TTIFi OMAHA SUNDAY HKK: AtTOUST 2, 1014.
I TREY 0'
-
V
I;
tW LOUIS
7r photo-dram corresponding to the installments of
" The Trey CHearts" may now be seen at the leading
moving picture theaters, i By this' unique arrangement
ivtth the Universal Film Mfg. Co. it is therefore not only
possible to read " The Trey O'Hearts" in this paper,
brrt also to see each installment of tt at the mdbing
vkture theaters.
, - I THE MESSAGE OF THE ROSE.
(Copyrlf ht. 114. by Louie Jtweph Vane.)
Lapped deep In the leather-bound luxury of an
ample lounge-chair, walled apart from the world by
the venerable solitude of the library of London'
most exclusive club. Mr. Alan Law , sprawled
(largely on the nape; of hla neck) and. squinting
discontentedly down his nose,' admitted that he
was exhaustively bored.
Now the cbalr he filled so gracelessly stood by
an open window,' some twenty feet below which
lay a sizable walled garden, an old English garden"1,
in full flower. And through the window, now and
then, a half-hfsrted breeze wafted' misteof war-mi u
air, suave. and enervating wltb.the heavy fragrance - -of'
English roses. - - . J t ;'"' ?- -"l r
Mr. Law drank deep of It. and In.sptte c'f V. I '
spiritual unrest,' sighed slightly and thut .hls"yes,-7'
An unspoken word troubled the depth-of his COOfV
sclousness, so that old memories stirred, and strug
gled to Its surface.' The word was "Rose.and for
the time seemed to be the name neither of a woman
nor of a flower, but oddly of both; as tbotifch,"the two '
things .were one. , Ills mental vision, bridging 'the
gap of a year, conjured up the vision tf a -lithe,
sweet silhouette In white, with red roses at tier1
belt,. posed on a terrace of. the Riviera. against the
burning Mediterranean blue. :-..t.y.. . i
' ,Mr,: J4w,wm dully conscious ftbat he ought, to be.
sorry. about something, .But he was really veryt
drowsy Indeed; and so, drinking deep of wine-scent
of roses, be fell gently asleep. ... . . . I
The clock was striking four when he awoke; and
before closing his eyes he had noticed that Its
hands indicated ton' minutes to four. So he could
not have slept very long.
Tor some few seconds Alsn did not move, but
rested as he was, Incredulously regsrdlng a rose
, which had materialized mysteriously upon the little
table at his elbow. He was quite sure it had not
been there when he closed his eyes, and almost
as sure that it was not real.
And In that instant of awakening the magic fra
grance of the rose-garden seemed to be even more
strong and cloying sweet than ever. -
Then he put out a gingerly hand and discovered
that'll was real beyond all (question. A warm red
rose.- fresh-plucked, drops of water trembling and
sparkling like' tiny -diamonds on the velvet of Its
fleshy petals. And when impulsively he took, tt by
the stem, he discovered a most Indisputable thorn
-which did service for the traditional pinch.
Convinced that he wssn't dreaming, Alan trans
ferred the rose to hla sound hand, and meditatively
tucked his thumb. .Then ha Jumped up from the
chair and glared suspiciously round the room. It
was true that a practical Joke in that solemn atmos
phere were a thing unthinkable; still, there wae
the rose. ; ,' '
There was no one but himself In the library.
Perplexed to exasperation, Alan fled the ctnb,
only pausing on the way out to annex the envelop
he found addressed to him in the letter-rack.
It was a blank white envelop. of good Quality,,
the address typewritten. -the tramp English, and
bore a London postmark half illegible. ' .
Alan tore the envelope open in absent-minded
fashion and started as if stung. The enclosure
was a simple playing card a trey of hearts! . . .
As for Alan Law, he wandered homewards in a
state.of stupefaction. , He could read quite 'well the
message, of the rose,.. He would not soon forget
that year-old parting with his Rose of the Riviera:
"You sey yon love. me but may not marry ma end,
we roust part. Then promise this, that if ever you
change your mind, you'll send for me." , And her
promise: - "1 will send you a rose.";
But the year had lapsed with never a sign from
her. so that he had grown accustomed to the unflat
tering belief that she had forgotten him.
And now the sign had come but what the deuce
did the Trey of Hearts meanT V
When morning came. London had lost Alan Law.
No man of his acquaintance nor any woman had
received the least warning of bis disappearance
He was simply and sufficiently removed from Eng
lish ken.
II THE SIGN OF THE THREE.
' Out-of-doors, -high bra ten noon, a. day. in spring.'
the clamorous life of New York running aa fluent
at quIckstlver tSiJwfh its brilliant ttreett. Jr .J
turned a perennial quiet that was yet not peace.,
The room was like a wide, deep well of night, the
taunt of teeming shadows and sinister silences. ,
Little. Indeed, was visible beyond the lonely
shape that brooded over it. the figure of an old
man motionless in a great, leather-bound chair.
Ills hair was as white as his heart was black.'
The rack of his bones, clothed in a thick black
dressing-gown with waist-cord of crimson silk, from
the thighs down was covered by a black woolen
rug. He stared unblinking at nothing:, a man seven
eighths dead, completely paralysed but for his bead
and his. left arm. . . , , . tK ,
Preaeutly a faint clicking signal' disturbed the
stillness. Seneca Trine put forth his left hand and
touched one of a row of crimson buttons embedded
in the desk. Something else clicked this time a
latch. There was the faintest possible noise of a
closing door, and a smallish man stole noiselessly
into the light, paused beside the desk and waited
respectfully for leave to speak.
"Welir
A telegram, sir from England."
"Give It me!"
The old man seised the sheet of yellow paper,
. scanned It hungrily, and crushed it in his tremu
lous claw with a gesture of uncontrollable emotion.
"Send niy daughter Judith here?"
Two minutes later a young woman in street dresa
' was admitted to the chamber of shadows.
"Too sent for me, father?"
t "Rit down."
She found and placed a ebalr at the desk, and
obediently settled herself in It.
"Judith tell me what day it this?"
"My birthday. I am twenty-one."'
"And your sister's birthday: Rose, too, is twenty
one."
"Yes."
"You could have forgotten that." the old man
pursued almost mockingly. "Do yon really dislike
jour tin-ister so Intensely?"
- lie alrl'a iSiks icembled, "Too. IbowJI g&a.
"we have nothing in common beyond parentage
and this abominable resemblance. Our natures dif
fer as light from darkness."
"And which would you say was light?" .
"Hardly my own: I'm no hypocrite. Rose la
everything that they tell me my mother was, while
I" the girl smiled strangely "I think I am more
your daughter than my mother's."
A nod of the white bead confirmed the sugges
tion. . "It Is true. I have watched you closely,
Judith, perhaps more closely than even yon knew.
Before I was brought to. this" the wasted band
made a significant gesture "I waa a man of strong
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AND THEN,
passions. - Your mother never ,' loved, but rather ,
feared me. And Rose Is the mirror of her mother's
nature, gentle, unselfish, sympathetic. But you,
Judith you are. like a second self to me."
An, accent of, profound satisfaction Informed hit
volce.it The girl waited In a silence that was tensely
expectant. . '
"Then, if on this your birthday I were to ask a
service of you that might injuriously affect the
happiness of your sister ?"
'Tha'glrl laughed briefly:- "Only ask it!"" J
"And how far would you go to do my will?"
. "Where would you stop in the service of one you
loved?" '.;
8eneca Trine nodded gravely. And after a brief
pause, "Rose it in love," be announced.
."Oh, I know I know!" the father affirmed with
a faint ring 'of satisfaction. "I am old, a cripple,
prisoner of this living tomb; but all things I should
. know somehow I come to know in course of
.tlme!Ml
"It's true that Englishman she scraped acquaint
ance with on the Riviera last year what's hit
name? Law; Alan Law." '.'
"In' tha main." the father corrected mildly., "you.
are right. Only, he'a not English. His father waa
Wellington Law, of'Law ft Son."
She knew better than to Interrupt, but her seem
ing patience was belled by the whitening knuckles
of a hand that lay within, the little pool of blood
red light. "
And presently .the deep votce rolled on: "Law and
I were once friends; then It came to pass that we
loved one woman, your mother. I won her all
but her heart: too late she realized it was Law she
loved. He never forgave me. nor I him. Though
he married another woman, atlll he held from me
the love of my wife. I could not sleep for hating
him and he was no better off. Each aought the
other's ruin; it came to be an open duel between
us, In Wall street. One of us had to fall and I
held tr. atronger hand.. The night before the day
that was to have seen my triumph, I walked In
Central Park, as was my habit to tire. my body
so that my brain might sleep. Crossing the East
Drive I was struck by a motor-car-running at high
speed without lights. I was picked up insensible
and lived only to be what I am today. Law- tri
umphed in the street while I lsy helpless; only a
living remnsnt of my fortune remained to me.
Then bis chauffeur, discharged, came to me and
sold me the truth; it wss Law's car with Law at
the wheel that had struck me down a deliberate
attempt at assassination. I sent Law word that I
meant to have a life for a life. For what was I
better than dead? - I promised him that, thould he
escspe, I would hsve the life of his ton. He knew
I meant it. and sent hla wife and aoa abroad. Then
he died suddenly, of some common ailment they
said; but I knew better. He died of fear of me."
Trine amiled a cruel smile: "I had made his life
a reign of terror. Ever so often I would send Law,
one way or another myMerlouely always a Trey
of Hearts: it waa my death-sign for him; as you
know, our name. Trine, signifies a group of three.
And every time he received a trey of hearts, within
twenty-four ..ours aa attempt of some aort would
be made upon hla life. The strata broke down hit
nerve. ... . .
"Tneo I turned my attention to the ton. but the
distance was too great, the difficulties Insuperable.
r. m ai'Jou mocked all my efforts; their alii-
JOSEPH
anc with the Rothschilds placed mother and son
under the protection of every secret, police In Eu
rope. But they dared not come home." At length
I realized I could win only by playing a waiting
game." I needed three things: more mouey; to bring
Alan Law back to America; and one agent I could
trust, one Incorruptible agent. I ceased to per-,
eecute mother and son, lulled them into a sense of
false security, and by careful speculations repaired
my fortunes.' In Rose I had the lure to draw the
hoy back to America; In. you, the one person 'I
could trust '
"I sent Rose abroad and arranged that she should
IT CAM! TO PASS THAT WE BOTH LOVED ONE
meri Law.- They fell1, in love, at sight Then; I
wrote informing her that the man she had chosen
-was the son of him who had murdered all of me
but my brain. It fell out as, I foresaw. You can
' Imagine the scene of passionate renunciation
, pledges of undying constancy the arrangement of.
'a secret code whereby, when she needed him, she'
-A. would send him a single rose the birth of a great
romance!"
The old man laughed sardonically. "Well, there
'' Is the history. "Now the rose has been tent; Law
Is already homeward bound; my agents are watch
ing his every step.' The rest Is in your hands."
The girl bent forward, breathing heavily, eyes
aflame in a face that had assumed a waxen pallor.
"What Is it you want of me?"
"Bring Alan Law to me. Dead or alive, bring
him to me. But alive. If you can compass it; I
wish to see him die. Then I, too. may die content."
' The band of hot-blooded youth stole forth and
grasped the icy hand of death-fn-llfe.
"I will bring hlm,", Judith swore "dead or alive,
you shall have him here."
ni THE TRAIL OF TREACHERY.
But young Mr. Law was sole agent of hit own
vanishment; Just as he was nobody'a fool, least of
all his own. The hidden meaning of the trey of
hearts perplexed him with such distrust that before
leaving London, he dispatched a code cablegram to
his confidential agent In New York.
"What do you know about the trey of hearts?
Answer Immediately."
The answer forestalled hit arrival in Liverpool: .
. "Trlns's death sign for your father. For God's
sake, look to yourself and keep away from Amer
ica." But Alan had more than once visited America
incognito and unknown to Seneca Trine via a
secret route of hit own selection.
Eight days out of London, a second-class pas
senger newly landed from .one of the C P. steam
ships, he walked the streets of Quebec and dropped '
out of sight between dark and dawn, to turn up
presently in the distant Canadian hamlet of Bene
fit. Paul, apparently a very tenderfooted American
woods-traveler chaperoned by a taciturn Indian
guide picked up beaven-knows-where.
Crossing the St. Lawrence by night, the two
struck off quietly into the hinterland of the Notre
Dame range, then crossed the Maine border.
On the second noon thereafter, trail-worn and
weary, aa lean as thetr depleted packs, the two
paused on a ridge-pole of the wilderness up back
of the Allagash country, and made thetr midday
meal In a silence which, If normal in the Indian,
was one of deep misgivings on Alan'a part.
'Continually his gaze questioned the northern skies
that - lowered portentlously, foul with smoke a
country-wide conflagration that threatened alt
northern Maine, bone-dry with drought
Only the south offered a fslr prospect. And the
fires were making southward far faster than man
might hope to travel through that grim and stub
born land.
Even at he stared. Alan aaw fresh colamnt of
dun-colored smoke spring up in the northwest
Anxiously he consulted the impassive mask of
the Indian, from whom hla questions gained Alan
tittle comfort Jacob recommended forced marches
to Spirit Lake, where canoes might be found to aid
their flight; and withdrew Into aullea reserve.
VANCE
They traveled far and fast by dim forest trails
before sundown, then again paused for food and
rest. And as Jacob eat deftly about preparing the
meal, Alan stumbled off to whip the little trail-side
stream for trout
Perhaps a hundred yards upstream, the back-lash
of a careless cast by his weary hand booked the
State of Maine. Too tired even to remember the
appropriate words, Alan scrambled ashore, forced
through the thick undergrowth that masked the
trail, found his fly, set the State of Maine free and
swinging on bis heel brought up. nose to a sapling,
transfixed by a rectangle of white pasteboard fixed
WOMAN-
to ita trunk,' a trey of hearte.' of which-each. pip ..
had been neatly punctured by a 22-callber bullet
He carried it back to camp, meaning, to consult
the guide, but on second thought. held his tongue.
It wss not likely that-the Indian had . overlooked
an object so conspicuous on the trail. r -
So Alan waited for' him to speak and meantime
determined to watch Jacob raore.parrowjy, though
" no other suspicious circumstance . had 'marked the
several daya of their association. ;
'The first half of the night was,-as the day, de
voted to relentless progress southwards; . thirty
minutes of steady Jogging, five minutes, for rest
and repeat- - , , ;
No more question as to the need for such urgent
haste; overhead the north wind muttered .without
ceasing; thin. veils of smoke drifted . through the
forest,, hugging the ground, like some weird acrid
mist; and ever the curtained heaverts glared, livid
with reflected fires. . '.' r
By midnight Alan had come to the bounds 'of ety
durance; ; flesh, bone arid sinew i could: no longer
stand, that strain. Though Jacob "declared that
Spirit Lake was now.,only six hours distant' aa far
as concerned Alan he might have said six hundred.
His blanket once unrolled, Alan dropped upon. It
like one drugged. - . " ' ? "
The sun was high when he awakened and tat up,
.rubbing. heavy eyes, stretching aching limbs, .won
dering what had come over the Indian to let him
i sleep so late. . . - ; .
. Of a sudden he was assailed, by elckenlng fears
that needed only the briefest investigation to eon
' firm. Jacob had absconded with every, valuable
item of their equipment. . ' ,''' '
Nor was his motive far to seek.' Overnight the
fire had made tremendous gains. ' And' ever-and
anon -the wind would bring down' the roar of the
holocaust, dulled by distance ; but not unlike the
growling of wild animals feeding on their kill.
Alan delayed long enough only to swallow a few
mouthfuls of raw food, gulped water from a spring,
' ' and set out at a dog-trot on the trail to Spirit Lake.
For hours he blundered blindly, on, holding to
the trail mainly by Instinct. .
At length, panting, gasping. . half-blinded, he
staggered into a little natural clearing and plunged
forward headtong, so bewildered. that he could not
have said whether he was tripped or thrown; .for
even as he stumbled a heavy body landed on hia
back' and crushed him savagely to earth.
In .less than a minute he 'was, overcome; hit
wrists hitched together, .hit anklea-bound with
heavy cord. .
. When hie vision cleared he found Jacob within
a yard, regarding him with a face aa immobile aa
though It had been cast in the bronse it resembled.
Beyond, to one side, a woman In a man's hunting
costume stood eyeing the captive aa narrowly aa
the Indian' but unlike him with a countenance that
seemed , aglow with a - fierce exultancy over hla
downfall. , '
But for that look, he could have believed hers the
face that had brought him overseas this mortal
pass. Feature for feature, even to the hue of her
tumbled hair, ahe counterfeited - the woman ha
loved; only those eyes, aflame with' their look of
inhuman ruthlessness, denied that the two were
one. -
He aought vainly to apeak. The breath. rustled
in hit parched throat like vljid. wjilaoerjng among
dead leaves, . " "" " "V
Thrusting the. Indian roughly aside, the women
knelt in his place by Alan's head. .
"No,", she said, and . smiling cruelly, shook her
head "no, I am not your Rose. But I am her sis
ter, Judith, her twin, born in the same hour, daugh
ter of can you guess whose daughter? But see
this!" She flashed a card from within her hunting
shirt . and held, it before his eyes. "Yon know it.
eh?. The trey of -hearts the tymbol of Trine
Trine,. your father'a enemy, and yours, and Rose's
father and mlneli So, tow, perhaps you know!": : ".
, A rust of wind like a furnace blaat swept the
glade.' '.The woman sprang up, glanced over
shoulder Into the forest and signed to the Indian.
"In' ten minutes." she said, "these woods will be
your funeral pyre." . .'
She stepped back. Jacob advanced, picked Alan
up,, shouldered his. body, and strode back into the
forest Ten. feet in from the clearing he dropped
the helpless man supine upon a bed of dry logs and
branches.' . . .v . " .
Then, with a single movement, he disappeared.'
. rv many; waters. : .
Overhead, through a rift in the foliage, a sky waa
visible whose ' ebon darkness . called to . mind a
thundercloud.
The heat was nearly intolerable; the voice of the
fire was very loud. : ' . '
Two minutes had, passed of the tea. . Something
waa . digging uncomfortably into Alan'a right hip.
The automatic platol in hit hip pocket Of ; which
Jacob had neglected to relieve him. Then a sharp,
spiteful crackling brought. him suddenly to a sitting
position, to find. that the Indian had thoughtfully
touched a match to. the pyre before departing. At
Alan't feet the twigs were biasing merrily.
It: would have -been easy enough,' acting on In
stinct, to snatch his limbs away, but he. did not
move more than to strain hit feet at far as their
bonds permitted. Conscious of scorching heat even
through hla hunting boots, he. suffered that torture
until a tongue of flame licked up, wrapped Itself
round the thick hempen cord and ate it through,
Immediately Alan kicked his feet free,' lifted to
a kneeling -position, and crawled from the pyre.
Aa . for his hands Alan'a hunting-knife wat still
in its sheath belted to the small of hia back.. .Tear
ing at the belt with hla hampered fingers, he con
trived, to shift it round until the sheath knit stuck
at ' the .belt-loop over' his left hip. Withdrawing
and conveying the blade to his mouth, he gripped
It firmly between hit teeth, and' sawed the' cords
round-hit :: wrists against the. rasor-sharp blade.
' Before Alan could turn; and. run. he taw.a van
guard of .flames bridge fifty yards at a hound and
start a dead pine blatjlng like a torch.. , . ' .
And then he waa pelting like a madman across
the smoke-filled clearing, and in less than two min
utes broke from the forest to the pebbly shore of a
wide-bosomed lake, and within a few hundred feet
of a . substantial 4am, through whose spillway a
heavy volume of water cascaded with a roar rival
ing that of the forest-flre. itself, " .-. . I
Two quick glanc,e showed Alaa two things: that
hla only way of escape waa via the dam; that there
waa a. solitary canoe at mid-lake,' hearing swiftly
to the farther snore Judith Trine' and the Indian
the latter wielding the paddle- .
' In the act of turning toward, the dam he aaw
Jacob drop "the paddle. ' The next' instant's bullet
from a Winchester ,30 kicked up a spurt of pebbles
only a few feet In advance of Alan.
He quickened his pace,-but the next-bullet fell '
eloeer, while . the - third actually bit the .earthbe
aeath his running' feet as he gained the. dam.
Exasperated; he pulled up, whipped out his pistol ;
and. fired without aim. - At the same time, he noted
that the distanoe between dam and canoe bad lee
" aened perceptibly,-- thanks to the strong current -
sucking through the pill way. k .
..Hla shot flew wide, butalmost instinctively bit
finger closed' again upon the trigger,- and' he saw
the, 'paddle-snap in 'twain, "its. blade falling over
board, .And then the Indian fired again; his bullet
droning' past Alan'a -ear.' - 1 ; r". . . . . '
- As be fired in response Jacob started, dropped his
rifle and crumpled up in the bow of the canoe.
, Simultaneously' earth and heavens' rocked with a
terrific clap'of thunder. t ' , ,' ' ? ; '
v He turned agal and ran swiftly. along the dam,
toward 'two heavy, timbers that bridged the torrent
of' the spillway..; ; f ;' - . ' .... :.,. -v ;
' Then a glance aside brought him -up with a thrill
of horror: the suck of, the overflow;-had drawn the
canoe within a, hundred jarda 'oft the spillway.' The
dead Indian In ita. bow, the living woman helpless
inilts stem, it swept swlftly onward to destruction.
His next fewactions , were wholly unpremeditated. '
Hewat,contclous-only of her white, staring face,
her atrange likeness to the .woman that he loved,
v He ran out upon the bridge, threw himself down
upon the innermost, timber, turned, and let hit body
fall - 'backwards, arms extended . at ' length. ' and
swung, braced -by hit feet beneath the outer-timber.
. ' Witha'swlftnesa that passed conscious thought
he was aware of the canoe hurtling onward with
the speed-of wind, its sharp prow apparently aimed
directly, for his head.. Then hands closed round
his wrists; like clamps;' a tremendous weight tore
at ; hie arms,' and with an effort of inconceivable
difficulty he began to lift, to drag the woman up
out of the foaming Jaws of death. -
Somehow, that iimpoeslbla . feat was . achieved;
somehow the woman contrived to clamber over
hlm .to the timbers; am be in turn pulled himself
up to safety, and tick with reaction sprawled prone v
above the screaming abyss. ... .,
Later v he . became aware that the woman , had
crawled to safety on the farther shore, and pulling
himself together, imitated her example. . ,
In a ghastly twilight In which the flaming forests
on the other, shore burned with unearthly glare, he
discovered the wan; writhing face of Judith-Trine
close to his and be heard her scream: ,
"You -foot! -- Why did you save me? I tell yon.
I have sworn your death !"
The utter grotetqqeneas of it all broke upon his
Intelligence like -the revelation of some enormous
fundamental absurdity in 'Nature. He laughed a
little -hysterically.. .
. Darkness followed. :' A 'flash, of lightning teemed
to flame between them like a fiery sword. . To its
crashing thunder, he lapsed into unconsciousness.
Whet he roused. It waa with a shiver and a ahud
der. ' Rain waa falling la torrents from a sky the
hue. of tlate.- Across the lake dense volumes of
steam enveloped the fires that fainted beneath the
deluge. . great . biasing noise filled the wtwid.
muting even the roar of the spillway..
But in' hla hand, tattered and bruised by U
downpour, he found a roe. - -
."""' XConttened Next ggndarJ '