! A Lsfe For Sale
BV SYONEY HORLER
CHAPTER XXVIII
The first thing of which
Martin was conscious on
c*I»ci**«G hto eyes was a blind
ing light. This Illumination
was so Intense that he was
forced to blink.
He looked round in wonder
ment. His vision, he found,
was somewhat restricted,
owing to his being bound to
a stout wooden chair. Yet
what he was able to see
caused an irrepressible wave
of something akin to fear to
{•ass through him.
Tills room was white-tiled
from floor to ceiling, and was
lit by huge naked bulbs of
electricity, the light from
Which caused the tiles to
gleam and glisten.
What was the meaning of
all that apparatus? Racks of
test-tubes, most of them half
full: the glass bench at which
someone evidently worked;
microscope on stands, ap
parently of tremendous power;
the Bunsen burners; the white
painted box, on which was
the word "incubator”; the
numerous glass slides stained
different colors—what were
these things?
Iu a flash of intuition
Creighton realised the truth.
He was in a laboratory. In
this place such a workshop
could only he used, he felt,
for an evil purpose. At the
i cah/.ation that he had been
hi ought to this room in a
helpless condition, he had to
summon all his manhood to
prevent an unnerving fear
from possessing him.
Then, suddenly, all thought
of himself vanished. The door
of this strange room had
opened, and shuffling to
wards him came a man whose
repulsive features had been
imprinted on his memory
for weeks past
Zoab the dwarf stopped
only a foot away from the
prisoner.
‘So—o!” he said, "you
would meddle a second time!”
The speaker motioned with a
beautifully moulded hand to
wards the apparatus behind
him. “There will be no third
time,” he added; “ you came
of your own free will . . .
hut, having come, you will
serve your purpose.”
There was no malice in the
tone. Creighton was surprised
to hear Zoab speak In a well
controlled. natural voice. Yet,
notwithstanding, there was
a sinister purpose hidden be
hind the words. Of that he
felt sure.
The next moment all
thought of self had again
left him. The appearance of
the dwarf brought to his
mind the memory of one who
was as beautiful as this man
was hideous.
“You swine, where is Miss
Steers? That Is why I came
here, and I am determined to
know.”
.Swept by a tempest of rage,
straining at his bonds until
he was scarcely sane, Creigh
ton was yet able to notice the
nmazing change in the dwarf.
It was as though the man had
received a galvanic shock. Re
pulsive before, his face now
became bestial. The eyes
glowed with a mad light, and
froth showed on the thick
animal lips.
“What is Miss Steers to
you?” Zoab snarled.
It was as though Creighton
had become lightheaded. Still
twisting In the ropes that
held him so securely, he
looked straight into that un
' pleasant visage, and said:
“I don’t mind telling you.
you dog: Miss Steers is going
to be my wife.”
The declaration was greeted
by a quick hissing intake of
breath. Zoab staggered. A
grey pallor spread over his
face, the color ebbed from his^
Parrot Fever Traced
To Carnival Company
Red Win?, M*.nn. —(UP)— A re
tent epidemic of parrot fever or
psittacosis in Minnesota today
l><vd been traced to birds distri
buted at a conoevs an stand of a
carnival company.
; The state boaid made an ln
v estimation of outbreaks of the
disease In three towns and found
the slckuess directly traceable to
the carnival campany. There
wore Bine cases of the fever in
j lips and the lids closed over
his eyes, whilst a shudder
caused his short misshapen
body to quiver. He mastered
himself after a while.
“It is important that I
should know,” he said to
Creighton; “were you speak
ing the truth just now?” His
tone was painfully eager.
“Of course.”
Zoab made a gesture with
the hands, whose shapeliness
was so incongrous with the
rest of his body.
“Then it is all the more
necessary that you should
die,” he said. The tone was
once again calm and matter
of fact. “You may derive
what consolation is possible
from the knowledge that you
will be lending me assistance
in the greatest discovery of
the last hundred years,” went
; on me speaiter. remaps you
are wondering at the equip
ment in this room? I am a
bacteriologist, and this is
where I conduct my research
work. For some time now I
have been concentrating on
a new disease—something
unique, which will defy the
j rest of the medical world. So
far I have only been able to
experiment on rats, it is
| necessary for the perfection
of my discovery to inoculate
a human being. You will do
; admirably; you are strong
i and young. It will be most
interesting to watch the fight
you put up against my new
germ. Fate,” continued the
speaker, before Creighton
could make any exclamation,
“has evidently destined you to
play this important part.
That night in Juhl’s house,
when I came to your room, I
remarked what a promising
subject for bacteriological in
vestigation you would make. ’
“You can’t frighten me, you
swine!” declared Creighton.
Tlie truth was, however, he
was very frightened; he was
sick with terror, not so much
through actual fear for him
self, but because he had solved
the secret of this man.
The dwarf was in love with
Margery Steers himself!
“I’ll have you removed
now,” he heard Zoab say; “it
is necesary for me to make
certain preparations.”
He pressed a bell in the
wall, and two men quickly
appeared. The dwarf said
something to them in a low
tone, and Creighton was
picked up. chair and all, and
carried from the laboratory.
‘•You, who are so beautiful
—have you never loved?”
Margery Steers wondered
at the tone in Zoab’s voice.
He had come to her a few
minutes before in a state of
great agitation. She had never
seen him like this, and at
I first a wild hope surged up in
I her heart: Was help from the
' outside world near at hand?
Were Zoab and the men who
| employed him beginning to
( be afraid? And were they, in
i consequence, thinking of
abandoning their dreadful
plans?
Quickly this hope died. It
was something connected with
herself that had caused the
, dwarf so much uneasiness.
This she realized before he
had put to her that puzzling
question.
‘T have always been too
busy in my life to think of
love.” she replied. Forced to
evade this difficult query,
her mind as she said the words
brought back a memory of a
certain man who hourly she
prayed might come to her
rescue. It seemed a vain and
preposterous wish, but she
had not entirely given up all
hope.
Zoab came nearer, making
her that queer obeisance with
' love birds and canaries distributed
in three Minnesota towns.
Parrot fever is classed as a
highly infectious disease of par
lots and love birds.
THE TAISLES TURNED
Kalamazoo, Mich. — Most people
get Into trouble because they go
hunting without a license, but it
was quite different in the case of
J. C. Moerman. Moerman was fined
$10 and costs for trying to take out
I a license before he had taken out
i his firs* naturalization papers. He
was put on probation for one year
| by Justice Peter Koerts, and or
i which she was now so fa:.:!
i liar.
i A great deal of the forma
agitation had left him. Prob
ably he was aware that she
had merely parried his direct
question, but, nevertheless,
he seemed confident.
“It will not be much longer
now, queen of my heart,” he
said, “before we fly away in
that giant aeroplane waiting
in the courtyard. Then you,
who, on your own confession,
have not known love before,
shall learn to understand a
man’s devotion.” Te broke ofl
suddenly to ask another
question. “That young man
who was with you in Juhl's
house—did he never say he
loved you?”
Margery paled. The deep
sunk eyes of the dwarf were
blazing. He was looking at her
with such intensity that she
knew there must be some deep
purpose behind his remark
“Why do you ask that?”
she demanded. Then the con
trol which she had exercised
so long snapped. Could it be
that her prayer had been
answered? Had Martin Creigh
ton traced her? Was he in
: the castle?
“Is he here? sne stepped
forward and caught the
dwarf’s arm. “Tell me! Tell
me!” she went on imploring
ly- .
Zoab released her hand witn
a gentle movement of his
own.
“This young man Creighton
has just told me that you
have promised to be his wife,”
he said. "Whether you love
him or not, princess, you must
resign yourself to his death.
He is as necessary to me in
one respect as you are neces
sary to me in another.”
He turned quickly, evaded
the rush which she made at
him, and before Margery’s
I numbed brain could fully take
in the significance of his
words, he had closed the door
behind him. She heard the
grating of the key in the lock,
and then everything swam
before her eyes.
CHAPTER XXIX
Juhl, looking through the
window, saw a closed car
draw up to the front door. A
tall man, whose face was ob
scured by turned-up overcoat
and heavy slouch hat, stepp^j
on to the pavement. The
watcher awaited his visitor in
some trepidation.
If he had thought that The
King would be less secretive
than usual, he was mistaken,
i for when the servant opened
| the door it was to usher in a
| man whose features were en
tirely hidden by a black silk
mask.
The caller was in ms custo
mary mood of peremptory
command.
“I have little time to spare.”
he said, “so please give me
j your closest attention.”
Juhl inclined his head sub
missively. He was only too
eager to regain the unknown’s
l goodwill, for without this,
shrewd and capable as he was,
i he realized he was powerless.
“Anything you have to say
! shall receive my closest at
, tention,” he promised.
There were glasses and
whisky-and-soda on a tray
near at hand, but the caller
waived the proffered refresh
ment aside.
“I do not drink,” he said
curtly. “Now listen, please.”
Oscar Juhl put down the
cigar he had been about to
light.
“I have found Zoab,” started
The King. “He is staying at
present at Wildwood Castle,
on the Kentish coast, not far
from Hythe. He is working
under the orders of Schriner,
the Jew millionaire financier.
Schriner is hoping to corner
the money market through the
dwarf’s new disease, but we
shall step in before that hap
pens.
“We must get Zoab back.
For one thing, he must be
punished for his treachery,
and for another, he is very
valuable. My information is
that Shriner has twenty men
guarding him at Wildwood
Castle; I am placing thirty
dered to take immediate steps to
apply for first naturalization pa
pers.
Rockies Still Young,
Geologist Reveals
Butte. Mont. —(UP)— The Rocky
Mountains are mere youngsters in
age when compared to other por
tions of the earth’s surface, a geo
logical survey of northwestern
Montana by Dr. C. H. Clapp
President of the University of
Montana, has revealed.
The Rockies were formed dur
under your orders. You %re to
take these men to Wiiiwood
to-ir.crrow night and effect
an entry into the castle. This
should not be difficult, be
cause one of my own men Is
being employed by Schriner,
naturally, the Jew does not
know this. This man will meet,
you at midnight at the main
entrance of the castle and
place himself under your In
structions.”
“What shall we do with
Uie men?” inquired Juhl.
“Leave them in the dun
geons. If Schriner is there,
! bring him away—we may in
duce him to pay handsomely
to keep this new venture 01
his quiet—but what you must
1 not fail to do is to bring Zoab.
There is also the girl Steers
at Wildwood. The dwarf tool:
her to console him in his
exile.”
During the ensuing quarter
of an hour, Juhl asked what
questions seemed necessary.
He received short, but satis
factory, replies.
Bunny Chipstead was used
to desperate situations. When,
standing in that dismantled
cellar of The Mount, he was
commanded to throw up his
hands, he started to do so
unhesitatingly. But when his
right arm was half raised he
switched off his electric torch
and swerved to one side.
His assailant was using no
light himself, and owing to
Bunny’s maneuver the cellar
now became enveloped in
stygian darkness.
A shot rang out, filling the
place with reverberating
noise; but before the man
could fire again, Chipstead.
gauging the distance with a
sort of extra sense, dived at
the other’s legs, got a firm
grip, and sent him crashing
to the stone floor.
The man fought with the
desperation of a wild beast,
but with the tables so un
expectedly turned, he was
alv/ays waging a losing battle.
Among the Secret Service
free-lance’s accomplishments
in a lougii-aiia-reauy mein'
of this description was a
knowledge of ju-jitsu. A
pressure of a finger and a
thumb on a certain portion
of the neck. . . .
Five minutes after Chip
stead had been so rudely dis
turbed his interrupter was a
helpless prisoner. His hands
and feet were tied. Bunny's
white evening scarf served
admirably to fetter the man's
ankles, whilst an ordinary
silk handkerchief was sif
ficient to bind his wrists.
“Didn’t The King tell you
I was already here, you fool?'’
Chipstead decided on strategy.
He was partly successful,
for at the mention of the
master he served with such
fear the other trembled.
“He said nothing of the
sort. Who are you?” he stam
mered.
“My name’s Clay Sherman.”
quickly replied Chipstead. “I
came over from New York ten
days ago to join up with The
King. I’m in on this business
—that's why I’m here to
night.”
The other stared.
“The King said nothing to
me about you,” he replied,
suspicion reasserting itself in
his face; “my strict Instruc
tions were to lay a fuse out
side this cellar and blow the
whole place up. My God!” he
went on, “if you’re trying to
double-cross The King!” The
man shivered.
Chipstead had learned
what he wanted. Evidently
' The King wished this place
: to be destroyed. Perhaps, after
all, there was some incrimin
ating evidence concealed in
The Mount. Or, Derhaps again,
this man was lying.
This last question was
answered in a startling fash
I Ion.
i.Tlia fiiocl nh rr\w Onri I
The fuse. I'd forgotten it. Let
me go!”
Bunny stiffened to atten
tion.
‘ What do you mean—‘the
fuse’?” he asked.
(TO BE CONTINUED!
Tng the late Mesozoic Age, when
i nfe hod advanced to the reptilian
stage, and giant dinosaurs were
beginning to hold fantastic sway
over the region. Dr. Clapp said.
q. What per cent of the p:op!e
! in the United States in Washing
ton’s time were of English descent?
H. G.
A. Hart's Formation of the Un
ion sajs that in 1789 of the 3,170 000
: white inhabitants of the United
i states probably the ancestors of
! eight-tenths were English. There
also were absut 750,9Q0_Negrofs. _
! World Must Face the Cold Facts j
By M. E Trary in New Inrk World Telegram. I
V___/
Fear still grips the civilized world. It is reflected in
the reluctance to curtail armaments, the general cry for
relief at other peoples expense, the wild scramble for
safety behind tariff walls.
That explains why measures for recovery have failed.
We have sobbed over our responsibilities. Instead cf
facing them like men we have tried to make ourselves
believe that the depression wasn't real and that it could
be met with hoopla.
There has been a reicn smushiness since 1929. an
effort to disguise or deny tne realities.
The noisy ballyhoo for relief ha* served as a smoke
screen for the ruthless grind of circumstances by which
great institutions and even great governments have
found themselves forced to impoverish countless multi
tudes.
In the last analysis, we have been striving to save
systems and enterprises rather than human beings. It
was enough if we could keep the latter from starving to
death.
f ew nave naci tne narainooa ro aamic tnai some of
the systems and enterprises might be obsolescent and
dying a natural death.
Few have admitted that some of our fondest dreams
and deepest convictions might be wrong.
As a general proposition it has been taken for granted
that the existing order must be preserved. We have
clung desperately to the gold standard, but without giv
ing much thought to the obvious desirability of creating
a common currency for all nations.
We have seen the various monetary values go up and
down, and have lost billions because of it, without asking
why, much less trying to correct the evil.
We have advocated disarmament and then authorized
trade barriers to make it impossible.
We are never going to create a happy, secure world
by throwing a m n out of his home or putting him out
of work and then handing him a meal ticket.
No more arc we going to do it by agreeing to build
fewer battleships and then raiding each other’s gold
reserve.
There is a moral side to all the problems we face
and it demands more than specific gestures of good will.
You can't have genuine co-op ration unless you are
willing to go down the line, or make people believe you
honestly have their interest at heart unless you are
ready to meet them half way in all difficulties.
Henry Ford has said that ten or a dozen rules would
solve most of our problems if generally obeyed. Moses
not only said the same thing but furnished a few of the
rules.
We are pleased to be technical rather than straight,
which counts for nine-tenths of our trouble.
We have medical ethics, legal ethics, diplomatic
ethics, and so on, when there is only one genuine article.
We have an elaborate ritual for convicting men of per
jury, when lying is just lying. In other words, we have a
code—whether as applied to governments or hoboes—so
full of holes that people can live up to it without being
square.
i Your
Children
By Olive Roberts Barton
<Qioy- ev Nf.A sr-woice inc
A couple cf months ago I read
en article by J. B. S. Haldane,
the British biologist, called “In
Defense of Luxury,” in which he
undertook to prove that all cell
life ,in including the human body,
thrives and perfects itself under
favorable surroundings. And he
did prove it to a certain extent.
There is much to be said for “lux
ury” in the large sense, that is to
soy, luxury meaning necessities
and ccrtforts.
Of course he did not go into the
other side of it—the effects of lux
ury on the character and disposi
tion. But had I been writing the
articla I should probably have add
ed that comfort and freedom from
worry are essential to the devel
opment of the soul and mind as
veil as the body. I am not one
who holds to the old worn-out
theory that mortification of the
body brings out the best in us.
Nothing mak».s me more w'eary
than that trite old chestnut that
trouble is always good for char
acter.
But—
I have been reminiscing over old
days—looking back on this and
that boy I knew at school or who
lived near us, tracing as best I
could the -ives of those who have
been successful. Many of these
men have had time to prove what
i they were made of.
i I'overiy 10 Kicues
What do I *e? That little boy
who at forty was a millionaire,
and still a young nlan became am
bassador and sr.nator; he. came to
school with his shoes patched and
studied %oy a lamp in a little house
that not only had no pretense to
luxury, but at times could barely
afford necessities.
Another chap with curly halt
and shabby clothes who lived In a
little back strcr.t is a judse. And
he w*U go further, for his career is
really just begun.
Still another boy who had to
walk miles to school, whose moth
er was a widow—he too was shab
by. Now he heads one of the big
gest corporations in the count: y.
One of his friends, also a son of a
widowed mother, has become a
theologian and author. This year
both names were put into “Who’s
Wiio In America.” All those oth
ers are in. And if there were room.
I could name at lcist a dozen boys
Mother Explains
Boardman-Vidor Divorce
Woodbury. N. J. —(UP)— The
wreck of the marriage of Eleanor
Boardman, film actress, and King
Vidor, movie director, is not all
Miss Eoardman’s fault.
This was the explanation given
oy the actress’ mother, Mrs.
George W. Boardman, who lives
here. , .
“I know that Eleanor and her
husband were happy." she sa’d,
■ “until two years ago when the
j marital trouble appeared.
I and girls I knew then who are in
; that book. Mostly children in very
‘modest” circumstances. And
I there are still many others quit's
I as important not in "Who's Who”
for after all that is not the only
\ criterion of importance.
I Luxury? I think not one of them
knew luxury in its real sense, and
many knew want.
Too Much Comfort?
True, a few of the rich or weJI
to-do children achieved success but
the palm goes to the poor.
You cannot contradict life. It
opens its book and says to us,
‘Lock! Poverty makes effort and
succeeds, where, too much luxurv
! and comfort dry up ambition.”
Facts would prove me wrong to a
certain extent were I to argue too
strongly in defense of luxury.
Have our children had too much
during those old boom times? Ato
these reverses today a good thing
in one way for our growing-up
citizens? There are two ways of
looking at it. but I am inclined ta
think that many of our important
men and women of the future may
: b3 drawu from the ranks of those
! children whose parents wonder to
j day what they are going to eat to
morrow. and where the next pair
of shoes will come from.
-—
ANENT ‘ LIVING PHILOSOPHIES’
; The credos of those favored few
Who’ve cut a swath in life.
Have lots of meat for common
folks—
The world and eke his wife.
Here Einstein, Mencken, Nathan,
Inge.
Haldane and Jeans and Krutch,
Disclose their inmost hearts to us.
Who don’t amount to much.
i
Now one mid curves and quantums
moves,
And one with caustic wit.
Takes life and tears it iimb from
limb.
To make a mock of it.
Another values pleasure most
And lives but for today,
Ar.tl one still keeps his faith in God
And points the upward way.
So if your credo's fluid still.
Jti3l set it on to cook;
No doubt it will be crystalized.
Bv reading of this book.
—Sam Page.
Ring Nearly Cost*
Owner a Finger
Porterville, Cal. — (UPi — A. T.
Henderson’s big signet ring, of
which he was very proud, nearly
cost him a finger here recently.
The ling caught in the door of
his truck; he slipped; the ring
held him sust.raded until it
scraped aJl the skin from the fin
ger and broke the bone.
However, the fact that King Vid
or's first wife left him proves that
! the present situation is not alto
! gccher Eleanor’s fault.”
"
AFRICA DEVELOPS
Cape Tovn — The Beit Trust
has set aside come $200,000 for de
velopment of aviation in Africa
About $50,000 of this amount is
earmarked for work in Rhodesia
along the Sairo-Cape Town section
of the Imperial Airways. Four new
emergency landing fields are to be
eweeted aiong the more remote sec
tions of the route