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Show jotes raw we mmm of m on mmwi (lfT('R'S N'OTR IVspitP ft fer-1 fer-1 i 1 i - of invention of the woiiil's foieino.-U utoi'T writers, cvoiy time wo pi'"-1: up a )ipw"iprn.er ihf soundness of o old truism Is limply ronflriiied by the report of some li.ippt'iilnff lh.it outstrips wildest I'UK'itH of the moat Inuittinnhle firtionlnt. Kv.-i -y flay we read i he delmin of nomc m'tual oruiirrrrire wiiii'li, if ein'O'imered in the pat$es of a novel, would arono onlv incre luhty and unhHipf. liven truth fcomeiimfs is haid to believe. Vet every day ,1uft such extraordinary eayi-'S uro happening. Most of thflm do rot liiid their way into print bemuse pn-orvai:ve pn-orvai:ve drStvLlvu and invei?tipa tiny eon-oerti. eon-oerti. maintain a hiph regard for the eon-lidentml eon-lidentml relations existing between them- THE SECRET SIX. i. 'A million and a half' obseiveil Vlix lu;trd. 1 That is n whole lot of money. ' ' 1 " Hub! ' grunttvl the fat, heavy- j jowlod uuui who .sHt lowerim at him through a p;iir of pold-riinnied no-e-1 classes. 'A whole lot more than the j Transeontiueutal ftxpross company cau atl'ord to lose, lot nie tell you." 1 Hazard's Jean, intonse visage was' frankly incredulous. He glanced at the 1 inscrutable eounteminco of his burlv 1 chief (the four were in the latter 'a room at the Sutherland Detcotive agency), and then at the fourth member mem-ber of the party a young man, tall, elender, very fair and aijemic looking, and fastidiously attired. "A million and a half," repeated Ha7rd. ''Robbiny express wagons and it would appear, has been ele-ttrl ele-ttrl from the level of petty larceny 0 to the lofty rank of an exact science. "Vorv true,' ' admitted the president' of the Transcontinental. "But it happens hap-pens that we are u against, the real thing in roguery. , ou don't seem to realize all that the loss of a million and a half implies. Such outrages can he perpetrated only bv a well-organized gang of intelligent rascals. Furthermore, Fur-thermore, they arc undoubtedly led and directed by a master mind; some genius with a crooked twist in his mental makeup. Their methods are as syteniatized as the Transcontinental Transconti-nental 's or those of any other big busi-lUess. busi-lUess. "Besides, don't think for a minute that they are poing it blind; they never take anything but valuable packages." "Is that true!" Hazard --suddenly asked. ' ' True! ' ' the other stormed. "Haven't I every reason for knowing how true it is? Humph! " "T'l tell you in a few words,'7 went on the latter as soon as his choler subsided, "how it was possible for our losses to mount up to such a prodig ions amount within the period of little more than nine weeks. The scoundrels are operating all over the country Stuff stolen in one city is shipped to another to be disposed of here, there, everywhere; it is gone before we can get track of it. A few weeks more at tha same rate and the Transcontinental Transconti-nental will be on the rocks.' "How do you know that is their method?' asked Hazard. "It is obvious. Of the thousands of dollars ' worth of plunder taken from our wagons right here in Chicago not a dollars' worth has been traced by thet police; nothing has shown up-through up-through the' regular crook channels. Or else the, police are too stupid to find anfting. On the other hand, we have snc-ceeded snc-ceeded in recovering a very few arti- Se.les stolen in other cities and shipped here;, things, howevor. of comparatively ritiing value a mere drop in the 'Has any other company besides yours suffered? ' ' "Tf so' i t has-kept the matter confoundedly confound-edly quiet." The pale young man, who so far had been Indifferently attentive, even bored now Interposed in a listless, drawling voice. 1 :-eives nnd rheir patrons. But they happen hap-pen ju Ml t l ie ba UK-. f la eli story In t his series tin obs with realism In the wnid's narrowest meaning. mean-ing. Kaeh s a faithful render. up of an authentic experience in the career of a high official of a detective hk'h'V whoe name is a household word throughout the English-speaking world. The policy of the concern in on est inn is one of absolute secrecy where i t orient, ori-ent, ions nre involved. In consequence. I real name-- of persons and places aiej soni-Mimea disguised under fictitious ap- i prllat ions. In all other respects Hie amazing, often thrilling, always Krippins facts herein recorded are just as ihey Happened.) "They naturally would, you know," was his comniont. Hazard con I empla ted him a moment and considered (lie two, father and son; KVr-dinand KVr-dinand H u tier, head of one of I he country's coun-try's largest corporations, and Harry Butler, But-ler, manager of the concern's most important im-portant office. Jlc addressed the. son: "You, 1 presume, personally look t lie matter of the Chicago losses to the police. po-lice. VY hat have they done ?" Harry butler lit a cigarette and flipped away the mutch. "Nothing," lie replied unemotionally For some time the burly chief bad remained re-mained silent and motionless behind the barricade of his desk. He now spoke. "I suppose you appreciate the fact, Mr. Butler, that this Is a pretty bi undertaking, under-taking, i-eave the matter with us a few i days. You shall hear from ua shortly." II. It may seem odd that a Sutherland operative op-erative should not only ba a guest at an elaborate Lake Shore society function, but, by reason of her beauty, grace and charm, that she should attract more attention than any of the scores of other ladies who represented the flower of Chicago's, as well as some other cities', most exclusive and fashionable sets. This signal honor, If fo it may be regarded, re-garded, fell to Helen Beltel on the night following the conference with the Butlers. But-lers. At Helen's request no men were presented pre-sented save where introductions were absolutely ab-solutely unavoidable. As may be imagined. ' more than one of the men gained his point with the hostess and the girl was obliged to be agreeable for a time, then I tactfully, as she told Felix Haxard aft- I erwards. make a "graceful getawa y." I One of these males, however, she j seemed to find especially amusing. Indeed, In-deed, Helen laughingly told her hostess as much when that lady offered to relieve re-lieve her of his embarrassing presence. Mrs, Miller-Crosby was herself a shrewd woman. "My dear!" she protested in a horrified horri-fied whisper. "You don't suspect. Why, he is Harry Butler, son of Ferdinand Ferdi-nand " Said Helen soberly: "I sincerely trust that no occasion will arise for me to suspect anyone here. It simply occurred to me that by attaching to one man tonight I can avoid seeming rude to others: Mr. Butler is less dull than some I have been obliged to be pleasant to, that is ail." Observing that Harry Butler was waiting wait-ing close by, she excused herself and rejoined re-joined him. His first words, uttered with an impatience im-patience that made the girl glance sharply at him, were in marked contrast with his habitual listless drawl. "Let's get out of this crowd," said he. "Here this way." And he guided her deftly through the outer fringe of dancers. danc-ers. In the conservatory they found a seal amongst a screen of palms and hanging hang-ing baskets of orchids. Butler laughed nervously. "What do you think." he abruptly began, be-gan, "there are detectives here tonight right among the guests, by Jove! Nobody No-body has any idea who they are. Why, you might be one yourself!" Only the steadiest schooled nerves could have enabled Helen to repress a start. As It was, she was so taken unawares un-awares that she could not find words for a moment, so surveyed the other in silence. si-lence. She knew that another Sutherland Suther-land operative, Ferndale. was present tonight, and wondered whether he had been indiscreet. But Harry Butler revealed the source of his Information. "Jack told me." (Jack was Mr. Miller-Crosby, whom Helen mentally blessed. ) "But he wouldn't point 'em out. Mighty mysterious about it. Told me not to mention It to anybody else." The girl had recovered herself. She Recorded by Charles Edmonds Walk, Author of "The Silver Blade," "The Paternoster Ruby," "The Green Seal," etc. i 1PI1' llWfPI -mmi ill His right hand gripped a big automatic pistol and his features were concealed by a black, mask- favored the young man with one of her rare smiles. "And of course you haven't," said ahe dryly. "Why, no; of course not. Only to you. Tou know, there's been no big, swell affair af-fair this winter unless somebody's Jewels Jew-els have been stolen. Raffles, you know." For some unexplained reason Helen was on tenterhooks, alert, keyed up with expectancy, ex-pectancy, as if something uncommon were about to happen. At that very instant something' did happen. A woman screamed a piercing, agonizing scream that shrilled above the murmur of voices, above the sound of dancing feet and the throbbing strains of the orchestra. The two started from their bench. The scream was near at hand, just inside a doorway opening upon a short gallery that connected with the ladies' dressing-room. ! It rose in a climax of mortal terror. Then came the sharp, electrifying crack of an automatic pistol. One; two three four shots. A clatter of running feet. Silence. While the outburst still thrilled every hearer, Helen was hastening to the dressing-room. Within that brief period the tumult had begun and ended. Her companion com-panion was left behind, forgotten. Dumbfounded Dumb-founded men were pouring in from the supper and ball rooms. But she was just an Instant ahead of the first arrival; just in time to witness what the balance missed. In the corridor a man running toward the conservatory collided with her- in a headlong fashion- that nearly swept her from her feet. In the flashing vision she had of him she saw that he was dressed formallv; that, save for two extraordinary ex-traordinary details, he might have been am- one of the male guests. But his right hand gripped a big auto-i auto-i matte pistol, and his features were con-I con-I cealed by a black mask. j She recollected Harry Butler, then, with a littla pang of alarm; yet, he must take ! his chances. And surely, aiter the shooting, shoot-ing, he would not allow a masked man to pass him in the conservatory without making an effort to stop him. Her delay was only momentary, in the dressing room she first noticed that a window was wide open, through which an icy wind was billowing the curtains. Upon the floor lav a man- and a woman, mo-tionleHs. mo-tionleHs. apparently lifeless. The woman Hhe did not know; but the man was ' Ferndale, the other Sutherland operative. i H 1h right hand still clutched a blue-bar I reled automallc. I Helen turned first to him. where two or three of the men joined her, and knelt beside him. A larger group of both men 'and women gathered excitedly about the j woman on the floor. ' Experienced in such emergencies, the ! girl's dft fingers soon ascertained that Ferndale was not dead; that the blood clotting one side of his head was merely from a torn scalp where a steel-jacketed bullet had plowed itn way. I Even while thus encaged she was not insensible of the agitated ejaculation- and , disconnected remarks from the second j fcroup. "Mrs. Charters Murdered! j Who is that man? Dia-Mnond Dia-Mnond dog-collar gone. He's dead too. Pistol still in his hand." J The men were now questioning Helen ; regarding what had happened, j "I was not here." she explained i calmly, but rapidly. "I happened to be I near and arm ed first. But It is plain that a robbery has len committed, and I that this man, in trying to protect the j victim, was nearly murdered, One of 'the villains is si ill in fne house. He ran ! past toward the conservatory, where I left. Mr. Butler. Ton gentlemen can at ! least guard every eit till the police i come. I-t nobody leave the house." ( A man went over to close the window i which opened upon the portecoehere roof. I At the very instant he raised his hands to j the sash an excited outcry came up from below. The words were plainly distin- guishao'e inside The room. I op.e of 'cm! Fell from i the mo-:. r.-ead! ' I m. j From the Miller-Crosby ball Hlen I Berrel brought two Important etues hi"h. j aside i'rom convincing Hazard and his chief Chieaeo at Hie tirr.o v. up at i nirrcv of a particularly i m i i i -: n t nnii " ,v !---m .iv.n' o! iu- The first of these was a torn scrap of note paper that had been found in Mrs. Charters' s bodice. It stiff ices to say of this that it a fforded a striking example of the thieves' resourcefulness in availing avail-ing themselves of a clandestine flirtation to lure Mrs. Charters to the ladies' dressing room at a specified time. The note was merely a scrawled line, signed with the initials of a well-known name that had frequently been coupled with the dashing and wealthy young widow. Ferndale, with his eyes zealously upon the costliest jewels at the ball, was particularly par-ticularly solicitous of Mrs. Charters' 9 $40,000 "diamond dog collar. Without, of course, imagining its cause, as the hour for the tryst in the dressing room approached ap-proached her increasing nervousness and agitation aroused his curiosity, and when she slipped furtively away he followed to the very door. Thus he heard the first sounds of tumult and struggle, and entered in time to confront two masked men. The three promptly commenced a three-cornered fusillade. Ferndale believed which, a few minutes la ter, was discovered to be true that he had wounded the man who plunged through the window. Mrs. Charters was insensible upon the floor when lie arrived, her rare diamond ornament already reaver! from her throat. Otherwise she was not in the least injured. The masked man' who collided with Helen doubtless got rid of the I ell tale face covering and mingled with the guests, for Harry Butler maintained that he never even so much as saw an armed masked man in the conservatory. The most interesting cine, from Hazard's Haz-ard's viewpoint, had to do with the man who fell into the snow from the porte-cochere porte-cochere roof. It transpired that he was not killed nor even seriously injured; but before he recovered re-covered Helon fished from one of bis pockets a curious bit of paper. It was the peculiar particulars which this sheet bore that suggested the appellation "The Secret Six." by which later came to be distinguished one of the most notorious and daring bands of criminals in the country's annals of crime. The paper appeared thus: No. 2 cover room & exit fm prt-cochere prt-cochere roof. No 4 pass bundle to Xo 1 at appted place. 3, n & 6 wait with auto as ordered to cover retreat & lend aid if necessary. XO. 1. Thus It will he seen that the robbery was planned deliberately down to its smallest detail. Indeed, the plot was carried to a Successful Suc-cessful and sensational climax right a t the massive stone pillars and hupe wrought-iron grille that const ii u ted the Miller-Crosby gate. The woundod man was being led away by a policeman to await at the spot mentioned the coming com-ing of a patrol wagon, already summoned. sum-moned. As the two emerged upon the walk the policeman was set upon and overpowered by three masked men, all armed with businesslike automatics. The prisoner was bundled Into an automobile automo-bile and, right from the midst of a group of curiouB and frightened chauffeurs, whisked away into the night. During the ensuing fortnight almost the entire Sutherland force, not only of the Chicago main office, but at every branch In the United States, was bending every effort to run to earth the "Secret Six" and their confederates. But It was Felix Hazard wry), following from the first a theory that seemed to him to be the only correct one, finally drove the principal members of the crime syndicate to cover. That the six principals for the time being eluded the police was in a meas-uro meas-uro disappointing; but a more vital issue was at stake, one far more serious than the capture of the criminals. Helen Bertel at the time was In their power. IV. The Transcontinental president, only half convinced, sat like one stunned. " W-w-what you s-say is is damme, it's inconceivable!" he spluttered in re- j sponse to Hazard's asseverations. "I can't see how it is possible." ; "Why, it is quite simple," said Hazard patiently. "If you will examine the lists of the hundreds of parcels that have been stolen, you will see that every one of them was in some way handled In the Chicago main office that in, either consigned con-signed here in the first instance, or sent here from some other city, or else relayed here while in transit.. "The deduction is inevitable that somebody some-body in the Chicago main office has kept track of every valuable parcel, doubtless marked them for identification by the confederate chosen to steal them. I presume pre-sume they have a code. "Another thing you may learn by consulting con-sulting the list of thefts: those in Chicago were, without, exception, committed within with-in a circumscribed aiea, a territory comprising com-prising not more than a half dozen city blocks. T)o you appreciate the signifies signifi-es nee of that circumstance V It is this a conclusion I arrived at on the day of your first visit here: the thefts could not go on for so long uninterrupted without police connivance. It is absurd to think (hat any large number of the force could he corrupted or coerced, so the way they worked it was for the wagons bearing ma rked parcels to drive to a neighborhood neighbor-hood known to be "safe." Thpre t he wagons could be leisurely looted without fear of hindrance. "Another thing," Hazard pursued : "si least one of -the six h;is entree to Chicago's Chi-cago's most fashionable society, as accurate ac-curate knowledge on their part of Mrs. Philip Charters" intimate affairs and the episode of 'he .Miller-Crosby ball indicate. For I am firmly convinced that the jewel and express thieves are one and the same crowd." Hazard's buzzer sprang Into activity. He snatched up his telephone and received re-ceived a message from the outside office. A messenger had just arrived w-ith a report. "Send him right in." ordered Hazard; and a few seconds la ter a cri rl entered Boftlv and laid an envelope upon Ids desk. He ripped it open and hastily scanned this note: "Suspect has been engaged off and on all morning preparing what I think is code letter. It is short, on pingle sheet, size of postcard, and typewritten. Five of these are ready to mall. Xo chance to see the in. Crawford." The reader'? eyes lighted with satisfaction. satis-faction. He tore the sheet into tinv bits, a nd s fter a moment's contemplation of Ib.e abject figure opposite him, said: "Mr. Butler, T believe the opportunity iT have been waiting for is about at hand. I Tonight, or tomorrow night. I believe I The Secret Six will all meet together somewhere. We have, only not to lo.e ' siirht of t l.e one whose identity we are j positive of to round up the whole crowd." .Mr. Butler went gloomiiv away, and a 'few soronds latr a brisk, dapper individual indi-vidual breezed into Ilazw rd's room. His manner indicated suppr'SFM nvitement. "What is it, Cra wford ?" (juietly asked Hazard. -j -n bfi-n fired." returned th other. -v nn:t'.;t'-s ;,:'.e'- J f-.-i"., ; o 'he no:e t jui Li.. T;a..'. oi.'.i:.c ;;;.ii i x:n street office a man entered and was ctos-elcd ctos-elcd with U". nuspoct for per ha pa twenty twen-ty minutes. When he went away he had tint live letters, stamped, addressed, rtudy to mail. Couldn't be trusted to any of the office force, you see. I ot my hat and overcoat, meaning to follow him." "Well?" "1 was called back and told to wait a mi mi te. 1 wait ed thirty. Than Mr. Harry Butler ca lied me into his private office and told me. that if the Sut he rhmd s couldn't supply him with a man more competent than I am, why, lie could get along without any. Thou he told me to beat it or words to th.it effect." "And the man who took tlu! letters?" "Of course I lost him. But 1 succeeded in mugging him." "Good! Give Miss Loflis the tllin with instructions to make the usi:;l1 number of dupli'-ates. Fill in a description torm, then gei hack on the job. You musn't lose sight of your quarry for a second." V. The evening of December was blustery blus-tery arid snowy and, outside the limited radius of the at reel lamps, almost unbelievably un-believably dark. As Helen lei t the station and hurried along Fu Merlon avenue ave-nue in the direction of Lincoln park and tho lake (whence drove the boisterous wind ), her hands elbow deep in a great muff, her chin snuggled warmly in her sable collar, her mind was animated by a single thought to get to the bright cozlness of her two rooms as soon as possible. Jn consequence she paid but slight heed to a big closed touring car that drew up at the curb and halted a fnw yards ahead of her; and when, as she drew abreast of It and its tonneau doors were flung open and four masked men poured out, she was taken wholly by surprise. A fifth masked man remained in the driver's seat. In a twinkling she was surrounded. Any direction she looked she peered into the sinister muzzle of an automatic pistol. pis-tol. Before she had time to collect her scattered wits a heavy cloth was thrown over her head from behind and twisted tight. Next she was entirely enveloped in a long dark mantle so that she became merely a shapeless bundle. If she had been minded to raise an outcry, it was impossible to do so now. She had been afforded no time even to free' her hands from the muff. Her arms were clasped, not roughly, but firmly, to her sides. She felt her skirts wrapped snugly around her ankles. Then she was bodily lifted and deposited in the automobile, which at once plunged away, she couldn't guess whither. Not a word had been spoken by her caplora. It would seem that the abductors could have chosen an hour no more suitable for the successful perpetration of the outrage. Helen was helpless at the mercy of an unscrupulous gang, and apparently ap-parently without hope of immediate succor suc-cor from any source. In a fashionable south side neighborhood neighbor-hood things were happening, too, on this memorable night of December 22. Despite De-spite the cold and storm and wlnd-driven wlnd-driven snow, in every cross street bounding bound-ing an area of which a certain well-appointed flat-building was the center, automobiles au-tomobiles were waiting. Muffled figures moved like wraiths hither and thither, keeping the house - under surveillance from every possible angle. At 8, a big touring car, curtained, dashed up to the curb, and four muffled figures carried a shapeless bundle into the house. No one was near enough at the moment to form any conception of the bundle's nature. The watchers saw it carried into the house. They heard the door slammed. They saw the automobile automo-bile hurry away. Then they closed in, tightening the cordon around the ellent house. Up a flight of stairs the bundle was carried, four men staggering beneath its weight. It was deposited gently upon a couch In a richly furnished room, peculiar pe-culiar in that it had no windows and only one door. The four men withdrew, locking lock-ing the door after them, and the lights were extinguished. As soon as Helen could free herself from the many folds in which she was swathed, she found herself in pitch-black pitch-black darkness, unhurt save for her outraged feelings and without the least idea of her whereabouts. Outside, the cordon of detectives de-tectives still waited and watched. Only five men were known to be In the house; a sixth had not as yet been accounted for. A Sutherland operative on a nearby near-by corner was startled by the apparition appari-tion of a big, high-powered roadster as it drove skidding through the snow at breakneck speed. It halted within a pace of him and a white, pinched face peered into his. A quavering voice that he scarcely recognized demanded to be told where Felix Hazard might be found. "Ferndale!" exclaimed the surprised detective. "Who t's happened ?" "I must find Hazard right off. Miss Bertel has been kidnaped." The detective wasted no time in talking. talk-ing. He whistled in a peculiar manner. The whistle was taken up and repeated, hither, yonder, from a score of Invisible sources, Mke the echoing plaint of buir.e night bird. From out the dark and t he s willing snow Hazard appeared to the two. He barkened to no more than a dozen words of Ferndale's dismaying report, when the quiet nejphVu-jrhnod b.gan lo buzz lika a disturbed h-ehive. " T i i u lights In the p i i so n room came on slowly. and Helen herama aware of two yhosilv, fantastic figures who stood over hv the door. Two men they were, manifeaiiy, nlbeit each was -nt I rely covered wilii a aoi'l of dotiuno mat liid every line. With a swift, noseless, giidincr movement move-ment the two weird forms closed in upon he!-, but shc deftly eluded them. Then darkness again. Thus hamllcappod amid 5ttingrt surroundings, she was obliged to it-Jd when each of her wrists was seized in a viKellke grip. She was propelled along the hall to a Mairway and up this to another story. -At last rhey halted before a double door, hicn swung apart as if bv its own volition. vo-lition. Filled with wonder. Helen surveyed a spacious room draped whollv in dead, lusterless black floor, walls and celling, in tne center of the floor stood an oval table, around which were arranged six chans, all the same ebon hue. Three of the cIih irs were occupied bv fa mast io cnuntei-parts of the two robed figures holdinsr her wrists. The sde illumination wfis irom six wax tapers that burned at each of the six places. A pair of black vehet portieres parted at one end of the room and a .dxth figure entered; one Karbed from head to foot in a long formless robe like the others, with the exception that It was snow-white instead in-stead of black. This apparition seated, itself it-self at the head of the table. For perhaps a full minuts ther w as neither sound nor motion from any of the strange masked company. Then the whlf domino arose and addressed the others. At the first sound of his voice Helen started and looked closely at the neutral robe that betrayed nothing of lis wearer's wear-er's identity. "You all have seen the captive; la ther any doubt as to her identity?" There was no answer and the hollow voice continued to issue from beneath tha maslt. "It is positive, Is ft, that she is a da-teetivo da-teetivo from the Sutherland concern?' The five ghoulish figures remained silent, motionless, but Helen felt that every ev-ery eye was upon her. Then tha voice asked: "What Is your verdict?" The white leafier appeared to ponder a minute. Then he announced: "The cord." The leader clapped his hands thrice, and now entered a gigantic negro, as black as the room's ha nuings. He carried car-ried a silken cord, perha ps a yard in length. One end terminated in a loop through which lie passed the other end, thus forming a noose. He tested the cord's strength, glancing from it to Helen's throat. Then he walked toward her. At the same time her captors shoved her forward. The negro opened his arms to receive her. And In the Instant of passing she determined her defense. She could not hope to overpower the giant, or even to resist him long, hut she meant not to yield as long as breath was in her. She fell forward, so that her shoulder, when she rose, came up under the outstretched out-stretched right arm. At tho same time she grasped the wrist wit h both hands and jerked it downward. She heard the man groan ; but Instantly his f i ee hand caught the heavy coll of her hair and her head was pulled violently back. So deftly and quickly that she could not make a move to resist, the noose slipped to her throat and was drawn tight. Firmly holding the cord, the black placed a knee in the small of her back and pushed her away from him. She heard a shot. The hand holding the cord loosened its grasp and the negro sank limply to the floor. The room waa plunged into darkness. A momentary subdued stir, then Felix Hazard's voice rang out: "We've got 'em. A light quick!" A half-dozen electric torches flashed. But, save for Helen, the lifeless form at her feet and the invaders, the room was empty. The Secret Six had vanished. Safe in her rooms Hazard would not leave her until he saw her under Sirs. Hewitt's capable protection Helen expressed ex-pressed a. belief that the mysterious Six had not meant to murder her in cold blood. But Hazard was skeptical. "They would stop at nothing." said ha. "And wrho In the world would have thought of a tunnel a block long in a neighborhood' so eminently roHpectaMe!" His tone was bitter. "The entlro six of them walked away from the whole Sutherland Suth-erland force as If we were so many blind sheep." "We'll get them sooner or later," declared de-clared the girl. "Don't forget that wa now know the ringleader." "You are positive about the voiceT" asked Hazard. "Yes, positive. It was Harry Butler's." (Copyright, 1015, by W. G. Chapman.) Next eek: "The Complex Cipher.") |