THE OMAHA SUNDAY PEE: ADJUST 0, 1014.
i. ,., . :
LOUIS JOSEPH VANCE
8-B
SECOND INSTALLMENT
The photo-drama corrtrponamg to the tnsftllmeni of
"The Trey O'Hearft" may now be ittn at the leading
tncxrmg picture theater. Fy this unique arrangement
nrth the Vntvrtat FSm Kfg. Co. tt it therefore not only
poeaible to read " The Trey O'Hearta" in thia paper.
bat aho to tee each installment of U at the moving
picture theaters.
STNOPSIS Tha af HMrti to tha 4Mk alea" mi hj
ft antra Trtaa la tha privata war af Ttntnnci, which,
through Ma dauahUr, Judith, woman of tfnltnt at'. rrlm
Inal unr aaa a.aaatlenabla alT, ha waa aaalnrt Alan
li wboaa rathor (now daa Triao hala roaponalbla for
tha aertdant which nada htm a halplraa crlppla. I aw lor.a
hat an6r dramatta clreumatancaa aavoa tha Ufa of
adla, bar twla alatar. aa4 aawuilasijr bar lova, tlx.
ITIIE HUNTED MAN.
(CaayrKkt, 1114, b Leala Jaaapb Vaaea.)
That day was hot and windiest with aa uncloud
ed sky day of braaa and burning.
Long before any aound audible to human ear
disturbed the noonday hush, a bobcat sunning on a
log la a glad to which no trail led, pricked ears,
rote, glanced over ahonlder with a marl and of a
udden waa bo moro there.
Perhape two mlnutee later a succession of re
.mote crashlnga began to be heard, a cumulative
'volume of aound made by some heary body forcing
jby mala strength through the underbrush, and
ceased only when a man broke Into the clearing,
tulled up, atood for an Instant swaying, then reeled
to a aeat oa the log, pillowing his head on arms
folded across his knees and shuddering uncon
trollably In all his limbs.
But orea as he strove to calm himself and
rest, the feeling tbat something was peering at him
from behind a mask of undergrowth grew Intoler
ably acute.
At length he Jumped up, glared wildly at the spot
where that aomethlng bo longer was, flung himself
'frantically through the brush la pursuit of It, aid
found nothing.
With a great effort he palled himself together,
clamped his teeth upon the promise not again to
giro way to hallucinations, and turned back to the
clearing.
There, upon the log on which he bad retted, he
found but refused to believe he saw a playing
card, a Trey of Hearts, face up in the sun flare.
With a gesture, of horror, Alan Law fled the
place.
While the aounda of his flight were still loud, a
grinning half-breed guide stole like a shadow , to
the log, laughed derlalrely after the fugitive, picked
up and pocketed the card, and set out la tireless,
cat-footed pursuit. ; '
Aa hour later, topping a ridge of rising ground,
Alan caught from the hollow oa Us farther side
the music of clashing waters. Tortured by thirst,
he begaa at once to descend ta reckless haste.
' The shelving moss-beds afforded treachorous
footing: Alan waa glad bow and then of the sup
port of a cedar, but these grew ever smaller, and
more widely spaced and were not always conve
nient to bis hand. He came abruptly and at head
long pace within eight of the eaves of ft cliff and
precisely then the hillside seemed to slip from
under him.
i He waa Instantaneously aware of the sua, a
molten ball wheeling madly In the cup of the tur
quoise sky. Then dark waters closed, over him. .
I He came up struggling and gasping, and struck
out for something dark that rode the waters near
jet 'hand something vaguely resembling a canoe. -'
Wtthla a stroke of aa outstretched paddle, he
Hang up a hand and went down again,
i Instantly one occupant of the canoe, ft young
and very beautiful woman la ft man's hunting
clothes, spoke a sharp word of command and.' aa
her guide steadied the vessel with his paddle, rose
ta her place so surely that she scarcely disturbed
the nice balance of the little craft, and curved her
lithe body over the bow, head-foremost Into the
pool.
nTHB HATJNTINO WOMAN.
Re experienced ft little fever, a little delirium,
then blank slumbers of exhaustion.
J He awoke la dark of night, wholly unaware that
thirty-six hours had passed since his fall. This
last, however, and event that had gone before, he
recalled with tolerable eleerneee allowing for the
sluggishness of drowsy mind. Other memories,
more Tague, of gentle ministering hands, of a face
by turns aa angel's, a flower's, a fiend's, and a
' dear woman's, troubled him even less materially.
He waa already sane enough to allow he had prob
ably been a bit out of his head, and since It seemed
ibe had been saved and cared for, he found ao rea
son to quarrel with present circumstances.
Still, he would have been grateful for some ex
planation of certain phenomena which still haunted
him such as a faint, elusive scent of rosea with a
vague but importunate sense of a woman's pres
ence la that darkened room things manifestly
absurd ...
With some difficulty, from ft dry throat, he spoke,
or rather whispered: "Water!"
la response he heard someone move over ft
creaking floor. A sulphur match spluttored Infa
mously. A candle caught fire, silhouetting illu
sion, of course! the figure of a woman In hunting
shirt and skirt Water splashed noisily. Alan be
came aware of someone who stood at his side, one
band offering ft glass to his lips, the other gently
raising his head that he might drink with ease.
Draining the glass, he breathed his thanks and
aank back, retaining his grasp on the wrist of that
unreal hand. It suffered him without resistance.
The hallucination evea went so tar aa to aay, in ft
woman's soft accents:
"You are better, Alan?"
He sighed Incredulously: "Rose!"
The voice responded "Tea!" Then the perfume
of roses grew still more strong, seeming to fan bis
cheek like a woman's warm breath. And a miracle
came to pass: for Mr. Law, who realised poignantly
that all this waa sheer, downright nonsense, dis
tinctly felt lips like velvet caress his forehead
He closed his eyes, tightened his grasp oa that
band of phantasy, and muttered rather inarticu
lately. The voice asked: "What Is It, deer?"
He responded: "Delirium . . . Bat I like It
. . Let me rave!"
Then agala he slept
m DISCLOSURES,
la ft little corner office, soberly furnished, oa
the topmoet floor of one of lower Manhattan's loft
teat office towers, a little mouse-browa man eat over
'a tig mahogany desk: a little man of big affairs.
sole steward of one of America's most formidable
fortunes.
Precisely at eleven minutes past noon (or at the
Identical instant chosen by Alan Law to catapult
orer the edge of a cliff la northern Maine) the
muted signal of the little man's desk telephone
clicked and, eagerly lifting receiver to ear, he nod
ded with a smile and said in accents of aome relief:
"Ask her to come In at once, please."
Jumping up, he placed a chair in intimate Juxta
position with hla own; and the door opened, and ft
young woman entered.
The mouse-brown man bowed, 'Ilss Rose Trine?"
he murmured with a great deal of deference.
The young woman returned his bow with a show
of perplexity: "Mr. Dlgby?"
"You are kind to come In response to my ah
unconventional Invitation," said the little man.
"Won't you ah sit down?"
She said, "Thank you," gravely, and took the
chair he Indicated. And Mr. Dlgby, with an admira
tion he made no effort to conceal, examined the
fair young face turned so candidly to him.
"It is quite comprehensible," he ssld diffidently
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And the Canoe Swam Broadside to a Boulder, Turned Turtle and Preolpltated Both Headlong Into
the Savage Water Te Collapse, Exhausted Against the Bank.
If yon will permit me to say so now that one
sees you. Miss Trine, It Is quite comprehensible
why my employer h feels toward you as he
does."
The girl flushed. "Mr. Law has told yout"
"I have the honor to be his nearest friend, this
side the water, as well aa hla maa of business."
He paused with aa embarrassed gesture. "So I
have ventured to request this ah surreptitious
sppointment in order to ah take the farther lib
erty of asking whether you have recently sent Alaa
a message?"
Her look of surprise waa answer enough, but she
confirmed It with vigorous denial: "I have not
communloated with Mr. Law la more than a year!"
"Precisely aa I thought," Mr. Dlgby nodded.
"None the less, Mr. Law not long since received
what purported to be ft message from you: in fact
a rose." And as Miss Trine sat forward with a
atart of dismay, he added: "I have the Information
over Mr. Law's signature letter received tea
days ago from Quebec"
"Alaa la America !" the girl cried la undisguised
distress.
"He came la response to ah the message of
the rose."
"But I did not send ltl"
"I felt sure of that because," said Mr. Dlgby,
watching her narrowly "because of something
that accompanied the rose, ft symbol of another sig
nificance altogether playing card, ft Trey of
Hearts."
Her eyes were blank. He pursued with openly
alncere reluctance: "I must tell you, I see, that ft
Trey of Hearts Invariably foreslgnaled'aa attempt
by your father oa the life of Alan's father."
With ft stricken cry the girl crouched back la
the chair and covered her face with her hands.
"That la why I sent for you." Mr. Digby pursued
hastily, as It in hope of getting quickly over ft
most unhappy business. , "Alan's letter, written and
posted oa the steamer, reached me within twenty
four hours of his arrival in Quebec, and detailed hla
scheme to enter the United States secretly aa he
puts It, "by the back door,' by way of northern
Maine end promised advice by telegraph as soon
aa he reached Moosehead Lake. He should have
wired me ere this, I am told by thoae who know
the country he was to cross. Frankly, I am anxious
about the boy I"
"And II" the girl exclaimed pitifully. To think
that he should be brought into such peril through
me!"
"You can tell me nothing?"
"Nothing as yet I did not dream of this much
less that the message of the rose was known to
any but Alan and myself. I cannot understand!"
"Then I may tell you this much more, tbat your
father maintains a very efficient corps of secret
agents."
"You think he spied upon me?" the girl flamed
with Indignation.
"I know he did." Mr. Dlgby permitted himself ft
quiet smile. "It has seemed my business, in the
service of my employer, to employ agents of my
own. There is no doubt but that your father sent
you to Europe for the sole purpose of having you
meet Alan."
"Oh!" she protested. "But what earthly mo
tive?" "That Alan might be won back to America
through you and so "
There waa no need to finish out his sentence.
The girl was silent, pale and staring with wide
eyes, visibly mustering her wits to cope with this
emergency.
"I may depend on you," Mr. Dlgby suggested,
"to advise me It you find out anything?"
'Tor evea more." The girl rose and extended ft
hand whose grasp was firm and vital oa his fingers.
A fine spirit of resolve set her countenance aglow.
"You may count oa me for actloa oa my own part.
If I find circumstances warrant It I promised not
to marry Alan because of the feud between our
fathers but not to stand by and see him sacrificed.
Tell me how I may communicate secretly with you
d let me go aa soon aa possible!"
IY THE MUTINEER.
Within the hour Rose Trine stood before her
father la that somber room wherein he wore out
his crippled days, in that place of silence and shad
ows whose sinister color-scheme of crimson and
black waa the true livery of his monomania hla
passion tor vengeance that alone kept warm the
embers of life la that wasted and moveless frame
Aa Impish malice glimmered la hla aunken eyea
as he kept her waiting upon his pleasure. And
when at length he decided to speak. It waa with
ft ring of hateful Irony la that atrangely sonorous
voice of bis.
"Rose," he said slowly "my daughter! I am
told you have today been guilty of an act of dis
loyalty to me."
She aald coolly: "Tou had me spied upon."
"Naturally, with every reason to question your
loyalty, I had you watched."
She waited ft significant moment then dropped
an Impassive monosyllable Into the alienee:
"Well?"
"You have visited the maa Dlgby, servant and
friend of the maa I hate and you love."
She aald, without expression: "Yea."
"Repeat what passed between you."
"I shall not but on one condition."
"And that lsr
'Tell me first whether it was yon who sent the
rose to Alaa Law and more, where Judith has
been during the lask fortnight?"
"Shall tell you nothing, my child. Repeat" the
resonant vole ran. with Inflexible purpose "re
peat what the maa Dlgby told you!"
The girl was ailent He endured her stare for ft
long minute, a spark of rage kindling to flame the
evil old eyea. Thea his one living member that
bad power to serve his troa will, a hand like the
claw of a bird of prey, moved toward a row of but
tons sunk in the writing-bed of his desk.
"I warn you I have ways to make you speak "
With a quick movement the girl bent over and
prisoned the bony wrlBt in her strong flngera. With
her other band, at the same time, she whipped
open an upper drawer of the desk and took from it
a revolver which she placed at a safe distance.
"To the contrary," she said quietly, "you will re
member tbat the time has passed when you could
have me punished for disobedience. You will call
nobody: if Interrupted, I shan't hesitate to defenl
myself. And now" laying hold of the back of his
chair, she moved it some distance from the desk
"you may as well be quiet while I find for myself
what I wish to know."
For a moment he watched in silence as she bent
over the desk, rummaging its drawers. Then with
an Infuriated gesture of his left hand, he began to
curse her.
She shuddered ft little as the black oaths blis
tered his thin old lips, dedicating her and all she
loved to sin, Infamy and sorrow; but nothing could
stay her in her purpose. He was breathless and
exhausted when she straightened up with an ex
clamation of satisfaction, studied Intently for ft
moment a sheaf of papers, and thrust them hastily
Into her hand-bng, together with the revolver.
Then touching the push-button which released ft
secret and little-used door, without a backward
glance she slipped from the room and, cloning the
door securely, within another minute had made her
way unseen from the house.
V THE INCREDIBLE THING.
Broad daylight, the top of a morning as rare as
ever broke upon the north country: Alan Law
opening bewildered eyes to realize the substance of
a dream come true.
Then it proved Itself, at least, in part. He lay
between blankets upon a couch of balsam fans, In
a corner of somebody's camp a log structure.
weatherproof, rudely but adequately furnished.
His clothing, rough-dried but neatly mended, lay
upon a chair at his side.
He rose and dressed In haste, at once exulting
in his sense of complete rest and renewed well
being, a prey to hints of an extraordinary appetite,
and provoked by algns that seemed to bear out the
weirdest flights of his delirious fancies.
There was no other living thing In sight but ft
loon that sported far up the river and saluted him
with a shriek of mocking laughter.
The place was a cleft In the hills, a Uble of level
land some few acres In area, bounded on one hand,
beneath the cliff from which he had dropped, by a
rushing river fat with recent rains; on the other
by a second cliff of equal height. Upstream the
water curved round the shoulder of a towering
hill, downstream the cliffs closed upon it until it
roared through a narrow gorge.
Near the camp, upon ft strip of shelving beach
that bordered the river where it widened Into ft
deep, dark pool, two canoea were drawn up, bot
toms to the sun. Dense thickets of pines, oaks,
and balsam hedged in the clearing.
He was, It seemed, to be left severely to himself,
that day; when he had cooked and made way with
an enormous breakfast Alan found nothing better
to do till time for luncheon than to explore this
pocket domain.
He feasted famously again at noon; whlled away
several hours vainly whipping the pools with -rod
end tackle found la the camp, for trout that he
really didn't hope would rise beneath that blaring
aun; and toward three o'clock lounged back to his
eromatio couch for a nap.
The westering sun had thrown a deep, cool shad
ow across the cove when he waa awakened by
Importunate hands and a voice of magic.
Rose Trine was kneeling beside him, clutching
his shoulders, calling on him by name distracted
by aa inexplicable anxiety.
He wasted no time discriminating between dream
and reality, but gathered both Into his arms. And
for ft moment she rested there unresisting, if sob
bing quietly.
"What Is It? What la It dearest?" he questioned,
kissing her tears away.
To Dad you all right ... I was so afraid!"
he cried brokenly.
"Of what? Wasn't I all right when yon left me
here this morning?"
She disengaged with aa effort, rose, and looked
down strangely at him.
"I did not leave you here this morning, Alan. I
wasnt hare" , '
That brought him to his own feet la a Jiffy. Tou
wore not!" he atammered. Thea who?"
"Judith." aha stated with conviction.
"Impossible! You don't understand."
The girl shook her head. "Yet I know: Judttb
was here until this morning. I tell you I know
I saw her only a few hours ago. She passed us la
a canoe with one of her guides, while we watched
in hiding on the banks. Not that alone, but an
other of her guides told mine she was here with
you. She had sent him to South Portage for qui
nine. He stopped there to get drunk and that's
how my guide managed to worm the information
from him."
Alan passed a hand across his eyes. "I don't
understand," he said dully. "It doesn't seem pos
sible she could "
, A shot interrupted him, the report of a rifle from
a considerable distance upstream, echoed and re
echoed by the cliffs. And at this, clutching fran
tically at his arm, the girl drew him through the
door and down toward the river.
"Oh, come, come!" she cried wildly. "There's no
time!"
"But, why? What was that?"
"Judith is returning. I left my guide up the
trail to signal us. Don't you know what It means
if we don't manage to escape before she gets here?"
"But how?"
"According to the guide the river's the only way
other than the trail."
"The current is too strong. They could follow
pot us at leisure from the banks."
"But downstream the current with us "
"Those rapids?"
"We must shoot them!"
"Can it be done?"
"It must be! '
Two strokes took it to the middle of the pool
where immediately the current caught the little
craft in its urgent grasp and sped It smoothly
through more narrow and higher banks. A moment
more and the mouth of the gorge was yawning for
them.
With the clean balance of an experienced canoe
man, Alan rose to his feet for an instantaneous re
connolssance both forward and astern. He looked
back first and groaned In his heart to see the
eharp prow of the second canoe glide out from the
banks. He looked ahead and grc-fred aloud. The
rapids were a wilderness of shouting waters, white
snd green, worse than anything he had anticipated
or ever dreamed of.
But there was now no escaping that ordeal. The
canoe was already spinning between walls where
the water ran deep and fast with a glassy surface.
The next Instant it was in the jaws; and the man
settled down to work with grim determination, pit
ting courage and strength and experience against
the ravening waters that tore at the canoe on
every hand, whose mad clamor beat back and forth
between the walls of the gorge like vast bellowings
of Infernal mirth. ,
He fought like one possessed. There was never
an instant's grace for Judgment or execution; the
one must be synchronous with the other, both in
stantaneous, or else destruction.
The canoe wove this way and that like an in sail e
shuttle threading some satanlo loom. Now It hesi
tated, nuzzling a gigantic boulder over which the
water wove a pale green and glistening hood, now
In the space of a heartbeat It shot forward twice
Its length through a sea of creaming waves, now
plunged wildly toward what promised Instant anni
hilation and cheated that only by the timely plunge
of a paddle, guided by luck or instinct or both.
The one ray of hope in Alan's mind, when he
surveyed before committing himself and the
woman he loved to that hideous gauntlet, sprang
from the fact that, however rough, the rapids were
short. Now, when he had been in their grasp ft
minute, he seemed to have been there hours.
His laborings were tremendous, unbelievable, In
spired. In the end they were all but successful.
The goal of safety was within thirty seconds more
of quick, hard work, when Alan's paddle broke and
the canoe swung broadside to a boulder, turned
.turtle and precipitated both headlong into that sav
age welter. -
As the next few moments passed he was fighting
like mad thing against overwhelming odds. Then,
of a sudden, he found himself rejected, spewed
forth from the cataract and swimming mechanical
ly In the smooth water of a wide pool beyond the
lowermost eddy, the canoe floating bottom up near
by, and Rose supporting herself with one band
on it
Her eye met his, clear with the sanity of her
adorable courage.
He floundered to her side, panted instructions to
transfer her hand to his shoulder, and struck out
for the nearer shore.
Both found footing at the same time and waded
out, to collapse, exhausted, against the bank.
Then, with a sickening qualm, Alan remembered
the pursuit He rose and looked up the rapid just
In time to view the last swift quarter of the canoe's
descent: Judith in the bow, motionless, a rifle
across her knees, In the stern an Indian guide
kneeling and fighting the waters with scarcely per
ceptible effort in "contrast with Alan's supreme
struggles.
Like ft living thing the canoe seemed to gather
Itself together, to poise, to leap with all ite
strength; It hurdled the eddy In a bound, took the
still water with a mighty splash, and shot down
stream at diminished speed, the Indian furiously
backing water.
As though that had been the one moment she
had lived for, Judith lifted her rifle and brought It
to bear upon her sister.
With a cry of horror, Alan flung himself before
Rose, a living shield, anticipating nothing but im
mediate death. This waa not accorded him. For
ft breathless instant the woman In the canoe stared
along the sights, then lowered her weapon and,
turning, spoke indlstlngulshably to the guide, who
Instantly began to ply ft brisk paddle.
The canoe sped on, vanished swiftly round ft
bend.
After ft long time, Alan voiced his unmitigated
amazement:
"Why in the name of heaven! why ?"
The girl aald dully: "Don't you know?" And
when he shook his head. "Her guide told mine
you had aaved her life on the dam at Spirit Lake.
Now do you seeT'
His countenance waa blank with wonder: "Grati
tude r
Rose amiled wearily. "Not gratitude alone, but
something more terrible. ..." She rose
and held out her hand. "Not that I can blame
her. . . . But come; If we strike through here
we will, I think, pick np a trail that will bring aa
to Black Beaver settlement by dark."
(To be continued