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Show ) nthe MARDI GRAS by H.B e dford tJones Illtwirations bij Copyright by Doubleduj Pag? and Company Continued. 12 Ah. here are Fell and Ansle.v! exclaimed Maillard, almost with relief. "I ah my friends, I don't suppose you've seen I; oh recently?' Jachin Fell, Ansley was silent. however, responded with a cold nod of assent. Yes, he said in his peculiarly toneless manner. Yes, we hate. At least, 1 believe it was he I'm worried, said Maillard, anxiously, hurriedly. He made an expressive gesture of despair. He's in costume, of course. Ive been given to understand that well, that he has been well, drinking. He has, said Jachin Fell, without A number any trace of compassion. of the Krewe are occupying one of the rooms in the building, and they must have been visiting it frequently. I trust for your sake that the fact hasn't become generally known inside? Maillard nodded. Shame and anger lay heavily in his eyes. Judge Forester, in his kindly way, laid his hand on the banker's arm. Tut. tut. Joseph. lie said, gently, a fund of sympathy in Ids voice. Roys will be hoys, you know; really, this Is no great matter! Iion't let it bit you so hard. Ill go with you to find the room, of course. Where is it. Jachin? We'll all go. put in Ansley. We'll have a little party of our own, gentlemen. Como on, I believe well be able to discover the place. The four men left the foyer and started through the corridors. I hear. said Judge Forester to Doctor Ansley, , as they followed the other two, that there has heen astonishing news today from the Midnight Masquer. It seems that a number of people have received back property this afternoon loot the bandit had taken. It appears to have heen some sort of a carnival joke, after all. A poor one, then, responded Ans-leand in doubtful taste. Ive heard nothing of it. I wouldnt mind getting back the little cash I lost, though I must say I'll believe the story' when I see the money He broke off quickly. As they turned a corner of the corridor to the four men came realization that they had attained their goal. From one of the rooms ahead there sounded snatches of a boisterous chorus being roared forth lustily. As they halted, to distinguish from which door the singing proceeded, the chorus was broken off by an abrupt and sudden silence. This silence was accentuated by the preceding noise, as though the singers had checked their maudlin song in D n it! muttered Maillard. Did No, that they hear us coming? wouldnt matter a hang to them but what checked them so quickly? This door, said Fell, indicating one to their right. He paused at it, listening, and over his features came a singular expression. As the others joined him, they caught a low murmur of voices, a hushed sound of lalk. a rattle ns a number of chips fell from a table. observed Jachin. Cursed queer! I wonder what hapFell, frowning. pened to them so abruptly? Perhaps the deal was finished theyre having a game. Well, go ahead. Joseph ! Well back you up as a deputation from the biackcoats, and if yon need any moral support, call on Judge Formid-caree- r. ester. That gentleman flung open the door, and Maillard entered at his side. They then came to a startled halt, at view of the scene which greeted them. The room was large and well lighted, windows and transom darkened Tobacco smoke for the occasion. made a bluish haze in the air. In the center of the room stood a large table, littered with glasses and bottles, with scattered cards, with chips and money. About this table had been silting half a dozen members of the Krewe of Counts. Now, however, they wore standing, their various identities completely concealed h.v the grotesque cosTheir tumes which cloaked them. hands were in the air. Standing at another doorway, midway between their group and that of the four unexpected Intruders, was the Midnight Masquer holding them up at the point of bis automatic! Maillard was the first to break the silence of stupefaction. be cried, furiously. Ry heavens! Here's that d d villain again hold him, you! at him, everybody! In a blind rage, transported out of himself by bis sudden access of passion, the banker hurled himself forward. From the bandit burst a cry of futile warning; the pistol in his hand veered toward his assailant. This action precipitated the event. Perhaps because the Masquer did not instantly, and perhaps because fire Maillard's mad action shamed them, nearer members of the drinking party hurled themselves at the bandit. The threat of t he weapon was forgotten, unheeded in the sweeping lust of It seemed that the felbe low feared to fire; and about him closed the party in a surging mass, t be 1 tag-end- Children Cry s I if ALCOHOL-- 3 PER CENT, j AVeSelabJcIYepftfation&rAj ' s imitating tlielood by KeguialingthcStonmchsandBcwctsa Special Care of Baby. d Irwin Mijer; CHAPTER VIII desolate, so far as Its offices were concerned. The cleaners and scrubwomen bad long since finished their tasks and departed. Out in the streets of carnival were running the on a swiftly ebbing tide. A single elevator in the building was, however, in use. A single suite of ofiices, with carefully drawn blinds, was lighted and occupied. They were not ornate, these offices. They consisted of two rooms, a small reception room and a large private office, both lined to the ceiling with books, chiefly law books. In the larger room were sitting three men. One of the three, Ren Ohacherre, sat in a chair tipped back against the wall, bis eyes closed. From time to time be opened those sparkling black eyes of his. and through narrow-slittelids directed keen glances at t he other two men. One of the men was the chief of police. The second was Jachin Fell, whose offices these were, "Kven if things are as you say, which I don't doubt at all. said the chief, slowly, "I can't believe the hoy did it ! And darn it all. If I pinch him there's goin to he a h of a scandal ! Fell shrugged his shoulders, and made response in his toneless voice: Chief, you're up against facts. Those facts are bound to come out and the newspapers will nail your hide to the wall in a minute. You've a hare chance to save yourself by taking in young Maillard at once. The chief chewed bard on his cigar. I don't want to save myself by putting the wrong man behind the bars, he returned. It sure looks like he was the Masquer all the while, but you say that he wasnt. You say this was his only job a joke that turned out bad. Those are the facts, said Fell. I don't want to accuse a man of crimes I know lie did not commit. We have the best of evidence that he did commit this crime. If the newspapers fasten the entire Midnight Masquer business on him, as theyre sure to do, we cant very well help him. I have no sympathy for the boy. Of course he did it, put in Ren Chacherre, sleepily. Wusnt he caught with the goods? The others paid no heed. The chief Indicated two early editions of the morning papers, which lay on the desk in front of Fell. These papers carried full accounts of the return of the Midnight Masquers loot, explaining his robberies as part of a carnival man-hun- t. with a burst of sudden shouts, striking and clutching to pull him down and put him under foot. Then, when it seemed that they had him without a struggle, the Masquer broke from them, swept them apart and threw them off, hurled them clear away. He moved as though to leap through the side doorway whence lie bad come. With an oath, Mnillard hurled himself forward, struck blindly and furiously at the bandit, and fastened upon him about the waist. There was a surge forward of bodit as t be others crowded in to pull down ttie Masquer before be could escape, it looked then as though lie were indeed lost until the automatic flamed and roared in ids hand, its clinking fumes bursting at them. The report thundered in t lie room; a second report thundered, deafeningly, as a second bullet sought its mark. Like a faint echo to those shots came the slam of a door. The Masquer was gone! After him, into the farther room rushed some of the party; but lie had vanished utterly. There was no trace of him. His complete disappearance I Thereby Promoting Digestion ; Cheerfulness and RcstContains i Mineral. Not Narcotic funpHnS AcWiAA Jratrmms Jiiisiitmntt tki fr.jm SamI , I AhcipfuIRcmedyfor Constipation and Diarchy and Feverishness Loss of Sleep , resulting e Ta Ihetefrom-tnlrui- y of its own all are agreed. Yet it is more reasonable for an infant to sleep with grown-up- s than to use a mans medicine in an attempt to regulate the delicate organism of that same infant. Either practice is to be shunned. Neither would be tolerated by specialists in childrens diseases. Your Physician will tell you that Babys medicine must be prepared with even greater care than Babys food. A Babys stomach when in good health is too often disarranged food. Could you for a moment, then, think of giving improper by to your ailing child anything but a medicine especially prepared for Infants and Children ? Dont be deceived. Make a mental note of this: It is important, Mothers, that you should remember that to function well, the digestive organs of your Baby must receive special care. No Baby is so abnormal that the desired results may be had from the use of medicines primarily prepared for grown-up- s. That Baby should have a bed MOTHERS Sijnatmvpf (&& SHOULD READ THE BOOKLET THAT GENUINE GnTAtmCowcx IS AROUND EVERY BOTTLE OF FLETCHER'S CAST0R1A C ASTORIA NEW 'YORK. f Exact Copy of Wrapper. TM iwmiiai e CtNTAUR COMPANY, NIW YORK CITY. PUTNAM FADELESS DYES 1 t. dyes or tints as you wish LANDLORD WANTED TOO MUCH CHANGED HER MIND SUDDENLY SIMPLE MATTER TO ARRANGE Under the Circumstances, Few Men Could Have Been Expected to Carry Out Threat. Sma'I Runaway Probably Had Good Reasons for Withdrawing Objections to Going Home.. All Colored Woman Had to Go Home and Wait Sir, said a colored man who en- Geneva, age three, had run away to ! Man-Hun- 9 Gives Cheerful Hew Color Tone to Old Curtains tered a police station, I came here visit her aunt, who lived ucross t he to tell you dat I was gwine to suicide." street. The aunt visualizing accidents, jest. The litter editions, coinin' out now," For wlmt reason? asked the ser- in which figured little children and ausnid the chief, will crowd all that geant at the desk. tomobiles, lectured the little girl. stuff off the front page with the MailRekase dur was no mo joys at my Then the aunt announced her Intention lard murder. Darn it. Fell Whether house. Am it agin de law to Jump of taking the runaway home at I believe it or not, Ill have to ar- Into de river? once as a punishment, All entreaties rest the young fool." No, not exactly," was the reply. were in vain, the little guest was going Chacherre chuckled. Jachin Fell But if you get out again that is to stay, and finally iter aunt picked smiled faintly. against ttie law, and you also get very her up, her burden strenuously DiNothing could lie plainer, chief, he wet, and apt to catch cold oxer it. sjecting, and started to the door. There First. Rob Maillard comes You had best find some empty old t he little girl saw iter father, Just leavresponded. to us in front of the opera house, and house and shoot yourself. ing his home, on the trail of the futalks about a great Joke that lie's Yes, sir, dat am de way, answered gitive. going to spring on his friends across the colored man. Geneva's strident cries of objection the way I I He went out to return in an hour died away as site stammered, How'd you know who he was? in to say : hack. Exchange. mud hurry You see, I didn't suicide arter all. terjeeted the chief, shrewdly. "Gramont recognized hint ; Ansley and I confirmed t he recognition. He was more or less intoxicated chiefly more. Now, young Maillard was not in the room at the moment of the murder unless he was the Masquer. Five minutes afterward he was found in a nearby room, hastily changing ont of an aviator's uniform into his masquerade costume. Obviously, lie had assumed the guise of the Masquer as a joke on his friends, and the joke had a tragic ending. Further, lie was in the aviation service during the war, and so had the uniform ready to hand. You couldn't make anybody believe that lie hasnt been the Masquer ail the time!" The Threat of the Weapon Was For"Of course," and the chief nodded gotten, Unheeded in the Sweeping "It'd be a clear ease perplexedly. Lust of the only you call me in and say that he confused the searchers. After a mo- wasn't the Masquer! D n it, Fell, ment, however, they returned to t be this tiling Ims nty goat! "What's Maillard's' story? struck in lighted room. The Masquer had gone, but behind him had remained a more Ren Clineherre. "He denies the whole thing, said grim and terrible masquer. In the room which he had Just left, the worried chief. According to his however, there hud fallen a dread si- story, which sounded straight the way lence and consternation. One of t be lie tells it, he meant to pull off the an held arm that joke on his friends and was dressing drinkers masqued hung helpless, dripping blood; hut his in the Masquer's costume when he hurt passed unseen and uncared for, heard the shots. He claims that the even by himself. shots startled him and made him Doctor Ansley was kneeling above change hack. He swears that he had a motionless figure, prone on t be dirriot entered the other room at all. exty floor;' and it was the figure of cept in his masquerade clothes. He Maillard. The Joseph physician says the murderer must have been the glanced up, then rose slowly to Ids real Masquer. It's likely enough, befeet. He made a terribly significant cause all young Maillard's crowd knew gesture, and his crisp voice broke about the party that was to be held in upon the appalled silence. in that room during the Contus bail " "Dead." lie said, curtly. "Shot No matter,'' said Fell, coldly. twice each bullet through the heart. Chief, this is an open arid shut case; Judge Forester. Fm afraid there is the hoy was bound to lie. That he no alternative but to call In the police. killed ltis father was an accident, of Gentlemen, you will kindly unmask course, but none the less it did take which one of you is Robert Maillard?" place. Amid a stumiPd and horrified silence "The hoys a wreck tills minute. the members of the Krewe one by one The chief held a match to his unlightremoved their grotesque headgear, ed cigar. Rut you say t hat he aint staring at the dead man whose white the original Masquer? face looked up at them will) an air No!" Fell spoke quietly. "The of grim accusation. Rut none of them original Masquer was another person, came forward to claim kinship with and had nothing to do with the presthe dead man. Rob Maillard was not ent ease. This information is confidenin t bo room. tial ami between otnselves. think." said the toneless, even dh, of course," assented the chief. voice of Jachin Fell, "that all of you AVell, I suppose 1 got to pull Maillard. gentlemen had hotter he very careful hut 1 hate to do it. I got a hunch to say only what you have seen that he aint the right party. and know. You will kindly remain Fell smiled thinly. Virtuous man! here until I have summoned the poAccording to ail the hooks, the chief lice. of police is only too glad to fasten the He left the room, and if there were crime on anybody any dark implication hidden in his (TO BE CONTINUED.) words, no one seemed to observe it. Goes on Forever. CHAPTER IX, Netley Was Roresoru still ta king when you left ihe club? On the Bayou. Miller Ucal.y, I don t know. His At three o'clock on the morning of conversation is so unimportant (bat Ash Wednesday the great white Mai-so- n when he stops talking I alwuys fail to Anawera Rlanche building was deserted ami notice it. ALWAYS I found de empty house and also found Gold Production In Russia. de landlord dar, and lie wanted $75 a The Russian trade delegation reports month rent an $10 extra fur boldin' that Siberia produced during the first an Inquest." . four months of the present year over 1(5 poods (.1(5.1 pound per pood) of gold Young Man of Discrimination! according to the Engineering and Minof New York. This My finest compliment was given me ing Journal-Pres- s by a little newsboy. He was telling quantity Is five times greater titan the me about liis school teacher and said: t t.tl output for 1921. Gold Is worth apYou know, this is the kind of a wom- proximately $10, SIX) per pood so that an she is. tlie total value is $172,800 or at an anDon't you maun lady?" I inter- nual rate of only a little more than Tills compares with a pro$5oO.(Nk). rupted. No; I mean woman, lie answered, duction of $22,000,000 in 1916 since and then, witli till the philosophy of which time the output 1ms fallen steadeleven years old, added : Now, you ily until this slight rexivul. The gold nre a lady; sites a woman. Anyone syndicate has succeeded in restarting can be a woman, but not everyone can the gold mines at Elisatevinsk. Alevun-lrosk- , be a lady, and that's what you are. Ivnnovsk and Youthnotaiginsk, which will insure an output of not less Exchange. titan three poods monthly. In the flat there is no place to put The A ralis of southern Egypt traded things away that you dont want, so with India 1000 R. C. you get rid of them. t Do . Next Husband. A colored woman entered a police station anil asked the sergeavt at the desk : . Does you gin any advice .here? "Sometimes we do," wus the reply. Den I want you to gin me some. I has got a husband, but lie dont amount to much. He hus got It in It s heud dat lie wants to go up in de uir wid one of dose Ilyin machines. If he goes up am lie liable to fall? Yes, lie is sure, to, replied the sergeant. An will be killed?" Yes, certainly he will he killed." An den I will be a widow? . Yes." An arter a yar some smart cull'd man will wunt to marry me. Now, den, would you encourage my husband to fly? Yes, I think so. , "All right, den," said the colored lady as she made for the door. I wilt go right home an' encourage my husband to go up among de clouds an den I will sit down and wait fur my next husband. Exchange. These Days Are All Alike. On the Pacific Island of Nutti'u the sun rises at C and sets at 0 the yeur around ; there is no daylight-savinthere. The only change of seasons is when the "westerlies" come in the rainy sen son. These tropical rains descend with great violence. In the yeur following the three years drought, there was a rainfall of 150 indies, 10 inches falling in one night. g A and nterry heart goes all the day, in a miie. tires 2he Cap that neverfits can come to me NO harmso many people say. from coffee or tea," is Yet those same people are often quick to note the signs of coffee harm in others. How familiar the danger signals are upset digestion. Bleepless nights and irritability all warnings of the nervous breakdown that lurks just a little way ahead. How easy,and how delightful the escape by drinking delicious Instant Postum instead of the beverages that contain the irritant caffeine. 'There 3 a Reason Instant Postum is the tempting cereal drink made from roasted wheat. It is prepared instantly in the cup by the addition of boiling water. Its snappy flavor is not unlike that of coffee. It is safe for everybody in your household including the children, and theres nothing in Postum to keep you awake even if you drink it at midnight. Postum Ni I,' a FOR SATISFACTION Postum Cereal C ompany, Inc. Battle Creek, Mich. Was Her LEVERAGE (.parts of lip a |