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About The frontier. (O'Neill City, Holt County, Neb.) 1880-1965 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 1, 1918)
THE TEETH OF THE TIGER MAURICE LEBLANC TRAN8LATKD BY ALEXANDER TEJXE1RA DE MATTOS V*. CHAPTER TWELVE. (Centlnued.) No; one thing alone stood out above the situation: the sentence, “Bear in mind that the explosion is independent of the letters.” And, as the explosion was put down for the night of the 25th of May, it would occur that very I night, at 3 o’clock in the morn ing! “Help! Help!” he cried. This time he did not hesitate. So far, he had had the courage to remain huddled in his prison and to wait for the miracle that might come to his assistance; but he pre ferred to face every danger and undergo every penalty rat heir than abandon the prefect of police, Weber, Mazeroux, and their com panions to the death that threat ened them. “Help! Help!” Pauville’s house would be blown tip in three or four hours. That he knew with the greatest cer tainty. Just as punctually as the mysterious letters had reached their destination in spite of all the obstacles in the way, so the explo sion would occur at the hour named. The infernal artificer of Hie accursed Work had wished it so. At 3 o’clock in the morning there would be nothing left of the Fauville’s house. “Help! Help!” He recovered enough strength to raise desperate shouts and to make his voice carry beyond the atones and beyond the wainscot ing. Then, when there seemed to be no answer to his call, he stopped and listened for a long time. There was not a sound. The si lence was absolute. Thereupon a terrible anguish covered him with a cold sweat. Supposing the detectives had ceased to watch the upper floors and confined themselves to spend ing the night in the rooms on the ground floor t He madly took a brick and struck it repeatedly against the stone that closed the entrance, hoping that the noise would spread through the house. But an avalanche of small stones, loos ened by the blows, at onee fell upon him, knocking him down again and fixing him where he lay. “Help! Help!” More silence— a great, ruthless silence. “Help! Help!” He felt that his shouts did. not penetrate the walls that stifled him. Besides, his voice was grow ing fainter and fainter, producing a hoarse groan that died away in his strained throat. He ceased his cries and again listened, with all his anxious at tention, to the great silence that surrounded as with layers of lead the stone coffin in which he lay imprisoned. Still nothing, not a sound. No one would come, no one could come to his assistance. He continued to be haunted by Florence’s name and image. And he thought also of Marie Fauville, whom he had promised to save. But Marie would die of starvation. And, like her, like Gaston Sau verand and so many others, he ip his turn was the victim of this monstrous horror. An incident occurred to in crease his dismay. All of a sudden his electric lantern, which he had left alight to dispel the terrors of the darkness, went out. It was 11 o’clock at night. He was overcome with a fit of giddiness. He could hardly breathe in the close and vitiated air. His brain suffered, as it were, a physical and exceedingly pain ful ailment, from the repetition of images tfiat seemed to encrust themselves there; and it was al ways Florence’s beautiful fea tures or Marie’s livid face. And. jfi his distraught brain, while Ma rie lay dying, he heard the ex plosion at the Fauvilles’ house and saw the Prefect of Police and Mozeroux lying hideously muti lated, dead. A numbness crept over him- He fell into a sort of swoon, in which he continued to stammer confused syllables: “Florence—Marie—Marie— ’ ’ 29 CHAPTER THIRTEEN THE EXPLOSION The fourth mysterious letter! The fourth of those letters “post ed by the devil and delivered by the devil,” as one of the newspa pers expressed it! We all of us remember the really extraordinary agitation of the public as the night of the 25th of May drew near And fresh news increased this interest to a yet higher degree. People heard in quick succes sion of the arrest of Sauverand, the flight of his accomplice, Flor ence Levasseur, Don Luis Peren na s secretary, and the inexplica ble disappearance of Perenna him self, whom they insisted, for the best of reasons, on identifying with Arsene Lupin. The police, assured from this moment o# victory and having nearly all the actors in the tra gedy in their power, had gradu ally given way to indiscretion; and, thanks to the particulars re vealed to this or that journalist, the public knew of Don Luis’ change of attitude, suspected his passion for Florence Levasseur and the real cause of his right about-face, and thrilled with ex citement as they saw that aston ishing figure enter upon a fresh struggle. What was he going to dot If he wanted to save the woman he loved from prosecution and to re lease Marie and Sauverand from prison, he would have to intervene some time that night, to take part, somehow or other, in the event at hand, and to prove the innocence of the three accomplices, either by arresting the invisible bearer of the fourth letter or by suggesting some plausible explanation. In short, he would have to be there; and that was interesting indeed 1 And then the news of Marie Fauville was not good. With un wavering obstinacy she persisted in her suicidal plans. She had to be artificially fed; and the doctors in the infirmary at Saint-Lazare did not conceal their anxiety. Would Don Luis Perenna arrive in timet Lastly, there was that one other thing, the threat of an explosion which was to blow up Hippolyte Fauville’s house ten days after the delivery of the fourth letter, a really impressive threat when it was remembered that the enemy had never announced anything that did not take place at the stated hour. And, although it was still ten days—at least, so people thought—from the date fixed for the catastrophe, the threat made the whole business look more and more sinister. lhat evening, therefore, a great crowd made its way, through La Muette and Auteuil, to the Boule vard Suehet, a crowd coming not only from Paris, but also from the suburbs and the provinces. The spectacle was exciting, and people wanted to see. They saw only from a distance, for the police had barred the ap proaches 100 yards from either side ot the house and were driving into the ditches of the fortifica tions all those who managed to climb the opposite slope. The sky was stormy, with heavy clouds revealed at intervals by the light of a silver moon. There were lightning flashes and peals ot distant thunder. Men sang. Street boys imitated the noises of hnimals. People formed them selves into groups on the benches and pavements and ate and drank while diseussing the matter. A part of the night was spent in this wa$ and-mothing happened to reward the patience of the crowd, who began to wonder, somewhat wearily, if they would not do better to go home, seeing that Sauveraud was in prison and that there was every chance that the fourth letter would not appear in the same mysterious way as the others. And yet they did not go: Don Luis Perenna was due to come! From 10 o’clock in the evening the Prefect of Police and his sec retary general, the chief detective and \Veber, his deputy, Sergeant Mazeroux, and two detectives were gathered in the latfge room in which Fauville had been mur dered. Fifteen more detectives occupied the remaining rooms, while some 20 others watched the roofs, the outside of the house, and the garden. Onee again a thorough search had been made during the after noon, with no better results than before. Bnt it was decided that all the men should keep awrake. If the letter was delivered any where in the big room, they want ed to know and they meant to know who brought it. The police do not recognize miracles. At 12 o’clock M. Desmalions had coffee served to his subordi nates. He himself took two cups and never ceased walking from one end to the other of the room, or climbing the staircase that led to the attic, or going through the passage and hall. Preferring that the watch should be maintained under the most favorable condi tions, he left all the doors opened and all the electric lights on. Mazeroux objected: ‘ ‘ It has to be dark for the letter to come. You will remember, Monsieur le Prefet, that the other experiment was tried before and the letter was not delivered/' “We will try it again,” replied M. Desmalions, who, in spite of everything, was really afraid of Don Luis’ interference, and in creased his measures to make it impossible. Meanwhile, as the night wore on, the minds of all those present became impatient. Prepared for the angry struggle as they were, they longed for the opportunity to show their strength. They made desperate use of their ears and eyes. At 1 o’clock there was an alarm that showed the pitch which the nervous tension had reached. A shot was fired on the first floor, followed by shouts. On inquiry, it was found that two detectives, meeting in the course of a round, had not recognized each other, and one of them had discharged his revolver in the air to inform his comrades. In the meantime the crowd out side had diminished, as M. Des malions perceived on opening the garden gate. The orders had been relaxed and sightseers were al lowed to come nearer, though they were still kept at a distance from the pavement. Mazeroux said: “It is a good thing that the ex fflosion is due in 10 days’ time and not tonight, Monsieur le Prefet; otherwise, all those good people would be in danger as well as ourselves.” “There will be po explosion in ten days’ time, any more than there will be a letter tonight,” said M. Desmalions, shrugging his shoulders. And he added, “Be sides, on that day, the orders will be strict.” It was now ten minutes past two. At 25 minutes past, as the Pre fect was lighting a cigar, the chief detective ventured to joke: “That’s something you will have to do without, next time, Monsieur le Prefet. It would be too risky.” “Next time,” said M. Desma lions, “I shall not waste time in keeping watch. Pof I really begin to think that all this business with the letters is over.” “You can never tell,” suggest ed Mazeroux. A few minutes more passed. M. Desmalions had sat down. The others also were seated. No one spoke. And suddenly they all sprang up, with one movement, and the same expression of surprise. A bell had rung. They at once heard where the sound came from. “The telephone,” M. Desma ilions muttered. He took down the receiver. “Hullo! Who are you?” A voice answered, but so dis Itaut and so faint that he could only catch an incoherent noise and. exclaimed: “Speak louder! What is it? Who are you?” The voice spluttered out a few syllables that seemed to astound him. “Hullo!” he said. “I don’t understand. Please repeat what you said. Who is it speaking ? ” “Don Luis Perenna,!’ was the answer, more distinctly this time. The Prefect made as though to hang up the receiver; and he growled: “It’s a hoax. Some rotter amusing himself at our expense.” Nevertheless,in spite of himself, he went on in a gruff voice: “Look here, what is it? You sav you’re Don Luis Perenna?’’ “Yes.” ‘ ‘ What do you want f ’ ’ “What’s the time?” ** “W’hat’s the time!” The Prefect made ap angry gesture, not tfo much because of f the ridiculous question as because I he had really recognized Don Luis’ voice beyond mistake. “Well!” he said, controlling himself. “What’s all this about! WThere are you!” “At my house, above the iron curtain, in the ceiling of my study.” “In the ceiling!” repeated the •Prefect, not knowing what to think. “Yes; and more or less done for, I confess.” “We’ll send and help you out,” said M. Desmalions, who was be ginning to enjoy himself. “Later on, Monsieur le Prefet. First answer me. Quickly! If not, I don’t know that I shall have the strength. What’s the time!” “Oh, look here!” “I beg of you-” “It’s 20 minutes to 3!” It was as though Don Luis found renewed strength in a sud den fit of fear. His weak voice recovered its emphasis, and, by turns imperious, despairing, and beseeching, full of a conviction which he did his utmost to impart to M. Desmalions, he said: “Go away, Monsieur Le Prefet! Go, all of you; leave the house. The house will be blown up at 3 o’clock. Yes, yes, I swear it will. Ten days after the fourth letter means now, because there has been a ten days’ delay' in the de livery of the letters. It means how, at 3 o’clock in the morning. Remember what was written on the sheet which Deputy Chief Weber handed you this morning: ‘The explosion is independent of the letters. It will take place at 3 o’clock in the morning.’ At 3 o’clock in the morning, today, Monsieur le Prefet!” The voice faltered and then continued: “Go away, please. Let no one remain in the house. You must believe me. I know everything about the business. And nothing can prevent the threat from being executed. Go, go, go! This is horrible; I feel that you do not believe me—and I have no strength left. Go away, every one of yoH! ’ ’ He said a few more words which M. Desmalions could not make out. Then the voice ceased; and, though the Prefect still heard cries, it seemed to him that those cries were, distant, as though the instrument were no longer within the reach of the mouth that uttered them. He hung up the receiver. “Gentlemen,” he said, with a smile, “it is 17 minutes to 3. In 17 minutes we shall aH be blown* up together. At least, that is what our good friend Don Luis Perenna declares.” In spite of the jokes with which this threat was met, there was a general feeling of uneasiness. Weber asked: “Was it really Don Luis, Mon sieur le Prefet?” “Don Luis in person. He has gone to earth in some hiding hole in his house, above the study; and his fatigue and privations seem to have unsettled him a little. Mazeronx, go and ferret him out —unless this is just some fresh triek on his part. You have your warrant.” Sergeant Mazeroux went Tip to M. Desmalions. His face was pallid. “Monsieur le Prefet, did he tell you that we were going to be blown Tip?” “He did. He relies on the note which M. Weber found in a volume of Shakespeare. The ex plosion is to take place tonight.” “At 3 o’clock in the morning?” “At 3 o’clock in the morning— that is to say, in less than a quar ter of an hour.” “And do you propose to re main, Monsieur le Prefet?’’ “What next, Sergeant? Do you imagine that we are going to obey that gentleman’s fancies?’’ Mazeroux staggered, hesitated, and then, despite all his natural deference, unable to contain him self, exclaimed: “Monsieur le Prefet, it’s not a fancy. I have worked with Don Luis. I know’ the man. If he tells you that something is going to happen, it’s because he has his reasons. ’ ’ , “Absurd reasons.” “No, no, Monsieur le Prefet,” Mazeroux pleaded, growing more and more excited. “1 swwar that you nmst listen to him. The house will be blown up—he said so—at 3 o’clock. We have a few minutes left. Let us go. I en treat you, Monsieur le Prefet.” i “In other words, you want us to run away.” “But it’s not running away, Monsieur le Prefet. It’s a simple precaution. After all', we can’t risk- You, yourself, Monsieur le Prefet-” “That will do.” “But, Monsieur le Prefet, as Don Luis said-’ (Continued Next Week.) l A WAR TIME IDYL ♦ From the Continental Edition of the I<• ra don Mail. The English country side had a new sensation when the hay baling lasses came along with their train of artillery and parked it under the elms beside the big fragrant hay stack. It was a considerable train. First, the puffing tractor, then the baler veiled in green tarpaulin, a truck, and the house on wheels. With the martial maids were three or four soldiers re leased for work on the land. The men brought a clattering service wagon, drawn by a pair of mules Tractor and baler entered the mead ow and took up action positions. The house on wheels remained outside at a corner of the road where it was out of the way of traffic. Covers were stripped, th band from the fly wheel adjusted to the driving band of the baler, and the engine stoked afresh, and then the smoked and legginged land girls, Dianas in physique and all pretty attacked the stacks Very soon they had flung up a big. loose heap of hay at the side of the baling machine and were ready to start it up. With a whirl and rhythmic pul sation the work began. Up and down went the beam, its energetic nose ram ming the hay tight into the box, while from below emerged a steady stream of neatly wired bales passing along a platform. Meanwhile another girl had set up the weighing beam, like a see-saw on a tripod. It swung the bales lightly off, with a touch of a girl’s hand. A marvel of leverage It Is, and the means, by the way, for a quiet lark, far one of the ladq, seeking an easy return from the stack to the machine, flung himself across the longer end of the beam. Chloe knew her job. laughing, she de pressed her end of the stjck, and high in the air rose the flgixfe In khaki; mademoiselle swung the steelyard round on the swivel, and let her lad down gently just where he wished to alight. All through the hours of pleas ant spring sunshine the maidens plied their forks, feeding the hungry ma chine, and the lads loaded the bales. It was the idyll of this new, strange world, a quaint product of war, a mingling of the martial and the pas toral; very curious, but very good to see. At meal times the house on wheels plays its part. The crockery cannot be called egg shell, the mugs are serv iceable rather than elegant, Vut this if all in the day's work. Health and hap piness and the satisfaction of doing their bit in the struggle for freedom make the land girls' lot a thing to envy. . The machine whirred, the stack grew less and less, and at length, as the sun was westering, the mule wagon went off with its final load of bales. Time to pack up and be jogging. The baler was draped anew in Its green tarpaulin, loose ends were tucked up and made shipshape in a manner that would please the most exacting sergeant maj or, the tractor pulled out into the road again, train whs ccupled up, and away went this little park of peace ful ordnance to attack and reduce a new position. The village will be sorry when all the haystacks have vanished and the land girls take their hay baler eleswhere. They are a bright note in anxious days. Better still, they plead their own cause. Lady Clara Vere de Vere, hitherto very energetic in flag days and charity mat inees, to the ruin of her nerves and looks, has seen a new field of useful ness and has gone off to enlist. PLAN SOME CHANGES IN DAYLIGHT SAVING Interstate Commerce Commis sion May Take Hand Before Opening: of Spring 1919. Washington, D. C.—Present applica tion of the daylight saving law, as It affects localities, will probably bo changed In detail by the Interstate Commerce commission before the 1919 spring advance touches American clocks, though in main, investigations now proceeding find the hour advance working satisfactorily. Examiners for the commission have completed ths taking of evident bn the subject in eastern and mountain cities, but still have to conclude hearings In the middle west. At El Paso, Tex., June 17, the final hearings will be completed, and after that formal reports to the com mission will be available. While the duty of prescribing the limits of the four time zones in the United States fell to the commission, as a temporary expedient it adopted the demarkatlons of eastern, central, mountain and Pacific time as made by railroads, and fixed a fifth belt to gov ern Alaska. The examiners were sent out to seo whether changes In the rail road time !lmt&» sroajd cot convenience business and ao«7al life if adopted. They have found to date a number of points, generally on the eastern edges of time belts, which already had sys tems of daylight saving by running on the hours of the belt adjacent to them. A dual system of time has beon found in several places in the United States, where “railroad time” and “town time" have both been customarily recognized, the latter being one hour faster than the former. Some points have contin ued the system, even under the general time advance last spring, while others have adopted a single standard. Rul ings will perhaps affect these. The law Is not compulsory, except for persons doing business with the gov ernment and railroads, but the ere are finding that compliance with It is almost universal. Specifically, the law defines the hour zones across the United States as centering respectively upon the 75th, 90th, 105th and 120th meridians west of Greenwich, with bor ders equidistant between the meridians. The commission exercised Its power to eet aside these standards, and adopted the existing railroad zones, which are only roughly similar to the legal ones, in order not to confuse and disturb the course of life. In the main, it is ex pected that the examiners will report the railroad zones suitable, though changes in them will be made where Vorkablllty of the law and ease of ap plication can be secured. X-Rays For Metals. The use of X-rays in medicine for re vealing the conditions existing in the hid den structures of the human body is well known to every one, but the'.r application to the study of the Internal anatomy of metals Is a newer and less familiar devel opment. Metals ursed to be regarded as more or less opaque to such rays, but the case has changed with the Introduc tion of the Coolrldge tube, which enables a beam of rays tb(be generated so intense that It will penetrate four Inches of hard steel. Photographs can thus be taken of the interior of the metal, and will reveal a flaw with a diameter so small as one fiftieth of an Inch. The first abort course of agronomy and animal husbandry at the Univer sity of British Columbia la now In fuU progress. POPULAR OFFICER IN FLYING CORPS ■-r-^Z Brig. Gen. Charles Saltzman. Among the officers in the aviation corps of the signal department Gen eral Saltzman has been popular. He' has not been involved in any of the inquiries or criticisms directed at the department. He is expected to get a conspicuous place in the department when the air division is made a dis tinct unit. x yank POLICE IN LONDON. I +-♦ ♦♦»»»♦+♦♦»»+■♦+■♦+ BY GEORGE T. BYE. Pieadilly circus these nights Is a pin wheel that whizzes with the glory ot armies and navies of allied nations, tho sparks flying up Regent street, Shafts bury avenue, Piccadilly and Coventry street. In the day time its ill assorted buildings have the disappointing drab ' ness of Broadway, Manhattan, but al night, in spite of heavily shaded lights it is brilliant with its military mael strom, and hauntlngiy seductive a* ever—the gateway to London’s theater land, cafeland, clubland, the rendezvous of light spirits. All tides of London humanity tend toward Piccadilly, and it is no wonder that we should find Americans there n some profusion, probably more officers than men because there are more of ficers than men of the A. E. F. in Lon don. But there are enough Yank pri vates drawn toward Piccadilly each" night to warrant some attention paid to their good conduct. When I had been wheeled by the crowd around Piccadilly twice I stopped in a little doorway next to the Pavilion theater, where Maud Allan is dancing this week, and studed the saunterers. A major took a beautiful young woman to the theater entrance, said he would leave his club at 10:15 and be waiting in a taxi for her at 10:30. Soldiers recognized each other and paired off to talk over old trench days, after separation caused by wounds and redistribution of forces. Two noncommissioned officers wera upbraided by a little white faced wom an, who cried: “You ’ave no right to whistle at me in that way, soldiers or no soldiers, ’cause I ave a good man at me ’ome, and a dear wee baby.” whereupon the soldiers protested their innocence and disappeared. A Jap of ficer mingled in the circling throng and people studied his uniform and won dered at his rank. “Then I’ll Come Back to You When the Daisies Droop with Dew,” sang a woman under her breath, and smiled. Then she quickly changed to something that sounded like "When the Sweet Magnolias Bloom, My Boy. I’ll Wait for You in Illinois.” I looked to my right and there stood two khaki statues made in America. "I’m from Missouri," I said. They were from New York, one. from Man hattan and the other from Syracuse. I further introduced myseli and offered them a smoke. No, they couldn't smoke; they were on duty. On duty? Yes, military police. One turned and showed his M. P. brassard on his left arm. Both of them looked an tidy as tail ors’ dummies, and one wore his uni form especially well. He was tall with steel grey hair and the easy manner of a matinee idol. No question now as to whom the strolling chantreas waf attracted. And he had been an actor for II years. His last name was Parker bi:| I couldn’t coax him to give the other, "Come on, Parker. It’s time we went up the street," interrupted the other military policeman of Uncle Sam. whose last civilian occupation had been leader in a theater orchestra in Syra cuse. "Fine pair of policemen, aren’t we?’ laughed the actor. “We haven’t beer over long—were at a base in Franc* for a few weeks. They took out a few men who had been to Europe before th » war to act as M. Ps. I’ve been ove£ often; in feet. I know this grand old town and Paris nearly as well as New York, so I suppose I’ll be walking a beat for the rest of the war.” I strolled along with them. "We haven’t found any boys .n trou ble yet,” they said. "They all act like gentlemen. We’re supposed to keep any Yartks from gttir.g boisterous, and take charge of them if they become dis orderly. So far our only work has been to act as guides. Some boy will want to know the way to ids under ground station. He looks for an Ameri can M. P. and we help him out." Soon we reached tile point of .unc tion of their beat with that of two other Yank M. Ps.. then they returned tc Piccadilly Circus where the merry-go round had lost much of its density in the open doors of theaters. Military Term* Will Stay, F*>m the Columbus Dispatch. They were talking about military terms coming Into general use, when one ol them predicted that they would noit read ily die out. even after the war came tc an end. "It was just this way at the tim« of the civil war," said ene of the oldei members of the party, "and for a long time after the war. 1 remember asking » young woman in Poston then If she dl l not like Mozart's Twelfth Mass. 'Superb.* she replied. 'Why 1 had two brothers In that regiment.' ” “Don't Lose Your Grip.” From the Flmergency Fleet News. A new Illuminated motto has made its appearance on the wall In the office of Chairman Hurley of the shipping board In Washington. "Noah was ««l years old before he knew how to build an ark," It says. "Don't lose your grip.” The Manlchuriati burbers are likely soon to blossom forth aa full fledged "tonsortal artists.” Consular reports say they sre replacing their antiquated arid time honored Chinese equipment with modern American barber supplier