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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 27, 1914)
i 1 B Tin: OMATTA SUNDAY r.KK: SKPTKMBKR 127. 19U LOUIS JOSEPH VANCE NINTH INSTALLMENT Tfce 'fAofo-rfwn coirtsptmdfng to the frufMEtnenlt of "The Trey CHesrts" msy now be seen si the Itsding moving picture thesiers. By this unique tjrsngement vHh iht Vnrvensl Film Mfg. Co. it is therefore not only possible to ttd"The trey O'Htsrit" tti this psper. tot site to see ech MsMmenl of U at the moving ptchtre fhestert. (Copyright, 191 i. by Iooli Joaoph Vanoe.) am a enow n.irs. STKorsiS Til of Nmrli It tha "dathaltn" amplnyad by fw THaa In tha prtrata war of vrnrior wlili-h, through the ar-"oy of Ma dana-liter Jadlth. a wnman nf vio lent paealnna Ilk hi awn. ha waa aaalnst Ala Law, ion af the man (now dad who waa unintentionally reepnnelhle for lb accident whloh rendered Trlna a hrlpl-ae cripple. Alaa la In lora with aad la In turn loved br Roae. Judith'! twin and double, hut In all alaa her nppnolte. Judith vnwa to tamp Alaa'a death, bin under dramatlr rlrrumitinrn he earee h-r Ufa and aa, nnwltlintty wlna her love. Thre aftar Jodlth li by turna actuated br th old hatred, tha now love, and jealouer nf bar el iter, Rnaa. Tha latter la kid naped by her father'a order e and conveyed lo a low dive In tha alume of Jereey City. fromNyhlrh Alaa rracuea her after aceldantally letting tha tenement en fire. I JAILBIRD. The period of restraint In durance Tile suffered by one Thomas Barcus in consequence of conduct riotous, unseemly, and In general prejudicial to the tubllc peace of the New Bedford waterfront at half-past four In the morning, proved In the upshot far more brief than had been fondly hoped, not only by his Just Judge, but, singularly enough, by the misdemeanant himself. Taking everything gravely Into consideration, In-' eluding a person anything but prepossessing, the Judge reckoned that. In default of a fine of one jundred dollars, a ten-day layup for repairs and epentance was not too much to mete out to the risoner at the bar,' He mas sentenced at 10 a. m. and It was little hort of 10 p. m. when his post-prandlal repose was Isturbed by the rattle of a key In the lock of the loor to his cell. Sitting up, Mr. Partus rubbed his eyes and ombed his hatr with his fingers. "What did I tell you?" he observed resignedly. It begins again already . . ." Conducted with every evidence of dieesteem on lie part of his Jailors to the office of the warden, e was acquainted with the fact that his fine had ten paid by no one less than the Judge himself: hen present In portly and solicitous person. "If only you had told me you were a friend of ur. Dlgby's," the Judge hastened to say as soon the two were ensconsed in the privacy of the idlclal limousine, "I would have known better how guide myself in this unfortunate affair. "And if you will be good enough to Indicate how le I may serve you . . . ?" N "Digby didn't offer any suggestions in his wire, gather?" "On moment: I have It here." "Naturally I'd like a bath and a change of ilothes," Barcus pursued while the Judicial breast tocket waa being explored: "and I could do with transportation to New York by the first train out this God forsaken hole, and " "This is what Mr. Digby Bays." the Judge Inter npted, laboriously deciphering the message by the Ight of a match: "'Please see to Immediate re ease of one Thomas Barcus, probably in Jail In our Jurisdiction for rioting on ' waterfront this nornlng. Pay his fine and Instruct him to report e me in New York at earliest feasible hour. Give 1m all the money he wants and look to me for muneratlon' " "Eh?" Barcus Interrupted, sitting up smartly; what's that last again?" Patiently the Judge repeated the sentence from tie message. "Thanks. Please don't read farther. You might some to something that would spoil it It's almost 00 beautiful as it stands," Barcus observed. "Law wes me five thousand or so liquidated damages but IH be reasonable. Frisk this burg for a fifth of that sum before'' train time and I promise to ask nothing more!" His private comment was: "I've suspected that ills was a fairy-tale all along. Norn- I know it is!" And this phase of incredulity persisted In color ing the complexion of his mind until the moment, some hours later, when the train connecting at Providence with the Midnight Express for New York pulled out of New Bedford bearing a trans formed Barcus almost Impenetrably disguised In . .: bath, a shave and a haircut, an outfit of clothing . originally tailored for a gentleman of discriminat ing taste, but no whit less disguised In the sense of affluence that goes with the possession of one thou sand dollars In cash. ; Not until a sound night's sleep had topped off the beginning of his rest In Jail did Barcus com down to earth. 1 He demonstrated his return to common-sense by making a round breakfast In Grand Central station before looking up the residence of Digby In the telephone directory. The information he garnered from the voice that answered the name of Mr. Digby over the tele phone shook only momentarily Barcus' innate con viction that Intimate acquaintance with battle, mur der and sudden death was the Inevitable reward of association with this friend of his heart. ' "Alan being married to Rose Trine in Jersey City at this very minute!" he breathed skeptically as be emerged from the booth memorizing the ad dress of the alleged officiating clergyman. "I don't believe It; its too sudden." Forthwith he engaged a taxlcab to convey him to Jersey City, at top speed, for an exorbitant reward. And when, from the forward deck of a ferry boat, he beheld a dense volume of smoke adver tising a conflagration on the Jersey shore, not far from the waterfront, he shook a moodily sagacious bead. "If Alan isn't mixed up In that, somehow," he declared, "he's missing a bet for once and I'm a sorry failure as a prophet of woe and disaster!" There was as much intuitive apprehension as humor responsible for this remark; witness the fact that, on landing, he risked the delay required to turn aside and have a look at the fire. It proved to be situated In the heart of a squalid alum a wretched tenement of the poorest class, whose roof had already fallen in and whose walls were momentarily threatening to go by the time Barcus arrived on the scene. At a considerable distance from him a small disturbance had broken out a clamor of protest . tug voices lifting about the rumor of the mob as a number of men, case-hardened roughs one and all, began to force their way In a V-shsped wedge thronga tea throne, making toward ita very heart. the point on the flre-llnes nearest the burning build ing. What this meant. Mr. Barcus had not the slight est Idea. But his attention was first distracted by the maneuver, then fixed by the fre of a man who was following In the hollow of the V an evil white face that seemed somehow vaguely familiar. A cry was audible "Firebug! Lynch him! Lynch the firebug!" and at this the mob turned a one man and stresmed away In pursuit of an invisible quarry, who chose to attempt his escape by a route directly opposite to that which would have led him within view of Mr. Barcus. Startled, and of a sudden persuaded that there might hsve been more In his "hunch" than was sanely to be credited, Barcus started up and was on the point of stepping out of his cab, if with a rather aimless purpose, when he was stayed by eight of that evil white fsce returning the way It had come still in the hollow of the flying V, which now made faster progress, thanks to the disorgan ization of the mob by the chase of the alleged Incendiary. And now. Barcus saw, the man of the white lace was not alone. There was someone with him someone whose head was bended and face con cealed, but who seemed to be feminine. And so, Barcus argued, why might It not be RoRe Trine, suffering new persecution at the hands of her unnatural father's creatures? He was too fur away to make sure and attempt any interference; but he pointed White Face out to his chauffeur as the V reached a touring car on the edge of the mob and the woman was lifted in (unresisting and apparently in a dead faint), and when the touring car swung round and picked up Us heels, the taxlcab of Mr. Barcus trailed it as unostentatiously as if it was a pertinacious shadow. Ten minutes later, from the rear deck of a ferry- t Yk xImAi iii&x a I m! wy:'W ;.TiiaMiia"t ' J- -",,,ir few- I - ' HwMiw. 1 Wv'lN1 boat In mldstream--a boat bearing back to New York not only the touring car of White Face, but the cab of Mr. Barcus the latter gentleman formed one of a small but interested audience wit nessing an incident of uncommon charaoter. He saw a young man, hatless, costless, almost shirtless, tear down to the edge of one of the Jersey wharves, his heels snapped at by a revenlng rabble. Jump aboard a square-rigged vessel which lay moored there, and execute a maneuver of de spair by climbing up the rigging In a hopeless attempt to escape his persecutors. They were too many for him, and what was worse they were headed by a squad of police apparently as grimly bent on compassing the destruction of their quarry as was the mob. And they swarmed up the rigging after him without a moment's hesitation. Hotly pressed, the fugitive climbed higher and still higher, until at length he gained the topmost yard; with three policemen not half a dozen feet below him and popping away for dear life. None the less, there was no telling when some accident might wing a bullet Into the young man; and It was evident that he so decided. For, inching out to he end of the yard, he waved his hand toward his persecutors with a gesture of Itghthearted derision that unmistakably identified htm aa Alan Law to Mr. Barcus, and forthwith dropped to the water, feetforemost. Alan took tha water neatly, came up uninjured and clearheaded, and without an Instant's hesita tion struck away toward the middle of the Hudson. As this happened the police ran to the stern of the square-rigger, unmoored a dory that was riding there, and threw themselves Into It During the (to Barcus, at least) breathless sus pense of that chase, the ferryboat drew stolidly farther and still farther away from the scene. Bar cus could not tell whether, as It seemed, the police laden dory was, really overhauling Alan, or whether the Illusion of perspective deceived him. At all events, It seemed a frightfully near thtng when the interruption befell which alone could have saved Alan. Out of the very sky dropped a hydroaeroplane, cutting the water with long, graceful curve that brought it. almost at a standstill, directly to the head of the swimmer, nd at the same time forced the police boat to sheer widely off in order to es cape collision. Immediately the swimmer caught the pontoon of the hydroaeroplane, .pulled himself up out of the water, and clambered to the seat beside the aviator. Before be was fairly seated the plane waa swing ing back Into Its fastest pace. With the ease of a wild goose It left the water, mounted the long grade of an air lane, described a wide circle above the bluffs of Weehawkeu, and swept away southwards. I ai-.t, , .mJ.mi. i aw.in. an . y,.....,i,u,n,.. Tn that quarter It was presently lost to the sight of Mr. Barcus, engulfed In light folds of haze that were creeping In from seawards to dim and tarnish the pristine brilliance of that day. II BTRDMAN. About eight o'clock In the evening of the same day a motorcar deposited at the Hotel Monolith a rentleman whose weather-beaten and oll-stalned motoring-cap and duster covered little clothing more than shirt and trousers and assorted oddly In the eyes of the desk clerk with the rather meticulously turned-out guest known to him as Mr. Arthur Iawrenre and to the management of the hotel as Mr. Alan Law Incognito. Eventually persuaded, the clerk yielded up the key to Mr. Lawrence's suite of rooms, together with two notes superscribed with the same nora de guerre. Alan's impatience was so great that he could hardly watt to examine these communications until he was quit of the public eye. x The first proved to be a characteristic com munication: "Dear Ulysses Thanks for the Jail delivery. I got In this morning Just In time to motor over to Jersey la hopes of seeing your finish as a bachelor; Instead, I was favored by bring made an Involun tary witness to your spectacular ascent, following your almost equally spectacular high-dive. ' "Hut to business: my time Is limited; in half an hour more I am due to double in black-face for the purposes of the author of this melodramatic farce which you, no doubt, call the history of your grande puMion. "I mean to say well, several things to-wit: When I saw you snatched out of the North river I was engaged in trailing a pale-faced villain in a motorcar concerning whom you probably know fmt- --v:v- ' ' I '' '.- Alan la 8aved by a Hydroaeroplane. far more than I; be on his part was busy being a bold, bad kidnaper; Rose was in his power, as we say in such cases. His intentions, however, were nothing more blameworthy than to return her to the arms of her doting parent. I know, because I sleuthed after 'em, even to the house of Seneca Trine. Later I sleuthed some more, following a furtive young man from the house of Trine to the office of the general manager of the New York Central, where he made arrangements for a spe cial to convey the said Trine and retinue to Chi cago and points West. It leaves at three this aft ernoon. I was unable to ascertain whether or not Rose Is to participate tn this hegira, but I know I shall. On the off-chance of being useful, I have bribed the tralncrew to let me Impersonate the porter. So, should you be moved to follow and succeed In catching up with us, and observe any body who looks rather off-color in the party don't shoot: the said party will be m. "Yours for the quiet life, "TOM BARCUS." The second note yielded a communication writ ten on notepaper of the simplest elegance tn a woman's hand a hurried scrawl: "They are taking me West by special train I don't know where or why. A servant has promised to see that this reaches you. Save me!" Over this Alan wrinkled an Incredulous nose. The hand was the hand of Rose, but the phrase ology was not In her spirit. He examined it more closely and thought to detect beneath Its semblance of haste a deliberate and carefully guided pen. He picked up the envelope to compare the hand writing of the address with that of the enclosure and shook out a Trey of Hearts. This last was covered, as to Its face, with a plainly-written message: "With the compliments of Seneca Trine to Alan Law. We are due In Chicago at eleven tomorrow morning and leave immediately for the Pacific coast via Santa Fe route." Comparison between this and the message pur porting to be from Rose distilled the conviction that the same hand was responsible for both. Alan shrugged. So he was to be lured away from New York and Rose by this transparent trick, waa he? No fear! With plenty of time on his hands, he gave the matter serious consideration and concluded to take no chances: it was Just possible that Trine had taken Rose with him on his western trip, after all. In such case the only possible way of over taking the special would be by air line. Promptly Alan called up the aviation fields at Hempstead Plains and got Into communication with a gentleman answering to the surname of Coast: the same birdman who had come to Alan's rescue with his hydroaeroplane. Thelr arrangements were quickly consummated, Coast agreeing to wait for Alan with his biplane In Van Cortlandt park from midnight till day break, prepared if need be to undertake a trans continental flight. Thereafter Mr. Iaw proceeded to rehabilitate liininelf In decent clothing and his own esteem; after bathing, ho dined slone In his rooms, from a tray; after dining he slept soundly for three hours and may be thought to have earned at least that much rest through having been for four hours a passenger in a hydroaerop'sue lost In fogs that wrapped Long Island and all the adjacent territory In an Impenetrable shroud. Nor had this been all. Leaving eslde all that had led up to Alan's rescue by Coa&i: the forced landing of the hydroaeroplane for lack of fuel had taken place on the South shore of the Great South bay; a search of hours had followed before a boat was found to convey Alan and the aviator to the mainland; and a motor run of several hours had followed that, conveying Coast to his Hempstead hangars and Alan on to his hotel in New York. At midnight he committed an act of burglary, calmly and with determination breaking his way into the house of Seneca Trine through the area windows and basement. In this nefarious business nothing hindered and none opposed him. But for a single lighted win dow In the upper tier (but not, he noted, the win dow to Rose's bedchamber) and one or two lights which he found burning dim In the kitchen offices and other servants' quarters on the lower floor, he would hare thought the house empty. The silence of an abandoned place Informed It all below the upper story. But he was not to be satisfied with such negative evidence: he explored the dwelling minutely, room by room, story by story. He negotiated that last flight of steps which led to the topmost floor with extraordinary stealth, 1 advised thereto by a sound, or rather a aeries of sustained sounds, which had theretofore been in audible to him. Possibly they had not till then existed; possibly the man servant whom he found snoring in a chair outside a closed door had not fallen asleep and begun to snore until the moment when Alan set foot upon the lower step of that final ascent. No sound warned him of the door that opened at his back aa he stood watching the sleeping guard. A piercing shriek was the first intimation he received that bis presence had been discovered. It served as well to move him Instantly into action: a single glance overshoulder showed him the fig ure of a maid-servant In cap and gown, her mouth still wide and full of sound and Alan fell upon the guard like a thunderbolt. The man had bare ly time to Jump up and recognize the alarm: then a flst caught him on the point of his Jaw, and he returned promptly to deep unconsciousness. Backing off, Alan took a short run. cleared the prostrate body of the guard with a leap, and flung himself full force against the door, his shoulder striking a point nearest the lock. With a splinter ing crash it broke inward. Without . dignity or decorum he sprawled on all fours Into -the pres ence of Judith Trine. "Poor Mr. Law!" she cried, with a mocking nod, "always disappointed! I'm so sorry truly I am!" "Oh. spare me your sarcasm," he begged resent fully. "It's ridiculous enough, this whole mad business " "But I am not sarcastic." she Insisted with such sincerity that he opened his eyes in wonder. "Be lieve me, I am sorry for once It Is I and not Rose whom you And locked up here! For, you see, I am locked up, by way of punishment thanks to my having had pity on you once too often while my father decamps mysteriously for parts un known" "You don't know where he's gone, then?" "Do you?" she asked sharply. "In a general way. By special train to the West" "Taking Rose?" "So I'm told." The woman choked upon her anger, but quickly mastered it. "He shall psy for this!" she asseverated. "Your father? I wish him nothing more nor less than your enmity," Alan assured her civilly. "But since it seems that he h?s gone, and Rose with him, If you'll forgive me, I think 111 be going" "Alone?" WhTyea- "You wouldn't care for a companion du voyage ?" she suggested. "Oh really l" be protested, She held up an arresting hand. "Listen!" end begged. From the street below came the unmistakable rattle of a policeman's locust on the sidewalk. "That damned maid;" Alan divined thoughtfully. "The same," .Tudith agreed with omluous calm. "Has It struck you that.you may have some trou ble getting away without my permission?" "I'm not so stupid as not to have thought of that," he countered reproachfully. "Then be advised and take me with you." "In what capacity, please? As enemy or ally?" "As ally you're right: we can't be friends until we overtake that special train. After that, by jour leave. Ii1 shift for myself." "It's not such a bad notion," he reflected: "with you under my eye, you can't do much to inter fere" "If I promise " she suggested. . "I'll take your word." he agreed simply. "But you're In for a lot of hardship, I'm afraid. The one way to catch up with your father Is by aero plane and I've got one waiting." The police entered by the front door as the twd crept out of the area window. ni VIA AIR LINE. Not once In the course of the next sixteen hours but a thousand times Alan questioned (and, it will readily be allowed, with all excuse) his sanity in permitting himself in being influenced to humor Judith's insistence and make her a party to this wild aerial cross-country dash. Between whiles the plane flew fast and high, cutting a direct line, as the crow flies, athwart the eastern and western states. Chicago they raised as a smudge on the northern horizon about one o'clock In the afternoon. It waa some hours later, though still daylight, when they picked up the special train, flying like a hunt ed thing across the levels. There was scant room for doubt but that It waa the train they sought Specials are not common. Moreover Alan contrived with considerable diffi culty to focus binoculars upon the rear platform of the car, and caught a fugitive glimpse of a white coated figure with a black face that was watching the biplane in the same manner, that is, with glasses. -The man in the white coat, Alan assured him self, was positively Barcus. And hardly had be comforted himself with this assurance when his sardonic destiny struck tha motor dumb. In response to his look of dashed inquiry thai aviator merely shook a weary head and muttered the words: "Engine trouble." Swiftly the earth rose to receive the volplaning mechanism. Under Coast's admirable handling is settled down almost without a Jar, on the outskirts of a city whose name Alan never learned. For the biplane was barely at a standstill before he was out and, reeling with the giddiness that affects men after long flights, making his way aa best he might toward the manager's office con nected with a trainyard Immediately adjacent to the spot where they had come to earth. Lavish disbursement of money won him his way against official protests that what he demanded was an Impossibility. Within twenty minutes, leav ing Coast to follow on when and as best he might. Alan and Judith were spinning through open coun try In the cab of an engine running light, with only clear track between it and the special. The several hours that ensued before the rear lights of the special were brought to vlw were none too many for the task imposed upon Alan of overcoming the scruples of the engineer and fireman. - Another minute, and less than fifty feet separat ed the two the special train and the light engine, both hurtling through the night at top speed. With a word to the engineer Alan crept oat along the side of the boiler, with only a greasy handrail and a narrow foothold between himself and what meant death, or something closely re sembling it should he be shaken off by the teas lng wind and the swaying of the locomotive. It seemed an hour before he worked himself up to the cowcatcher now within four feet of th4 rear platform of the special. On this last he could see a woman's Agora In distinctly silhouetted against the light through the) door, and beside her a man in a white coat cling ing for dear life to the knob of the door holding It against the frantic efforts of some persons in side to tear it open. Another hour of suspense dragged outor such was the effect while the light engine with Intol erable slowness bridged those four scant feet At length it was feasible to attempt the thing. Rose (he could see her strained white face quite plainly now) was half over the 'rail of the car ahead, ready to Jump. His heart failed him. It was too hazardous it risk. He dared not let her take It. Something very like a shot sounded from the train and something very like a bullet whistled past his cheek, and proved the signal for several more. I Someone had opened one of the side windows and was emptying a revolver at him. Strangely, that knowledge steadied his nerves. Straining forward and holding on to a bar so hot that It scorched his palm, he offered a hand to the girl on the rail. Her hand fell confidently into It. She Jumped, His arm wound round her as she landed on the platform of the cow-catcher. He heard her breathe his name, then hurriedly passed her between him self and the boiler to the footway at the side. The fireman was waiting there to help her. Alan turned his attention to Barcus. To' his dismay he found that the engine was losing ground. The space was widening rapidly as Barcus released the knob and threw himself over the rail. By a miraculous, flying leap, the man accom plished that incredible feat and gained the plat form. An instant later ten feet separated the engine from the special, as tne engineer applied toe brakes. And this he did none too soon: for at the same time Marrophat and another appeared on the rear platform and opened a hot, but, thanks to the widening distance. Ineffectual Are. The engine ground slowly to a halt as the rear lights of the special train swept from Eight round a bend. ' . (To De continued.) r