A mysterious stran
ger invades the premises. Count Zadowa,
after a brief glimpse f the intruder, is
strangely disconcerted.
CHAPTER IV. Drummond, having
knowledge of Atkinson's anarchistic activ
ities, arranges to burglarize the latter's
office to secure evidence of the fact. While
so engaged, with two companions, a bomb
is hurled at them from an adjoining room.
CHAPTER V. The explosion kills
"Ginger Martin," expert burglar whom
Drummond had employed to open Atkin
son's safe. Drummond and his friend es
cape, taking with them a bag they find on
the floor. Neither Drummond nor his com
panion at the time find out what it con
tains. CHAPTER VI. At a fashionable hotel
Rev. Theodosius Longmoor and his daugh
ter Janet are guests. "Longmoor" is really
Carl Peterson, international crook, with
whom Drummond has an old feud. Zadowa
tells Longmoor and his daughter of the
bomb he had hurled, which he believes
killed the three invaders. Longmoor is en
raged, pointing out that the diamonds
(Russian crown jewels, of which Zadowa
had known nothing) had been lost thru
his action. Longmoor insists that Zadowa
recover the diamonds, suggesting that they
may be in the hands of the police, and
warning his subordinate (Longmoor is ad
dressed by Zadowa as "chief") that failure
will be punished with death.
CHAPTER VII. Drummond discovers
that Longmoor, most cleverly disguised, is
Carl Peterson. Janet, at the same time,
recognizes in Drummond the leader of the
black Gang, and their old enemy.
CHAPTER VIII. Drummond becomes
convinced that Peterson knows he is head
of the Black Gang. Zadowa also knows it.
CHAPTER IX. Zadowa, impressed with
the belief that Drummond has the diam
onds, visits him and makes the proposition
that Himh restore the gems as an equiva
lent to Zadowa's agreeing not to divulge
to the police the fact that Drummond is tne
leader of the Black Gang. Drummond, In
furiated by the death of Martin and the
despicable character of the man betore him.
thrashes his visitor severely and kicks him
out of the house.
CHAPTER X. Mrs. Drummond disap
pears, and Hugh recognizes Peterson's
hand. Peterson summons Drummond to his
hotel. He goes, and they come to an under
standing. Peterson stipulates that the dia
monds must be returned to him before Mrs.
Drummond is released. Hugh agrees to the
terms, and leaves to bring the gems.
CHAPTER XI. Returning with the
stones, Drummond is drugged and placed
in an auto, which Peterson plans is to be
driven into the Thames. Drummond's con
sequent death being made to appear the re
sult of an accident.
CHAPTER XII
In
Which Hugh Drummond Arrive!
at Maybrick Hall.
T,WO things saved Drummond from
what was practically certain death
the heavy coat he was wearing and
the fact that he rolled sideways clear
nf the steering wheel as soon aB the
man let go of him with his hand. Had
he remained behind the wheel ho must
infallibly have gone to the bottom
with the car, and at that point where
the river narrowed to come through
the plerB of the bridge the water was
over twenty feet deep. He had suf
ficient presence of mind to take a deep
breath as the cor Bhot downward;
then he felt t'.e water close over his
head. And If teforo his struggles to
move had bon fierce now that th
end seemcr" at hand, they became
desperate. Aio desire to get clear'
to give on. kick with his legs and
come to tne surface loused him to
one superhuman effort. Ho felt as if
the huge heave he gave with his legs
against the floorboards must send
him flying to the top; afterwards he
realized that this vast effort had been
purely mental the actual physical
result had been practicnlly negligible.
But not quite, it had done something,
and the coat did the rest.
With that one last supreme throw
for his life his mind had overcome
the effect of the poison to the extent
of forcing his legs to give one spas
modic little kick. He floated clear of
tho car, and slowly how slowly only
his bursting lungs could testify the
big coat brought him to the sufnee.
For a moment or two ho could do
nothing save draw in deep gulps of
air; then he realized that tho danger
was not yet past. For he couldn't
shout, he could do nothing save float
nnd drift, and the current had carried
him clear of the bridgo out of sight
of those on top. And his mind was
nnlta clear enough to realize thnt
the coat which had saved him, once it
became sodden would just as surely
drown him.
He could see men with lanterns on
the bridge: he could hear them shout
Ing and talking. And then he sow
hont come bock from the ship that
had nassed through just before he
went over the edge in his car. Surely
they'd pull down stream to look for
him, he thought In an agony of futile
anger; surely they couldn't ba such
fools as to go on pulling about just
by the bridge when it was obviouB he
wasn't there. But since they thought
that he was at the bottom in his car,
and blasphemous language was al
ready being wafted at them by the
skipper of the vessel for the useless
delay, with a sinking heart Drum
mond saw the boat turn around and
disappear up-stream in the darkness.
Men with lanterns still stood on the
bridge, but he was far beyond the
range of their lights, and he was
drifting farther every minute. It was
just a question of time now and it
couldn't be very long, either. He
could see that his legs had gone down
well below the surface, and only the
air that still remained in the but
toned-up part of his overcoat kept his
head out and his shoulders near the
top. And when that was gone th
end. He had done all he could; there
was nothing for it now but wait for
the inevitable finish.
Then a sudden change in his im
mediate surroundings began to take
place. At first he could not realize
what had happened; then little by lit
tle it began to dawn on him what had
occurred. Up to date the water in
which he had floated had seemed mo
tionless to him; he had been drifting
in it at exactly the same velocity as
the current. And now, suddenly, he
saw that the water was going past
him. For a moment or two he failed
to understand the significance of the
fact; then wild hope surged up in his
mind. For a time he stared fixedly
the bridge, and the hope became a
certainty. He was not drifting any
frather from it; he was stationary; he
was aground. He could feel nothing;
he could see nothing but the one
stupendous fact remained that he was
aground. Life took on another lease
anything might happen now. If
only he could remain there till the
morning they would see him from the
bridge, and there seemed no reason
why he shouldn't. The water still
flowed sluggishly past him, broken
with the faintest ripple close to his
head. So he reasoned that it must
be very shallow where he was, and be
ing an incurable optimist, he contem
plated his next meeting with Peterson.
But not for long. Starting from his
waist and spreading downwards thru
his shoulders to his hands there slow
ly began to creep the most agonizing
cramp. Ihe torture was lndescriDaDie
and the sweat dripped off his forehead
nto his eyes. And gradually it dawn
ed on him that the effects of the
poison were wearing off. Sensation
was returning to his limbs; even
through his agony he could feel that
he was resting against something un
der the water. Then he heard a
strange noise, and ealized that it was
he himself groaning with the pain.
The use of his voice Had come back.
He Bpoke a sentence aloud, and made
certain.
And then Drummond deliberately
decided on doing one of those things
which Peterson had always failed to
legislate for in the past. Ninety-nine
men out of a hundred would have
shouted themselves hoarse under such
circumstances; .not so Drummond
Had he done so a message would have
reached Peterson in just as long as
it took a trunk call to get through;
the man called Franz was still assidu
ously helping the gatekeeper on the
bridge. And the Reverend Theodoaias
Longmoor and his little Janet would
have vanished into the night, leaving
no traces behind them.
Which all flashed through Drum
mond's mind, as the cramp took and
racked him, and the impulse to shout
grew stronger and. stronger. But a
more powerful force was at work
within him than mere pain a cold,
bitter resolve to get even with Carl
Peterson. And it required no great
effort of brain to see that that would
be more easily done if Peterson be
lieved he had succeeded. Moreover.
if he ahouted there would be ques
tions asked. The police would Inev
itably come into the matter, demand
ing to know why he adopted such pc
culiar forms of amusement as going
nto twenty feet of water in a per
fectly good motor car. And all that
would mean delay, which was the last
thing he wanted. Ho felt tolerably
certain that, for all his apparent con
fidence, Peterson was not going to
stop one minute longer in the coun
try than was absolutely necessary.
So he stayed where he was, in si
lence and gradually the cramp pass
ed away. He could turn his head
now, and with eyes that had grown
accustomed to the darkness he saw
what had happened. On each side of
him the river flowed past him smooth
ly, and he realized that by a wonder
ful stroke of luck he had struck a
small shoal. Had he missed it had
he floated by on cither side well,
Peterson's plan would have succeeded.
'Following the extraordinary mo
tor accident reported in our previous
Issue, we are now informed that the
body- of the unfortunate driver has
been discovered Bonio three miles
from tho scene of the tragedy. He
was drowned and hod evidently been
dead for some hours."
Drummond smiled grimly to him
self as he imagined the paragraphs
in the papers. His nerves were far
too hardened to let his narrow escape
worry him for an instant, and he felt
an unholy satisfaction in thinking of
Petorson searching the early specials
and the late extras for that little item
of news.
"I'd hate you to be disappointed
my friend," he muttered to hlmsalf,
but you'll have to be content with
the coat and hat. The body has doubt
less drifted farther on and will be re
covered later."
He took off his hat, and let it drift
away: he unbuttoned nis overcoat
and aent it after the hat. Then let
ting himself down into the deep wa
ter, he swam noiselessly toward the
bank.
A little to his surprise he found
that his legs and arms felt perfectly
normal a trifle stiff, perhaps, but
beyond that the effect of the poison
seemed to have worn off completely.
Beyond being very wet he appeared
to have suffered no evil results at all,
and after he'd done "knees up" on the
bank for five minutes to restore his
circulation he sat down to consider
hig plan of action.
"First, Phyllis at Maybrick hall.
He must get at her somehow, and,
even if he couldn't get her away, he
must let her know that she would be
all right. After that things must
look after themselves; everything
would depend on circumstances. Al
ways provided that those circum
stances led to the one great goal
Peterson. Once Phyllis was safe, ev
erything was subservient to that.
A church clock near by began to
toll the hour, and Drummond count
ed the strokes. Eleven o'clock not
two hours since he had gone over th
bridge and it felt !ik six. So mucn
hj letter; it gave hira so many more
hours of darkness, and ho wanted
darkness for his explorations at May
brick hall. And it suddenly dawned
on him that he hadn't the faintest
idea where the house was.
It might have deterred some men;
it merely made Drummond laugh. If
he didn't know, he'd find out even
if it became necessary to pull some
one out of bed and ask. The first
thing to do was to get back to the,
spot where the car had halted, and to
do that he must go across country.
Activity was diminishing on the
bridge, but he could still see lanterns
dancing about, and tne sudden ap
pearance of a very wet man might
lead to awkward questions. So he
struck off in the direction he judged
to be right moving with the strange,
cat-like silence which was a never
ceasing source of wonderment even to
those who knew him best.
No man ever heard Drumond'g com
ing, and very few ever saw him until
it was too late, if he didn't intend
that they should. And now, in utter
ly unknown country, with he knew
not how many undesirable gentlemen
about, he was taking no risks. Merci
fully for him, it was a dark night
just such a night, in fact, as he would
have chosen, and as he passed like a
huge shadow from tree to tree, only
to vanish silently behind a hedge,
and reappear two hundred yards far
ther on, he began to feel that life was
good. The joy of action was in his
veins; he was going to get his hands
on somebody soon, preferably the
Italian or the man who called himself
Franz. For Bill he had a sneaking
regard; Bill, at any rate, could ap
preciate a good car when he saw one.
The only trouble was that he was un
armed, and an unarmed man car't
afford to stop and admire the view in
a mix-up. Not that the point de
terred him for a moment, it only made
him doubly cautious. He must see
without being seen; he must act with
out being heard. Afterwards would
be a different matter.
Suddenly he stiffened and crouched
motionless behind a bush. Ha had
heard voices and the sound of foot
steps crunching on the gravel.
"No good waiting any more," said
a man whom he recognized as Franz.
"He's dead for a certainty, and they
can't pull him out until tomorrow.
Couldn't have gone better. He swayed
right over just as the car took the
gates, and the bridgekeeper saw it.
Thinks he fainted "
Their voices died out in the dis
tance. Drummond came out from be
hind the bush. He stepped forward
cautiously and found himself con
fronted by a high wire fence. Thru
it he could see a road along which the
two men must have been walking.
And then through a gap in the trees
he saw a light in the window of
house. So his first difficulty w
solved. The man called Franz and his
companion cauld have but one destin
ation in all probability Maybrick
hall. And that must be the house
he could see through the trees, while
the road on the other side of the
fence was the drive leading up to it.
He gave them half a minute or so;
then he climbed through the fence.
It was a fence with horizontal strands
of thick wire, about a foot apart, and
the top strand was two feet above
Drummond's head. An expensive
fence, he reflected; an unusual fence
to put round any property of such a
sort. An admirable fence for cattle in
a corral because of its strength, but
for a house and grounds peculiar,
to say the least. It was not a thing
of beauty; it afforded no concealments
and it was perfectly simple to climb
through. And because Drummond had
been trained in the school which no
tices details, even apparently trivial
ones, he stood for a moment or two
staring at the fence, after he had
clambered through. It was the
pense of the thing more than any
thing else thot puzzled him. It wos
new that was obvious, and after a
while he proceeded to walk along it
for a short way. And another pe
culiar thing struck him when he came
to the first upright. It was on iron
T-Bhnped post, and each strand of
wire passed through a hole in th
bottom port of the T. A perfectly
simple ond sound orrangement and
but for one little point just the typ
of upright one would have expected to
find in such a fence. Round each hole
was o small ' white collar through
which eoch strand of wire passed, bo
that the. wires rested on the collars
and not on the holes in the iron up
right. Truly a most remarkable fence,
he reflected again in fact, a thor
oughly eccentric fence. But he got
no fnrther than thot in his thoughts
the knowledge which would hove bup
plied him with the one clue necessary
to account for the fence's eccentricity
of oppeorance was not his. The facts
he could notice; the reason for the
facts were beyond him. And after
further examination he shrugged h
shoulders and gave it up. There were
bigger things. ahead of him than a
more question of fencing, and, keep
ing in the shadow of the shrubs which
fringed each side of the drive, he
crept silently toward the house.
It was a low, rambling type of
building covered as far as he could
see with ivy and creepers. There
were only two stories, and Hugh nod
ded his satisfaction. It made things
simpler when outside work was more
than likely. For a long time he stood
carefully surveying every possible
line of approach and flight, and it
was while he was oaiancing up
chances that he gradually became
aware of a peculiar noise proceeding
from the house. It sounded like the
very faint hum of an airplane in the
far distance, except that every two or
three seconds there came a slight
thud. It was quite regular, and dur
ing the four or five minutes whilst he
stood there listening there was no
variation in the monotonous rhythm.
Thud: thud: thud faint, but very
distinct; and all the time the general
whirring of some mooth-running,
powerful engine.
The house was in darkness save for
one room on the ground floor, from
which the light was streaming. It
was empty, and appeared to be an
ordinary sitting room. And, as a
last resort, Hugh decided he would
go in that way, if outside methods
failed. But to start with, he had no
intention of entering the house; it
struck him thot the odds ogainst him
were unnecessarily large.
He retreated still farther into the
shadow, and then quite clear and dis
tinct the hoot of an owl was heard
in the silent garden. He knew that
Phyllis would recognize the call if
she heard it; he knew that she would
give him some sign if she could. And
so hoping, stood and waited, eagerly
watching the house for any sign of
movement. But none came, and after
pause of half a minute he hooted
again. Ut course it was possible that
she wos in a room facing the other
way, and he had already planned his
ne of advance round the back of the
ouse. And then, just as he was pre
paring to skirt round and investigate
he saw the curtains of one of the up
stairs rooms shake and open slightly.
Very faintly he repeated the call, and
to his joy he saw a head polled thru
behind them. But he was taking no
chances and it was impossible to tell
to whom the head belonged. It might
e Phyllis, and on the other hand it
might not. So once again he repeat
ed, and then he waited for some an
swer.
It came almost ot once; his own
name colled very gently, ond he hesi
tated no more. He wos across the
lawn in a flash and standing under
er window, and once again he heard
her voice tense with anxiety.
"Is that you, Hugh 7
"Yes, darling, it's me right enough,"
e whispered back. "But there's no
time to talk now. I want you to
jump onto the flower-bed. It's soft
landing, and it won t hurt you."
But I can't, old man," she said,
with a little catch in her breoth.
They've got me lashed up with a
steel chain."
All right, kid; if you can't come to
, I must come to you. We'll soon
eal with that chain."
He glanced into the room under
neath her, and saw that it looked like
drawing room. The windows seem
ed easy to force if necessary, but he
decided first of oil to try the ivy out
side. But it wos useless for a man
of his weight. Just at the bottom it
supported him, but os soon as he
started to climb it gave way at once.
Twice he got up about six feet, twice
e fell back again, os the ivy broke
owoy from the wall. And after the
second ottempt he looked up ot the
anxious face of his wife above.
"No go, darling," he muttered. "And
'm afraid of making too much noise.
m going to try and force this win
dow."
By a Btroke of luck they had not
taken his clasp-knife, and by a still
greater stroke of luck he found that
the catch on the window had been
broken, and that it proved even eas
ier to open than he had thought.
The next moment he had vanished
into the drawing room. And now he
noticed thot the strange noise which
he had heard while standing on the
own was much louder. As he cau
tiously opened the door and peered
nto the passage the very faint hum
became a steady drone, while with
each successive thud the floor-boards
shook a little.
The pasasge was in darkness, tho
light was shining from under some
of the doors. As he crept along in
search of the stairs he heard voices
proceeding from one of the rooms
he passed. Evidently a fairly popu
lous household, it struck him as he
tested the bottom atair with his
weight to see if it creaked. But the
staircase was old and solid, and the
stair carpet wos thick, and at the
moment Hugh was not disposed to
linger. Afterward the house seemed
to promise a fairly fruitful field for
investigation; ot present Phyllis wos
all thot mattered. So he vanished
upwards with the uncanny certointy
of oil his movements ot night, and
moment later he wos standing on the
landing above.
It was a long, straight corridor, a
replica of the one below, and he
turned in the direction in which he
knew her room must lie. And he had
only taken a couple of steps when he
stopped abruptly, peering ahead with
eyes that strove to pierce the dark
ness. For it seemed to him that
there was something in the passage
something darker than its surround
ings. And at thot moment something
sprang out of the darkness and he
found himself fighting for his life
For a second or two he was at
disadvantage, so completely had he
been taken by surprise; then the old
habits returned. And not a momen
too soon; he was up against an
tagonlst who was worthy of him. Two
hands like iron hooks were round hi
neck, and the man who gets that grip
first wins more often than not. His
own hands shot out into the darkness,
and then for the first time in his life
he felt o stab of fear. For he couldn't
reach the other man; long though his
arms were, the other man's were far
longer, and as his bonds went along
them he could feel the muscles stand
ing out like steel bars. He made one
supreme effort to force through to
his opopnents throat, and it failed;
with his superior reach he could keep
his distance. Already Drummond's
head was beginning to feel like burst
ing with the awful pressure round his
throat, and he knew he must do
something at once or lose. And just
in time he remembered his clasp-
knife. It was ogoinst his groin to
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(Continued on Pace Six)