lied or have to give It all up and mit ourselves utter failures!" ad- CHAPTER XIX. Baseball Romance yWAPmm ar (CorrstGstr, S Carrfvrr & Cmam a0 Gfi&r &&&) WGGiAPMASi across at his companion. a few Inches of midnight gloom SYNOPSIS. "Somewhat battered on the bead; Hervlia Clilcf Wllklna, puzzled somewhat damaged In the ribs and over th theft ot the government' cipher, ss to nils to Ills sid IteliH'tlva HI uk well. They knees; considerably mussed up ililnk I hey have discovered a new cipher, clothing, and, apparently, in Jail, rewhen Ihs ofllca boy, Ilrockett, (nils them turned the Cuban. Otherwise I think It's the Diamond Cipher" and siarls for I am all right and perfectly Hie ball park. Ilrocknlt, Chula lain Kan, hnppy. a Blames. Itanion Holano, a Cuban, tuon us, over Who the building pushed rn tier with some twenty other younasiers. One dura. until anyhow?" baseliall, practice playing of Wilkins' stenographers is Been to pass I haven't the slightest Idea," ruea paper to a mysterious stranger. As uiilcoiiie ot Hrockett'a cipher, the ball fully resjKinded Brackett. "All 1 can player and Solano are engaged by gov- remember Is making one grab at that ernment for mysterious mission. myairluns Jap, calls on ltrnrkstt. negro, while you tried to seize the belt. Ilrockett rally Into Yailinotn's trap, a Then things seemed to go 'round and fight follows, Itmekett coming uut on 1 began to look through a lop; Meexengcr McKane coining to the 'round, and rescue. McKane was bearer of the at the evening stars. telescope big cltihar: Is also a ball player. Did things Impress you that way?" returns to headiiiarlers and to Huron Zellsrn Ills failure in obmuch so," Ramon answered. tain the cipher; Mias lAtwaon, the sten- "I "Pretty remember having one distinctly reports In the baron. ographer, alsoMolann Hmckett and have encounter with band on that belt, and the other hand ihs luimn In wlilrh the latter comes out second licat. ItnH'ketl and Kolano arrive on that large black man's necktie. to Then somebody turned off the lights In Jersey City; make appointment meet Mctllnnlty. the Inin Man" bs on again, in for an Instant, turned them Holano arrive Itruckett and manager. New York and run Into a Chinese Tong much brighter than before, and then war: reactieil by a while man. The place turned them off for keeps. I wonder s of refuge found In he a trap; And prisoners of Yaslfttnto. Kelly to where we are?" rescue. Kelly turns IIO.QuO Jifp inonry "Jail, I believe you tainted. Probvrr to Itrnrkelt. Urockcll and Holuiio pave encounter with tough gang, hut are ably the best place for us or for me, Protected by Kellv'a men. (in sleeper anyway, after scoring such a failure t'levcland-bound- ; the baron detected In 1 dragged uel of rifling Hnlann'a Jumps from as this has been. I'm sorry the moaaengi-rtrain Al go In you into such a piece of foollshneaa." bull game, racelre hieroglyphs In myate-rlou- s I came along entirely of my own manner nod depart for Chicago Arare accord," said the Cuban, "and I don't riving In Cltlesgo, tits messenger rohlied by a "irsnsom tlilef the baron think we have made a failure of the againIn appears. The banin agrees to rerovi ring the atolcn papers. Tha expedition not yet. We didnt get In the tnoaaengera find the stolen papers front that nepro true belt the away a of negro. possession giant enough but we are a great dual near CHAPTER XVIII. er to it than we were an hour before Ibrrrt Yazl-mol- o, mya-terlo- Yaa-Inm- to them-selve- lu-it- lt a na-ai- st Juat wh.it happened between the moment when the big negro brought out the money-bel- t and tha moment when a full understanding of everyday affairs catne bark to llrockeit and Solano, neither of those young men could fully detail. Thtre had been a cyclone, closely followed by an earth-'quakafter which the roof had fallen In, burying them under the timbers at least, that was how they figured It all out when they began to sit up and e, . -- we law him. There can't be many black men like that one; its almost a certainty that the Chicago police know hitn and cun locate hltn, and I think that when they find him he will be quite willing to listen to reakon. "Yea but how about making, the police listen to reason first. In regard to ourselves and our affairs?" This was a problem which required weighty deliberation, and the unlucky wanderers had Just started an animated discussion when there was a . r Ymovmuoam nmoimm Ttt6cwm) ms? mm mswfims. take notice again. They found themselves In a dark, almost region of obscurity and silence, with a wooden settee sustaining their weight and a stone floor echoing to pitch-blac- k fte touch of their heels. They found fhelr heads aching fearfully, while sundry bruised simts on their backs, ribs and shins demanded consolation. It p as so dark in their new quarters that fhey could not see themselves or esch other, but each of them felt himself strangely soiled and dirty. -How do you find yourself, Ramon?" lut-rfeIlrockett. striving to peer clanging of Iron and a grating of bolti. Some one turned on an electric light nearby and the boys, blinking in the gleam, saw that they were the occupants of a dingy cell, perhaps eight feet long by five wide, and sumptuouswith a long wooden ly furnished bench and an empty pall. The door was slowly opening, and the aperture framed the bulky figure of a sturdy Irish policeman, who chuckled as be gated In upon the captives. "Well, how do ye young dlvtle feel after a little time to coot off?" Rather confused," replied Brackett, instinctively warming to the big IrishTell ua, wont you, how we man, happen to be here? Have ye no memory at all? laughed the policeman. Almost none, officer. We can remember things going 'round In circles and then someone shooing our sensei away from us nothing after that.1 I can believe ye," returned the ofI was just walkin Slate street, ficer. me and Flynn, me partner I'm Hogan, an' the team la Hogan and Flynn, terrors to all Well, me lad, be that aa It may, we were walkin' State street, not too far from Taylor, when we beard sounds indicatin' that Satan had bruk loose In a coon restaurant nearby. We went over, an' I'm think-I- n' we were just In time. Jfouse two wss on the floor, an half a dozen big niggers was tramplin' the stuffin' outa youse. Fire minutes more an yed have both been fine subjects for the coroner." "Tell me," ventured Solano, "wan there one great big fellow, twice the size of an ordinary man, among tha crowd? Now ye remind me of It," said the policeman, "there surely was big Sam Crultt, the human elephant Great big nigger, makes his livin' mostly by distributin ads for fake doctors and thievin dentists. Ha was tryln', as near as we could judge, to keep the crowd off from youse two. Anyhow, he wasn't doin' nothin to harm either wan of youse, an' when we come In he backed out the rear door, nice an quiet. Rad nigger is Sam, at times, but be didn't seem specially bad on this occasion." Just the same," declared Ilrockett, "the trouble started because he had stolen something of mine or, rather, had something of mine that another man had stolen. A money belt, con-- , talnlng considerable cash and well, anyhow, containing all my money.' lfe showed the belt In this re: taurant. put In Solano, and we, accl dentally happening to be there at the time, paturally tried to take it away from him. Then, 1 suppose, they all Jumped on us. That they did, an' the only thing Im surprised at." remarked the officer. "fa that iBey didn't Use their razors on ye. Bad lot of coons hang 'round that place. Im teliln ye." We fully believe It." said Solano, with a grimace of pain. "But say, officer, how long have we been In here, and how long have we to stay?" "Ye have been in only a matter of three, hours, lads." replied the policeman, though I suppose It has seemed a week of Sundays. As to how long ye stay well, ye haven't been booked yet. I'm not a bad judge of people when I see them, in' ye look all right. Washed and brushed up the boys felt a little more like live hjtman beings. Officer Hogan treated 'them like younger brothers, assured them that no charge had been entered against them, and that they might consider themselves as simply held for "Better stay right here safekeeping. till evenin," said the hospitable officer, "an' then we will sally out an try to get hold of the Itlg nigger. I have a half-ide- a aa to where we can locate him. He's up against the dope smokes hop regular an' It won't be hard to find hint. Along after supper, lads, we'll go out an' do the best we can." Neither Ilrockett nor Solano could find words to fit the case, but the twinkle In the big policeman's eye told that he fully understood their reelings. He shook hands with them reassuringly. brought them a bundle of newspapers to while away the time, nnd then busied himself with the routine of hts report upon the day's events. The boys were burled In the printed columns, when a little packet of paper seemed to wart Itself through the window by which they were sitting. The packet fell at Brocket! s feet. As he caught It up Solano sprang for the w lndow, peered eagerly out and saw no one excepting two blue-clapolicemen strolling by. Ilrockett opened the packet and found several thicknesses of blank paper. bound together to give weight and accuracy to the throwing of the missile. In the center of tha package was a slip of cardboard, and written across this In the hieroglyphs Brock-el- t had himself Invented, were these well-know- evil-doer- The day passed somewhat dragglng-ly- . lor time flies with leaden pln feath-er- s hen you are In a hurry, ilrockett nnd Solano knew that they had little tune left for action, and that If they failed to recover the tneasagea now In poat.csit.lon of the big negro their Journey would abruptly end. an utter failure. Mod of the artemoon and early was spent In discussing the i and the chances of finding black, giant tin- - documents still In his possession. only hope. said llrockeit. "that h- - hasn't thrown awny the envelopes, lie might very likely destroy them to n;ak- - the chance of identifying the belt an much smaller, and to protect him lu the possession of the money. I hardly think so," Solano encourWhen aged the worried youngster. we get the negro, we'll get belt, papers, money and all. And I think Of fleer Hogan will come pretty near to rounding him up, if anybody can. "I wonder U the big fellow remem bered us from Detroit?" mused IlrockIf so, he might also remember ett. the card he passed us, something of F general appearance, and. If he ousted the envelopes In the belt, the duplication of the writing might Impress him." Hardly probable," dissented SoHe was simply told, in Delano. to hand that card to us, and troit, was paid something to do It He might remember us, all right hut would not be likely to remember anything about the message that he gave us. Quit fretting about the whole lousiness. I firmly believe everything will work out all right, and that the lost envelopes will come back to you before morning. Then we can hurry towards Mexico as fast as you may desire." It was about nine that night when OtFyws Hogan and Flynn the latter as big. as husky and as truly Irish as .bis partner summoned the boys for he expedition that should spell abso-ift- u failure or a chance to retrieve lost fortunes. Both were in plain tc The boys walked through a yard filled with mud, bricks and wreckage of every imaginable kind. At the far end of the yard they brought up against a brick wall. They fumbled along ibis' wall, soon finding the little .I doorway, and tapped thrice upon the panels. Sumew herein the woodwork of the door a spark of light gleamed, and they were uncomfortably aware that they were under scrutiny. They whistled softly and tapped the door again. It qpened and a Chinaman confronted them. You want smoke?" Of course we do," Solano answered. The yellpw man looked them over, and then beckoned them Inside the portals, shutting and bolting the door behind them. noiseless, he conducted them up a hallway damp with mould, noiaome with dirt and the smell of many nights of opium cooking," and guided them into a room of considerable size. A mattress, gray with dirt, lay on the floor and on this mattress three men two negroes and one white man were stupidly reclining, while a peanut oil .lamp burned on a bit of matting nearby, and a bamboo pipe waa being passed from hand to band. The sweet, penetrating, slcklsh smell of opium thickened the air; roaches ran, fearless and Inquisitive, along the floor, and the wooera of the poppy god, silent, lost In happiness, drowsed, smoked and drowsed again, contented In their horrible surroundings as monarch! in a palace hall. Cheap, fella, hints," said the Chinaman. You want bunk, yes?" Curtains of cheap, drab material masked wide stretches of the wall. From behind these curtains came the hum of subdued conversation and the perfume of the cooking "hop." The Chinaman parted two strips of the drab cloth, and showed a bunk between the curtains and the wall. Ilrockett and Solano looked up and down the room. There waa no sign of their quarry. The boys quietly entered the bunk which the Chinaman had assigned them, and their host quickly brought them the full flara- Cat-foote- LIFE SAVING CREW RESCUES ORPHANS , . Captain Garland and r.icn rrorn Chicago Do Fi.13 at Wcrk port Way!??, LEADER'S STtP.V IS GAPHIG Boatloads cf Children Taken Safely Across Mile of Rushing Vatcr Incidents of the Flood at Peru. rive and without children and their at tendants were rescued from the Fort Wayne Orphan Asylum by Captain Charles Carluud and his crew trom the Chicago liic- saving station. Captain Carland and six life savers returned to Chicago from Fort Wayne with their surf boat, but Immediately departed for Terre Haute to continue tlulr rescue work. Captain Carlan J's story was graphic, lie told how he and his mutt arrived at the asylum just after four children had met death when an attempt was made to rescue them. Five trips to the asylum were made by Captain Carland and each time a boatload waa taken safely across half a mile of swiftly flowing water. Besides the children four matrons and six men were rescued from the building. f Carland Telia Story. "We arrived at Fort Wayne when the water was highest, Bald Captain No sooner had we arrived Carland. when a report reached us that the children were marooned In the Orphan Asylum. One attempt had been made to rescue them which ended disastrously for four of the children and two brave men. The small rowboat rescuers had In which the would-breached the building overturned after four of the children had been taken window. All were from a second-stordrowned. i "Conditions In tlie asylum were aw-fu- l when six men and myself finally reached the building. In one small room, huddled together half frozen and hungry, were the little girls and boys with their attendants. Many were crying, a few were asleep from exhaustion. One of the women had fainted. Afraid to T ruat Boats. At first they refused to trust their lives to our boats. They had witnessed the fate of the first boat and were afraid. We finally carried twelve of the little ones out of the second-stor- y window and then our fight back started. It needed the combined strength of every man on the boat to fight the current and prevent the Then we boat from overturning. were hampered by the cries of the children and at times the one matron we took with ua would become panic stricken. After getting to shore the children were placed In the care of merchants of the town, and we went back for another load. We received a different reception on our second arrival at the asylum. A shout of joy went up when they heard that the first load bad been landed safely. A little confusion resulted from the natural anxiety of the tots to get Into the boat. No one was hurt, suchowever, and after five trips we children all the in ceeded removing and their attendants to safety. Children Go Hungry. "The merchants thanked ua for what we had done. One of the matrons told us the children had not had a full meal for 48 hours. They had run out of coal and were breaking up the furniture In the place for fire wood. The fire they kindled In the middle of the room, braving the danger of the entire building burning up." Bring 200 Peru Children. Charles H. Thacher and hla wire, who live at 3260 Grqveland avenue, H smoker's pat- - arrived here front Peru, Ind., with 200 pheruulla of the oplui. tVru children, many of them now tme rocstloned orphans. "Icu know how cook?" denowa A man In Peru, having a boat, the yellow man, as the young "You manded $50 from Thacher to take the handed him a few silver coins, worn--two away. There was another not can cook, me cook for you?" the and In the marooned house, "Not just yet," said Solano. Let ; her. take to refused tnan us rest a little we are tired and need hot- MiUt was fired and the man fell to stretch out awhile before we Thach-ou- t "A AfeHt', dead," said Mr. smoke. hla wltt with n .pf pscaped of th "All ltte. Yet get leady smoke, call in the boaj. A er. Mr. Th. me. I cook for you." And the heathen Jt.'pffered a bon shuffled away to hit eyrie near the and the other Hr. second 'swififP hospital, man, door, where, with a mulatto woman, man 100 to row the take his, f he alternately chatted softly and cast . imminent there being up accounts on the age-olcounting stork. The man refused byfL strings of the Mongolian race. "This Is worth watching. whispered lor knocked him out of the a brick. A Winona college few Brackett. "Our black man may be In to the f one of those bunks, or he may come rowed tbr doctor's wife a baby was bofn, nioti. In at any time. We can etay here a pital. where chilif bring saved. little while before calling la our and Trio its Stolen Boat Crowned. friends or going out again." unknown men were drowned Three A voice came to them from a nearby whew leaky boat, which they bunk a voice that they had heard be- ft Peru kail stolen, sank. The boat waa own fore. Both boys started agitatedly as ed by Oliver Wilson, a farmer who they recognized Its thick, oily tone, lives near the water line of th Inter but they restrained their Impatience urban tracks. Wilson discovered tbs firm by gripping each other with theft when the three men were- tM hands. though shaking from shore. When they had yards mah "Ah done tole yo, frenT came gone a half mllb, (hey appeared' la the voice, dat dis heab place am distress. The Wilson family watchtri haunted. Haunted by wivout gaoe' the men struggle in the water ami any hald. Dass right Long time ago, No effort has been made dere was a man done been killed disappear. to recover the bodies. off cut his hald, took right heah. Dey At heroic work was' de hald away wlv em, an left de done Logansport by the crew sent from- Lake baldsince den dls heau Evah body. r.luff and by the cadets from Culver less man have done haunted de spot Military aeademy In saving lives. Now an' den he cornea right m beak Many pathetic Now de an' aenhes smokehi silly. ar work of rescue. incidents marked the den yo'll see him In de yahd. Mah V In all mere than 5.060 persons were Iren, dls aint no jvks. Onst every a rercued from marooned homes and' often dat baldleas man comes roun' token to safely In rowboats. Many heah, an' Ah'm aimos' suah dat he's lost everything lassessed they due. Didn't pretty nigh yo' nevrh see Mcrs"s. cattle and oIIht animal :wrro no ghostses oveh in Manlli?" '.'.led by the hund.-.- 1 Is. (TO BE t'OXTIM'K'.J I Chicago. food, Half-froze- lifty-cig- TfffPtctfrmt rr eMotFrrsm: clothes, both were heavily armed, and both seemed to regard the evenings program as a rare bit of diversion. "Dont you worry, mo lad," chuckled Hogan, "we11 get your nagur berore the .stroke of twelve, an' we'll get the goods with him. He's no spendthrift nagur, that felly, an' he'll liave pretty near all your money atlll with him." sl'd he willing," saM Ilrockett, "to let him keep the money If he'd give else was In the belt. me back-wha- t "Iet him kape nothin'," growled Yud ye encourage a chape Flynn. nagur to unlawful doln'a? Ye'd spoil him be lettln' him have money. Weil get him, an' the money too. Walking and chatting pleasantly, the policemen led their companions over a side street, and Into an alley that was blacker than a pall of tar. No moon waa shining, and the quartet stumbled along, occasional smothered remarks of a thoroughly prorane nature marking places where the stalwart "coppera" stubbed a toe or barked a shin. After penetrating the alley for perhaps 200 feet, the policemen ordered a halt. Now. me sons." said Hogan, "right here Is where we have to show a hit Go of generalship, ye understand. youse two through this yard to a small back door ye'll find at the far end. Knock three times an' whistle. Borne wan will look at ye through a peephole. 8eetn' that ye are only kids, an' harmless-lookin'- , they will let ye In. letterings: find the big nagur there. It la up ir ye BA S1I S1I FA TC W HR ZI1H HR K to jouse to open the door, sudden, an' To PO Pos FA FA TC HR E TO A us in. If they hinder ye from let SH E TO till Sll PO Pos WP E TO the door, yell well hear ye. openin e :mi sii w.H po I' the nagur la not there, make some "Keep original appointment. Delay excuse a friend ye wanted Is net no longer." translated Brackett Tothere, or ye have no money to buy a night's fortunes then will decide card av hop an' come out again. whether we earn keep faith as prom- - Then well hang around an' wait for d the black gazabo. Can ye make good? Ye can? Then go to 1L" Wfr-ma-q d - -