Show mum the P trey irv A J OHen as ris A novelized nc version of the motion picture drama of the same name 1 produced by the iho universal oba film co by LOUIS JOSEPH VANCE klinler Hlin ler alu 17 OM s th k oi dc illustrated with photo achs fron from the dr picture Prodoc production tion all copyright by bi louls doali joseph 0 SYNOPSIS the trey 0 of hearts 1 in tho the death aien aign employed maloyed mp loyed by seneca trine in the private harof vengeance which through the agency of ilia ahli daughter judith a woman of violent pass passions lons like hla his own he wages against alan law ton son of the man mail now dead who wan wait innocently responsible for the which rendered trine a help 1089 cripple alan loves rose judiths tw inand double but in nil all other respects tier her precise opposite judith promises her father to coni alan a death but under dramatic ceass circumstances acu betances me lie he saves her life and so unwillingly law llin gly wins tier her love thereafter judith la Is by turra animated by the old hatred the new love and jealousy at of noe itose CHAPTER detail across the plain purple shadows were sweeping close ranked like some home vait dark irmy army invading the land pouring on over the ralin rampart part ot of moun bains in th abo east within tho the rim of hills that ringed the plain like the chipped and broken flange of a titanic saucer silence brooded blooded and solitude held away dwar dw arfine fink the town of 0 detail that oc aupied the approximate middle of tile the sagebrush waste to proportions even less significant than might be ba inferred from the candor of its christening A platform a tiding siding a water tank a wells fargo office and a telegraph and ticket office backed by three rough frame buildings that la is detail item iced completely shortly after nightfall the steel rib tons bone of the santa fo began to hum burn A headlight peered suspiciously round a shoulder of the eastern range took heart of courage to find the plain still wrapped tn in peace and trudged stolid ly toward detail the tha engine whose eye it was wa pulling after it a string of at freight cars both flat and box at detail the train paused its crew alighted and engaged in ant ani mated argument detail gathered that the ithe excitement was due to the unaccountable disappearance of the caboose none seemed to have any notion us as to t how it could have broken loose yet missing it conspicuously was I 1 in the pause that followed while a report was telegraphed to headquarters and inspru instructions colons turned to proceed without delay one of the train men spied a boyish figure lurking in the open door of an empty box car cunningly boarding this car from the opposite side the trainman caught the unawares and booted him vaingloriously into tho the night As the figure alighted and took to its heels losing itself in the darkness it uttered a cry of pained surprise and protest which drew a wrinkle of antonish astonishment ment between the brows brown of the trainman sounded like a womans comans voice he roused mused then dismissed the suggestion as obviously absurd it was not I 1 shortly after the freight train had gone on its way before indeed andee d the glI glimmer nimer of its rear lights had been lost among the western hills a second headlight appeared in tile lie aas east swept swiftly across the plain and in turn stopped at detail the second bird ot of lastinge proved to be a locomotive drawing a single car a pullman hardly had it run past the switch however when hen the brakeman brn keman dropped down ran iran quickly back to the switch and threw it open promptly the train backed on to the siding biding As the tha pullman jolted across the frogs the brake brakeman mati biter interposing posing himself between it and the tender re the coupling ao by the time that the pullman had come to a full stop on the siding the locomotive was swinging westward like a seared scared jack jackrabbit rabbit though no such euch milk and watery characterization of the tha traitor passed the lips of any one one odthe of the three men who presently appeared on the pullmans platform and shook impotent flats fists in the direction taken bythe fugitive engine when the last of these had bad run temporarily pora rily out of breath and blasphemy a brief silence tell fell punctuated by groans from each and concluded by the sound of a voice calling from the interior of the car a voice as strangely sonorous of tone as it was curiously querulous of accent the three men immediately ran back nto the car and presented themselves with fio nten ances variously apolo j getic to one who occupied a corner of the drawing room a man wrapped in 1 aa p k steamer eamer rug an and d a cloud of fury now nei when he had drained tile the muddy froth i of profanity from ills his temper it left le ft a clear and effervescent ve well ot of vl vi rulen imor the wrath jt if the valetudinarian began to vent itself upon the hapless leads heads of the trio who stood before him while this was in process the person of boyish appearance who had been keeping religiously aloof and inconspicuous in the background of detail ever since that unhappy affair with the trainman stole quietly up to the rear of he be stalled pullman climbed aboard and creeping down the aisle unceremoniously interrupted the conference just as the invalid was on off a rude but honest opinion f tub the intellectual caliber of f one of tho three named Marro phat who figured as his right hand man and familiar genius amen to thail the boyish person ejaculated with candid fervor lounging gracelessly in the doorway theres many a true word spoken in wrath mr Marro phat father forgot only one thing your masterly way a with a revolver F from rein what ive avo seen of that this day ill go ball bail that the only safe place for a man you pull a gun on to Is right in front of the muzzle theres something downright uncanny in the way you can hit anything but what you aim Judi judith exclaimed the in invalid amid where did you drop from from that freight judith explained carelessly neglecting to eluce date tho the exact fashion of her drop 1 I judged be a long along presently lind and thought id like ilka to learn tha news well what luck ter her father shrugged with hip one movable shoulder mr Marro phat grunted indignantly the others shut tied lied uneasily aud and 1 looked aked all ways but oneat one at the girl eirl in maril mans s plo clothing thing none nonoa judith interpreted Interpret tid you dont mean to tell me that after I 1 had taken all that ahat trouble east cast the caboose loose in the middle of that trestle at the risk of my life you have the nervo nerve to vo po through with the busin business esal we went through all right replied Marro phat defensively but as usual they were too quick for us they jumped out and dropped off tho the trestle before our engine hit the caboose we smashed chatto thatto that to kindling wood but they got away just in time to miss the crash and by the time we had stopped and calmed down the engineer well it was dark and no way of telling which way they had run the girl started to speak but merely dropped limp hands at her sides and rolled her eyes helplessly we do our best Marro phat observed wo we cant be ba blamed if something om ething somehow always happens to tip tho the others off tho girl swung to face him with blazing eyes just what does that mean she demanded in a dangerous voice Marro phat lifted his shoulders nothing much he be allowed 1 I am only thinking how strange it to 1 that mr law cant be caught by any sort sart of stratagem when you are on the job miss judith I 1 the girls hands were clenched into flats white knuckles knuck lea showing through the alesh you contemptible she snapped but on this her voice failed for her tyes traveled part tho the person of mr air Marro phat to tho the doorway of the drawing room and found it framing a stranger me friends lie he offered in a lazy semi humorous drawl it pains me considerable to butt in on this happy family gathering but business Is business samo same as usual and I 1 got to rat you all to please put up your hands what do you want the invalid demanded why drawled tho the bandit nothing in part particular icolar only your cash shell out it you please gents all and the lady too lie ho ran rail an appreciative glance down the figure which judiths disguise revealed rather than concealed it pardon my notice he amended perhaps I 1 if the ladys clothes HI fit tier her so BO all ailred keep a civil tongue in your head my mant judith counseled without any show of 0 fear at the same time her fathers voice brought her to tier her senses Judi juditha ile be quiet let roo me deal with this gentleman I 1 am sure we can come to some arrangement you bet your life agreed the gentleman as the girl mutinously stepped back 1 I know what I 1 want and you all know you got it so the name of at the said arrangement Is in just shell out one minute the invalid interposed dont misunderstand me I 1 guarantee you shall filial be amply satisfied I 1 give you my iny word tho the word of 0 seneca trine trice the eyes of 0 the bandit widened no Is that so seneca trine trice tho the railroad king youre born youre him ivo ive seen been your picture in the capere a dozen times well now it looks like idi id drawn 0 full house to this pair of deuces dances dont bont it yo laught to be able to ilay pay something haili handsome dome ill pay you far more handsomely than you dream of if do ns as I 1 wish trine trice interrupted quickly do me the service I 1 wish ish and name your price whatever it Is you shall have it Neff nothing liling could bo be fair talbern ern thail tho the two gun man admitted suspiciously dut but the number of this here service like you call it listen to me trine trice bent his bis lead head forward and jabbed the air with an emphatic forefinger the life of a roan man worth in this neck of the v T coall sow rauch you got ill pay you ton ten thou thousand saud dollars for the life ills ot of I 1 will namo name the eyes of t ta b bandit narrowed hold field on my friend is that what you call all my naming my own price name it then said trine trice give me a thousand on account said bald the orbet and a paper saying pay trio me nineteen thousand more in exchange for it if and one dead man properly identified as the one you want signed by you and your mans as good els as dead this minute providing lies hes in riding distance of this here car trine trice waved his hand at hla his secretary jimmy find a thousand dollars for this gentleman make out the paper he indicates for the balance and ill sign it aint you powerful trustful mr fr trine trice how do you know ill do anything moron pocket that thousand and fade delicately away my daughter and this gentleman nir mr Marro phat will accompany you oh the way of it is it name interjected the secretary writing busily with the top of his caso case for a desk slade said the th 0 bandit james jamee slade again trine trice punctured the atmosphere mo sphere with hla his index finger the man whose life I 1 want Is named alan law ile he Is running away with my daughter rose accompanied by a person named barcus disguised as a pullman porter the three of them having recent escaped from a train wreck up yonder on the trestle hopi jim interposed youve met them judith demanded whirling round about an hour ago or maybe an hour and a half hopi jim replied a good ways down the road they stopped and sat ast where they could get put plit up ter far the night I 1 kindly directed them on to mesa down in the painted hills yonder CHAPTER Fl Fi replay contented with the promise of a thousand dollars advance on his contract providing ho he returned with horses within a stipulated time mr hopi hop james slade drifted quietly away into the desert night well content persuaded that the morrows sun would never set upon a world tenanted ten anted by one alan law that monomaniac seneca trine trice forgot lits his recent ill temper and set himself diplomatically mati cally to adjust the differences between his daughter judith and his hie first lieutenant Marro phat it was no facile took task could not be trusted to work with a single mind because of his infatuation for judith judith could conid no mare more be trusted faithfully to serve berve out her vow to bring alan law to her fathers feet alive or dead because 0 cruel irony ot of fatel she herself had fallen in love with that same man whose eath she had pledged herself to compass only when ns as now halt half mad with jealousy determined to see alan dead rather than yield him to the woman he loved her sister might judith be counted upon to servo her father in his lust for vengeance as he would be served and even so not without mar man at lier her elbow to egg her on through tier her resentment of ills surveillance neither could be trusted indeed to work alone to tile lie desired consummation for trine trice had secret reason to fear lest Marro phat might given opportunity connive at escape in order that lie he might marry rose and so throw judith back into his arms poor deluded fool such was waa the private comment of master for all that it was the man and not his daughter whom trine designated to lend lead the expedition cunningly counting on oil judiths chagrin to work upon tier her pasy lons ons and excite her to one last laet mad blind attempt that should prove successful success lul smiling ills his lecren smile trino trine announced lioun ced ills his decision dei lalon at the last moment while hapl jim waited with ills horses and an all assistant one texas for whose utter innocense of scruples mr slade unhesitatingly vouched vou thed ched sullenly nl submissive at least in outward seeming judith bowed to this decision marched arched in out of the tha car and suffered Marro phat to help her mount her horse now deliberately as the little cavalcade rode through the moonlit desert night the ahl maneuvered tier her horse to the side bide of jim and then dropped back permitting Marro phat to lead tile the way with texas As deliberately she set herself to work upon the bandits susceptibility to tier her charms charina within an hour she had him ready to do anything to win tier her smile in that first rush of golden day athwart the land the party came quietly into tho the town of mesa riding slowly in order that the noise of their approach might not warn tile the fugitives who iloni asserted confidently conn dently would still be sound asleep in the accommodations offered by the towns one hotel it was 0 o bo be termed only in courtesy tesy this mesa a straggling 0 ot shacks kle of what hail had once been a pro promising bilsing om the hak way station between the railroad and tho the mining campa secreted to in the fastnesses fast nesses of the painted hills campe camp now abandoned their air very names almost faded out of the memory of mankind midway in this string of edifices the hotel stood a rough unpainted wooden edifice mainly veranda and barroom as to its lower floor jealously judith watched the win aln dows of tho the second floor and sho she alone of the four detected the face that showed tor for one brief instant well back in the shadows baymond ono of tho the bedroom windows a face that glimmered with the pallor 0 a ghosts against the background of 0 that obscurity and then was gone tier ifer eyes alone indeed could have recognized the features of alan law in that fugitive glimpse two sentences exchanged between iloni jim and a blear eyed fellow whom he be roused from sodden slumbers lumbers behind the bar seated sealed their confidence with the three fugitives were jn a fact guests of tho house occupying two of at the three rooms that composed ito ite upper story in the rush that followed up the narrow stairway judith led with such spirit that not even Marro phat suspected her revolver volver ro was poised solely |