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About The North Platte semi-weekly tribune. (North Platte, Neb.) 1895-1922 | View Entire Issue (June 7, 1921)
4 NOItTII PLATTE SEMI-WEEKLY TRIBUNE, BULL-DOG DRUMMOND The Adventures of a Demobilized Officer Who Found Peace Dull QASSEDI Synopsis. In December, 1918, four men gathered In a hotel In Berne and hoard one of tlio quartet, Curl Peterson, outline a plan to paralyze Great Britain and at the same time seize world power. The other three, Hocking, American, and Stelnemnn and Von Oratz, Germans, all mil lionaires, agree to tlio scheme, pro viding another man, Hiram Potts, an American, la taken In. Capt. Hugh (Dull-Dog) Orummond, a re tired officer, advertises for work that wilt Rive htm excitement, sign Injr "X10." As a result he meets Phyllis Benton, a young woman who answered his ad. She tells him of strange murdora and rob beries by a band headed by Carl Peterson and Henry Laklngton. She feara her father In Involved, Drummond goes to The lurches, Miss teuton's home, next door to The Elms, Peterson's place. During the night Drummond leaves The Larches and explores The Kims. He discovers Laklngton and Peter son using a thumbscrew on Potts, who signs' a paper. Drummond rescues Potts and takes hlin to his own home. He also gets half of the paper torn In the tight. Peter son visits Drummond, departing with a threat to return, and recover Potts and the torn papen Hugh substitutes Mulllngs for Potts. Tho band carry oft Mulllngs and Hugh to The Elms, When Peterson dis covers the hoax Drummond Is mode to stay all rjlght Irma, Pe tersen's handsome daughter, warns Hugh he will be killed. He goes exploring during the night, runs lrto o, cobra, escapes mysterious death and refrains from breaking Peterson's neck. Drummond- enlists the aid of Algy Longworth, Toby Sinclair, Ted Jernlngham and Jerry Seymour, tho latter on avlatoi. Drummond discovers a, man Imper sonating Potts. . CHAPTER V Continued. 9 "Such Is your rule. And I think you have fulled, haven't you, you un pleasant specimen of humanity? How will they kill you, I wonder?" It wns nt that m onion t that tho man made his mistake. Ho looked away; only for n moment hut lie looked away. Just as n cat's nerves give lifter a whllo and It look's round for an avenuo of escape, so did tho crouch ing man tnke his eyes from Hugh. And quick ns any dog, Hugh sprang. With, his left hand he seized the man's right wrist, with his right ho seized his throat. Then ho forced iilm upright against tho door nnd held ldrn there. Even when Inch by Inch lie shifted his grip on tho man's knife hand ho never, took his eyes from his opponent's face; even when with a sudden gasp of agony the man dropped his knlfo from lingers which, of a sudden, hnd become numh, tho steady, merciless glare still bgrod into his brain. "You're not very clever at It, aro yoa?" said Hugh softly. "It would le so easy to kill you now, and except for tho Inconvenlenco I should un doubtedly suffer, It mightn't ho n bad Idea. But they know me downstairs, and It would make It so awkward when I Wanted to dine here again. . . So, taking everything into account, I think " There wns a sudden lightning move ment, a heavo and a quick Jerk. The Impersonator of Potto was dimly con- With His Left Hand H6 Seized the Man's Right Wrist, With His Right He Seized Hli Throat xclous of flying through tho air, and of hitting the floor somo yards from the door. Ho made a frantic effort to rise, but tho pain was too great, nnd he rolled over cursing, while tho xoldlor, his hand on the door-knob, Juughcd gently. 'Til keep the toothpick," ho re. narked, "as a .memento." Tho next moment ho was striding along tho corridor toward thu ole vator. As n light It had boen n poor one, but his brain was buBy with tho Information ho had heard. True, It hnd been scrappy In the extreme, nnd, In part, hnd only confirmed what he hnd suspected all along. The wretched Granger hnd been foully done to death, for no other reason than that he was the millionaire's secretary. Hugh's Jaw tightened; ltrevolted his sense of sport. It wasn't ns If the poor blight er hnd done anything; merely because he existed and might nsk Inconvenient. questions he hnd been removed. And nx the elevator shot downwards, and the remembrance of the grim struggle he had had In tho durknoss of The Kims tho night before came back to his mind, he wondered once again If he had done wisely In not breaking Peterson's neck while he hnd the chance. He was still debating tho question In his mind as he crossed the tea lounge. "Why, Captain Drummond, you look pensive." A welNknown voice from n table at his side made him look down, nnd he bowed n little grimly. Irma Peterson was regarding him wltht a mocking smile. He glnuced at her companion, n young man whose face seemed vaguely famninr to him, nnd then his eyes rested once more on tho girl. Kven his mnscullne Intelligence Could ap preciate tho perfection In a slightly foreign style of lior clothes; and, as to her beauty, ho had never been un der nny delusions. "Tho Carlton seems rather a favor ite resort of yours," she continue, watching him through half closed eyes. "I think you're very wlso to make the in6st of It while you can." "While I can?" said Hugh. "That sounds rather depressing.'' " "I've done my best," continued the girl, "but matters have passed out of my hands, I'm nfrnld." Again Hugh glanced nt her compan ion, but he had risen and was talking to somo people who Had Just come In. "Is ho ono of tho firm?" he re marked. "His fuce seems familiar." "Oh, no!" said tho girl. "Ho Is Just a friend." Sho leaned forward suddenly. "Why don't you Join us Instead of so foolishly trying to light us? Hellevc me, Monsieur Hugh, it Is the only thing that can possibly snve you. You know too much." "Is the Invitation to amalgamate ofllcial, or from your owu charming brain?" murmured Hugh. "Made on tho spur of" he moment," she said lightly, "Hut It may bo re garded ns olllclal." "I'm afraid It must be declined on tho spur of the moment," he un- swered In the same tone. "And equal ly to be regarded ns ofllcial. Well, au rcvolr. Please tell Mr. Peterson how sorry I utn to have missed him." "I will most certainly," answered the girl. "Hut then, inon ami, you will bo weeing htm again soon, without doubt. ..." i She waved n charming hand In fare well, and turned to her companion. Hut Drummond,, though he went Into the hull outside, did not Immediately leave the hotel. Instead, ho button holed an exquisite being arrayed In gorgeous apparel, and led hint to a point of vantage. "You sco ' that girl," ho remarked, "having ten with it man at the third table from the big palm? Now, can you toll me who the man Is? I seem to know his fuce, but I can't put a name to It." "Thut, sir," murmured the exquisite being, with the faintest perceptible scorn at such Ignorance, "is the mar quis of Laldley. Ills lordship Is fre quently hero." "Laldley 1" cried Hugh, In sudden ex citement. "Laldley 1 The duko of Lumpsldro's son I You priceless old stuffed tomato tlio plot thickens." Completely regardless of the scan dallzed horror on tho exqulslto being's fuce, he smote him heavily h the stomach and .itepped Into Pall Mall. I'or clear before his memory had come three lines on1 the scrap of puper ho hud torn from the table at Tho Kims that first night, when he hnd grabbed tho dazed millionaire from under Peterson's noso. carl necklace and tho arc nt present chess of Lamp- Tho duchess of Lnmpshlre's pearls were world-famous; the marquis of Lnldloy was, apparently onjoylng his ten. And between the two thero seemed to be a connection rather too obvious to bo mlsRcd. THREE. "I'm glad you two fellows como down," said Hugh thoughtfully, as he ontered tho sitting-room of his bunga low at Goring. Dinner wns over, and stretehfld In threo chairs were Peter Darrell, Algy Longworth. and Toby Sinclair. "Did you know that a man came here this nftcrnonn, Peter?" "I did not. Who was It?" "Mrs. Denny has Just told me." Hugh renchod out a hand for his pipe, and proceeded to stuff It with tobneco "Ho cume about the water. And ho told her that I had told him to come, Unfortunately, I'd done nothing of the sort." "What do you mean, Hugh?" asked Toby Sinclair. "It's pretty obvious, old boy," snld Hugh grimly. "I should say that about five hours ago Peterson found nut that our ono nnd only Hiram C. Potts wns upstnlrs." "Good Iiordl" spluttered Darrell, by now very wide awake, "what do wo do, sorgeant-mnjor?" . ; "We tnke It In turns two at a time to sit up with Pott3." Hugh glanced nt the other three. "ID n It you blighters wnko up!" "I don't know whnt It Is," Darrell said, 'rubbing his eyes, "I feel most In fernnlly sleepy." "Well, listen to mi confound you . . . Toby I" "Sorry, old man." With a start Sin clair snt up In his chair and blinked nt Hugh. "They're almost certain to try and got him tonight.' went on Hugh. 'Having given tho show away by leaving a clue on the wretched secre tary, they must get the real man as soon as possible. It's far too danger otiH to lenvc tho leave tht " Ills head dropped forward on his chest: n short, half-strnngled snore came from his lips. It hnd the effect of waking him for tho moment, nnd he stnggcrcd to his feet. The other three, sprnwllng In their chairs, were openly nnd unashamedly nsleep; even the dogs lay In fantastic attitudes, breathing heavily, Inert llko logs. "Wake up I" shouted Hugh wildly. "For God's sake wake upl We've been drugged 1" ' An Iron weight seemed to be press ing down on his eyelids: the desire for sleep grew stronger and stronger. For n few moments more ho fought against It, hopelessly, despairingly; while his legs seemed not to belong to him, and there was n roaring noise lh his enrs. And then, Just before unconsciousness overcame him, there came to his bemused brain tho sound of n whistle thrice repented frdm out side the window. With a last stu pendous effort he fought his way to ward It, nnd for a moment he Htnred Into the darkness. There were dim figures moving through the shrubs, und suddenly one seemed to detach Itself. It came nearer, and' the light fell on' tho mnn's face. His nose and mouth were covered wjth a sort of pad, but the cold, sneering eyes were unmistakable. , "Laklngton " gasped Hugh, 'and then tho roaring noise Increased in his head; his legs struck work alto gether. He collapsed on the floor and lny sprawling, while Laklngton, his face pressed against the gloss outside, watched In silence. ( "Draw tho curtains." Laklngton wns speaking, his1 voice muffled be hind tho pad, and ono of the men did ns he said. There were four In ull, each with a similar pad over Ids mouth and nose. "Where did you put the genecntor, Brownlow?" "In tho conl-scuttle." A man whom Mrs. Denny would have had no diffi culty In recognizing, even with the mnsk on his face, carefully lifted a small black box out of the scuttle from behind some, coal, nnd shook It gent ly, holding It to his ear. "It's fin ished," he remarked, and- Laklngton nodded. "An Ingenious Invention is gas," he said, addressing another of the men. "Wo owe your nation quite n debt of gratitude for the Idea." A guttural grunt left no doubt as to what that nation was, and Lnklng ton dropped the box Into his pocket. "Go" get him," he ordered briefly, and tne others ten tno room. Contemptuously Laklngton kicked one of thu dogs; It rolled over and lay motionless In Its new position. Then he went In turn to each of the threw men sprnwllng In the chairs. With no attempt ut gentleness he turned their faces up to tho light, and studied them deliberately; then ho let their heads roll back again with a thud. Finally, he went to the window and stared down nt Drummond. In his eyes was a lopk of cold fury, and he kicked tho unconscious man sav agely In tho ribs. "You young uwlne," he muttered "Do you think I'll forget thut blow on the Jaw?" Ho took another box out of his pocket and looked at it lovingly. "Shnll I?" With a short luugh ho replaced It. "'It'a too good a death for you, Captain Drummond, D. S, Or, M. C. Just to snuff out In .your sleep No, my friend, I think I can devlso something bettor than that; uome thing really nrtlstlc." Two other men came In as he turned away, and Laklngton looked nt them. "Well," he asked, "have you got tho old womnn?" "Hound nnd gagged In the kitchen.' nnswered one of them laconically, "Aro you going to do this crowd In?" Tho speaker looked at tho uncon sclous men with hatred In his eyes "They encumber tho earth thla breed of puppy." "They will not encumber It for long," said Laklngton softly. "Hut the ono In tlio window thero Is uot By CYRIL SAPPER" going to dlo so easily. I have a small unsettled score with him. . . ." "All right; he's In the car." A voice came from outside the window, nnd with a Inst look at Hugh Drum mond, Lnklngtou turned nwny. "Then we'll go," he remarked. "Au rcvolr, my blundering young bull. Be fore I've finished with you, you'll scream for mercy. And you won't get It. . . ." Through the still night nlr there came the thrumming of the engine of a powerful car. Gradually It died away and there was silence. And then, with u sudden crack, Peter Dar- rell's head rolled over and hit the arm of his chair. CHAPTER VI. In Which a Very Old Game Takes Place on the Hooa Back. ONE. A thick nrev mist lav over thr Thnmes. It covered the water and the low fields to the west like a thick white carpet; It drifted sluggishly under the old brldce which sunns the river between Goring and Strentley. . . i . . ii was me iiour ueiore uawn. ana In His Eyes Was a Look of Cold Fury, and He Kicked the Unconscious Man Savagely. sleepy passengers, rubbing the win dows of their carriages as the Ply mouth boat express rushed oa towurd Loudon, shivered and drew their rugs closer around them. It looked cold . . cold and dead. Slowly, aimost imperceptibly, the vapor rose, and spread outwards up the wooded hills by Basildon. It drifted through the shrubs and rose bushes of a little garden, which stretched from a bungalow down to the water's edge, until at length wisps' of It brushed gently round the bunga low Itself. Suddenly the window of one of the downstair rooms was flung open, and a man with a white hag gard face leaned out drawing great gulps of fresh air Into his lungs. Three other men lay sprawling un- coiithly In chairs, and two dogs lay motionless- on the hearthrug. After a moment or two the man withdrew, only to appear again with one of the others In his arms. And then, having dropped his burden through the window on to the luwn outside, he repeated his performance with tho remaining two. Finally he pitched the two dogs after them, a,nd then, with his band to his forehead, he staggered down to tho wuter's edge. "Holy smoke!" he muttered to him self, as ho plunged his head Into the. cold water, "talk about the morning after!" After a while, with the water still dripping down Jils fnce, ho returned to the bungalow and found the other three in various stages of partial In sensibility. "Wuke up, my heroes," he remarked, "and go and put your great fat heads In the river. We were all of us drugged or doped somehow. And now," ho added bitterly, "we've all got heads, and we have not got Potts." "I don't remember anything," said Toby Sinclair, "except falling asleep. Have they tnken him?" "Of course they have," said Hugh "Just before I went off I saw 'em all In the garden, and that swine Laklngton was with them. However, while you go and put your nuts In the river, I'll go up and make certain." With a grim smile he watched tho three men lurch down to the water; then ha turned and went upstairs to the room which had been occupied by the American millionaire. It was empty, ns he had known It would be, and with a smothered curso he mndo his way downstairs again- McNEILE Copyright by Geo. H. Doran Oo. TWO. "Has It struck you fellow," re marked Hugh, at the conclusion of lunch, "thut seated around this table are four ofllccrs who fought with some distinction and much discomfort In the recent historic struggle?" "How beautifully you put It, old flick !" said Darrell. "Has It further struck you fellows," continued Hugh, "that last night we were done down, trampled on, had for mugs by a crowd of dirty black guards composed largely of the dregs of the universe?" "A veritable Solomon," wild Algy, gazing at him admiringly thr6ugh his eyeglass. "I told you this 'morning I detested your friends." 'Has it still further struck you." went on Hugh, n trifle grimly, "that we aren't standing for It? I "propose that we should tackle the blighters tonight." "Tonight!" echoed Darrell. "Where?" "At The Elms, of course. That's where the wretched Potts Is for a certainty." "And how do you propose that wen should set about It?" demanded Sin clair. Drummond drnlncd his port and grinned gently. 'Hy stealth, dear old beans by stealth. You and I thought we might rake In Ted .Ternlngham, and perhaps Jerry Seymour, to Join the huppy'throng will make a demonstra tion In force, with the Idea of draw lns off the enemy, thereby leaving the coast clear for me to explore the house for the unfortunate Potts. An accident. ... A car.... Whnt Is the connecting-link. . . Why. drink. Write It down, Algy, or we might forget. Now, can you beat that?" "We might, have some chance," said Darrell kindly, "If we, hnd the slight est Idea wdmt you were talking about." "Pay attention, an or you," sniu Hugh. "Tonight somo time about ten of the clock, Algy's motor will pro ceed along .the Godalralng-Gulldford road. It will contain you three nlso Ted and Jerry Seymou. If wo can get 'em. On npproachlng the gato of The Elms, you will render the night hideous with your vocal efforts. Stray passers-by will think that you are all tight. Then will come tho dramatic moment, when, with a heavy crash, you ram the gate. Horrified at this wanton damage to property, you will leave the car nnd proceed In mass formation up the drive." "Still giving tongue?" queried Dar-' rell. "Still giving tongue. Either Tod or Jerry or both of 'em will approach the house and Inform the owner In heartbroken accents ,that they have damaged his gate post, xou three will remain in the garden you might be recognized. Then It will be up to you. You'll have several men all round you. Keep 'em occupied some how. They wpn't hurt you; they'll only be concerned with seeing that you don't go where you're not wnnted. The Inst thing they want to do Is to draw any suspicion on themselves and, on the fnce of It. you are merely five convivial wanderers who have looked . on the wine when It was red. I think," he added thoughtfully; "that ten minutes will be enough for me." "Whnt will you be doing?" snld Toby. ."I shall be looking for Potts. Don't worry nbout me. I'll look after my self. Now, Is that clear?' "Perfectly,'.' said Darrell, after a short silence. "But I don't know that I like It, Hugh. It seems to me, old son, that you're running on unneces sary lot of risk." "Got any alternative?" demanded Drummond. "If we're ai going down," said Dar rell, "why not stick together and rush tho hous In a gang7" "No go, old bean," snld Hugh, de cisively. "Too mnny of 'em to hope to pull It off. No, low cunning is the only thing that's got nn earthly of succeeding." With a grin ho rose, and then strolled tbword the door. "Now go arjd rope In Ted nnd Jerry, and for tho love of Heaven don't ram the wrong gnte." "What are you going to do your self?" demanded Peter suspiciously. "I'm going to look at her from close to. Go away, all of you, and don't listen outside tho telephone box." "I love you, Pkyltis." (TO BE CONTINUED.) Cloth Upholstery. 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