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Show Y Y jjy BANNIJ1ER TzLI7J'jmATIO.Lr V Y MERLIN J33T RAYWAllERr COVYWOHT SYNOPSIS. Very likely, said Orme dryly. He was wondering whether this was some At the expense of a soiled hat Herbert new counterieiting dodge. How easily Orm saves from arrest a tnrl In a black most persons could be induced to car who has caused a traffic touring on State street. He buys a new hat jam and make the transfer! Is given a five dollar bill with: RememA counterfeiter, however, would ber person you pay this to, written on It. A second time he helps the girl in the hardly work by so picturesque and black car and learns that In Tom and Hessie Wallingham they have mutual noticeable a method, unless he were friends, but gets no further hint of her carefully disguised hardly even then. identity. In his rooms at the Pere Mar- Was Senor Poritol disguised? Orme quette he telephones Bessie Wallingham and agrees to golf at Arradale on the looked at him more closely. No, he morrow. He discovers another inseria-tio- n could see where the roots of the on the marked bill, which, In a futile attempt to decipher, he copies and places coarse black hair joined the scalp. the copy In a drawer. And there was not the least evidence of make-uon the face. Nevertheless, CHAPTER II. Orme did not feel warranted in giving up tho marked bill without a definite Senor Poritol. The little man was a explanation. comic figure, but his bizarre exterior When Orme answered the knock at conceal a dangerous plot. He the door a singular young man stood might be a thief, an anarchist, anymight at the threshold. He was short, wiry, thing. and very dark. His nose was long and Please, my dear sir, please do not ' complacently tilted at the end. His add to my already very great anxieyes were small and very black. His ety, pleaded the visitor. mouth was a wide, uncertain slit. In You more Orme his hand he carried a light cane and a are a spoke Senor decisively. Poritol. I dont stranger, French know what all this silk hat of the mystery conceals, type. And he wore a gray sack suit, but I cant give out that bill unless I expressed and creased with painful know more about it and I wont, he actness. added, as he saw Senor Poritol open said Come In, Senor Poritol, his mouth for further pleading. Orme, motioning toward a chair. Very well, sighed the little man. The little man entered, with short, He hesitated for an instant, then addrapid steps. He drew from his pocket ed: I do not blame you for insisting a clean poiLet handkerchief, which he and I suppose I must say to you everyunfolded and spread out on the surface thing that you demand. No, I do not of the table. Upon the handkerchief smoke the cigar, please. But if you he carefully placed his hat and then, do not object He produced a after an ineffectual effort to make It square of cigarette paper and some stand against the table edge, laid his tobacco from a pouch, cane on the floor. and deftly rolled a cigarette with one Not until all this ceremony had been hand, accepting a match from Orme completed did he appear to notice with the other. Closing his eyes, he Orme. But now he turned, widening inhaled the smoke deeply, breathing it his face into a smile and extending his out through his nostrils. hand, which Orme took rather dubiWell " he hesitated, his eyes ously It was supple and moist. roving about the room as if in search Oh, this is Mr. Orme, is It not? of something Well, I will explain to "Yes, said Orme, freeing himself you why I want the bill. from the unpleasant handshake. Orme lighted a fresh cigar and setMr. Robert Orme? tled himself to hear the story. SeYes, that i my name. What can I nor Poritol drew a second handkerdo for you? chief from his pocket and mopped his For a moment Senor Poritol ap- damp brow. peared to hover like a timid bird; You must know, my very dear sir, then he seated himself on the edge of he began, that I come from a country a chair, only the tips of his toes touch- wuich is very rich in the resources of ing the floor. His eyes danced nature. In the unsettled interior are brightly. very great mineral deposits which are To begin with, Mr. Orme, he said, little known, and since the day when I- - am charmed to meet you very the great Vega made the first exploracharmed. He rolled his rs after tion there has been the belief that the a fashion that need not be reproduced. Urlnaba mountains hide a great And in the second place, he contin- wealth in gold. Many men for three ued, while actually I am a foreigner hundred years have risked their most in your dear country, I regard myseif precious lives to go look for it. But as in spirit one of your natives. I they have not found it. No, my dear came here when a boy, and was edu- sir, they have not found it until But cated at your great University of have patience, and you shall hear Princeton. everything. You are a Portuguese I Infer from A few days ago a countryman of your name, said Orme. mine sent word that he was about to Oh, dear, no! Oh, no, no, no! ex- die. He asked that I, his early friend, claimed Senor Poritol, tapping the should come to him Immediately and My receive news of utmost importance. floor nervously with his toes. country he freed himself from the He was lying sick In the hotel of a Portuguese yoke many and many a small city in Wisconsin. He was a year ago. I am a South American, tobacco agent and he had been atMr. Orme one of the poor relations tacked by death while he was on a of your great country." Again the business trip. widened smile. Then he suddenly beFilled with the heartbroken hope came grave, and leaned forward, his to see him once more before he died, But this is not I went even as I was, to a train and hands on his knees. the business of our meeting, Mr. made all haste to his bedside. Orme. What was his name? asked Orme. No? Inquired Orme. Senor Poritol Lopez, replied No, my dear sir. I have come to promptly; and Orme knew that the bill answer ask of you about the might as well have been which you received in the hat shop Smith. But the little man returned He peered anxious- quickly to his story. this afternoon. ly. "You still have it? You have not My friend had no strength left. He pent it? was, oh, so weak that I wept to see him. A marked bill, was it not? But he sent the doctor and the priest Yes, yes. Where is It, my dear out of the room, and then and then air, where is it? he whispered in my ear a secret. He Written across the face of It were had discovered rich gold in the Urlthe words, Remember person you pay naba country. He had been trying to this to. earn money to go back and dig up the Oh, yes, yes. gold. But, alas! now he was dying, And on the back of it and he wished to give the secret to On the back of it! gasped the lit- me, his old friend. Setle man. Tears streamed on my cheek. Was a curious cryptogram. nor Poritols eyes filled, seemingly at exclaimed the remembrance. "Do not torture me! But I took out my Have you got it? fountain pen to write down the direcSenor Poritol. His fingers worked nervously. tions he wished to give. See this was He produced a "Yes, said Orme slowly, I still the pen. tube from his waistcoat. have it. I searched my pockets for a piece Senor Poritol hastily took a fresh bill from his pocket. See, of paper. None could I discover. he said, jumping to the floor, here There was no time to be lost, for my is another just as good a bill. I give friend was growing weaker, oh, very this to you In return for the bill which fast. In desperation I took a was paid to you this afternoon." He bill, and wrote upon It the directhrust the new bill toward Orme, and tions he gave me for finding the gold. waved his other hand rhetorically. Even as I finished it, dear Lopez That, and that alone, is my business breathed his last breath. So the Orme puffed at his cigar. with you, dear sir. Ormes hand went to his pocket. bnl carries directions for finding a The visitor watched the motion eag- rich deposit in the Urinaba mounerly, and a grimace of disappointment tains? Yes, my dear sir. But you would contracted his features when the hand not rob me of it. You could not uncame forth, holding a cigar case. derstand the directions. Have one, Orme urged. I have Orme laughed. Oh, no. In his anxiety the little man almost interest in South American gold But, sir," he broke forth, I danced am in desperate hurry. I must meet mines." "Then accept thl3 fresh bill, ima friend. I must catch a train. and give me One moment, Interrupted Orme. plored Senor Poritol, I cant very well give up that bill back the one I yearn for. Orme hesitated. "A moment more, until I know a little better what it Tell me, how did you lose means. You will have to show me he said. of the marked bill? It he and to possession entitled are that you The South American writhed in his better meantime youd smiled forward eagerly. ci air and leaned smoke." the most is as"That I can distressing part of Poritol sighed. Senor I had left Chisure you of my honesty of purpose all, he exclaimed. cago at a time when my presence in sir, he said. I cannot tell you about this great city was very important in-- ; Is It time. Also, not the it. I have Nothing but the call from a dy-- i not my secret. This bill," sir. Is Just deed.friend would have Induced me to Ing one. other the a as good p silver-mounte- d flve-doll- ar gold-mounte- flve-doll- five-dol-l- n 1909 DODD, AD Of CtoMVANJ In the office the clerk stopped him. Alcatrante and Poritol looked al A man called to see you a few each other. The minister spoke: Will you engage not to give the minutes ago, Mr. Orme. When I told him that you were engaged with two bill to anyone else in the interval? J will promise that, said Orme. visitors he went away. It Is only fair. Yes, I will keep the Did he leave his name?" asked bill until tomorrow morning. Orme. One other suggestion, continued No, sir. He was a Japanese." You may not be willing Alcatrante. Orme nodded and went on out to to give up the bill, but is there any the street. What could a Japanese reason why you should refuse to let want of him? Senor Poritol copy the writing that is on It? CHAPTER III. to think Only my determination the whole matter over before I do The Shadows. anything at all, Orme replied. 'But the bill came into your hands Orme walked north along the Lake insisted the minister. Shore drive. As best he could, he by chance, The information means nothing to pieced together the curious advenyou, though obviously it means a tures of the day. The mystery of the great deal to my young friend, here. bill and the extreme anxiMay I ask what right you have to ety of Poritol seemed to be complideny this request? cated by the appearance of the JapaOrme's eyes nar- nese at the Pere Marquette. Orme What right, rowed. My right is that I have the sought the simplest explanation. He bill and the information, and I intend knew that mysterious happenings freto understand the situation better be- quently become clear when one defifore 1 give the information to anyone nitely tries to fit them into the natural else. life. routine of every-daThe JapBut you recognized Senor Pori- anese, he mused, was probably some extols handwriting on the bill, valet out of a job. But how could he claimed the minister. have learned Ormes name. Possibly On the face of it, yes. He did not he had not known It; the clerk might write the abbreviations on the back.'' have given it to him. The Incident Abbreviations!" exclaimed Poritol. hardly seemed worth second thought, Please let the matter rest till but he found himself persistently turnsaid Orme stubbornly. I ing to one surmise after another conmorning," The Struggle Lasted Only for a Moment. have told you just what I would do. cerning the Japanese. For Orme was Poritol opened his mouth to speak, convinced that he stood on the I secret. in this tell edge of Why should you the but go away. My whole future Alcatrante silenced him with a a significant situation. to no about truth it? have You my returning right upon depended country frown. Your word Is sufficient, Mr, know. In time to complete certain business. Suddenly he took notice of a figure We will call tomor- a he said. Orme, I short distance ahead of him. This 1 don't Orme retained his hold. So, after dear Lopez was dead, row morning. Is ten oclock too man short and very rushed to the local railroad station. like your looks, my friend, he said. apparently was also going northward, There may have been reason why early? A train was coming in. I searched my stocky Not at all, said Orme. Doubtpocket for my money to buy my tick- you should lie to me, but you will less I shall be able to satisfy you. I but he was moving along in an erratlo manner. At one moment he would et. All I could find was the have to make things clear. He conwish to think It over." sidered. After all, he must make al- merely a bill! hurry his steps, at the next he would With formal how, Alcatrante almost stop. Evidently he was reguIt was necessary to return to Chi- lowance; so he said: Come back to- turned to the door and departed lating his paee with a purpose. cago; yet I could not lose the bill. A morrow with evidence that you are Poritol following. Orme let his eyes travel still farther happy thought struck me. I wrote entitled to the bill, and you shall have Orme strolled back to his window ahead. He observed two men actively upon the face of it the words you have it." He released Senor Poritol. and stood idly watching the lights of From time to time their seen, and paid it to the ticket agent. The little man had recovered his the vessels on the lake. But his mind conversing. I called his attention to the writing so animated that discussion became tato back He the went composure. was not on view before and implored him to save the bill if ble and took up his hat and cane, re- him. He wasthe unfoldedover they halted for a moment and faoed this puzzling mys each he could until I returned, and If not, folding the handkerchief and slipping other, gesticulating rapidly. tery In which he had so suddenly beto be sure to remember the person he It Into his pocket. Once more he was come Every time they halted, the single figa the factor. Unquestionably ure nearer to Orme slowed down his gave it to. the Latin fop. 'Ie approached Orme bill held the key to some own Orme laughed. pace. and his manner was deprecatory. serious problem. It does seem funny, said Senor The oblivious couple came under a My most abject apologies for at come had not Alcatrante Surely Poritol, rolling another cigarette, but you. sir. I was beside myself. merely as the friend of Poriflol, for street lamp and again turned toward ta4,tg you cannot imagine my most frantic But if you will only permit me I will the difference in the station of the each other. Their profiles were disdesperation. I returned to Chicago and bring up my friend, who Is waiting two South Americans was marked. tinct. Orme had already suspected Then I transacted my business. below. He will, as you say, vouch for Poritol was a cheap character use- their identity, for both had high hats hastened back to the Wisconsin city. me. and carried canes, and one of them ful, no doubt, in certain kinds of work, was in Yvoe is me! The ticket agent had paid a sack suit, while the other is he? Who but and unconvincing vulgar wore a frock coat. Ana now the prothe bill to a Chicago citizen. I seA very, very distinguished man. Alcatrante, on the other hand, was cured the name of this man and finally Orme pondered. The adventure was a name to make statesmen knit their files verified the surmise. There was no found him at his office on La Salle nose felt inclined to see brows. A smooth trouble-maker- , he of mistaking the long, street. Alas! he, too, had spent the itopening up, and he man and the glinting the shorter he said had set Europe by the ears in the through. Bring him, . of the other. The two were bill, but I tracked it from person to s matter of unsettled South American spectacles I I have dear until 6ir, Poritol 'and Alcatrante. now, my person, to the When Senor Poritol had disap- loans, dexterously appealing found it? So he paused and looked But who was the man trailing them? Monroe doctrine A peared Orme telephoned to the clerk. eloquently at Orme. friendly guard? Or a menacing enme he Send a ordered, up porter, Do you know a man named Orme decided to shadow the emy? and have him stand just outside my Evans? Orme asked. shadow. Senor Poritol looked at him In be- door, with orders to enter if he hears At a corner not far from the enHe waited at the any disturbance. wilderment. trance to Lincoln park Poritol and Adoor till the porter appeared, then S. R. Evans, insisted Orme. lcatrante became so apparently excited him to remain in a certain place Why, no, dear sir I think not. told that they stood, chattering volubly for until he was needed, or until the But what has that to do ? several minutes. The shadow stopped left. visitors Orme pushed a sueet of paper across altogether. He folded his arras and Senor Poritol remained downstairs the table. Oblige me, Senor Poritol. looked out over the lake like any casSenor Poritol was apparently re- for several minutes. Evidently he ual wanderer, but now and then he to his was explaining the situation luctant. However, under the compulturned his head toward the others. He sion of Ormes eye, he finally took out friend. But after a time Orme heard seemed to be indifferent to what they his fountain pen and wrote the name the clang of the elevator door, and In were saying, though he was near In flowing script. He then pushed the response to the knock that quickly enough to them to catch fragments of paper back toward Orme, with an In- followed, he opened his own door. At their conversation, if he so desired. a of side stood visitor the his former The South Americans were probably quiring look. No, that Isnt what I mean, ex- dapper foreigner. He wore a long talking in that dialect of Portuguese claimed Orme. Print it. Print it in frock coat and carried a glossy hat, which their nation has developed. and his eyes were framed by large capital letters. Meantime Orme also stopped, taking Senor Poritol slowly printed out gold spectacles. up a position like that of the shadow. This is the Senor Alcatrante, the name. He saw Poritol, with outstretched, Orme took the paper, laying it be- explained Senor Poritol. questioning hands, his eyes fixed on He him. then produced the fore The newcomer bowed with suave the face of Alcatrante, who seemed to coveted bill from his pocketbook. dignity. be delivering his orders. The flashing Senor Poritol uttered a little cry of Senor Alcatrante? The name is reflections of light from the ministers an eager familiar, said Orme, smiling. delight and stretched forth spectacles indicated his authoritative hand, but Orme, who was busily comOver Him Was a Short, hods of the head. Poritol assumed an air. He Is the ( on with the the letters paper paring minister from my country to these Figure. 8ttcky a After time Alcatrante evidently the letters on the bill, waved him United States. every time his country was threatened completed his instructions. He reback. Orme understood. This was the by a French or German or British moved his hat and bowed formally. few looked a moments Orme After wary South American diplomat whose blockade. But his mind was of no Little Poiitol echoed the salute and, Senor Poritol, he said, why name had up. lately been so prominent small caliber. He could hold his own turning, shot off down a side street didnt you write the secret on a time- in the Washington dispatches. What not only at his own game of interna- with ridiculously rapid movements of on or before your ticket, you was he table, in Chicago? doing tional ehess, but in the cultured dis- .1 is short legs. gave the bill to the agent? I am glad to meet you," said Orme. cussion of polite topics. Orme knew When the South Americans separawas Poritol flustered. Why, Senor r a of him as a clever Alcatrante the shadow 'quickly came to life. smiled, displaying ted, speakI did not think he said uncertainly, row of uneven teeth. er, a man who could, when he so de- He hesitated for an instant, as if in of that. How can we explain the mis- prominent "My young friend, Poritol, he be- sired, please greatly by his personal doubt which of the two to follow, then takes we make in moments of great gan, tells me that you have in your charm. decided in favor of Alcatrante, who nervousness? possession the record of a secret beNo, Alcatrante was no friend of was moving In leisurely fashion toward one more said But Orme. True, longing to me. What that secret is, Poritols; nor was It likely that, as the park entrance, hla head bowed in point. You did not yourself write is immaterial to you and me, I take protector of the interests of his coun- thought. Orme found himself wonderyour friends secret on the bill. The it. He is an honorable young man he would go so far as to ac- ing what snaky plots were winding trymen, which have Just printed letters you but on their errands un- through that dark mind. excitable, them perhaps, company are differently made. I would suggest that you give him the less much was at stake. The procession of three silently enPerhaps He Senor Poritol said nothing. bill he desires, accepting Poritol was Alcatrantes tool and had tered the park. The shadow was about was breathing hard. from him another in exchange. Or, bungled some Important commission. a hundred feet behind Alcatrante, On the other hand, continued if you still doubt him, permit me to It occurred to Orme that the secret of Orme kept the same distance between over bill and the eyeing offer you a bill from my own Orme, turning the bill might be connected with the himself and the shadow. pocket. mison its face, your the inscription He drew out a fat wallet. The minister was in no hurry. Innegotiation of a big business concestake in first writing the name instead The situation appeared to be sim- sion in Alcatrante's country. 8. R. different to his surroundings he made of printing it shows me that you did write the words on the face of (he plified. And yet Orme was dubious. Evans might be trying to get control his way, with no apparent interest in bill." He returned the bill to his There was mischief in the bill; so of rubber forests or mines In the the paths he took. At last he turned Alcatrante's Urinaba mountains, perhaps, after all into a dark stretch and for the moI can't give you the much he felt sure of. pocketbook. In any event, he felt positive that ment was lost to sight In the night. a of was fox. and as that reputation he said. "Your story doesn't bill, for Poritol. he was, to say the least, a the secret of the bill did not rightSuddenly the shadow darted forhold together. With a queer little scream the person of uncertain qualities. Orme fully belong to Poritol. If the bill ward. Orme hurried his own pace, South American bounded from his could not but admire the subtle man- had been in his possession, he should and in a moment he heard the sounds chair and flung himself at Orme. He ner in which Alcatrante sought deli- have been able to copy the abbrevia- of a short, sharp struggle a scuffling struck no blow, but clawed desperate- cately to limit his doubts to the mere ted message. Indeed, the lies that he of feet in the gravel, a heavy falL The struggle possibility that Poritol was trying to told were all against the notion of There was no outcry. ly at Ormes pocket. Orme broke into a run. At a point lasted only for a moment. Orme, pass spurious money. He decided not placing any confidence in him. The to Bettle the question at this moment. two South Americans were altogether where the path was darkest he seizing the little man by the collar, checked himself for an instant. A litThis seems to be rather a mixed too eager. dragged him, wriggling, to the door. Orme decided to go for a walk. He tle distance ahead a man lay flat on "Now get out, said Orme. "If I up affair, Senor Alcatrante," he said. There is much more in it than ap- could think better in the open air. He the ground, and bending over hlal was find you hanging around I'll have you pears. Call on me tomorrow morn- took up his hat and cane and descend- a short, stocky figure. locked up. ed the elevator. (TO BE CONTINUED.) j Senor Poritol whispered: It is my ing and you shall have my- - decision, flve-doll- flve-doll- flve-doll- tip-tilte- d d ' after-dinne- flve-doll- |