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The Protector of Finance .
Tiles of Resilius Marvel, Guardian of Bank Treasure j-r
Pv WELDON J. COBB
THE INVALID LOAN
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_ Copyright. W. G. Chapman
I AW \ ! I-I* the opening <4 a door ia I
It,- -» JUrnii private office
j with a g'»d deal of Interest. Upon
' hinged something itn
and I knew It. Here was a
p where small things counted—a
r*-ia, a strange man Its mas
ter; only the unusual hapjeued here. |
fv-r*.that, treyoud the door of this,
the ! • .•hotart.-rs office of the United
Ba'.».r-' l*r> '* tive association, there
m»re strange - They were un
pe ::.g and then deterrent; a shrill j
ea- «. e re eerie than human, as of
■ocne hunted animal in mortal terror— j
a v-if.-r- calling -..-tressfulljr into the i
t • *s stormy :. ght. like that of a vic
tim 'rum the outer wrorld being resist- j
ia* dragged nr the threshold of a
ee« and uncertain one.
To the inner circle of financial men j
given to good comradeship in exclu- j
*ive club circl** the mention of the
came of Reslltiw Marvel would bring i
a tend-r glow to heart and brain. It
would suggest a quaint tale told so
even:* and entraneingly that the mem
ory of the tranquil, musical tones
would 1* Uke the echo of golden heads
t topped into a crystal dish. In one
. jud *t rped in the Ichors of Thalia,
f Calliope of Euterpe, of Erato, in
•h* next following some sloping tancy
down a fairy trail of thought sweet j
and refreshing as a field of daisies
one of the Marvel reminiscent hours ]
would mean a transformation of lazy
ria.ng rings of rich Havana smoke Into j
filmy lace pictures formed of cobwebs
and star*bin* ;i:s sayings were chaste
a* a Tiffany gem. his mind a palace,
mak :ng men forget for the nonce that
he held the destinies of the great
banks as an egg shell in the palm of a
giant. lulling them with this necro
mancy of tone and professional expert
aes» into it-- security of a Vision
hoes*
1 asc fj. Ken t-;nce I eniereu me
now for I saw *hat Keailius Marvel
tu :c o:.- of his dark moods So
i»:: I'd 2 know him that I at once dis
cerned that he a as struggling with
acme gr- at rase where the dead blank
wad! of ’ No Clue" faced him grimly.
He stood at the window looking of. at
the rain-blurred lights of a glowing
thoroughfare, Just now remindful of
•OtBe woeful i'agdad Out of that
wtr 1 of si :>wa a lone b.rd b* at its
wrings against the window. Into its
Meret. receeses M.irrel seemed be ring
his way through obscure labyrinths,
seek::* that which he must lind. Fitly
framing 'be ; ;ctur« was a wail cov
er- c b du;iicates o! famous fore-d
che<i‘ jortraf* of th* great coanter
faMsrtw. cabinet sections containing
odd tr . a of his career. Here was
a starip- ! brick frem Assyria four
•h-»u* • i j -at- old—"th Hook "f the
Dead —one of 'he hieroglyphics
of tsfep-a t^d rolved -c international
Bsjster- N-xt was a rad- seal from
the 1- ki Couso. rested from the
pots- >• 1 ; s tile chief who had
flood'd th* ce r try with "phoney"
pieraasB! scrip until Resllius Mar
vel had t' - t.d him. Next was an ivory
fan from Turk earn with a sanguinary
streak that was the blood of & princ
ess a fragment from u dracinited
Americas *•*-♦* 1 pillar of Hindis that
could fc:..T- told a racy tale of a smooth
contractor And a bulging scrap book,
clasped and lock d like a back code
lodger *—swiwiwg his private j.* tSM
ai n -* - on the new generation Of bark
ertc.. i < modern In education us in
an ap;-t'« .*'• of the value ,t the
gtn er • tool, the drag." the raised
cbecg m_..ipu!:-tor. the automobile as
nasnu to crime against obsolete police
methods
Alsu}* then a a- an air of complete
stfUnsM is this truer room. At the
disturb.sg sound without He-siHus Mar
vel tuir-d d.'*r*rt. i, and th-.*efore
annoyed His eye fell upon Lo'i. his
eervitor. who. velvet-shod, noiselessly
peced the door and closed it after him
The c a had a face like one of those
you are on «ld Homan tn< dais, en ac
...atane- with the m >ods and ways
of his mi-'-r 'hat enabled him to ques
* -a Intel, gently and to respond
‘ rough a look, a hand movement, a
mere eapr-wiion of the lips Hou was
of three generations who had given
th- r • ntire lives to the production of
four famous statues—one at the ceme
tery if Gmkml. three at the beautiful
Pert Chaise at Paris. He was a
theorist as to the sense of smell, hold
ing that he could analyze a man by
sc» • • g h » fat rite dish At him now
in sharp silent challenge Marvel
looked
i n*'i »!.«! teiejaruic system
bfl !g* <1 '!i. --liUM!. of inquiry and re
aptM*~> I 'll at Marvel atralght
wd up tiiO'-Jlv a* if touched by a
sharp aw-otal pr»wl Tl. -n he glanced
at rw and I further knew that b<* had
•ande iw > -nr t'W re1 fnijxirtkat dt
rwtfj in the Page* ease.
M fc. t. I had first entered this .oon:
! f»!t mum that Marvel was preoccu
pied and »hat, too, over the cave I
hate mentinr.ed. In fact 1 had come
tK-re on that business, being a bank
sail at»c mys-it interested in its out
come. To Marvel the banks were
something more than clients—they j
were as children vho went coupling
down the 1.ne like tilted cards, once
started in panic. It was for this rea
sots, when the Clearing House after |
two r*c*nt bank failures feared a gen
era! run on deposits, that Marvel had
emerte i all his abilities to s&o-ber s
scandal in the case of the Guardian '
Trust k Savings bank, of which young 1
Tyler Paget was president.
—hat oflcial »aa the son of one of ;
thfc oldest financiers in the city. Fa
therly fatomcc had given the junior a
£a« start, ia fact bt mens had been so
active that double the original capital j
was soon invested It was trusting a
great deal of responsibility to a very
young and ineaperienced man. but ;
Paget Jr., was of excellent personal,
character and habits, and energetic |
and ambitious however, the minute
a a w b .rk fa I’ar .-d there is an lm-1
-t-m
mediate invasion on The part of crooks,
schemers, “piker ” ana delinquents
who have been flagged at the older in
stitutions Young Paget pretty shrew d
ly evaded most of the pitfalls, but one
day " King" Gundorf walked into the
bank.
It was not as Gundorf that he did
this but as Bogart Rutledge. He an
nounced that he was about to buy out
the old and established Acme Metals
company, a concern so well known to
Paget that he was at once interested.
Gundorf stated that he was paying
$400,000 for the business, half cash,
now held in escrow, as a receipt
showed. He wished the bank to loan
him $200,000, for which he, as the new
president of the Acme, would put up
the entire $5u0,t'00 stocks of that com
pany. The bank had no right to make
a loan in one volume so largely in ex
cess of proportional capital restric
tions. but Gundorf claimed it would be
for only ten days and offered a hand
some bonus, and the deal was made.
In five days the explosion came To
his dismay Paget learned that the pre
tended Rutledge, In giving the collat
eral note for 1200.000, had no authority
to sign, at that time, as president o*
the Acme. This fact relieved the cor
poration of all liability and the nans
held a worthless piece of paper and a
non-valid stock transfer receipt. The
next discovery was that Gundorf had
disappeared with the $200,000 received
from the bank, and that the $200,000
in escrow comprised counterfeit notes.
When the escrow funds were exam
ined this was made manifest, and a*
this point Resilius Marvel was called
In.
He recognized the culprit from his
•-annarks at once. Gundorf had been
sentenced to a long term of imprison
ment in Brazil a year back. He was
supposed to be out of the way. foi
a spell at least. But about six months
since there had appeared on the mar
ket a fifty-dollar counterfeit note,
which, to Marvel's experienced eyes,
was the product of Gundorf’s skill.
Before any of them had been reoog
r .z- d as dangerous by the banks. Mar
v-1 had detected the flaws in the issue.
There were two material variations
from the stood notes. As soon as he
-•-at out tilts possibility of world-wide
identification, ail fifty-dollar notes
were of course arar.ned closely.
To run down the counterfeits was
Marvel's first purpose; to help out the
Guardian Trust and Savings an added
motive. The Acme people had lost
r.othtng. as th-.y simply invalidated
the -stock contract. Paget, however,
was out 1200.t" His father was nov.
trying to raise this amount so the
bank c aid com. ;c\ or, if r.eceseary,
go out of busim ss honorably. The
banks within the Clearing House were
trying to smother publicity, for fear
of a general run. Paget had been giv
• n thirty days by tie. bank examiners
to c! ur the situation. He had tech
t.ica'iv violated the banking laws, and
but for the pending sprained financial
si' .lion liis bar.k would have been
cl. -• u and himself prosecuted.
The Guardian Trust and Savings
<•; ar- d through our bank. Paget -was
a p• r^onu! friend, I held fifty shares
of the stock—that is how I was
et* d. For two we>?ks Marvel had
b-• r: on the truck of Guncr r . He had
own :“as as to how far catching
him would relieve conditions.
You a: interested," he said, as I
arose to leave 'lit room, fearing I
might be in the way. Stay where
jou are. 1 huoe I d a man watek-ng
th ■ house nU re Gundorf lived until
h- put over this last deal of his.”
"But vacant, 1 underetand you to
cay ?”
"Vacant, true, but the rent paid up
for six months, and telephone, gas and
electricity ordered k-pt ready for U6e
and paid for ahead I fancy rnv man
has learned something at last, and I
also imagine he is bringing somebody
with him."
As th* door opened on noiseless
binges Loti 'is' -red into th- room two
men The one w ho held the other a
prisoti-r *t.- a powerful, unkempt fel
low. who resembled a tramp who
might have been el eplng in a dog
kennel OTer night. 1 later found out
that this was literally true—but for
a week, instead of a day.
HU companion, cringing, terror
faced wildly distraught, was a lithe,
wiry man, brown as a berry, with
small, beady eyes. His garb was half
foreign, his actions those of a menial.
He »aj in a frantic excess of terror, (
and -rembled as Marvel fixed those!
grave, boring eyes upon him.
"1 made the catch on suspicion,”
spoke his captor. “He was ringing at
the door bell of the place we know,
when 1 showed up He's an innocent,
and doesn't understand a word of Eng
’.sh. Held out this card aud this pic
ture," and the speaker gave both to
Marvel, who glanced at them and
then passed them to me. The card
bore the address of the house under
surveillance The photograph was a
duplicate of one he had shown me
more than onct— King" Oundorf
Marvel nodded to his assistant, who
departed like a man thoroughly train
ed in his profession. The foreigner
stood now nervously prtssing his un
steady hands together, the cold sweat
gathering on his face. Once he held
out his hand piteously for the return
of the articles taker, from him. Mar
vel never removed his eyes from binn j
I saw that he was studying him crit- ■
ically. He spoke a word to Loti I did
not hear. As for himself, he went
over to a bookcase. Loti went through
the clothing of the man with remark
able rapidity. All he came across, as
1 saw, was a purse containing a small
sum of money. Marvel hastily con
sulted half a dozen books, and turned
and consulted the man. !
"Comprenez vous mol?" he asked.
But he need not have spoken for
all the words conveyed to hi?
strange guest.
"Wer bist du?”
The foreigner looked puzzled. Then
he jabbered out a hideous jargon in :
some obscure tongue. ,
■ Quien es usted?"
No, the man spoke neither French,
German nor Spanish. In some ori- '■
ental patois Marvel made a new try, i
followed by one in a South African di- I
alect.
It was of no avail. Whoever the
man, whatever his purpose in visit- i
ing the Gundorf house, he could not j
be intelligently approached on the
subject. I saw Marvel grappling with
this new. baffling problem in a mighty
mental throe. Then he gave Loti an
unspoken instruction and the latter
left the room. Marvel backed to his
desk. I saw him place his hands be- j
hind him. seize a broad topped bottle. '
remove the stopper, insert one finger
in it and come again to the stranger.
As if carelessly he touched him on
the back with that finger, drew him
about, opened the door and waved
him from the room.
The man sped away at the injunc
tion as though his feet were winged.
Marvel pointed to my hat and over
coat He briskly arrayed himself for
j the street. When we reached it no
j one was in sight. As we turned the
| corner I saw Loti on one side of the
, thoroughfare. On the other, racing
along as though relieved from a vivid
spell of restraint, was a man in the
center of whose back glowed a dull
splotch of phosphorus, an infallible
guide at a distance, and explaining
the manipulation of the bottle from
the desk.
Twice we lost sight of Loti, whose i
duty it was to keep sight of the for
eigner. On these occasions my com
panion was not at all perturbed. But
his roving eyes were all the more
watchful. I followed their direction
1 more than once to observe some white !
marks on pavement or building, made, j
| I knew afterwards, by a chalk crayon
. inserted in the end of the cane which
Loti carried.
1 do not think Loti spoke a half
dozen words to his master as we
finally came up with him, but these. ;
the expression of his face, and some
quick signs, seemed to convey to Mar
vel a world of intelligence. Loti step
ped back. Marvel moved me aside with
a pressure of his palm and pushed
open the street door of one of those
small upper story hotels with which
the city abounds.
The inference was that Loti had
traced his man to this place. I soon
curiosity. But as the bending flaps
opened out, to my amazement. Loti,
with slight warning cry, betokening
the most vivid alarm, was at the side
of his master in a swift slide. He
snatched at the satchel, snapped it
shut again, and maintaining a tense
grasp of the lock he stood pallid, his
nostrils dilated, gazing with fixed and
resolute challenge into the face of
Marvel.
“It is—pestilence,” he said simply,
and slightly drew the satchel towards
him. His fine mobile face expressed
protection, defense. I noted a tremor
spreading all over his sensitive frame,
and he waved his hand. It made some
what the same gesture that a person
would make in dissipating an annoy
ing cloud of thick smoke.
Marvel returned the daring glance
of his ally. Then those quick thoughts
of his seemed to make a brisk run.
He shrugged his shoulders as if there
was a potentiality to the suggestions
of Loti he could not dispute. He took
out his card case. I was near enough
to him to read the name he scribbled
in pencil—"Dr. Peter Horn."
I knew that he had sent for the most
famous analyst in the city and
I wondered what was coming next.
Marvel was not the man to tell, at
the present juncture. He sat down on
the bed, facing the foreigner. He
leaned his chin on his two hands, these
resting on his knees, and fixed his
eyes upon the cowering wretch as if
he was looking through him and be
yond him.
It must have been fully an hour be
fore Loti showed up. He was follow
ed by the doctor, whom I had seen
before—a big, burly, heavily whisker
ed man, breathing deeply, looking
everywhere—a restless monument of
power and force.
There was a small room with glass
doors connecting with the one we
were in. It seemed to have been used
as a dressing room before the hotel
had sunk to second class, and, being
small, went gratis with the larger
apartment. The doctor barely nodded
to Marvel, who did not speak so much
as a word. He was wont to impress
his friends into service in a profes
sional case. The doctor knew his
ways as I know them. Loti must have
explained what was expected of him.
He proceeded to business at once.
Dr. Horn had brought up from his
automobile a large case. He set this
on the floor, and his first movement
was to proceed to the glass doors,
HE WAS IN A FRANTIC EXCESS OF TEPPOR ANDTPEMB
LING AS MARVEL FIXED THOSE GRAVE, BORING EYES
UPON HIM
knew this for a certainty. I was not
at all sure that some sound signal, re
mote and vague, was not cr-.veyed to
my companion—that, or something
telepathic or mystic. At all events,
from an attitude of prim, soldier-like
patience. Loti suddenly Etarted like
a manikin unhinged With a move
ment extremely courteous and apolo
getic, as if deprecating that he must
be in advance, he proceeded up the
stairs, and I followed him.
Not for an instant did he falter or
deviate from a straight course. The
hallway was lighted by lamps, but his
eyes were cast down. Then, at the
second landing I noticed a tiny green
thread of raw silk close to the pro
tecting baseboards alongside the stair
treads, and guessed who had unreeled
it. At the end of the third Loti, with
unerring precision, arrived at a door,
the transom of which showed light be
yond. Almost but not quite noiseless
ly, his long, shapely fingers groped
across a panel. Again he must have
caught some sound signal in response,
entirely unnoticed by myself. He
turned the knob of the door and we
entered the room.
Once more the foreigner was in evi
dence. He sat, or rather lay crouch
ed back in a ragged arm chair, akin
to the rest of the poor furniture of
that poor room. The old terror lurk
ed in the depths of his shrinking eyes,
and he was hushed and inert as a
person subdued by some deadening in
fluence of power he dared not resist.
Marvel had lifted a satchel to the
rickety table in the center of the
room. There was in the apartment ap
parently no other personal possession
of the foreigner.
To my crude mind, crude at least as
compared with the professional work"
ings of the mental machinery of a
great man and his equally remarkable
assistant, It was the most natural
thing in the world that Marvel, hav
ing cornered a mysterious quarry,
should seize upon that satchel. Given
a man who could not converse save in
an obscure and unknown tongue, an
investigation of his personal belong
ings might reveal everything—any
tuing. Therefore the only sensation
. • xperienced as Marvel pressed the
:k >bat he’d the satchel locked was
I thrust them open, survey the space af
i forded, and then point to the table.
"Move it," he said tersely, and Loti
carried it into the adjoining apartment.
There was gas there, and the doctor
lit a jet. Then he carried his case
into the room, closed the doors, and
drew from the case a glass head with
air tubes at the top. He sprinkled
some deodorizing acid about the room
from a bottle, put on a pair of gloves,
took out a microscope and proceeded
I to his strange task.
The foreigner paid no attention to
j all this. Marvel did not seem par
| ticularly interested. We four were
j left in the outer room, but could dis
cern the doctor's activities through
the connecting door. I noticed Loti
glide to the side of his master; I
caught the words:
The man is from a banana rais
ing country.”
"Your sixth sense tells you that,
does it?” responded Marvel lightly,
j "Then it must be South America."
How true that instinctive sense of
odor, of which Loti made a theory,
was correct, the examination of the
satchel by the doctor would sobn tell.
The illustrious savant rapidly pulled
forth its contents. It held nothing
but a few worn garments. Selecting
a skull cap from the litter, upon
this the doctor focussed his micro
scope. There were flashes of finely
mirrored plates and instruments, the
application of acids, a mixture of the
scrapings of the wool from the cap,
massed in a little lake of chemicals.
Then the doctor closed the satchel,
poured a new bottle of some disinfect
ing agent over it, and replacing his i
i analytical gear in its case, came out I
: into the larger room.
"Peru," he said simply to Marvel. I
; Southern part. The germs are the I
i a bacilli, peculiar to that country j
alone. And to the falling sickness !
[ particularly prevalent there. You will
; yet come before the great societies,
Loti," he added admiringly. "You di
agnosed it right—a banana country,
and the pestilential taint The man
should talk Spanish,” he supplement
ed, with a keen glance over the for
eigner.
"But he doesn’t,” responded Marvel
tersely. "I know what to do now.
Thanks, doctor."
He glmced at Loti and motioned me
to follow him and Dr. Horn. At the
street Marvel dismissed the latter
with a nod, proceeded along briskly,
hailed the first taxi we met, gave a
brief direction, and we were whirl
ed away to a street in the foreign
quarter.
The taxi halted in front of a row of
old buildings. Their occupants were
incongruous. One little store bore a
window full of more varieties of sau
sages than I expected to exist in the
entire world. There was a store given
over to Hungarian wines, a Japanese
restaurant and two curio shops.
These were reminders of world's
fair years, of stranded importations,
and Marvel seemed to know them
like a book. It was not five minutes
before he reappeared from od< of
the curio stores. A swarthy man in a
fez was with him. We were again
whirling along to our terminus, the
hotel.
It was all so swift, so silent, so im
pressive—Marvel’s resistless rush of
ideas and events, carrying me along
; irresistibly—that it reminded me of
the changing scenes of a motion pic
ture film. The curio man was usher
ed into the room where we had left
Loti and the other. He viewed the
foreigner with a measuring glance,
and spoke half a dozen words in a
tongue-twisting dialect.
In an instant the foreigner was
transformed. Eyes, frame and soul
seemed to awake. He uttered a joy
ful cry and flung himself on his knees,
clasping those of the curio man, jab
bering away twixt sobs of delight and
tears of relief.
Marvel softly rolled a cigarette
with those deft hands of his, which
with equal facility could slip a ring
upon the dainty finger of a debutante
or snap a pair of handcuffs around the
brawny wrists of a burglar. I knew
i he divined the end of circumstnce
and the beginning of coherency.
There was a rapid colloquy between
the foreigners. Then there was a
whispered conversation carried on by
Marvel and the curio man in a corner
; of the room. The latter returned to
the prisoner. Some animated discus
| sion ensued. And then the foreigner
did a quite remarkable thing.
He removed his shoes, and for the
first time I noticed how broad and how
thick were the soles. Their owner
looked appealingly at the curio man.
who nodded reassuringly, as though
promising protection. The former
took a shell-like article from his pock
et, stripped back the edge of each sole,
tore them lengthwise, and from those
hiding places produced two oblong
rigid articles cased and encased in
j cushions of the softest wool.
I watched Marvel as he received
: these, placed them in his pocket, and
made a motion to Loti, who in turn
touched my arm ceremoniously with
I the simple words:
■'We will go.”
"To sum up,” Resilius Marvel ad
; vised me when 1 visited his office the
next evening, 'the two packages were
these,” and he produced from his desk
two steel plates and proofs of the
same.
"The $50 plates," I remarked nat
urally.
"Not at all,” was the dissent—"du
plicates of the old plates, with the
flaws I pointed out rectified. The old
issue served their purpose. These peo
ple are shrewd. Cashiers will be on
i the lookout for the old flaws only. The
new notes would pass without suspi
cion, at least for a time. 1 know the
man who has been making these
plates, but I did not know that he was
working, secluded in Peru, until last
night. That native was sent with these
\ plates, concealed as you have seen. He
I was instructed in detail what he was
to do. There has been a hitch some
where, at least a change in the plans
of the people at this end of the line,
of Gundorf and his associates. That he
or they will be looking out for the Pe
ruvian, however, is so certain that I
shall install myself in the house where
we found the native. You may help
me out, and I will tell you how."
Marvel proceeded to do so. For two
nights in succession I carried food
supplies to my patient and invincible
friend, and messages from him and
to Loti. The third night, as I ap
proached the house by the rear, as 1
always did, 1 noticed a strange thing
and halted, looking up sharply.
A man was leaping the space be
tween the two houses. I knew that
He saw me and was startled, for I
watched him peer down at me. I could
only construe that this person was en
tering the vacant house surrepti
tiously by the roof and scuttle route.
At just that moment a clear sound pro
ceeded from the house I was about to
enter—the sharp, quick jangle of a
telephone bell.
The man aloft must have been sus
picious of my appearance. Perhaps
he caught the sound of footsteps in
the house, those of its solitary occu
pant. At any rate, I heard a sharp
snap, a severed wire whipped down
between the houses, nearly striking
my face, and the man leaped back over
the «pace and disappeared.
Perhaps two full minutes passed
away, and I was -tbout to enter the
house, when the r>ar door flew open
and Marvel was upon me.
"No delay!” he spoke quickly. *>nd
seized the food valise I carried ani
flung it on the step. Then he star^
ed on a run, reached the next street,
and hailed a taxicab, and gave the
quick words:
"Central telephone office.”
"What?” I interrogated simply.
"A crash of thunder.”
I did not understand, but I hoped to,
soon. He left me, his first point of
destination reached. I watched him
rush into the telephone building, then
out of it, with the sharp mandate:
"Signal service bureau,” to the chauf
feur—“Bad system in there,” co my
self.
"You are ready for a fifty mile run,
double fares?” he inquired of the
chauffeur as he came out from the
weather brueau.
“I'm ready,” was the willing re
sponse.
"My wait at the vacant house,” said
Marvel, as he fled down a country
road, "was rewarded by a telephone
call. I was at the receiver promptly.
Is that you Franklin?’ was challenged,
and then—It’s King’—and I knew i
was talking with Gundorf. There was
an interruption, and the current
went."
"Yes, the •wires on the root were
cut—” I began,
"No, a crash of thunder at the far
end of the line.”
I pointed to the blue sky, with all
| the stars a-sparkle. Marvel laughed.
“There was no trace at the ex
change of the call.” he explained.
I “Suburban, that was all. At the weath
er bureau a passing storm cloud re
ported at one station oDly—at Blox
ton. We are going there.”
W e reached Bloxton in an hour and
a half. Marvel located the telephone
exchange. He came out bright and
brisk.
"Message sent from the office here
direct by one Colonel Worthington,”
he said to me, after giving a direction
to the chauffeur. “Newcomer. Blind.
Passing cloud, clap of thunder—only
j one—struck the wires. My man.”
J was standing just behind Marvel
when he entered the library of a se
cluded house at the edge of the town.
, A bewhiskered man with big, obscur
ing goggles, was seated in an arm
chair. Marvel approached him, look
ed keenly at him, reached over and—
j removed a false ear. This was the
I identifying trademark of "King” Gun
dorf, half an ear bitten off by a swin
dler confrere in the years past.
I know not in detail how the case
was adjusted, but Gundorf gave up
nearly all of the $200,000. I think the
bargain was that he should leave the
country. At all events, the Guardian
Trust & Savings did not go out of
business, and is still withfti the clear
ing house.
A week later, while in the office of
l the United Bankers' Protective as
sociation, Marvel led me with a look
to his desk. He opened a drawer and
took out the photograph of a lovely
woman. Her name, “Orthello," was
written on the card. He next unrolled
the plans of a wonderful mansion.
With a pencil he drew a line through
i its first story.
Then I knew that his exertions in
the Paget case had paid for that much
, of his future' home, and that he was
that much nearer to the fruition of his
, dream of a home—and Orthello.
HOME WORKERS NEED REST
Woman Makes Some Valuable Sugges
tions to Housewives Who Are “Too
%usy” to Get Recreation.
In every paper we read there is so
much said about work and ways of
doing work, but very little about rest,
says a woman writing in Farm and
j Fireside. I don’t mean to underesti
mate the value and importance of
work, for idleness is satan’s workshop.
I do all my housework, cooking, wash
ing. ironing and sewing for a family
of five. But every few days I let
some things go undone, temporarily, to
| take a drive of eight or ten miles with
i my husband in our machine. He al
ways wants me to go with him, and
there are very few times that I don't
j go. After we return I soon get the
work done, for I am rested and feel
so much more like doing it. This has
gone on now for three years, and I am
I always up with my work.
Many women work their lives away
and then censure someone else, espe
cially their hnshands. But a women
has no one to blame but herself, for
she knows her own strength best. What
1 if you can't get everything done you
planned? Remember there are other
days. Don’t say, “I haven't time.”
There is no greater infringer on need
ed rest than the common excuse, “7
haven't time.”
Mistakes Not Fatal.
There are a great many persons in
1 this world who look upon a mistake
1 as something inexcusable and fatal to
their best interests. They seem actu
ally afraid to enter into new activities
for fear that they may make a blunder
and in this way threaten their future
success. They look no further than
the mistake itself and seem to forget
that it is possible to correct it with
great advantage to themselves. If we
j would only stop and think for a mo
| menr we would recall that life is full
; of mistakes and that it is only through
their correction that we make any ad
vance at all. We cannot learn if we
; do not make blunders at times, be
! cause it is only through our own ex
perience that we make any real head
way.
—
Ridiculing the Puritans.
It is the fashion of late to speak
condescendingly of the Puritans, as of
a people of narrow views and of men
of sour temperament; but no descend
ant of theirs, and no later immigrant
who now dwells in the commonwealth
they founded, and enjoys the bless
ings which it bestows upon us. will
fail to glory in being able to trace back
to such forerunners, writes William
Iioscoe Thayer in the American Maga
zine. The story of the conditions
which faced the passengers of the
‘Mayflower’ when they landed at Ply
mouth can never be too often repeat
ed. To have as founders of our state
men and women who ‘had the fear of
God in their hearts, but feared the
face of no man.’ ranks as the initial
glory of Massachusetts.
First to Make Map of Japan.
The first man to make an accurate
map of the Japanese empire was a na
tive named Ino Chuke. born in 1747.
His early trade was that of a brewer,
which he followed until 1SOO, amassing
a fortune.
He then asked permission to make
a map of the Island Empire, at his own
expense, and, his request being grant
ed. the task occupied his best efforts
for 18 years. He had 13 assistants,
and the results were incorporated in
14 volumes. All instruments used were
of Chuke’s own design and construc
tion.—East and West News.
Cooped ’Em Up.
“Our work is to bring all people
(loser together.” said the lecturer.
“Well. I’ve done my bit in that,” re
plied n man in the audience. “I've
built two of these 50-apartment build
ings in this town.”
Easily Explained.
“I wonder how that secret got out,
for it was told under the rose in the
conservatory.”
“I guess the speakers were too near
the rubber nlnnra ”
NEGRO SOLDIERS IN OUTBREAK
NEAR HOUSTON
FOR INCREASED INCOME TAX
Sentiment in Senate Strong for In
crease in Incomes and Prefits—
Will Issue Bulletins
of War
tTestera Newspaper Union News Sen-Ice.
Houston, Tex.—Twelve white men,
civilians, police officers and national
guardsmen were killed and more than
a score of persons, men, Vomen and
children, were wounded in an out
break here of negro soldiers of the
Twenty-fourth United States infantry,
stationed here to act as guards dur
ing the construction of Camp Logan
at which the Illinois national guard
will train. It is not known how many
negroes are dead.
Capt. J. W. Mattes, Battery A, Sec
ond Illinois field artillery, was among
the dead, being killed when he tried
to remonstrate with the negro sol
diers who were running rampant. The
outbreak is supposed to have originat
ed when two negro soldiers were ar
rested for disturbing the peace early
In the afternoon.
The firing began when an ambu
lance started through the section oc
cupied by the negro soldiers. They
stopped the ambulance and firing a
volley, riddled it. It was this volley
that wounded a sixteen-year-old white
girl standing in her father's store. Po
lice reserves were sent out and were
met by volleys from the negroes. Civ
ilians went to the assistance of the
police officers and firing continued for
an hour and a half.
Will Issue War Bulletins
Washington.—The first official sum
mary of the war activities of the
United States will be issued in a few
days by Secretary Baker, to be fol
lowed weekly thereafter with state
ments of such matters as may be dis
closed without violating military pre
cautions. The exact nature of the
statements has not been made known.
Secretary Baker said he would go Just
as far as the military advisers of the
government deemed it wise toward
Informing the public of what was in
progress. Information of every sort
reaching the department will be scru
tinized for publishable matter.
When American troops get into ac
tion in France daily statements prob
ably will be issued, founded upon the
reports from General Pershing.
Regarding many rumors of disas
ters to American troops or shipping,
constantly being circulated. Mr. Baker
reiterated emphatically the pledge of
the administration to withhold news
3f misadventure of the forces from
the public. Every untoward happen
ing will be announced promptly, he
said, and the public may rest assured
that no news means good news to
that extent.
FOR HIGHER INCOME TAX
Senate Sentiment Strong for Increase
In Incomes and Profits
Washihgton.—Senate sentiment for
higher taxation of incomes and war
profits has been given initial expres
sion by rejection of finance' commit
tee recommendations, and tentative
adoption of provisions adding $72.
000.090 to the war tax bills on indi
viduals' incomes subject to stir; ax
After several days' spirited discussion
of tax .ncreases the senate returned
to consideration of committee amend
ments and voted 74 to 0 for Senator
Gerry's amendment to greatly raise
surtaxes on incomes exceeding $500,
000, c mated to secure $46,225,000
more revenue. It was quickly fol
lowed by voting, with small majori
ties, to retain the house surtaxes cn
incomes from $6',000 to $500.00-). in
cluding the so-called Leuroot amend
ments. This is estimated to add $26,
175,000 in revenue.
England Answers Papal Note
London.—England, first of the bel
ligerent powers to answer the pope's
suggestions, has presented a formal
note to the Vatican through British
Minister Desalis, declaring the 1-loly
Father's plan would be examined “in
i benevolent and serious spirit." Car
dinal Gasparri. papal secretary of
state, expressed his gratification at
the response.
El Paso. Tex.—Negotiations for a
loan of $100,000,000 or American
money to the Mexican government
have been under way here for more
than a week. The negotiations have
been in progress between a large
New York banking firm, the name of
which was not given out, and Presi
dent Caranza direct. Telegrams
have been exchanged between Jau-e/.
and Mexico City and between New
York and El Paso during the week
and St is announced semi officially
that preliminary arrangements had
been completed.
British Make Fierce Attack.
London.—The British troops attack
ing fiercely again have captured im
portant strategic positions for a mil
along Ypres-Menin road, to a depth
of nearly a third of a mile, and fur
ther to the north carried forward their
front about a half mile over an ex
tent of two and a half miles. The
fighting, according to the official re
port from British headquarters, wa
of the most desperate nature, ti e pr:
oners taken bearine a small ratio 11
the loss inflicted on the Gormans.
Washington. — Loving mothers,
sweethearts and kind friends must
not load drafted men wiith a lot of
clothes and comforts '.. hen they start
to camp September fifth. Provost
llarshal General Crowder has ruled.
The 206.100 boys entraining for can
tonments wTill be allowed to taka very
little. Trunks are absolutely taboo
Suit cases and hand bags will be
frowned upon.
The war department prefers that
each man bring only necessary toilet
articles and one change of linen and
underclothing, dene up in a neat
small bundle.
