I J1
Ih
eum
ndth
a
0
Y
Bannister
ILLUSTRATJOm DY
mi
RAY WALttte
CHAPTER IV.
1 The Girl of the Car.
"Ob," ahe said, with a little gasp of
recognition, "are you Mr. Orme?" Her
cheeks flushed softly.
He bowed; his heart was beating
furiouBly, and for the moment he
dared not try to speak.
"Then we do meet again," she ex
claimed, "and as usual I need your
help. Isn't it Queer?"
"Any service that I " Orme began
haltingly " of oourse, anything that I
can do "
The girl laughed, a merry ripple of
eound; then caught herself and
changed her manner to grave earnest
ness. "It 1b very Important," she said.
"I am looking for a five-dollar bill
that was paid to you today."
j Orme started. "What? You, too?"
' "I, too? Has has anybody else ?"
Her gravity was more Intense.
"Why, yes," said Orme "a little
man from South America."
"Oh Mr. Poritol?" Her brows were
knit in an adorable frown.
"Yes and two Japanese."
"Oh!" Her exclamation was appre
hensive. "The Japanese got it," added Orme,
ruefully. That she had the right to
this information it never occurred to
him to question.
The girl stood rigidly. "Whatever
shall I do now?" she whispered. "My
poor father!"
She looked helplessly at Orme. His
self-possession had returned, and as
he urged her to. a chair, he con
demned himself for not guessing how
serious the loss of the bill must be to
her. "Sit down," he said. "Perhaps I
can help. But you see, I know so lit
tle of what It all means. Tell me
everything you can."
With a sigh, she sank into the chair.
Orme stood before her, waiting.
"That bill tells, if I am not mis
taken," she said, wearily, "where cer
tain papers have been hidden. My fa
ther is ill at our place in the country.
He must have those papers before
midnight - tomorrow, or" Tears
came into her eyes. Orme would
have given much for the right to com
fort her. "So much depends upon
finding them," she added "more even
than I can begin to tell you."
"Let me help," said Orme, eager to
follow those papers all over Chtcago,
If only it would serve her. "Hear my
story first" Rapidly he recounted the
adventures of the evening. She lis
tened, eyes Intent, nodding In recog
nition of his description of Poritol and
Alcatrante. When he came to the
account of the fight in the porter's of
fice and spoke of the Japanese with
the scar on his forehead, she inter
rupted. "Oh! That was Maku," she ex
claimed, i "Maku?"
"Our butler. He must have over
heard my father and me."
"Then he knew the value of the pa
pers?"
"He must have. I am sorry, Mr.
Orme, that you have been so roughly
used."
"That doesn't matter," he said.
"They didn't hurt me in the least
And now, what is your story? How
did you get on the trail of the bill?"
"We came back from the east a few
cays ago," she began. '"My father had
to undergo a slight operation, and he
wished to have it performed by his
friend. Dr. Allison, who lives here, so
we went to our home In one of the
northern suburbs.
"Father could not go back east as
soon as he had expected to, and he
had the papers sent to hlra, by spe
cial arrangement with the with the
other parties to the contract Mr.
Poritol followed us from the east. I
we had known him there. He was al
ways amusing company; we never
took him seriously. He had business
here, he said; but on the first day of
his arrival he came out to call on us.
The next night our house was entered
by a burglar. Besides the papers, only
a few things were taken."
, "Poritol?" exclaimed Orme, incredu
lously.
"It happened that a Chicago detect
ive bad been in our village on busi
ness durinc the day." sbo went "He
Had recognized on the streets a well
known thief, named WalBh. When we
reported the burglary the detective
remembered seeing Walsh, and
hunted him out and arrested him. In
his pockets was some Jewelry belong
ing to me, and In his room the other
stolen articles were found everything
except the papers."
"Did you tell the police about the
papers?"
"No, It seemed wiser not to. They
were in a sealed envelope with with
my father's name on it, and would
uraly have been returned, If found
'with the other things. There are rea
lawns why they would have would try
fte pleas my father. We did not let
then know that aa.eavalene eonlaia
Aw f
lug something of value had not beeh
I recovered, and told them to make a
thorough search.
I ! "The afternoon after the burglary
i the news of Walsh's arrest was tele
phoned out to us from Chicago. I
talked with my father, who was not
well enough to leave the house, and
It seemed best that some one should
go to the county jail and see Walsh
I and try to get the papers. My father
had reasons for not wishing the loss
to become known. Only he and
I were acquainted with the contents of
the envelope; so I Insisted on going
to Chicago and interviewing the
burglar."
; She laughed, Intercepting Orme's
admiring look. "Oh, it was easy
enough. I planned to take our law
yer as an escort"
"Did you?"
"No, and that Is where my troubles
really began. Just as I was preparing
to go, Mr. Poritol called. I hnd for
gotten that we had asked him out for
an afternoon of golf. He is such a
funny player.
"As soon as I told him I was going
to the Chicago Jail to interview a
burglar about some stolen goods, he
insisted on acting as escort. He was
so amusingly persistent that I finally
agreed. We set out for the city in my
car, not waiting to take a train.
"When we reached the jail I pre
sented a letter which my father had
written, and the officials agreed to let
me have a private interview with
Walsh."
, Orme opened his eyes. The glrl'B
father must have considerable Influ
ence. "It Is a horrid place, the Jail. They
took us through a corridor to Walsh's
cell, and called him to the grating. I
made Mr. Poritol stand back at the
other side of the corridor so that be
couldn't hear us talk.
"I asked the man what he had done
with the papers. He insisted that he
had seen none. Then I promised to
have him freed, if he would only re
turn them. He looked meditatively
over my shoulders and after a mo
ment declined the offer, again insist
ing that he didn't understand what I
was talking about. 'I took the other
things, miss,' he said, 'and I suppose
I'll get time for it. But so help me, I
didn't see no papers.'"
The girl paused and looked at
Orme. "This seems like wasting min
utes when we might be searching."
Orme was pleased to hear the "we,
"Well," she went on, "I knew that
the man was not telling the truth. He
was too hesitant to be convincing. So
I began to promise him money. At
every offer he looked past my shoul
der and then repeated his denials.
The last time he raised his eyes I had
an Intuition that something was going
on behind me. I turned quickly
There stood Mr. Poritol, extending his
fingers in the air and forming bis
moutn silently into words, lie was
raising my bids!
"It flashed upon me that the papers
would be of immense value to Mr
Poritol for certain reasons. If only
D n
"I, Too? Has Anybody Else?"
I naa thought or It before! i spone
to him sharply and told blm to go out
side. It always seemed natural to
order him about like a little dog."
"However, little dogs have the
sharpest teeth," remarked orme,
"That Is true. He replied that he
eouldn't think of leaving me alone
In such a place. So there was noth
ing for me to do except to go. I would
have to return later without Mr,
Poritol. 'Come along,' I said. 'My er
rand Is done.'
"Mr. Poritol smiled at me In a way
I didn't like. The burglar, meantime,
had gone to a little table at the back
of his cell. There was an Ink bottle
there and he seemed to be writing.
Looking Into the cell, Mr. Poritol
aid: The poor fellow has very un
leasaat tuartera.' Then he said U
Walsh: van i we ao sonieminj, iv ,
make your enforced stay hero more
comfortable, my duar sir?'"
Orme smiled at the unconscious
mimicry of her accent.
"Walsh came back to the grating.
He held in his hand a five dollar bill
thfi on that hits made so much
trouble. It bad been smuggled In to
him in some way. 'You might get
me some "baccy," he said, thrusting
tbe bill through the bars and grinning.
"Now I understood what was going
on. I reached for the bill, as though
it were Intended for me. but Mr. Po
ritol was quicker. He snatched the
bill and put It In his pocket
"I didn't know what to do. But
suddenly Mr. Poritol seemed to be
frightened. Perhaps he thought that I
would have him arrested, though he
might have known that there were
reasons why I couldn't He gave me
a panicky look and rushed out of the
corridor. Afterward I learned that
be told the guard I had sent blm on
an errand.
"Well" she sighed "of course, I
followed, after a last glance at Walsh,
who was peering through the grating
with a look of evil amusement He
must have been well paid, that
burglar. But then," she mused, "they
could afford It yes, they could well
afford it
"When I got to the street, Poritol
was just disappearing In my car! I
can only think that he had lost his
head very completely, for he didn't
need to take the car. He could have
mixed with the street crowd and gone
a foot to the hotel where "
"Alcatrante?"
"Yes, Mr. Alcatrante where he was
stopping, and have waited there. But
Mr. Alcatrante was playing golf at
Wheaton. and Mr. Poritol seems to
have thought that he must go straight
to him. He cannot escape from being
spectacular, you see.
"He ran out through the western
suburbs, putting on more and more
speed. Meantime I set a detective on
tbe track of the car. That Is how I
learned what I am now telling you.
As for the car, Mr. Poritol sent it back
to me this morning with a hired chauf
feur. He wrote a note of abject apol
ogy, saying that he had been beside
himself and had not realized what he
was doing.
"After setting the detective at
work, I went out to our place by train.
I dreaded confessing my failure to fa
ther, but he took it very well. We
had dinner together In his study.
Maku was In the room wfclle we were
talking. Now I can see why Maku
disappeared after dinner and did not
return."
"But how did Poritol lose the bill?"
asked Orme.
The girl laughed. "It was really
ridiculous. He over-speeded and was
caught by one of those roadside motor
car traps, 10 or 12 miles out In the
country. They timed him, and stopped
him by a bar across the road. Prom
what the detective says, I Judge he
was frightened almost to speechless
ness. He may have thought that he
was being arrested for stealing the
car. When they dragged him before
the country justice, who was sitting
under a tree near by, he was white
and trembling.
"They fined him $10. He hnd In his
pocket only $11.63, and the marked
bill was nearly half tbe sum. He
begged them to let him go offered
them his watch, his ring, his scarf
pin but the Justice Insisted on cash
'lnen be tola them thnt the bill had a
formula on It that was valuable to
him and no one else.
"The Justice was obdurate, and Mr,
Poritol Anally hit on the device which
you have seen. It fitted In well with
his sense of the theatrical; and the
detective says that there was not a
scrap of paper at hand. The point
was that Mr. Poritol was more afraid
of delay than anything else. He knew
that I would put some one on his
track."
"When did all this happen?" asked
Orme.
"Yesterday afternoon. Mr. Poritol
came back to Chicago by trolley and
got some money. He went back to
the country justice and discovered that
the marked bill had been paid out
He has followed It throueh several
persons to you, just as Maku did,
and as I have done. But I heard
nothing of the Japanese."
"You shouldn't have attempted this
alone," said Orme, solicitously.
She smiled faintly. "I dared not let
anyone Into the secret I was afraid
that a detective might learn too
much." She sighed wearily. "I have
been on the trail since morning."
"And how did you finally get my ad
dress?"
"The man who paid the bill In at
the hat shop lives In Hyde Park. I
did not get to blm until tills evening,
while he was at dinner. He directed
me to the hat thop, which, of course.
was closed. I found the address of
the owner of the shop In the directory
and went to his house. He remenv
bered the bill, and gave me the nd
dresses of his two clerks. The second
clerk I saw proved to be the one who
had paid the bill to you. Luckily he
remembered your address.
Orme stirred himself. "Then the
Japanese have the directions for find
lng the papers."
"My predicament," Bald the girl, "Is
complicated by the question whether
the bill docs actually carry definite
directions.
"It carries eomethlng a set of ab
brevlatlons," said Orme. "But I could
not make them out Let us hope that
the Japanese can't Tbe best course
for us to take Is to go at once to see
Walsh, the burglar."
He assumed that she would accept
his aid.
"That Is good of you," she said
"But It seems a little hopeless, doesn't
itr
"Why? What else ean we do?
uonose you taw to tt that ne
c:?e snouid nave access to Walsh."
"Ys, father arranged that by tele
'c e The man Is In solitary, cm
" . rt - V! ral persons trie:' f - -
-' v on tbe p'ei of !'"-
f.ithc tl.at he cou'.d thus reflate
the treatment of prisoners?
"to there were abbreviations oa
the biii?" she asked.
"YiS. Tin y weren't very elaborate,
anu 1 ruzzied over them for some
time. The curious fact Is that, for
all mv Btudr nf thpm I rn-t romem-
, ... v..v, w.f.. .
ber much of anything about them.
What I have since been through, ap
parently, has driven the letters out of
my head."
"Oh, do try to remember," she Im
plored. "Even If you recall only one
or two bits of It they may help me."
"There was something about a man
named Evans," be began. "3. R.
Evans, It was."
"Evans? That Is strange. I can't
think how any one of that name could
be Involved."
"Then S. It Evans Is not your fa
ther?" he ventured.
"Oh, no." She laughed a light little
laugh. "My father Is but are you
sure that the name was Evans?"
Quite sure. Then there was the
abbreviation 'Chi.' which I took to
mean 'Chicago.'"
"Yes?" she breathed.
"And there were numerals a num
ber, then the letter 'N.;' another num
ber, followed by the letter 'E..' So
far north, so far east, I read It
thongh I couldn't make out whether
the numbers stood for feet or paces
or miles."
"Yes, yes," she whispered. Her
eyes were Intent on his. They seemed
to will him to remember. "What else
was there?"
"Odd letters, which meant nothing
to me. It's annoying, but I simply
can't recall them. Believe me, I
should like to."
"Perhaps you will a little later,"
she said. "I'm sorry to be such a
bother to you."
"Bother!"
"But It does mean so much, the
tracing of this bill."
"Shall we go to see Walsh?" he
asked.
"I suppose so." She sighed. Ap
parently she was discouraged. "But
tven If "he gives the Information, it
may be too late. The Japanese have
the directions."
But perhaps they will not be able
to make them out," he suggested.
She smiled. "You don't know the
Japanese," she said. "They are
abominably clever at such things. I
will venture that they are already
on their way to the hiding-place.
"But even If the papers are In the
pocket of one of them, it may be pos
slble to steal them back."
"Hardly." She arose. "I fear that
the one chance is the mere possibil
ity that Maku couldn't read the dlrec
tlons. Then, If Walsh will speak
out"
"Now, let me say something," he
said. "My name is Robert Orme.
Apparently we have common friends
in the Walllnghama. When I first
saw you this afternoon, I felt that 1
might have a right to your acquaint
ance a social right, If you like; a
sympathetic right, 1 trust."
He held out his hand. She took It
frankly, and the friendly pressure of
her fine, firm palm sent the blood
tingling through him,
"I am sorry," she said, "that I can't
give you my name. It would be un
fair Just now unfair to others; for
If you knew who I am, It might give
you a clue to the secret I guard."
"Some day, I hope, I may know,'
he said gravely. "But your present
wish Is my law. It is good of you to
let me try to help you,
At the same Instant they became
conscious that their hands were still
clasped. Tbe girl blushed, and gently
drew hers away,
"I shall call you Girl," Orme added
"A name I like," she said. "My fa
ther uses It. Oh, if I only knew what
that burglar wrote on the bill!"
Orme started. What a fool he had
been! Here he was, trying to help
the girl, forcing her to the long, tired
recital or her story, when all the
time ho held her secret In the table
in his sitting-room. Tor there was
still the paper on which he had copied
the abbreviated directions.
"Walt here," he said sharply, and
without answering the look of sur
prise on her face, hurried from the
room and to tho elevator. A few
moments later he was back, the sheet
of paper In his band.
"I can't forgive my own stupidity,"
he said. "While I was puzzling over
the bill this evening I copied the
secret on a sheet of paper. When
Poritol came I put It away In a drawer
nnd forgot all about It But here It
Is." He laid the paper on the little,
useless onyx table that stood besldo
her chair.
She snatched It quickly and began
to examine It closely.
"Perhaps you can Imagine how
those letters puzzled mc," he volun
teered. "Hush!" she exclaimed; and then:
"Oh, this is plain. You wouldn't
know, of course, but I see it clearly.
There Is no time to loso."
"You are going to follow this clue
now tonight?"
"Maku will read It on the bill, and
oh, these Japanese! If you have
one In your kitchen, you novor know
whether he's a JlnrlkBha man, a col
lege student, or a vlce-sdmiral."
"You will let me go with you?"
Orme was trembling for the answer.
He was still In the dark, and did not
know how far she would feel that
she could accept his aid.
"I may need you, Mr. Orme," she
said simply.
It pleased htm that she brought up
ao Question of Boaalble Inconvenience
to him. With her, he realized. oc!y
direct relntlons were possible.
"How much of a journey Is it?" he
ventured to ask.
"Not very long. I Intend to be
mysterious about it." She smiled
brightly. Her face had lighted up
wonderfully since he gave her the
paper that contained the secret of
the bill.
But he knew that she must be
tired; so he said: "Can't you send me
. ... . ,. ...
"'"e ,n uu
Defor tl l dUe. n-
"And I will not sit and rest while
you do all the work. Besides, I can
not forego the excitement of the
chase."
He was selfishly glad in her answer.
'Do we walk?" he asked.
"We will go in the motor," she
said.
"Where Is Itr
"I left It around the corner. The
thought came to me that Mr. Poritol
might be here, and. I didn't wish him
to recognize It"
Orme thought of the hard quest
the girl had followed that day bat
tling for her father's Interests. What
kind of a man could that father be
to let his daughter thus go Into diffi
culties alone? But she bad said that
her father was unable to leave the
house. Probably he did not know how
serious the adventure might be. Or
Putting on Mora and More Speed
was the loss of the papers so desper
ate that even a daughter must run
risks?
Together they went out to the
street Orme caught a dubious glance
from the clerk, as they passed
through the lobby, and he resented
It Surely anyone could see
' The girl led the way around the
corner Into a side street There stood
the car. He helped her In and with
out a word saw that Bhe was restfully
and comfortably placed In the seat
next to the chauffeur's. She did not
resist the implication of his mastery.
He cranked up, leaped to the seat
beside her, and took the levers,
"Which way, Girl?" he asked.
"North," she answered.
Tbe big car swung out In the Lake
Shore Drive and turned In tbe direc
tion of Lincoln park.
To be contir.ued.
FIVE PERISH IN
GAS EXPLOSION
Flamss Destroy Store Building
at Connel!sville, Pa,
TWELVE PERSONS ARE INJURED
Young Woman Maddened by Pain
Bites Finger of Attempted Reicuet
and is Left to Die Two Bod'ei
Burned Beyond Recognition.
Connellsvllle, Pa., Jan. 13. Flvt
d?ad and twelve injured is tbe toll ol
an explosion which wrecked a 5 and
10-eent store here. Fire destroyed tin
building and damaged nlno othoi
structures. A score of shopgirls and a
number of customers had narrow pb
capes. Tho explosion blew out V
front wnll of tho building, tearinif
down telephone, telegraph and flee
trie light wires, which hung about
sputtering aB tbey crackled fire, ham
poring rescue work. Several custom
erg and clerks were burled In the col
lapse of the building, and those thul
got out reported thrilling experiences
One young woman, whose body wai
later found burned, went mnd In tin
store after the crash and bit the hand
of a man who tried to rescue her. A
man and a woman wore taken from
the ruins so much burned thnt the)
have not been Identified.
The dead: Mabel Wagner, Chrlsto
bel Smith, Minnie Mulac, unidentified
woman, negro porter.
Workmen who had removed a nat
ural gas meter had failed to cap th
supply and Just as a porter was In
structod to plug the plpo by the ston
manager, the explosion came.
Few Claims on Wild Animal Bounty.
Oskaloosa, In., Jan. 11 Mahaska
county paid out In bounties for wild
nlmals, mostly gophers, during 1910
the sum of $267.30. This is less than
halt the cost In 1909, which amounted
to 1541.60.
SAYS FACTIONAL
FEUDSJHURT IOWA
Carroll Blames Bitter Piliticz!
Fights tor Loss In Population
BYERS WILL STAY IN RACE.
Former Attorney General of Iowa Says
He Is Still a Candidate for Senator
ship Accepts Office of Corporation
Counsel of Des Moines.
Des Moines, Jan. 13. Governor Car
roll in his inaugural address to the
Iowa assembly made a plea for the
cessation of political and factional
fouds In Iowa, declaring they had had
an unwholesome effect on the state.
"While these things may not have
driven anyone from among us," Bald
tho governor, "I do not apprehend
that they have In any way encouraged
people to locate here. There la evi
dence on every hand, and from almost
every county that these bitter fac
tional alignments have had their Influ
ence on business conditions of the
various communities. Nothing better
could come to our state than thai
there should be an end to these mat
ters. Give the business of the state
precedence over the ambitions of men
nnd let the people join in a united ef
fort to promote the material welfare
of the commonwealth."
Governor Carroll indorsed the sug
gestion of President Taft that low,
halt in Its efforts to legislate long
enough to secure compliance with the
laws already enacted, bo that it
might be known Just what additional
legislation was needed. The govern
or's address dealt principally with,
the g-owth and development of the
etnto nnd questions relating to the do
ings and actions of the people as a
whole.
Carroll Takes Oath Again.
Governor Carroll and lieutenant
Governor Clarke were sworn In for
their second terms by Chief Justice
Sherwln In tho Joint assembly before
large number of visitors. There
was a musical program.
There was a brief address by Sena
tor Lafe Young, who spoke of the ne
cessity for education among the peo
ple and especially along agricultural
lines.
Lieutenant Governor Clarke spoke
briefly to the senate before announc
ing his committees and declared that
the legislature was no place for par
tisanship and only tho good of the
state should be considered.
At the afternoon session of tho Ben-
ate several bills wore Introduced, one
to abollnh the office of state printer
and binder and another to add a fifth
Judge of tho district court in Polk
county.
At the close of the first lively debate
of tho present session tho house In
dorsed New Orleans as tho location of
tho 1915 Pannma exposition over San
Francisco. A second attempt by the
Democrats to take the naming of the
"noiiRO committees from the sneaker
was laid on the table.
Byers Will Stay In Race.
Former Attorney General II. W. By
ers of Harlan accepted the office of
corporation counsel, to which he was
chosen by the Des Moines council
some days ago. He Issued a statement
thct he Is not out of the race for
United States senator and requests,
the votes of all legislators who axe
favorablo to his candidacy.
PROBLEM OF RURAL CHU'CH
Too Mush Prosperity, Minister 8ays,
It Matter With Iowa.
Ames, la., Jan. 13. The problem of
the rural church was under discussion
at the evening meeting of the short
courso. "People are not made more
respectable by retiring from the farm,"
said Itev. Richmond A. Smith of Jor
dan's Grove Baptist church at Central'
City. "It would be better for them,
end better for the community If they
would retire on the farm and spend
their money there instead of In town.
Iowa's rural population has decreased
hecnuse of too much prosperity. Pros
perity has caused many former Iowan
to become permanent members of the
Iowa picnic nt Lob Angeles."
Falls From High Bridge.
Montlcello, la., Jan. 13. Mai Magee
of this place was possibly futally hurt
when a blind horse ho was driving to
a wngon loaded with wood mado a biIb
itop on a bridge and plunged, with
the rig, to tho Ice, thirty feet below.
Magee was found unconscious some
time later and taken to a hospital,
where It Is said his condition Is crit
ical. The wagon was demolished and
the horso killed.
Urbandale Car Is Again Attacked.
Des Moines, Jan. 13. Urbnndalo
car No. 31, which was stripped of Its
furniture by Indignant citizens, was
repaired and put in service, only to
be again attacked. A crowd of coah
miners threw bricks and rocks through
the windows, but the motorman
spodeil away before serious damage
was done.
Throws Herself Before Train.
Correctlonville, la., Jan. 13. Mrs.
Frank Stamper, aged thirty years,
threw herself In front of a Northwest
ern passenger train at this place and
was instantly killed. It Is thought,
she was mentally unbalanced.