Nor did I relish it, as they
Waited until Mrs. James and I
had chosen a table, then moved
o nand around an angle in the
little alcove where I could not
■ee them, and even could scarce
ly hear them.
(V '“You seem worried,” observed
lay companion, with a forced
gaiety.
“Perhaps,” I hazarded. “It
has been a hard day and I can
not put the Exchange out of my
head. Let us forget it.” I
■laughed.
“The Exchange?” she in
quired shooting at me glance
which I could not interpret.
. Was It a Ruse?
Did she really know who I was
*nd that I was posing? or was
she interested, lest for some rea
son, I might recognize her?
I passed the query off as easi
ly as I could, finding that she
was not disposed Toward confi
dences. Nor did it take me long
to note that she, too, was quite
interested in the couple around
the angle. Gradually it dawned
on mo that she knew Kennedy,
■t least knew who he was. I
tried to lead the conversation,
but she refused to be led. Could
It have been that she was plan
ning some confidence to Ken
nedy?
I could see that my companion
was getting more and more nerv
ous and finally she leaned over
to me and whispered over the
flasses, “Why not cut out the
luff? I know you and I know
Professor Kennedy. Some time
I want to see him—but I shall
have to be careful. If I were
you, I would get hi maway from
here as soon as you can.”
She seemed Rtartled at her
own temerity. Before I could
pursue the inquiry as to who she
really was, she had excused her
aelf, and almost ran from the
room to rejoin a party at a game
•f bridge which she had left.
I sauntered over to Kennedy.
Re was leaning forward over the
table, pnring some story into the
ear of Breshkaya. He did not
■ee me, but I watched him, won
dering whether he thoughtf he
was getting away with anything
with this world-wide young per
■on?
It seemed to me that we hud
(one far enough for one night
And, besides, there were ringing
in my care the last words of
“Mrs. James”—“Set him away
M soon as you can. ”
“Sorry,” I interrupted, affect
ing the accept which I heard allx
About me, as I broke in on them,'
“But really, Harper, I must get
back to the city tonight, or rath
•r this morning.”
I could see that secretly Bresh
fcaya was furious at me, but Ken
nedy rather welcomed the inter
on.
don’t know how we’re go
ing to manage it,” ho considered.
“Can we get a taxicab out here
At this late hour?”
Very Obliging.
"We can get anything,” re
tnred GBreslikaya, finding that
it was useless to urge us to stay.
“I’ll have Henry telephone for
something that will get you back
to the city—if you must 50.
She smiled archly at Z Kennedy
And laid her hand coaxingly on
his, “Really I ’m afraid I must,
he decided, pressing the little
hand which she allowed to linger
with an invitation. “Some other
time we’ll have to come out again
when we can make a night
of it.”
She smiled again through a
pretty jmit, but Kennedy now
Insisted, and a moment later the
■tiff butler was telephoning to
Some local garage, which I had
do doubt was like the one we had
Visited, for a car.
-It seemed to be an uncommon
ly long time before there was
any response, and it was fully an
hour before we heard the sound
af a motor outside.
As we left the place we were
accompanied to the door by
Breahkaya and Mine. Rene who
bowed ns out politely.
Our cab had stopped not in
front of the door, but farther up,
dear the end of the house where
the coach light was and the wait
ing ears. We started over to
ward it in the shadows.
Suddenly we were confronted
by a man in a heavy coat, who
reeled at us, as though drunk. It
was apparently one of the chauf
feurs. The fellow was so ex
tremely insolent that Kennedy
could do nothing else than push
bim roughly aside. Instantly the
man turned on him, and from the
shadows whence he had emerged,
there rushed out two mare—be
fore I knew it we were the cen
ter of a brawl.
But the method of attack had
been quite sufficient to put us on
guard in time. Both Kennedy
and I had our automatics ready.
At the same time a man who
had just pulled in in a car dashed
over toward us, though by this
time we had had cowed the high
binders who had evidently
pulled off their attack prema
turely.
A Little Late.
“ Kennedy 1" exclaimed a
voice.
I peered through the dimness.
It was Ravenal who had come to
the rescue, though a bit late.
“I missed you all day,” he ex
plained, “Then though of the
Crystal Palace. There they told
me you had gone with Bresh
kaya, so I came out. What’s the
matter! Didn’t they want you
to go away!”
Kennedy glanced at the house.
Even in spite of the altercation
in the yard no one inside seemed
to have heard it, at least no one
paid any attention.
“I’ll take you back,” offered
Ravenal. “I came out only to
be sure that there wasn’t any
trouble.”
Kennedy strode over to the
car that had been waiting, but it
was driverless. Evidently the
chauffeur had bee none of the at
tackers. The attack had been
premature, or else they had been
surprised to find us armed.
Kennedy was for tracing out
the chauffeur, who had started
the attack, but I learned over
and whispered the parking words
of Mrs. James.” He considered
a moment, then turned to Ra
venal.
“I think I will take your of
fer,” he decided.
The young detective seemed
quite flattered. “Got here just
in the nick of time,” he mur
mured ,as he started his engine,
and we swung out of the shad
owy grounds, without any furth
er trouble. “It looks as though
someone knew you were here,
but didn’t want anything to hap
pen in the house.”
Kennedy said nothing.
An Uneventful Bide.
Our ride back to the city with
Ravenal was uneventful and at
that hour of teh nijj'ht we were
able to make great time over the
deserted roads. When we had
crossed the bridge, instead of
making Ravenal drive us all the
way uptown. Kennedy thanked
him and we climbed down into
the subway, which whisked us
up quicker than we could have
been driven.
It was late, and though we had
not accomplished much by our
trip out to the House of Mystery,
still we were tired.
To our surprise, however, as
we approached our apartment,
we could see a light burned
there. At first we were inclined
to approach it with caution, but
on inquiry from the hallboy we
learne dthat Jack Speed was up
there and seemingly very wor
ried.
We hurried up and, sure
enough there was the young man
frantically excited.
“Clare ha sdisappeared while
you were away,” he announced
as we entered. “I’ve exhausted
every means I know of to trace
here—and not a clue.”
It was startling news and it
left us quite up in the air as to
what to do.
As nearly as we could make
out from Speed a stranger had
come to Clare’s apartment very
late in the night with a message
| that Jack himself was out at the
I House of Mystery at Heaton
Hills, with Breshkaya. The mas
sage itself was signed with the
name “Minna Oakleigh.’’
Kennedy listened puzjzled.
“Asa matter of fact we were out
there wuh her,” he considered.
‘“'Who is Minnu Oakleigh?”
Chapter 12
It is now a question of return
ing to Rockcliff to make a final
search. If Clare were up there,
she must be in desperato need of
help.
Speed and I made hasty plant
while Craig did his errand that
took him up to the laboratory.
First of all Speed wanted to
have the car thoroughly looked
over at his garage so that It
would be in perfect condition
and we might not have a break
down at a critical time when we
could not afford to have any
thing wrong.
At tha garage I noticed a new
spot light on the side o the wind
shield of Speed’s big car, and at
my suggestion he had it taken
off and transferred to the road
ster. My idea had been that it
might be useful if we had to do
any night work.
Finally Speed was satisfied
that his car was alright and we
jumped into it and started up
town to pick up Craig.
He was waiting for us impa
tiently at the laboratory and in
to the tool box on the rear of the
car he jammed several things
which he thought might be use
ful in whatever emergencies
might arise. Among them I no
ticed one peculiarly shaped case
and a smaller package on which
he seemed to set great store. He
placed them on top very care
fully. Both Speed and I were
too eager to be off to ask ques
tions, and in a few moments we
were away.
OVER THE FERRY
Across the ferry we started
along the road taken by Bresh
kaya earlier in the day, and we
made jood time, for we wanted
to get up there early, so that we
might have daylight in order to
prosecute our search.
Every car that we saw loom
ing in the distance returning to
the city we scrutinized carefully
in the hope that it might be
Brcshkaya, but none of them
proved to be her racer; perhaps
it was just as well, for she might
have sounded an alarm, I re
flected.
However, if we flattered our
selves that we were going to
have a safe and uneventful jour
ney, we were reckoning without
due regard to the Black Menace.
We were bowling along at a
great rate, and about to enter
the part of the road that leads
into the State reservation of the
park of the Highlands, one of
the most marvelous spots along
the course of the lordly Hudson,
when suddenly, from about a
bend in the road, there loomed
a hugs black limousine. The dri
ver was hidden behind an extra
ordinarily large pair of goggles
so that his face was unrecogniz
able and besides, his linen dust
er of gray was pulled up con
cealing the lower part of his
face, There did not seem to be
anyone in the body of the car.
Speed himself was driving as
this heavy car came tearing
along tne road at a great pace,
holding the center of the road
with an utter of disregard of
the rights of anyone else.
Whether that was true of other
cars which this concealed driver
passed, I cannot say. But at
least it hardly gave Speed a
. chance. He pulled away sharp
ly as the fellow forced him over
to the right hand side of the
road, and as he did so, the
wheels ran off the road, skidded
and threw the car plumb into a
sand bank at the side of the road.
A BLACK LIMOUSINE
Before we knew what had hap
pened, the black limousine was
passed us, and as we looked back
at it we could see a license plate
on it, but its numbers were so
battered that we were absolute
ly unable to read them.
Though we did not know it, it
was part of a plot of the Black
Menace to delay, possibly to
wreck us. Only Speed’s clever
ness and lightning like facility
in handling a car avoided a
worse accident. As it was, our
roadster was damaged badly by
the collision with the sand bank.
The whole thing testified to the
desperation with which the
Black Menace was fighting back
at us.
It was a couple of hours be
fore we could get anyone to tow
us baok to the nearest garage,
where we managed to make re
pairs and proceeded on our way,
the better part of the afternoon
used, up by the delay.
Dusk was approaching as we
finally arrived in the region of
the Highlands where we had last
seen the car of Breshkaya sever
al hours before. We passed the
dirt crossroad, then came to the
fork in the road, and turned
down toward Rockcliff, follow
ing the branch of the road that
skirted the river.
Kennedy had taken the wheel
now, for he had determined upon
a careful examination of the
country. There was not a cross
road that we did not turn down
in the gathering darkness to ex
plore.
“Confound that limousine,"
he growled as the daylight faded
and cut off our view of the sur
rounding territory. “It was a
long chance to take just for this,
but it means putting us a day
back in our search.
Still Kennedy’s motto,had al
ways been “it’s dogged as does
it,’’ and he kept right on, fol
! lowing out every bit of cross
road, especially those that led
away toward the rive*1, *.or he
had a fancy that it was in that
direction that the racer off
Breshltaya had gone when she
had pulle.d awav from us.
A USELESS SEARCH
It seemed like a useless search
and more than once I counselled
giving it up, taking up our|
headquarters for the night at}
some quiet inn or road house and}
starting out again at the first}
streak of dawn. Kennedy would
uot listen to it — yet.
There was just one more road
that he had not explored, which
ran down from the main road by
a steep and winding descent to
the very shore of the river, going]
down through a ravine or huge
gully between the hills which
rose on either side. He seemed
determined to explore the road
even in the darkness. Down it
we crept, for it was narrow,,
winding, and had a steep grade.]
I wondered how we were everj
going to get back, but Kennedy}
paid no more attention to my
objections than to say “well, wej
can back up any hill, can t we? I
At last he came to the end ofi
the road, down by the river bank
in the rift of hills. Once, per
haps there may have been a pri
vate ferry there but there was
certainly nothing there now. Nor
did it seem that there was evern
a house in the neighborhod. Wq
had passed no one, either in ve-j
hicle or on foot. To all intents
and purposes the place was aa
wild as it had been in the days ofi
the Half Moon, except for thei
rough road itself.
Certain it was we could go no
further, unless the car would(
float. Fortunately ther? was a,
little open space hear the rivet]
bank not vtri<le enough to turi^
in with comfort, but at least}
wide enough to get the car about}
after innumerable backings and
shifting of gears.
“There’s just enough level
stretch to give us a nice little
start to climb’’. Craig puffed
as he tried to turn the car.
Speed had switched on thq
spotlight so that he could throw;
it about to disclose the character
of the spot in which ennedy had
brought up. Sometimes he shonq
it on canyon-like walls of rocks
about us, sometimes he directed
its beam upward on the thick
foliage that surmounted thq |
walls.
A SHARP LIGHT
Kennedy had almost succeed
in turning the car and Speed
was flashing the light up on the
primeval forest and gray rod?
above, disclosing the dark and
forbidden cliffs, when its rayd
scarcely cut the Cimmerian
blackness above us.
Suddenly, far up the cliff, we)
saw a sharp spit of light which:
cleaved the -darkness.
(To bo continued next week.)
BROKEN CHINA.
It Is hoped that the attitude of the
powers toward China in her present
straits will be one merely of watchful
waiting. Though conditions in the
whilom kingdom of the Manchus seem,
now more chaotic than ever, as a,
matter of fact they are little worse
than they have been for many a long)
year. China has not known “normal-'
cy” nor anythlhg near It since the)
revolution of 1811. For more than a
decade the country has been almost)
constantly erupting with revolutions)
of one kind or another. That Lt
Yuan Hung, the president, has been,
chased out of his official seat means
little, for even when he was safely
ensconsed there he had no power toj
speak of. The wlelders of power in,
China today are the military chief
tains In the provinces.
It will take the Chinese people, so
Immured are they by the past, a,
long time to acquire a national con
sciousness in the modem sense. It
is to be expected that the birth of that,
consciousness will be accompanied,
with pain and travail. It is through,
such a stage that the nation Is now
passing. Its most urgent need is prob
ably to be let alone until an unques
tionable opportunity for aiding pro-,
sents Itself.
It is earnestly to be hoped that
Japan will not interfere, as latest,
dispatches represent her as about to)
do. Japanese Intervention now mlghtj
well seriously retard whatever pro-,
gress China has been making toward
real nationhood.
Some may argue, however, that it
Japan can clean up the Chinese mesa,
and bring order and stability to thatj
’ troubled land she should be encour-i
aged to do so without delay. But a,
Japan dominating the millions of
Chinese and able to draw c n Chinese,
man power for military purposes laj
something not to be regarded lightly. '
NOT OORRKSPulTlOiNa
From tho Boston Transcript
"Have you a letter from your
last mistressT”
"No, mum; we parted good!
friends, bat we ala’t been earryin'i
on no correspondence."
PLEDGE DEMPSEY
• TlliniMN
Financing Assures Battle At
Shelby, Mont., July 4—
May Shift Date 10 Days
Later, However
By Universal Service.
Great Falls, Mont., June 29.—The
money to meet the third $100,000 pay
ment for Jack Dempsey has been
pledged.
The battle between the world’s
champion and Tom Gibbons will be
staged in Shelby, Mont.
The committee • which Friday
perfected the loan arrangements was
to decide later whether the melee
will bo put on July 4 or July 14. At
this writing opinion concerning the
date is divided.
Kearns Shifts Stand
Jack Kearns earlier in the day said
he would agree to a postponement of
10 days or two weeks. Later he
changed his mind and said the bat
tle had to be fought July 4.
Eddie Kane, manager of Tom Gib
bons, was summoned to Great Falls
from Shelby Friday night for a con
ference Saturday with George Stan
ton, the banker, who aided in the
raising of funds sufficient to insure
the holding of the bout. Just before
his departure, Kane was asked the
nature of the impending meeting and
replied:
“Mr. Stanton did not tell me, but I
know pretty well what is on his
mind.”
Manager Kane Evasive
"Would you agree to a postpone
ment of the bout if he requested it?"
Kane was asked.
“Not unless they can make it worth
my while in a financial way,” he re
plied.
Mr. Stanton gave out the follow
ing statement at 5 o’clock:
“I wish to say that the money
necessary to meet the third payment
to Dempsey had been pledged. Some
of it already is hi the hands of the
committee, perhaps $30,000 or $35,000.
The balance of it is now in the mail
and will reach here by Saturday.
"The money which makes up the
$100,000 has been raised by men of
Montana, and we are prepared to put
the amount up immediately.”
CARBON DIOXIDE FOUND
CURE FOR TUBERCULOSIS
International News Service.
Denver, June 27—The “great white
plague” may be conquered soon and
tuberculosis control placed within
the reach of medical science, accord
ing to physicians in the researih de
partment of the National Jewish
Consumptive Hospital in this city,
who declare that they have discover
ed that carbonic gas is deadly poison
to the tubercular germ.
The discovery is expected to bring
about results that will serve to
standardize methods of curing tlhe
nation’s most deadly disease, accord
ing to announcement made here.
Laboratory experiments with the
carbon dioxide remedy are continu
ing daily on animals it was said,
the new-found process not yet being
sufficiently practical to warrant ex
periments on human beings.
HILLES RIDICULES
FORD FOR PRESIDENT
New York, June 30.—Election to the
presidency of Henry Ford, “a mere
bag of gold,” would be bowing down
tD mammon,” Charles D. Hilles, na
tional committeeman from New York,
declared in a statement printed by
the New York World today.
“Ford,” ho said, “would make a pit
iable spectacle as president because
he has revealed a political knowledge
and sense that a schoolboy would be
ashamed of. And it Is Mr. Ford who
asserted that all history is ‘bunk’
TROOPS ORDERED TO
HENRIETTA, OKLA.
Okmulgee, Okla, June 20.—Com
pany E, 179th Infantry, was ordered
early this morning to proceed at once
to Henrietta. Motor trucks will con
vey the troops to Henrietta.
Adjutant General B. H. Markham
refused early today to explain the
reason for sending an Okmulge na
tional guard company to Henrietta
"I have nothing to say,” was his
answer to all inquiries.
TIME BOMB EXPLODES
KILLING 9 BELGIANS
Duesseldorf, uno 3.—Nine Belgian
soldiers were killed today by the ex
plosion of a time bomb in a passen
ger car of a train carrying Belgian
soldiers on leave back to Belgium
from the Ruhr.
STEEL SALE*APPROVED
Wilmington, Del., June 29.—Chan
cellor Wolcott entered an order Fri
day, dissolving the preliminary in
junction restraining the American
Steel and Tube company from selling
Its assets to the youngstown Sheel and
Tube company, at Youngstown, Ohio.
A laboratory weighing machine has
been Invented so small that it weighs
only three grains Itself, and sensitive
to a ten-millionth of a milligram.
N. Y. SUPREME COURT
DECIDES FOR CANINE
New York, June 29.—The supreme
court Friday decided that a bomb
may be tied to a dog's tail, that the
dog may be thrown from an airplane,
that he may land comfortably in a
flivver and remove an important
portion from a gentleman’s trousers;
and that he may do all this without
Inciting to crime or becoming a pub
lic nuisance—In the movies.
The decision was rendered in the
case of a picture banned by the state
motion picture commission.
if Hfyl
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sweet** In bmnafieiml
v term.
% Helps to cleanse
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V I^SSJLOOM
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Baby Carnages & Furniture
Ask Your Local Dealer
Write Now lor 32-Page
•—^—r Illustrated Booklet
l|gi§§
The Lknrd Manufacturing Company
(Htywood-Waktfitld Co.)
Dept. E
Menominee, Michigan (19)
An Eight Year Old Pecan Grove
Standard varieties for $250.00 per acre la
Quite unusual, but I can deliver If sold now.
! W. t. CRAWFORD, ALBANY, OA.
FARM LANDS—$25 to $75 per acre buys
fertile farm lands in western Carolina; 700
feet altitude, no malaria, nc windstorms*
mild climate, crops all year. Investigate.
,TON & EPTING, Leesville, South Carolina.
PREACHES TO YOUNG PEOPLE
Clergyman Delivers Special Sermon
Which the Youthful Members of
His Flock Can Understand.
Even the bitterest medicine can be
put Into a palatable pellet and swal
j lowed.
j I know a Presbyterian clergyman
j who is sugar-coating little sermons for
the boys and girls of his flock, "Girard”
! writes In the Philadelphia Inquirer.
He preaches them a ten-minute sermon,
largely a story they can understand,
j Then out of the church they go—not
to be distressed by the longer and more
reasoned sermon which lie preaches to
the elders of the church.
"What result?” you ask.
In the short time he has been doing
this he has more than doubled the at
tendance of young people and added a
few older ones who came out of curi
osity.
Trained at Princeton, this clergyman
says the right theory In church, as
well as athletics. Is to "catch ’em
young.”
Popular.
“Of course the motorcar Is popular
In your little city, the same as else
where?”
“You betcha!” answered the gent
from JImpson Junction. “About 40
per cent of our men folks own fliv
Vcrs. Twenty per cent more are try
ing to swap for ’em, or get ’em on
credit. One per cent Is an Idiot who
doesn’t know what they are for, and
the rest are suspected of plotting to
steal ’em.”—Kansas City Star.
Defined.
A Scottish farmer, being elected a
school manager, visited the village
school and tested the Intelligence of
the class by the question: “Now,
boys, can any of you tell me what
naethlng is?”
After a moment’s silence a small
boy in a back seat rose and replied:
“It’s what ye gied me the other day
for holding yer horse.”—Judge.
Contentment First Requisite.
Alas, If the principles of contentment
are not within us. The height of sta
tion and wordly grandeur will as soon
add a cubit to a man’s stature ns to his
happiness.—Sterne.
Some men use their minds as store
house and some others use theirs as
junkshops.
^giiunl
