8 B
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TITK OMAHA SUNDAY 1K1. XOVEMREtt 1, 1014
TREY Q
ML
LOUIS JOSEPH VANCE
14th Installment
The phcto-drsma ccrrtnexmatnp to tha tnetaHmtnlh af
"The Trey C lit Arts" my nonv be ten at the kadtng
moving picture theaters. By this unique arrangement
utth the Vnrvertal FOm Mfg. Co. H U therefore net only
possttb to read " The Trey & Hearts" in this psier.
bmt also to pre each instalment of tt at the movtng
picture theater.
(Copyright, lfll, by LooiJ Jwph Vaajoa.)
THE FIRST LAW
ITKOMU-TWa t af H ta I tha "daath-olt-rr" amployad
br Baa Trhaa In tba private war of vanaaanea which ba
wilt! aralnat AJaa Law, aon of the man (maw daad who
mi Inaonortlr raaponalbla far tba arelflant which randarrd
THaa a btlplae rrlpplo far Ufa. A la a 1nra and la lovail by
Yriao'a danalitar Rm, Jaattta, BWoa'a twin and doublo, but
a woman of vlolmit ana uncertain tamper, promtaea har
father ta aompaaa Alaaa daalai but tindar dramatic air.
cumataneaa Alaa aavta bar Ufa and ao. unwillingly, wlna
bar lirra aa wall aa Blaeo'a. In aplla of bar Ja1ou.r of Haa,
Jadlth rafuaaa ta aarra ont tha vow aha mad bar fathar.
and at tha lima thla arnrjr opana la actlvaly aealatlna; Alan
and Raaa and thalr friand Taaa ataroaa to aacapa tha pra
rutlon of Trrao and hi aldaa lad by hla confidential nan.
oaa Marrophat.
I THE LAST WARNING.
In the chill, violet-shadowed dusk of that clear
evening, a chap-fallen motor car crept sluggishly
Into the little mountain town of Mesqulte at
the heela of two muttnona mulea, driven by a .
chauffeur who ateered with one hand while the
other flourished a crackling whiplash over the
backa of ita aole motlre power.
Ita one passenger, a cripple aa helpless as the
car Itself, huddled In & corner of the rear neat,
aaluted Menqulte wltb a snarl. Though ha waa in
acre need of such rude comforts aa the town stood
prepared to afford him, hla demeanor toward It
waa that of one who auffera an Indignity rather
than begs accommodation.
And now, aa the car crawled to a pause before
the Mountain bouse Mesqulte's one caravanserai
and Mesqulte Itself, to the last flea-bitten hound,
gathered round to Tlew thla wonder, Mr. Trlne'a
Indignation and chagrin distilled words of poison
ous Import.
Far from resenting this, Mesqulte, pipe In mouth,
hands In pockets, Mm I red and applauded, and rath
er resented the c nge that befell when two other
atrangers (whose earlier appearance In town had
helped make that one day memorable beyond all
others In Mesqulte'a history) charged but of the
Mountain house and Interrupted the elder devil
with crlea of greeting and Jubilation.
Tha leader of these anawered to tha name of
Marrophat: hla companion waa a person named
Jimmy. Ona guarded word from Marrophat wa
all that waa required to change tha old man'a
oaths to phraaea of honeyed appreciation.
What passed between tha trio after they dlaap-
p eared behind that bedchamber door Mesqulte
could by bo means guess. '. But that a celebration 1
of some sort waa In progress waa evidenced by
tbo frequency with which. Marrophat and Jimmy
.called oa tha bar for mora liquid refreshment aa
well aa by bursts of laughter long and loud and
laomehow strangely cynical of accent,
i And toward midnight ona belated Mesqulto
massed In tha street outstde tba Mountain bouse
for ona last curious stare at the lighted windows
of Mr. Trtna's quarters, and ao witnessed an Inci
dent which pussled htm by fits and starts through
oat the balance of hla days.
He saw, clearly silhouetted agalnat tha glowing
oblong of tha window, tha Mephistophelean profile
of Seneca Trine, distorted with a grimace of tha
eroelest Joy that aver heart of man oonoelved. Ha
aaw Marrophat approach hla master with a drunk
en swagger and a speech which, thou no Indistin
guishable to tha unseen auditor, unquestionably
afforded both of tba other men ample excuse for
cstatlo glee. Toward Ita conclusion Mr. Marro
phat apparently capped tba peak of Jubilation by
rambling In hla coat pocket and bringing forth
something which strongly resembled a single play
ing card.
Now when ha had eontrtvwd to master hla mirth,
tha cripple mad a testa.ro which eloquently abol
ished thla card, a gesture which aald quite plainly:
"All that la finished. Tha thing haa served Us
purpose! To hell with It!"
Whereopoa, with a smart Jerk of hla wrist, Mr.
. Marrophat sent the card spinning and sailing ont
through tha opaa window to lose Itself la tha
night
Tha watcher didn't see tt (all, and though ho
pent an unconscionable time searching for It 14
the deep dust of tha roadway, ha went hla way la
the end with curiosity unaated: Fata had reserved
that card for a higher purpose.
Undisturbed, It lay where It had fallen, face up
ward, not a dosen feet from tha front door of tha
Mountain house, until another day dawned on
Mesqulto.
Then, In tha clear light of that dawn, four mora
atrangera straggled Into town two weary and hag
gard men, two footsore and bedraggled women.
One of these last waa dressed In a suit of man'a
clothing, much tha worse for wear. Tha other
members of tha party ona and all wore the look
of people who have escaped the Jawa of death by
tha narrowest of Imaginable aqueaks.
At sight of the Mountain house tha party be
trayed slight aymptoma of a more cheerful spirit:
rejoicing In Its promise of food and drinks aad
beds withal wherein to Bleep, tha four quickened
their steps.
But of a sudden ona of tha women she who
wore tha garments of her sex paused, uttered a
low cry, a thrill with terror, and clutching the arm
of the man nearest her, pointed down to the card
that stared up from the dust at her feet.
It was a Trey of Hearts.
II FULL FLIGHT.
"Oh, what can It meant Rose whispered broken
ly, clinging to her lover's arm. "8urely yon don't
think , . . Surely It must be accidental . . .
Surely It can't mean "
"I'm afraid It does," Alan Law responded grave
ly, eyeing the front of the Mountain house. "Our
luck holds consistently that's all. It wouldn't be
us If wo didn't pick out tha one place where Mar
rophat and Jimmy chose to stop over night For
tunately. It's early: I doubt they're up. With hair
a show we ought to bo able to And some way of
puttlag a good distaaoe between us and thla tow a
before they waken . . . Tom!"
But Mr. Barcna was' already at hla elbow. In
thorough sympathy with Alan's Interpretation of tha
significance to ho attached to the card that trem
bled In Rose's hand.
"Sharp'a tha word I " ha agreed. "And thare'a t
motor car over there, In front of the blacksmlth'a.
Frobebly we can hire her "
"Trlne's car!" Alas ejaculated, swinging round
and recognizing the automobile st a glance. "Then
he's here, as well!"
"Looks like It" Barrus admitted. "Put so much
the better. Well Just naturally take the darn'
thing off his hands, and I'll bet a dollar there isn't
another car within a radius of fifty miles!"
But his confidence was demonstrated to be pre
mature by the discovery, which rewarded the first
cursory examination, that the car was very thor
oughly out of commission.
Two minutes later, however, their earnest in
quiries elicited the fact that, although Barcus was
Justified In his surmise that the neighboring coun
try was poverty-stricken in respect of motor cars,
Mesqulte Itself boasted two motorcycles whose
owners were not indifferent to a chance to sell
them second-hand at a considerable advance on
the retail list price of the machines, when new.
And thus It was that, within ten minutes from
Rose's discovery of that chance-flung warning In
the dust, the party was again in rapid motion.
His beauty sleep disturbed by the departure of
the machine bearing Darcua and Judith, Seneca
Trine roused on an elbow and looked out of the
window Just In time to see the second motorcycle
gathering momentum, Alan steering, Rose In the
seat behind.
Sixty seconds later a flaunting banner of duct
was all that remained to remind Mesqulte that Ro
mance had passed that way that, and a series of
passionate screams emanating from the bedcham-
pen to hinder the pursuit never knowing whether
the latter lost or gained.
And thus catastrophe befell . . .
Round the swelling bosom of a wooded mountain
side the motorcycle swept like a hunted hare, and
without the least warning came upon Barcus and
Judith, dismounted, Rarcus bending over his cycle
and tinkering with Its motor.
For one horripilating Instant collision seemed
unavoidable.
And It was Impossible to stop the cycle so brief
was all his warning. In desperation Alan chose
tha outside of the road: and for the space of a
single heartbeat thought that he might possibly
make It, but with the next realized that he would
not seeing the front wheel swing off over the lip
of the slope.
At this he acted sharply and upon sheer Instinct.
Aa tha cycle left the road altogether he risked a
broken knee by releasing his grasp of the handle
bars and straightening out his leg and driving it
down forcibly against the roadbed. The effect of
this waa to lift him bodily from the saddle: the
machine shot from beneath him like some strange
projectile burled from the bore of a great gun; ,
and Rose crashed against him in the same fraction
of a second.
Headlong they plunged as one down the hillside,
struck Its shelving surface a good twenty feet from
the brink of the road, and flying apart, tumbled
their separate ways down the remainder of the
drop and into the friendly shelter of the under
brush. Something nearly miraculous saved them whole.
Beyond a few scratches and bruises and a aevero
about a quarter of a mile over yonder. If it's all
the same to you people, we might stroll round that
way and see what Its natural attractions may be
If any. But it's sure a mighty poor sort of a can
yon that doesn't lead anywhere."
"Sufficient!" Mr. Law interrupted with a bleak
smile.
Crooking a deferential arm, Barcus offered It to
Judith.
"Everything Is lovely In the formal garden." ho
insisted "so sweetly romantic. Are you game for
an Idle saunter, Just to while the Idle hours away?"
The woman found spirit enough for a wan smllo
as she tucked her hand gratefully beneath his arm.
"You're the cheerfulest soul I ever met," she said
demurely. "What I'm going to do without you
when If ever we get out of this awful business,
goodness only knows."
"Let's talk of something else," ho suggested hast
ily. "Tnless, of course," she pursued with unbroken
gravity, "I marry you . . ."
"Heaven," the young man prayed fervently, "for
fend!" "That is hardly gallant"
"I mean heaven forfend that you should throw
yourself away!"
. "Humph!" eh? mused. "Perhaps you're right."
Their banter was not without a subtle object,
namely to reassure the girl who followed, support
ed by her lover's arm.
In the course of the last twenty-four hours Rose's
Jealousy of her sister's new-found friendliness w(th
Alan had become acutely evident. The least cour
tesy which circumstances now and again demanded
sa(i
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FurAbled In Hla Coat Pocket and Brought Forth a Playing Card.
her of Seneca Trine, where tho cripple lay pos
sessed by seven devils of Insensate rage.
His screams brought attendance; but It was a
matter of many precious minutes before bis de
mands could bo met and Marrophat and Jimmy
roused from their crapuloua slumbers In adjoining
chambers; and balf aa hour elapsed before tha
chauffeur, roused from his own well-earned rest,
succeeded In convincing the pair that pursuit with
tho motor car waa out of the question until he had
spent at least half the day overhauling tha motor
and mending the mischief that had developed In It.
But tha devil takes cara of his own: within an
other half hour what seemed to be aheer, bull
headed, dumb luck brought a casual automobile to
Mesqulte a two-seated, high-power racing machine
of the latest and speediest pattern, driven by two
Irresponsible wayfarers who proved only too sus
ceptible to Marrophat's offer of double the cost of
the car f. o. b. Detroitfor Its Immediate sur
render. Tha two piled out promptly enough: Marrophat
and Jimmy Jumped In; Trine from his bedroom
window sped them on their murderous mission.
It must have been an hour later when Alan,
check'". his motorcycle as It surmounted the sum
mlt of a ic?s; upgrade, looked back and discovered,
several mllea distant on tha far-flung windings of
tha mountain road, a small crimson shape that ran
like a mad thing tirelessly pursued by a cloud of
tawny dust like a golden ghost
A motor car, beyond all question, and one of
uncommon road devouring quality: It might or
might not contain Marrophat and Jimmy, once
more in pursuit. Whether or not, bitter experience
had long since educated Alan In tha gentle art of
taking no chances.
Barcus and Judith must be overtaken and warned
no easy matter, since the machine which bora
them was, if anything, faster than Alan'a, just as
tha racing automobile was faster than either.
Alan kept hla gate ateadfast to tha road before
them, daring not onco to look up and round or
back, but constrained ever to watch their way; for
at such frightful speed as they were new making
tbo slightest obstruction was fraught with direst
peril; one little sidelong swerve from that narrow
and tortuous path, and death would bo their por
tion. So sinuous and meandering waa Ita course, lo
deed, that Alan seldom could see a hundred yards
of It ahead, but must pelt on in panle flight, hop
ing for tha best that Judith and Barcus would
aooa show op la front, that something might hap-
shaktng up, they escaped unharmed. And they
were picking themselves up and regaining their
breath and recollecting their scattered wits when,
with Impetus no less terrific than their own had
been, the pursuing motor car swung round the bend
and hurled itself directly at tha two who remained
upon the road above.
HI SACRIFICE.
But Tom Barcus hadnt failed to profit by tba
warning Implicit in Alan's accident.
He waa therefore on tha alert, quick to sea tha
racing automobile when It came hurtling round tha
bend, and In tha very nick of time grasped Judith's
arm and awung her bodily with htm back out of
harm's way, amid tho treea that bordered the In
side of tha road.
Of necessity his motorcycle suffered. Aban
doned In tha middle of the road, It was struck uy
the buffers of tha motor car and flung aside as If
It had been nothing more ponderable than a truss
of straw landing half-way down the embankment,
a hopeless tangle of shattered tubing and twisted
wire.
At first blush tho circumstance seemed surpris
ing, that the car did not stop. But then Barcus
reminded himself that Marrophat and Jimmy could
not possibly have witnessed tha accident Involving
Alan and Rose, who. together with tha wreck of
their machine, remained well-cloaked by tha under
brush at tha bottom of the canyon. In all proba
bility, then, tba assassins had assumed that Alan
had hurried on; and since their own flrrt business
was concerned exclusively with them, they had
dona likewise.
As for Rose and Alan heaven alone knew what
had happened to them. 80 Barcus set himself to
find out whatever Providence knew without mora
delay.
To And them not only alive but practically un
scathed affected that loyal soul clmost to tears.
But when congratulations had been mutually ex
changed, there fell an awkward pause. The eyes
of tha four sought one another's ruefully, each pair
quick with the unuttered but Inexorable Inquiry:
What nextT
In the outcome, tt waa Mr. Barcus who advanced
the auggestlon which was adopted though this
was Ita reception more through lack of a better
than for any actual appeal Intrinsic In tha propo
sition. "When wo broke down, np there," ha ventured,
with a backward Jerk of hla thumb to Indicate tha
road. '1 aaw a canyon branching off from thla ona
that he show Judith or aeem a boor, waa enough to
cloud the countenance of Alan's betrothed.
Slowly and painfully these four tolled along an
obscure trail that followed the windings of the lit
tle river, until a branch struck Into the main
stream and so discovered to them yet another trail
leading Into the westward canyon.
Then again slowly and painfully they plodded on,
following blindly another trail blazed by Fates as
blind as they.
Above them, on tho road they had abandoned, the
crimson racer doubled back to the point where it
had passed Judith and Barcus; its occupants de
scended, explored, and came presently upon tho
trail of the fugitives.
Bloodhounds could not have settled down upon
a scent with more good-will and eagerness than
Mr. Marrophat and his faithful aide.
The sun was high and blazing above the canyon
when the pursuit came within rifle shot of the
chase.
The spiteful crack roused the quartet from a
pause of lethargic dismay due to tardy appreciation
of tha fact that they bad penetrated wltlessly al
most to tha end of a blind alley.
A hasty council of war armed Alan with Judlth'a
revolver and posted btm behind a bowlder com
manding tha approacb.ee to tha chasm. Tho
weapon, a powerful .45, had a range sufficient to
numb tho Impetuosity of the assassins and keep
tliem under cover and ont of sight of tha desperate
essays tha fugitives were making to compass an
escape.
For In tho shed behind an abandoned log cabin
sou venlr, no-doubt of aome forgotten prospector
Barcus had unearthed a length ef stout hempeu
ropa.
With the aid cf a rusty shovel he had hacked
this Into two equal lengths. One of these lengths
he proceeded to make fast round his own waist,
then round Rose's. The other he left to be simi
larly employed by Alan and Judith. For It waa
agreed that they must climb, and while the cliff
offered no problem to daunt a mountain-climber of
any pretensions. It was considered best that tho
fugitives should bo hitched up in pairs against any
possibility of a slip. The pairing had been de
termined by the fact that Barcus boasted soma
alight experience In mountaineering, while Rosa
was plainly tha most exhausted ef tha two women,
tha least able to help herself la aa emerricy.
He had worked hla cautious way.vwlth the girl
In tow, to a point about midway up tha face of
tha cliff, following a long diagonal the provided
the easiest climbing, when Alan stole back to'
Judith and reported that, on the evidence of ob
servation and belief, he was convinced that tha
pursuit had turned back perhaps for want of am
munition, perhaps to execute some less hazardous
attempt upon the lives of the fugitives.
Without delay, then, he made the free end of the
rope fast round hla own waist and, following the
way Barcus had chosen, began the ascent.
Two-thirds of the climb had been accomplished,
and Rose and Barcus had arrived in safety at the
top, before the temptation to look down proved
Irresistible.
Alan shuddered and swallowed hard before re
suming the ascent.
Another twenty feet, however, brought him to a
ledpe quite six feet wide, offering a broad and
easy path to the summit. He gained this with a
prayer of heartfelt relief and was on the point of
rising to his feet when a cry of horror from Bar
cus and a scream of terror from Rose, watching
over the upper edge, warned him barely In time 1o
enable him to snatch at and grasp a knob of rock
before Judith's weight suddenly tautened the rope
between them and Jerked Alan's legs from under
him. ' ;
His feet and legs kicking the empty air beyond
the lip of the ledge, he lay face downward, clutch
lug desperately the knob of rock, praying that it
might not come away In his grasp.
The fall of twenty feet to the shale roof was
nothing. What would follow would, however, spell
death. The impact of her body would set the shale
In motion, like an avalanche and beyond the eaves
was only emptiness and the bowlder-strewn bed of
the chasm, a hundred feet below!
The sweat poured from his face like rain. His
eyes started in their sockets. The blood drummed
In his ears with a roar resembling distant thunder.
His Angers grew numb, his throat dry . . .
He fe" that he could not hold on. another In
stant when, abruptly, that torture was no more.
The rope had been relieved of its burden. He
heard a scream from below echoed by one from
above, then the thump of Judith's body falling on
the shale, then the slithering rumble of the land
slide gathering momentum . . .
Barcus, at length arrived, assisted him to a place
of security. Spent and faint and sick with horror,
he lay prone, shuddering.
Only the assurance of Barcus that Judith had
somehow escaped being precipitated over the eaves
of the shale roof roused him and gave him nerve
enough to resume the climb.
It was true, when he found courage to look and
see for himself: she lay within three ysrds of the
brink, supine, her face upturned to the sun, un
stlrring she dared not stir: a single movement
was calculated to set the shale bed again In mo
tion. Painfully he realized that If, as Barcus asserted,
she had deliberately cut the rope herself, JuditU
had offered up her life to spare his ovn.
i .
IV RETRIBUTION.
And yet '.he very consciousness of the girl's dag
ger was all the stimulant that Alan needed to
recall him to himself.
Once arrived with Barcus at the top of the cliff,
he lost no time In setting about preparations to
effeel her rescue.
In this business. Fortune smiled upon him, as it
were, by predisposition.
A broad roadway ran along the top of the preci
pice, turning off, at a little distance to the right,
to descend the mountainside. And Just beyond this
turning Providence had chosen to locate the camp
of a hydraulic mining outfit.
Alan's appearance at the top, in fact, was coin
cident with the arrival ot that point of half a dozen
excited miners: and he bad no more than voiced
his demands than three of their number were
hastening back to the camp to procure rope and
more hands.
Within Ave minutes Alan, against the protests
of Rose and Barcus, was being lowered over the
edge and down to the shale roof, on which he land
ed at a spot far to one side of Judith to escape all
danger of sending a second landslide down upon
her.
Picking his way carefully dow n to the very brink,
Alan edged along this, more than once saved a
fall to death only by the rope, until ha stood Im
mediately below Judith.
Then pausing, he instructed her carefully, tossed
the end of tha rope into her hands, and when she
had wound It twice round her arms, crept up to
her side and helped her make It fast about her
body.
His signal to the miners that all was well educed
prompt response. There was a giddy interval in
which the two swung perilously between heaven
and earth. Then they stood once more in safety.
Supported by sympathetic hands, the quartet
staggered into camp, their story, as condensed by
Barcus and breathlessly confirmed by Alan, already
winning them enthusiastic champions.
And this was very well for them. For they had
no more than seated themselves and begun to ap
preciate what perils they had Just escaped, when
the rumble of a motor car sounded beyond tha
shoulder of the hill.
Startled by this alarm once more into full com-"
maud of his flagging faculties. Alan rose and
stumbled out Into the roadway, taking qnick cog
nizance of such facilities for defense as the camp
afforded and Issuing instructions with a voice vi
brant with fear, not for his own safety, but for tho
aafety of those whom he loved.
Not far from the point where the road swung
from the cliff to thread the camp the hydraulic noa
ile was In action, its terrific force of water melt
ing the mountainside away ton by ton.
Toward this Barcus ran at top speed, gaining tha
man In charge of the nozzle Just is the car swung
round the bend.
Pausing only long enough to make certain that
there could be no mistake and having this cer
tainty made doubly sure by Jimmy's action in ris
ing from his seat and firing over the windshield
polntblank at Alan as this last stood waiting In tho
roadway Barcus and the miner swung tho nozxle
round until It bore directly on the car.
The power of its stream was such that tha car
was checked Instantly In Its tracks; and before tho
water could have been shut off or the stream di
verted, tha machine waa driven back to the very
Hp of the cliff and over It completely, taking with
It those twain upon whose efforts all tba hopoa of
Seneca Trine ot late had been centered.
A death that was merciful. In that it was taa
ataataaaoua, awaited them at tha foot of tha eUff.'
' To be contiaveoU '