Show f s i I. I J r 00 MERCY SIGN Mr A. A V. V R. R J I K Jones Average Jones Jone friends called was him tired of spendS spendin spend- spend his York uncles uncle's millions In Now New S dead his fug in to craved nothing more and and doing activities of life Ufe In the dynamic take part n At M. tho the suggestion of tho the owner of ot an I Import Important Im Im- ho irn opened and decent newspaper port nt court and went In for following following fol fol- fol In Astor advertisements and trac- trac lowing up queer advertisers down fraudulent Want a job Average 1 Bertram reached over and prodded S ribs Listen Oils friend severely In tho the 1 i I cut this out of ot yesterdays yesterday's Evening Register Register With your kind attention tt I and gentlemen gentlemen- He read j i ladies t WANTED A YOUNG MAN competent to act as assistant In outdoor scientific work Manual skill as 5 Emolument for tor forone forone desirable e as experience months' months work generous Man Ian with- with one after out family insisted upon Apply I p. p in m. In proper person Smith 74 4 Bellair Del Del- lair Jair Street 1 Slowly whirling in his chair Aver Aver- J received the clipping read age Jones it and yawned Is that all said the Indignant Bertram that inspire any notion above a yawn in III your palsied processes of m mind nd S Average Jones laughed There isn't any Smith he lie said Well its it's nothing to me what his name ame is Only I thought you might be bethe the aspiring young oung scientist he was yearning for J S wonder if 1 I were thank Lets Let's fc see Bellair Dellair street lectory Thanks Thank Yes Wheres Where's the tho Directory it Is Greenwich village Well VeIl I think Ill I'll just stroll down that way and have a look after dinner S Thus It was was was' that Mr Mi Adrian Van Egerton Egerton Jones found himself on n a hot May evening pursuing the ther Adventure of Life into the vestibule r of f fa a rather dingy old house which had 1 once been the abode of solemn prosperity prosperity prosperity pros- pros if not actual aristocracy in the the olden days of ot New York city Almost immediately the telegraphic click of S the the lock apprised him that he might enter and hud as he stepped into the hallWay hall hall- Way nay the door of ot the right-hand right ground- ground floor apartment opened to him You will please lease come in said a voice The he tone was gentle and measured Also it was by Its accent alien to any rightful Smith The visitor stepped into a passageway which was dim dim dim- until he entered it and the door swung behind him Then it became pitch bl black ck You will pardon this said the S. S yO voice ice A severe affection of the eyes f compels me You will find matches at your elbow said the voice com c com com- m- m ing lag dulled from a further apa apartment Thank you returned Average S Jones enormously entertained by the novel dime-novel setting which his host had provided for him II He lie lighted the gas and looked about a sparsely furnished furnished room without a I si single gle distinguishing feature unless a high and shaped odd-shaped traveling bag which stood on a chair near by could be beso so no regarded Tie The voice interrupt interrupt- t ed his his You have come in answer to my advertisement ad ad- Yes sir Can you endure exposure Sub Sub- i. i misting on rough fare and sleeping ping as as' 5 you may S I have camped in the tue northern for for- ests t t. t Yes mused the voice You look hardy f Average Jones arose You You er er are spying upon me then he drawled quietly I might have have- hav er suspected r suspected a peep 5 He advanced slowly toward the thedoor door whence the voice came A chair blocked his way Without t lowering his ls gaze he shoved at the the obstacle with his foot toot Have a care warned the voice The chair toppled and il overturned P it fell with a light shock the i strange valise vaUse which striking the J floor flew open lopen disclosing a small cardboard cabinet Across the front of the cabinet was a strip of ot white p paper paper- labeled in handwriting hand each let let- leti i ter Iter being Individual with what looked S I to Ito the young man like the word f t MERCY He stooped to replace the bag L bagDo Do not touch it ordered the voice i peremptorily 0 Average Jones straightened up to toI I face the tho door again It isn't full of ot dynamite is It What is your ranch branch of work counter the other S Botany replied the young man at random S No other Physics Entomology S Astronomy Chemistry Biology The applicant shook hook his head in repeated repeated repeated re re- re- re negation None that Ive I've specialized specialized specialized on S Ali Ah I fear you will not suit my S purpose Sinea I 1 cannot employ you 1 I owe you every courtesy for having put you to this tills trouble You will observe ob ob- ob serve servo that I am not very presentable r In the The Ther side door swung open dimness of the half-closed half apartment In Ina Ina Ina Average Jones saw a man huddled a chair He wore a black skull cap identification went he was So far as safe His whole face faco was grotesquely blotched and swollen So also were the tho hands which rested on his knees lIe Be at peace he said It Is not contagious You can find your our way out I bid you good evening sir ir Now I mused Average Jones as ho jolted on the tho rear platform platform platform plat plat- form of an Eighth avenue car by what lead I could have landed that job I rath rather r think Ive I've missed some some- thing Alt All that night and recurrently on many nights thereafter the poisoned and contorted face and the scrawled MERCY on the cabinet lurked trou- trou in his mind A few days later he tie ma made le his way to the Cosmic club one afternoon There Thero as he lie had foreseen foreseen foreseen fore fore- seen he found Robert Bertram Can I detach you from your yot usual bridge game this evening he demanded de de- de of that languid gentleman Very possibly What's the inducement inducement induce induce- ment Chapter Second of the Bellair street advertisement Ive I've told you the first chapter Youve You've been the outside god the-machine the so far Now come on in Together they went to tho the Greenwich Greenwich Green Green- village house The namo name Smith had disappeared from the vestibule The landlord turned out to be a aGerman German Serman landlady who Im knew w little concerning concerning con con- her late ground-floor ground tenant and ind evinced no inter interest st In tile the sub sub- Feet The as she termed Smith had left no o address Mrs M Marron in the other ground-floor ground flat lad had tried to be acquainted with him Not ot much luck sho she thought Mrs Marron was voluble ignorant and ind a willing source of information The Sure Su I me the name He was wasi i A big one one one of the kind kindt it t comes to Spirit-rappin's Spirit fierce My kitchen window windows is s on the Sos So's his Many's he the time in iii the still even evenin's Ins In's Ive I've heard the rap rappin on his window window window win win- dow an on the wall but mostly on the window windo B Blip p out of the dark It'd make you ou just hop hOll And him quiet and peaceful in the front room all the time And once I seen him with his ils wand in the 5 room room almost dark S His what l wand Spirit-rod Spirit you know As AI tall as himself and all shiny and slick sUck It was slim and sort o 0 knobby like Uke this wood wood wood-what's what's the name of it now they now they they make fisl fiel pol poles s out of Only the real bi big biK bugs in spiritualism use em They're dan dan- You wouldn't catch me touch touch- In it or goin in there even now I rJ says to Mrs Kraus I says says says- And so the stream of pitched high-pitched eager talk flowed until the two men escaped from it into the vacant apart apart- ment Going to the kitchen through doors on a straight line Une with the front room Average Jones inspected the window The glass was thickly marked with faint bluish blurs being indeed almost opaque from them in the middie middle middle mid mid- dle die of the upper pane Below the window was a considerable amount of crumbled putty which he fingered with puzzled curiosity In the fr front mt room a mass of papers had been half burned Some of them were local journals mostly the Evening Evening Evening Eve Eve- ning Register A few were publications i ions in the Arabic text Oriental newspapers remarked Bertram S Average picked them up and began to f j them From between two sheets guttered uttered a very small bit bitof bitof of ot paper narrow and half curled asif as asIf asif If from the drying of mucilage He HeUft lifted d and read it Here wo it wo are again Bert he he remarked remarked re reo re- re marked in his ills most casual tone The quality of this Mercy is strained all right The Tue two men bent over the slip studying it The word was as Average Average Aver Aver- age Jones hud had said in a strained effortful effortful ef et- ef- ef handwriting and each letter stood distinct These were the characters characters char char- 2 Is it mathematical do you think possibly asked Average Jones All alone by itself like that Rather not More like a label if you ask me mc The little sister of the label on the cabinet then S la Ia femme observed Bertram Oh lets let's get put out of here said Average Jones Im getting dizzy di zy with it all The next step he ob observed observed ob served as as' they walked slowly up the street Is by train to the place where the fake Smith has been doing little stunts Weve We've got to find a place which Is near a stretch of deserted swampy ground very badly infested with mosquitoes mosquito s. s There must have been a lot of to do the kind of job that Smiths face showed Average said Bertram solemnly there are times when I conceive a a. sort of respect for your commonplace and and- plodding intellect Theres There's a station statton on the tho Short line Pearlington by byname byname byname name that's in the mathematical cent cen cen- t t. t tr r of ot the ghastliest marsh anywhere between here hero and I think that's our little summer resort resort re reo re- re sort and Im I'm yours yours' for the nine nino a a. a m. m train tomorrow At Pearlington a lonely official readily identified Smith I guess I know your friend all allright right The dago was tall and thin and had white hair hall almost snow white I Sort of or something I I wasn't he Have you an any Idea where wo Wf could S find his camp The railroad man laughed Fine chance you got of finding anything anything anything any any- thing In that swamp Its It's my notion he must have hayo had a 0 houseboat On tho the following day they located the houseboat It was deserted Within With With- in its single room was uttermost confusion testifying to the simplest simplest simplest sim sim- kind of ot hous housekeeping sharply terminated Attempt had been made to burn the tho boat In a heap of rubbish rubbish rub rub- bish bl h where the tho fire had apparently started Average Jones found first a Washington newspaper which he he- pocketed next with a swelling heart tho the wreck of the pasteboard cabinet but no sign of the strange valise which had held It The Mercy sign was gone from the cabinet its place being supplied by a pl placard card larger in a different handwriting and startlingly more specific Danger If Found Des Destroy roy at Once Do Not Touch With Bare Hands There was nothing else Gingerly Average A Jones detached the sign The cabinet proved to be empty He pushed a rock into it lIfted It on the end of a stick anti and and dropped It overboard over over over- board One after eight little fishes glinted up through the tho water turned their white bemes to the sunlight sunlight sUli sun sun- light and bobbed motionless Some days after the recovery of the houseboat Average Jones Jones' sat at t breakfast break break- breakfast fast according to his custom in the cafe of the Hotel 1 In the Issue of the Washington daily culled from the houseboat there was no marked ma passage to show any reason for its its' having seen Deen in the possession of Smith Average Jones had studied and restudied the columns until he he lie knew them almost by heart During the period of waiting wafting for his order tobe to tobe tobe be brought he was brooding over the problem when he felt felt-a pressure hand on his shoulder and turned to confront Mr Thomas Colvin McIntyre fifth assistant assistant as as- secretary of st state te of ot the United States of America Hello What have you been up to that's thata scandalous It isn't me replied the diplomat ungrammatically Its Bey 1 what Im I'm hero here to get at at- My Instructions are to find out secretly secret secret- ly if i at all al for reasons which ah which ah not ot being for the public I need not detail deta l to you You need not in point of ot fact tell me anything about It at t all observed Average Jones equably S Pomposity fell tell away from Mr Thomas Col ln McIntyre leaving him palpably shivering At any rate rato I 1 can trust you he said Boy Bey is not a merchant He Is a n secret c confidential agent of ot the Turkish government He came oame over overto overto overto to New York from Washington In spite of ot warnings that he would be bo killed Come up with me rue and look the place over Average Let me roe send end for the manager That functionary came a vision of perturbation in a pale gray coat Upon assurance that Average Jones w wits was s safe he led the way to the rooms so hastily vacated by the tho spirit of the Turkish guest If It I could have known observed the tho manager morosely when the Turkish embassy reserved tho the apartment apartment apart apart- ment- ment ment Tho The Turkish embassy never reserved reserved reserved re re- re- re served any apartment for Bey Dey put in the tho fifth assistant secretary of state Surely you are mistaken sir replied replied re re- re plied the hotel man I saw their emissary myself He specified for rooms on the tho south side either tho the third or fourth floor Wouldn't havo have anything else You gave him a definite reservation reservation reservation reserva reserva- tion asked Jones Yes and 0 tc Has the man been here since Not to my knowledge about him strike Anything s you particularly Well he was tall and thin and looked sickly He talked very soft too like a sick man The Tho characterization of the PearlIngton Pearlington Pearlington Pearl Pearl- ington station agent recurred to the interrogators interrogator's mind Had he he-er- he er white hair he half yawned No replied the manager Average Jones turned to the tho budding budding bud bud- ding diplomat To what other hotels 5 S S SS z f I 5 I. I S S. S S The Wand Spirit 0 of f Bamboo Was a BlowGun Blow Bey Walt Wait a minute Let me think The name came to him as print In small headlines reproduced reproduced re reo re- re produced to the minds mind's eye from the Washington newspaper which he had so exhaustively studied THIS TURK A QUICK JUMPER Bey Guest of Turkish Embassy Barely Escapes a Speeding M Motor Who Is Bey he inquired He Up to yesterday he was vas wasa a guest of this hotel The tone tono was significant Average Jones' Jones natured good face became gra grave veOh ve Oh I beg your pardon Tommy What he a friend of ot yours No He was in a sense a ward of the department over here Invitation tion This is what has almost driven me mo crazy Fumbling nervously in the pocket of his creaseless white waistcoat he brought forth a death notice From the Dial he said handing it to Average Jones The clipping looked conventional eno enough gh DIED JULY DIED JULY 21 21 SUDDENLY AT ATTHE THE THE Hotel Be Bey of Stamboul Turl Turkey ey Funeral services from the kith kish embassy Washington on Tuesday Ana S If the newspapers ever discover discover- The young diplomat stopped short before before before be be- fore the enormity of ot the hypothesis It looks straight enough to me as |