THE OMAHA SUNDAY BEE: JULY 4, 1915.
thetq) JTt
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A Detective Novel and &
Motion Picture Drama
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300
Presented by This Newspaper in Collaboration With
the Famous Pathe Players.
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Featuring
Miss Pearl White Elaine Dodge
Mr. Lionel Barrymorc Marcius Del Mar
WRITTEN BY ARTHUR B. REEVE
The Weil-Known Novelist and the
Creator of the "Craig Kennedy" Stories
Oramatizcd Into a Photo-Play by Chaa W. Goddard,
Author of "The Perils of Pauline," "The Exploits of Elaine
Everything j-ou rriul here today
yon can e In th fascinating rathe
Motion Picture at tb Motion Pic
ture Theaters thla wwk. Next Hun
day another chapter of "The Ex
ploit of Elaine" and new Pathe
reel.
Copyrlrht. 1915, by the Ptar Company.
All For Pirn Might. Keserved.
BVNOI'HIH.
After the finding of Wu Fang body
and Kennedy', disappearance a aub
marine appear, the following morning on
the hay. A man plunge overboard from
It and swim a.hore. It la the rntr.ince
of Marrlua Iel Mar Into America.
At the Ixidae home one ot Wu Kang'a
men la trying to obtain Information of
Kennedy and the lo.t torpedo. It la plan
la blocked by Iel Mar a arrival, who also
succeed. In winning Klalne a rnnfldunre.
Later ahe la warned by a little old man
to be careful. Del Mar'a mlaalon at the
Dodge houae to lornte and recover
the torpedo. He would have been euc
cful had It not been for Klalne' dog,
Ruaty. who dug It from the flower lol,
while Del Mar and Klalne were talking
only a few feet away. Ku.ty carried the
torpedo to the attic. The little old man
meet. Del Mar at the IxmIro home. They
draw (tun. together. ganca from the ex
ploded .hell, of the old man'a revolver
overcome Iel Mar and Klalne, and the
old man of my.tery eacapea.
Shortly after the affair Klnlna gives a
masquerade ball. Iel Mar attenda.
Neither he nor hla domino girl can lo
cate the torpedo. A aray friar wnrn.
Klalne and Jameeon of Del Mar'a ptirpoan,
and hla plana are upaet. Iwl Mar sue
creda In getting thla girl in Klalne'a home
aa a maid. Hhe flnda the torpedo n the
attic, r(acea It In a trunk, which with
other, la aent to Klalne'a country home,
A holduD on the train take, place. Del
Mara men carry the trunk away only to
find on opening It that they nave the
wrong one.
Wreck of the Torpedo
CHAPTER IIL
Del Mar had evidently, by thla time,
coma to the ooncluaton that EJIeJn waa
the atom center of the peoullar train of
eventa that followed the dteappearanee
of Kennedy and hla wlrelee torpedo.
At any rata, aa aoon aa ha learned that
Elaine waa going to her country horns
for the summer, he took a. bungalow aoma
dl.tance from Dodge Halt In fact. It
waa mora than n bungalow, for It waa
a pretentloua place surrounded by a wile
lawn and beautiful ahade tree.
There, on the day that Elaine decl4d
to motor In from th city, Del Mar ar
rived with hla valet
Evidently he kt no Urn In getting to
work on hi own affaire, whatever they
might be. Inside hla atudy, which waa
the largeat room In the houae, a com
bination of both library and laboratory,
he cava an order or two to hla valet,
then Immediately gat down to hla new
desk. Ha opened a drawer and took out
a long hollow cylinder, cloaed at eaoh
end by air-tight cape, on on of which
waa a hook.
Quickly he wrote a note and read It
over: "Inatall aubmartne bell In plac of
theea elumaytuba. Am having harbor and
bridge mined aa per Instruction from
government D."
Ha tinacrewed the cap at on end of
the tuba, Inaerted th not and cloaed It
Then he puahed a button on hi deak.
A panel In th wall opened and on of
th men who had played polloeraan one
for him stepped out and aaluted.
"Her' a meaaag to send below," said
Pel Mar briefly.
Th man bowed and went back through
tb panel, dosing It
Del Mar cleaned up hi deak and then
went out to look hla new quarters over,
to kee whether everything had been
prepared aooordtng to hla Instruction.
From th eonoealed entrance to a cave
on a hillside, Pel Mar'a man who had
i gon through th panel In th bungalow
appeared a few minute later and hur
ried down to th shore. It waa a rocky
coast with stretches of cliff, and now
and then a ravine and a tit of Bandy
beach. Gingerly he climbed down the
rocks to th water.
He took from his pocket the metal tube !
which Pel Mar had given him and to th
hook on on end attached a weight ot
'lead. A moment he looked about cau
tlously. Then he threw th tub Into th
water and It Bank qulokly. He did not
wait, but hurried back Into th cav
entrance.
Elaine. Aunt Joaephlne and X motorec"
. down to Podge Hall from th city.
Klalne'a country houae waa on a fine
r state near the Long Ialand Bound and
after the long run w were glad to pull
up before the big house and get out ot
the car. As we approached the door I
happened to look down the road.
"Well, that's the country, all right." I
exclaimed, pointing down th road.
"Look."
Lumbering along waa a hug, heavy hay
rack on top of which perched a farmer
(hewing a atraw. Following along after
him wai a dog of a peculiar shepherd I
treed which I did not recognise. Atop of
the hay the old fellow had piled a trunk
and a basket.
To our aurprlae the hay rack stopped
before the houae. "M1m Dodger' drawled
the farmer nasally.
"Why, what do you auppose he can
want?" asked Elaine moving out toward
the wagon while w followed. "Tea."
"liere'a a trunk, Mia Podge, with your
name on It," he went on dragging it
down. "I found It down by the railroad
track."
It was the trunk marked "K. Podge"
which had been thrown off the train,
taken by Dei Mar and rifled by the motor
cyclist. "How do you suppose It ver got here?"
cried EUin in wonder.
"Most have fallen off th train." I Bug
ftttod. "Tou might ha collected th
lu.urance under thla new baggage law!"
"Jennings." called Elaine. "Ut I'at
rick and carry the trunk in "
Together th butler and th gardener
dragged It off.
"Thank you," .aid Elaine, endeavoring
to pay th farmer.
"No, no, Mia,'' he demurred a. he
clucked to his horsea.
We waved to the old fellow. Aa he
started to drlv away, he reached down
Into the banket and drew ou,t some yel
low harvest apple.. On at a
tlma ho
tossed them to ua aa he lumbered off.
"Truly rural," remarked a voice be
hind ua.
It waa Del Mar, all togged up and
carrying a magaxlne in hla hand.
We chatted a moment, then Klalne
started to go Into the house with Aunt
Joaephlne. With Del Mar I follow, d.
Aa ahe went Elaine took a bite of the
apple. To her aurprtse II separated neatly
Into two hollow halvea. Khe looked In
elde. There waa a note. Carefully ahe
unfolded It and read. Like the others. It
waa not written, but printed In pencil.
"lie careful to unpack all your trunka
yourself. Destroy thla note. A Friend."
What did these myatcrloua warning!
mean, ahe aaked herself In amatetnent.
Somehow so far they had worked out nil
right She tore up the not and threw
the pieces away.
Del Mar and I atopped for a moment to
talk. I did not notice that he waa not'
llatenlng to me, but was Surreptitiously
watching Elaine.
Main went Into the houae and we fol
lowed. Del Mar, however, dropped Just a
bit behind and, aa he came to the place
where Elaine had thrown the pieces ot
paper, dropped hla magailne. He stooped
to pick It up snd gsthered th pieces, then
rejoined ua.
"I hop you'll excuse me," aatd Elaine
brightly. "We've Juat arrived and 1
haven't a thing unpacked."
Del Mar bowed and Elaine left ua. Aunt
Josephine followed shortly. Del Mar and I
I aat down at a table. Aa he talked he
placed the magailne in hla lap beneath
th table, on hla kneea. I could not ace.
but he waa In reality secretly putting
together th torn not which th farmer
had thrown to Elaine.
Finally he managed to fit all the piece
A glano down was enough. But his face
betrayed nothing, mill under the table,
he swept th pieces Into his pocket and
rose.
"I'll drop In when you are more set
tled." he exouaed himself, atrolllng leis
urely out again.
ee
Up In th bedroom Elaine's maid.
Maria, had been unpacking.
"Well, what do you know about that?"
shs exclaimed aa Jennings and Patrick
cam dragging In the banged up trunk.
"Very queer," remarked Jennings, de
tailing th little he had seen, while
ratrtck left
Th entrance of Elaine put an end to
th interesting goaalp and Marl atarted
to open th trunk,
"No. Maria." aald Kl.lna. "I'll unnu-k
them myself. Tou can put tha things! Ha enforced his words with a vicious
away later, Tou and Jennings may go." I looking gun. It waa two to on and they
Quickly aha took th thlnga out of the i closed with him. Befor he oould shoot
battered trunk. Then she started on the ! they had knocked the gun out ot his
other trunk which was Ilk It but not ! hand. Then they tried to break away
marked. Eh threw out a couple ot gar- and run.
menta, then paused, startled. But th farmer aelaed on of them and
Ther was th lost torpedo-where Ber- held him. Meanwhll tha dog developed
tholdl had stuck It In her hastel Elaine I traits sll hla own. He ran In and out be
plcked It up and looked at It In wonder aa I tween the lege of th other man until he
It roalld all those last days before Ken- threw him. Ther he stood, over him.
nedy was lost. For th moment ehe did j The man attempted to rlae. Again th
not know quit what to make of It. What An timw him and kept him down. He
should ah dot
Finally she decided to look It up In the i
bureau drawer and tell ma Not only did
she look th drawer, but, as ah left her
room, ah took th key of th door from
th lock Insld and locked It outside.
Pel Mar did not go far from th house,
however. II scarcely reached th dg
of th grounds where h was sure h waa
not observed when he placed hi fingers
to his Ups and whistled. An Instant later
two of hla men appeared 'from behind
a hedge.
"Tou must get Into her room," he or
dered. "That torpedo Is la her luggag
somewhere, after alt"
They bowed and disappeared again Into
th shrubbery, while Pel Mar turned anj
ratraoed hi step to th house.
In th rear of th hous th two mla
aarlea of Pel Mar atole out of th ahelter
of aoma buahea and atood for a moment
looking. Elaine's windows were high
above them, too high to reach. Thero
aeemed to be no way to get to them and
ther was no ladder In alght
"We'll have to use the Putch house
man's method," decided on.
Tugether they went around th hous
toward th laundry. It waa only a few
minutes later that they returned. No one
waa about. Quickly on cf them took otf
hla coat. Around hla waist he had wound
a coil ot rope. Pertly he began to climb
a tree whos upper branchea fell over
the root. Cat-like he mad hla way out
along a branch and managed to reach th
roof. He made hla way along the lids
pole to a chliiiiiw which waa diivci.y
hack of and In line with Klalne'a windows.
Then he uncoiled the rope and made on
end fast to the chimney. Letting th
other end fall free down the roof, he
carefully lowered himself over tho edge.
Thus It was not difficult to get tut
Elaine s room by stepping on the wi
dow sill and going through th opeu win-
flow
Th man began a rapid search of th
room, turning up and pawing everything
that Elaine had unpacked. Then he be
gan on the little writing desk, th dresser
and the bureau drawers. A subtl am I
flashed over hla face aa lie came to one
drawer that waa locked. He pulled a
sectional Jimmy from hla coat snd torc.d
It open. f
Thre lay the lr.tou torpedo.
live man clutched at It with a look of
exultation. Without another glance St the
room he rushed to the window, iad Uk
Read
rose and pulled himself to the
roof, going a he had come.
It did not take him long to
unpack the few thing. I had
brought and I waa aoon back
aaaln In the living room
where Aunt Josephine Joined
me In a few minutea.
i.... Klalne came hur
riedly down the aalrway and
..-,4 tnward me. Del Mar
entered from the porch. Bhe stopped. Del
Mar watched her cloaely. Had ahe found
anything? He waa aura of It ,
Her healtaUon waa only for a moment,
however. "Walter." ahe ald. "may I
peak to you a moment? Excuse ua.
please?"
Aunt Josephine
went out toward the
I back of the house to see how the -nU
were getting on. while I rouowea
upetalra. Del Mar with a bow seated
himself and opened hla magaxlne. No
sooner had we gone, however, than h
laid It down and cautiously followed us.
Klalne was evidently very much excited
aa ahe entered her dainty little room and
closed the door. "Walter." she cried,
"I've found the torpedo!"
We looked about at the general dis
order. "Why," she exclaimed nervously,
"someone has been here-and I locked the
door, too "
She almost ran over to her bureau
drawer. It had been Jimmied open In
the few minutea white ane w
stalra. The torpedo waa gone. We looked
at each other, aghast.
Behind us, however, w did
not aee the keen and watchful
eyes of Del Msr, opening tho
door snd perlng In. As ho
saw ua, lie ctoeea me uuui
softly, went downstair and
out of tha house.
.
Perhaps half a mile down
the road the farmer aoan
doned hla hay rack and now.
followed by hla peculiar dog,
walked back. He atopped at
a point In the road where he
rould aee the Dodge houae In
the distance, aat on the rail
fence and lighted a blackened
corncob pipe.
Ther he aat for some time,
apparently ecgroaaed In hla
own thoughts about the
weather, the dog lying at hla
feet. Now and then he looked
fixedly toward Dodge Hall.
Suddenly hla riveted atten
tion aeemed to be riveted on
the houae. He drew a field
glaaa from his pocket and lev
elled It. Sure enough, there
was a man coming out of a
window, pulling himself up to
th roof by a rope and going
acroaa tha roof tree. H low
ered th glaaaea quickly and climbed off
th fence with a hitherto unwonted
energy.
"Corns. Bearchllght," he called to th
dog. as together they moved off quickly
In the direction he had been looking.
Del Mar's men were coming through th
hedge that aurrounded the Podge estate
juat aa the farmer and hla dog atepped
out In front of them from behind a
thicket.
"Just a minute." h clld. "I want to
speak to you.
a trained Belgian sheep hound, a
splendid police dog.
Confound th brut." growled th man.
reaching for hi gun.
As h drew It th dog seised nis wnsi
snd with a cry the man dropped th gun.
That. too. waa part of th dog s training.
While the farmer and the other man
atruggled on the ground, th torpdo
worked it a way half from the man's
pocket. The farmer eelxed It. The man
fell back limp and the farmer, with the
torpedo In one hand, grasped at th gun
on th ground snd stralgntened up.
H had no sooner risen than th rran
waa at hltn again. Hla unconciousness
had been merely feigned. Th struggle
was renewed.
At that point the hedge down th road
parted and Del Mar atepped out. A
glance waa enough to tell him what waa
going on. He drew hla gun and rat
swiftly towsrd ths combatanta.
As Pel Msr approached, hla man suc
ceeded in knocking the torpedo from the
termer's hand. Ther It lay. aeveral feet
away. Ther seemed to be no chance for
either man to get It
Quickly tha farmer bent his wrist, aim
ing ths gun deliberately at th precious
torpedo. As faat as hs could he pulled
the trigger. Five of th sis shots pene
trated the little model.
Bo surprised was his antagonist that th
farmer was able to knock him out with
the butt of hla gun. He broke away end
fled, whistling on a police a M. t'o Jor
the dog Just aa Del Mar ran up. A cou le
of ahota from Pel Mar flew wild aa the
fanner and hla dog disappeared
Iel Mar stopped and picked up the
model. It bad been ahot Into aa unrecog.
nlxable masa of scrap. In a fury. IV!
Mar daahed It on th ground, curalng
hla men aa he did so.
The strange disappearance of the tor
pedo model from Elaine's room worried
both of us. Doubtless If Kennedy hal
been there he would have known Juat
what to do. But we could not decide.
"Really," con'ldervd Klalne, "I think
we ha inter take Mr. Iel Mar into our
i e.nf!c lice.
Still, we've had a great many warn
ing." 1 tiblected
' I know that." .he Demisted, "but they
have all come from very unreliable
sources."
Very well." f agreed finally, "then
let's drive over to hie bungalow."
it Here KW-Theh See ETAll in
i.mne crfl red her little runabout and
a few moments later we climbed Into
It and Klalno ahot the car away.
wo roae along, tho country seemed I
ao quiet that no one would ever have sua
pected that foreign agents lurked all
about Hut It was Just under such a
cover that the nefarious bridge and
harbor mining work ordered by Del
Mar's superiors was going ahead quietly.
As our car rllml.ed a hill on the other
side of which. In the valley, was n
bridge, we could not see one of Del
Mar's men In hiding at thn top. Ho saw
us, however, end Immediately wigwag,
ged With hla handkerchief to several
others down at the bridge where they
were attaching a ralr of wires to the
planking.
"Someon coming-," muttered one who
waa evidently a lookout.
The men atopped work Immediately
and hid In tho brush. Our car passed
over the bridge and we saw nothing
wrong, nut no sooner had we gone than
the men crept out nnd resumed work
which had progressed to the point where
they were ready to carry the wires of
an electric connection through the graae.
concealing them as they went.
In the atudy of his bungalow, all the
time, Del Mar wns striding angrily up
and down, while his men waited In
silence.
Finally he paused and turned to one
of them. "8ee that thn const la rln, nH
kepu clear," he ordered. "I want to vn
down."
The man aaluted and went out throueh
the panel. A moment later Del Mnr b-bvp
1eW
7
.iiwr'i..::
Comethlna bobbed up In tha watsr. It
orders to the other man who alao saluted
and left the hous by the front door,
Juat at our car pulled up.
Pel Mar. the moment th man waa
gone, put on hla hat and moved toward
th panel In the wall. He was about to
enter when he heard someone coming
down the hall to the study and stepped
back, closing the panel. It waa the butler
announcing ua
We had entered Pel Mar's bttngalow and
now wer conducted to hla library. There
Elaine told him the whole atory, much
to his apparent surprise, for Del Mar
waa a wonderful actor.
"Tou see," he said aa she finished tell
ing of the finding snd the losing of the
torpedo. "Just what I feared would hap
pen haa happened. Doubtless the foreign
agents have the deadly weapon now. How
ever. I'll not quit. Perhapa we may run
them down vet."
Ha reassured ua and we thanked him as
we ssld goodbye. Outside. Elaine and I
got Into the car again and a moment
later spun off, making a little detour flrat
through the country before hitting the
ahor road back aialn to Dodge Hall.
On th rocky ahor of the promontory,
several men were engaged In sinking a
peculiar heavy dlak which they aub
merged about ten or twelve feet. It
aeemed to be held by a cable and to it
wires were attached, apparently so that
when a key waa pressed, a circuit waa
cloaed.
It waa an "oaclllator." a
new system
ror in employment of sound for sub
. i
marine signalling, using water Instead of
air aa a medium to transmit Bound wave..
It was composed of a ring magnet, a cop
per tub lying in an air gap In a mag
netlo field and a stationary central arma
ture. The tube waa attached to a ateel
diaphragm. Iteally, It waa a aubmartne j
hell which could be used for telegraphing j
or telephoning both waya through the j
water. j
Th men finished executing the direc- I
tlona of Pel Mar and left, carefully con- !
ceallng the land connection, and key of ,
the bell, while we were still at Del Mar a, j
We had no sooner left however, than
one of the men who had been engaged In
Installing the submarine bell entered the
libra ry.
"Well?" demanded Del Mar.
"Th bell la Installed, sir." he salt.
"It will be working aoon."
' liood." nodded Del Mar.
He went to a drawer and f'om It t'jok
a peculiar looking helmet, to which was
attached a sort of hnrnrss fitting t
the sliouMrra snd carrying s tatiH tl
oxygen. The headpiece waa a most wl. rd
contrivance, with what looked ItKo
huge glass eye In front. It waa In re
ality a submarine life-aving apparatus.
lel Mar put It on. all except the hel
met. which he carried with him. anl
then, with hla assistant, went out thrush
the panel In the wall. Through the tin.
derground passage the two groped their
way, lighted by an electric t.rch. nut 11
at last they came to the mti-ance hiildes
In the underbrush, near tha shore.
Del Mar went over to the coneiutcd
atatlon from which the aubnia.ine hell
waa sounded and pressed tlu key t s s
aignal. Then he adjusted the submarine
helmet to hla head and deliberately waded
cut Into the water, farther ant farther,
up to bta head, then deeper at ill
Aa he disappeared Into the water hi
emissary turned and went back toaaid
the abort road
r l.Tf J ieW-. ;;
f The ride around through tin countty
and back to the shore road from Del
Mar s was pleasant. In fact it was al-
ways pleasant to be with Eliine, espe
cially in a car.
We were spinning along at a fast clip
hen we came to a rocky part of the
coast. Aa we made a turn a shurp breere
took off my hat and whirled It far off
the road and among the rocks -n ti e
shore. Klalne shut down the engine,
with a lnafgh at me, and we left the car
by the road while we climbed down the
rocka after the hat.'
It had been carried Into the water
close to shore, and, still laugh In?, wa
clambered over the rocka TOaln In
sisted on getting it herself, and In fact
did get It. She waa Just about to hand
It to me when something bobbed up In
the water Just In front of ua. fh
reached for It and fished It out. It wrt?t
a cylinder with airtight caps on both
ends, in one of which' was a hook.
"What do you aurpose It la?" she
asked, looking It over aa we made our
way up the rocka again to the car.
"Where did it come from?"
We did not see a man standing by our
car. but he saw us. It waa Del Mar's
man, who had paused on hla way to
watch us. ' As wo approached he hid on
the other sldo of the road.
Hy thla time wc had reached the car
and opened the cylinder. Inside was a
note, which read:
"Chief arrived safely. Keep watch."
"What does It mean?" repeated Elaine,
mystified.
LM5?1
W
was a cylinder containing a note.
Neither of us could guess, and I doubt
whether we would hav understood any
better If w had Been a sinister face
peering at us from behind a rock near
by, although doubtlese' tho man knew
what was in the tube and what it meant.
We climbed into the car and atarted
again. Aa we disappeared,, the man
came quickly from behind the racks and
ran quickly up to the top of the hill.
There, from the bushes, he pulled out a
peculiar Instrument composed of a
strange aeries of lenses and mirrors set
up on a tripod.
Eagerly he placed-the tripod, adjusting
ths lenses and mirrors in the sunlight.
Then he began working them, and It wsa
spparent that he was flashing light
benras, using the Morse code. It was a
heliograph.
Down the shore on the top of the next
hill aat the man who had already given
the signal with the handkerchief to those
In the valley who were working on the
mining of the bridge. Aa he sat there,
his eye caught the flash of the helio
graph signal He sprang up and watched
Intently. Rapidly he Jotted down the
message that was being flashed In the
sunlight:
"Dodge girl has message from below.
Coming In car. Blow first bridge she
crosses."
Pown the valley the lookout made his
way aa fast aa he could. A he ap
proached the two men who had been
.mining me bridge, he whistled sharply,
; Thev n,u .r .....i k i. . . ..
m nrti mm-
just g;.t a heliograph," he panted.
"The Dodge 'girl must have picked up
one of the message, that came from
GImIMKIH off HL&OKlIja
Featuring LIONEL BARRYMORE
Hesse Theatre GRAND Theatre
SOUTH OP.1AHA 16th and DInnoy
Romanca of Elaine With Lionel Barry mere Episode No. 2 July 8
Episode No. 3 July 7 Romanes of Elaine with Lionel Barrymore
BBBsBBBBaaBBBsBBasBBBBBBSMaasaBaBBaaBBBaBSBBBaaBHaaaaaBB sBSHBsaaBBasBaBBssBsBBBBBaaBssBBBBaBBaaBaBBsaaasBaaa
FAUOniTE Theatre em Theatre
17th and Vinton St. 1528 So. 13th St.
komaao of Elaia with X4oaI Barrymor.
Episode No. 2 July 6 Episode Ko. 1 Today July 4
lOE0 -THEATRE 3jei0as 7,eatre
LOTHROP Thoatro Council Bluffs, la.
svi.od. ,.. i. x 24th h,rm ,nly ., Episode No. 20 July 6
ALAMO THEATRE Ep,.odrHho?n,d4 Fort s,july 0
C n.lilli..il'l.;u tl.tL. C.-1 i I4in r ri n i a
Moving Pictures.
t.eiow. Sr.e-a coming over the hill now
In a car. We've got to blow up the
bridge aa ahe crosses."
The men were hurrying now toward
the bridge which they had mined. Not
a moment was to be lost, for slreadv
they coulrl see tis coming over the crest
of the hill.
In a few seconds they reached the hid
den plunger firing box which had been
arranged to explode the charge under
the bridge. There they crouched In the
brti'h ready to press the plunger the
moment our car touched the planking.
One of the men crept out a little nearer
the road. "They're coming!" he called
hack. dropping down again. "Get
ready!" ...
Del Mar's emmisserte had not reck,
oned, however, that anyone else might
be about to whom the heliograph was an
open book.
But further over on the hill, hiding
smong the tree, the old farmer and his
dog were sitting quietly. The old man
waa sweeping the sound with hla glasses,
as If he expected to see something any
moment.
To his surprise, however, he caught a
flash of the heliograph from the land.
Quickly he turned and Jotted down the
signals. Aa he did so, he seemed greatly
excited, for the message read:
"Dodge girl hag message from below.
Coming In car. Blow flrat bridge she
crosses."
Quickly he turned his glasses down the
road. There he could see our car ap
proaching the hill toward the bridge.
Then ho broke Into a run, the dog scout
ing ahead.
We were going along the road nicely
now, coasting down the hill. Aa we ap
proached the bridge. Elaine slowed up a
bit, to cross, for the planking waa loose.
Just then the farmer, who had been
running down the hill, aaw us.
"Stop!" he shouted.
But we did not hear. He ran after us.
but the chase waa hopeless. He stopped!
In despair.
With a gesture of vexation he took a
step or two mechanically off the road.
Elaine and I were coming faat to the
bridge now.
In their hiding place, Del Mar s men
were watching breathlessly. The leader
wo Just about to press the plunger
when all of a sudden a branch in the
thicket beside him crackled. There stood
the farmer and his dog!
Instantly the farmer seemed to take In
tho situation. With a cry he threw him-
tr at the man who had th
Another man leaped at the farmer. The
dog settled hlni. The othera piled In and
a terrific struggle followed. It waa all
so rapid that, to all, eecond seemed like
hours.
We were Just starting to cross the bridge.
who oi mo men brnb, . n
I ) w H
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OUR ANNUAL
JULY CLEARING SALE.
An event which means more in savings to our custo
mers this year than ever before. Bigger Assortments, bet
ter values. See 16th street window displays. Prepare to
come early Tuesday.
crawled toward the plunger box.
O ir car was now In the middle of the
bridge.
Over and over rolled the men, the dog
doing his best to help his master.
The man who had broken away reached
toward the plunger.
With a shout he pushed It down.
...
Our rar ' had Just cleared the bridge
when we were startled by a terrlflo roar'
behind us. It was as though a thousand
tires had blown out at once. Elaine shut
off the engine automatically and we
looked back.
The whole bridge had been Mown, up.
A eecond before we had been In thu
middle of It.
As the explosion came. the. men who
had been struggling In the thicket paused,
startled, and stared out. At that Instant
the old farmer saw his chance. It waa
all over and he bolted, calling the dog.
Along the road to the bridge he ran,
two of the men after him.
"Come back," growled the leader. "Let
hlni go. Do you want us all to get
caught?"
As the farmer ran up to the bridge he
aaw It In ruins. But down tho road he
could aee Elaine and myaelf sitting In
tha car staling back at the peril which
we had ao narrowly escaped. His face
lighted up Jn as great Joy as a few mo
menta before It had showed despair.
"What can that have been?" asked
Elaine, starting to get out of th car.
"What caused It?"
"I don't know," I returned, taking her
arm firmly, "but enough has happened
today. If It was Intended for us we'd
better, not stop. Someone might tak a
shot st us. Come. We have th cer.
We can got out before anyone does any
thing more. Let's do It Things are gor
lng on about us of which we know noth
ing. The safest thing ia to get away."
Elaine looked at the bridge In ruins
and shuddered. It waa the closest we
could have been to death and have es
caped. Then she turned to the wheel
quickly and the little car fairly Jumped
ahead.
"Oh, If Craig were only here," she mur
mured. "He would know what to do."
As we disappeared over the crest of the
next hill, aafe. the old farmer and hla
dog looked hard at us.
The Bllence after the explosion watt
ominous. I
He glanced about. No one was pur
suing him. That seemed ominous, too.
But If they did pursue he wss prepared
to elude them. They must never recog
nise the old farmer.
As he turned he deliberately pulled off
hla beard, then plunged again Into the
woods and waa lost.
(To be continued.)
Store
Closed
All Day
m We Celebrate
t&S Independence Day I
j . Monday, July 5
J
I