Show VAR 0 az 1 1 NO 19 K it cratsas 1 THE pj I 1 E DEVIL C CHAIR A A 0 4 A chronicle of the strange strande adventures 00 of john haynes and his Gyros gyroscope cole vehicle THE ARM OF JUSTICE by IL I L M EGBERT g I 1 I 1 D MP 4 BORNE 0 17 copyright by IV G chapman in his bla comfortable bachelor house fa a the western town of nokomis Noho judge char terla was seated in his arm chair out he was not seated as a judge should elt bit well rall poised and at ease case secure in the consciousness of his big integrity and of his fellow men judge Charter ls was huddled up and crouching forward a drained glass of whisky and milk at his right hand and at his bla left a hardly inhaled perfecto burning itself away lu ili an ashtray ash nah tray the judges face was an unhealthy yellow touched here and there with streaks of livid white which gave it a curiously blotched appearance and la fact the man was trembling upon the verge of wrier a nervous breakdown lie he had returned rel umed that afternoon from tile the court in which he had earned a reputation for tho the severe sentences which ho he meted out to the ahe wretched criminals who fell into the caches of the law there he exe exemplified the laws lawa outraged majesty but here he was nothing but a cowardly weak elderly man with a whole life of at evil and injustice stretching stretched 9 away behind him and the unknown future ever drawing more near the knowledge that his bla life was passing and that it had bad availed him nothing bore hardly on him at times of introspection but now the cause of hla his despair was more immediate it lay upon the table a sheet of paper taken from an envelope envelo ana had been posted in pittsburg which he be had received some minutes before on the enclosure were scrawled four words your turn comes next they said eald that was all there was do no signature but he knew well what that message portended portend bd when five years previously he had bad assisted in the nokomis land companas Comp anys nefarious scheme in return for a thousand shares irl III it he be had bad imagined that he could place his memories away and grind his conscience under toot foot as he had bad done so many times john haynes the millionaire owner of the estates which the land gang had bad coveted was an englishman ignorant of the lay lat the customs and of the coun country iry ho he had been torn tom from hla his wife and daughter railroaded into the penitentiary for fourteen years as pete timmons a gang leader and the gang gangao secured his lands those upon which no konias stood five years yeara went by five ave years of loneliness abid and despair for haynes then he was placed in the penitentiary machine shop where lie he invented a gyroscopic attachment which would propel any vehicle at an incredible rate of spead he bo had escaped by means of it and one by one was hunting down and punishing the men who had betrayed and plundered him none of them knew where chero the next blow would fall or who would be the victim now here now there east ast west wes t and south john haynen went like the wind in some infernal contrivance tr propelled by ills gyroscope and each visit was avas followed by swift and teril terrible ble retribution had it been death alone alon a that would satisfy him film john hayne haynes might have been met by armed men his victims would have taken heart and armed themselves and gone abroad like arsenals jenals judge charteris Charter Char terla ls looked up the light was dying out of the west tile the desolate prairies stretched almost up to the threshold of his home Charter charteris ls shuddered in such a land anything was possible lie ho would flee he would go south to warmer climes and leave no trail behind him the letter had bad been posted only two days before surely it if he acted acied at once he be could yet contrive to elude that terrible vengeance t he would leave no sign of his hia departure ile he would pack a couple of suit cases rush east upon a special car to des dea or omaha and there vanish his shares had been sold long since hla his money was salted away in banks in various cities it if he be abandoned everything in nokomis Noko money house land reputation he could still reach florida with more than a hundred thousand dollars in gold panic stricken tie fie could think of nothing else to do Heye he reached ached his trembling hand out to the telephone give me ma girouard Gl 27 1 lie he called hello la that you mr hopkins this la Is judge charteris Charter fi ls speaking ivo ive got to go to omaha at once onca on private business private mind you nobody bobow must know can you got mo me a special car inside two hours 1 lie ho heard the president of the no konias and western answer I 1 sorry but the trains are stalled in snow drifts now if you wanted to i go west I 1 could fanaie banaga it but 1 1 cried Charter charteris ls then ill III go ecat terror stricken at this conspiracy of the elements against him for gods sake get me a special car tor for anywhere san francisco portland loi angeles P between alra himself self and hopkins existed ed an Intini acy of at many years standing it h bad 0 d been born in infamy when both geee were struggling lawyer law yera ti it had been nursed by charteris through days ol at growing self respect and im doriance Dor tance until it blossomed into a close league for rati mutual aid in tile the end and he arranged to go to portland oregon charteris Charter Char terla ls know knew that hopkins would not betray him in a cluster of trees perched upon the summit of the lono lone hill that dominated the town john haynes was waa watching tho the judges house boube which stood on too outskirts of nokomis Noko through a powerful Powei tul field glass ile he knew that the letter would reach him when he left his court that afternoon lie he had bad seen him enter tho the house saw it blaze up with lights and in imagination saw his enemy receive the blow he was seated in a strange cotrange looking vehicle it might have been described best as a runabout but it was vaa unlike any mako make now on the market for it was waa built like a farmers cart and as it snorted and pulled puffed westward through the sparsely settled country it had excited great derision among the inhabitants whose motor cars care were always of the latest pattern but what tho the bucolits buc olics of kansas and nebraska and colorado did not know was that at night the four our wheels were do detached and placed within tho the vehicle which running upon a single wheel driven by the gyroscope outpaced out paced the swiftest trains in its mad flight toward nokomis Noko in a blinding snow storm john haynes had brought his bis companion to their post on the top of at the hill bill the wheels were removed the huge bugo tank stored with gasoline now they were waiting comfortable enough in the warm and weatherproof weather proof interior stocked as it was with food and even luxuries for or road travel hell bolt said haynes with conviction vic tion tomorrow morning he will take a train eastward I 1 know the i dog he wont dare wait to take his bis medicine suddenly lights flashed through the gloom below them i immediately Immediate lf af after ter ward borno borne across acro ss the stillness of of the lae night air came the chugging of a locomotive iles hes going to bolt now john haynes cried in exultation theobald your duty will soon be at an end thank god I 1 ejaculated the other forcibly and stooping down he began to unroll a little surgeons case in which were the instruments ot of his craft craf t youve done well theobald said john haynes seating himself beside him and after tonight to night you can wipe me out of your memory relied reflect man he be continued placing hla his strong hands upon the others shoulders you might have been in his situation tonight to night its a terrible job said theobald all justice Is terrible doctor answered the other dut but it Is less terrible than crime when you assisted the land gang to railroad me into the penitentiary when you left me crippled and helpless with a treacherous bullet in my opine which you were bribed not to remove was not that terrible 1 I know I 1 know theobald muttered uncorking the bottle of of mercury with which he was to sterilize his instruments when I 1 held bield you at my mercy john haynes pursued relentlessly 1 I laid upon you two conditions first that you should cure me and that you did second that when I 1 sum boned you you should obey my call you have obeyed and after tonight you can an forget the past it will be atoned for and you ou shall never see mo me again i but this this Is the dream of a madman muttered the doctor it cant succeed it will succeed theobald answered haynes sternly and by reason a of r its inherent justice even though it may be as you say a madman mad mans 13 dream perhaps I 1 atri am mad but I 1 have suffered and I 1 will exact justice to the uttermost ter most he broke oft off and taking up the glass peered long and hard bard through it it an automobile was chugging in the road before judge charteris Char terla house down at the station stat for a heavy locomotive was revolving on the turntable just visible as the two wo bright brighi lights spun their circular course through the gloom haynes placed his bis hand upon the steering wheel fast east or west it ts is all one he be said theobald are you ready beady tho doctor folded up his instrument case cafe haynes pressed a spring and the I 1 strange vehicle sped off through the darkness at a moderate rate ran into tile the prairie and returned toward the station by a different route outside the yards it stopped and haynes de ec ended now nov it could be seen that he bo was wearing a dark gray uniform upon the breast of which was a pointed star the station master cano came up to him taking a special out tonight to night asked haynes that to you tho the other retorted ills his eyes tell fell on the badge who are you abu he demanded rul r the sheriff ot or blue river answered john haynes theres been an attempt at a holdup hold up in fix the blue Mount mountains alna logs wye placed acs across the line ithe and the brot alt b bound limited was near nearly derailed two bullets were werd fired and one went lito into the cab wc its believed to be tho the work of clancis Clan cys gang west bound did you say bay exclaim ed ad the other why why ile ho broko brok 0 off and oyed eyed tho the other suspiciously again 1 I guess there tharo wont be no holdups with this special lie ho answered grimly theres nothing worth plundering aboard of her and therell be two armed arm ed men in the cab get that you seem beem to think im ono one of tho the thieves remarked haynes petulantly in the broad dialect ot of the we west at why said tho the other candidly maybe you aro are and maybo maybe you aint dut there wont be no holdups hold ups on this special thanks Th anke spun on his heel beel as though offended and reentered entered re the vehicle which proceeded slowly westward along the road that ran for a short distance al stance parallel with the embankment about a mile from the tha station it ended in a deep gully beyond which was nothing but flat prairie for or a hundred miles and a little more tho the steep ascent of the blue mountain range began haynes laughed grimly as they sped through the darkness hes going west then be said its bucl lucky we had this old auto cov cred theobald for or it must be nearly zero outside keep up your couram co man in two hours or three at the outside all will be over and be on your way back to sour your comfort comfortable abIg house in nokomis Noko as snug as though never left your bed to answer my summons they drew up the automobile and waited patiently come distance froian rona the road in case tho the station master should send seir searchers chers for them three hundred nui dred peat feet from the embankment they would have escaped tho the observation of the most keen eyed hunters in that darkness and in the cue snow which fell ell steadily about them meanwhile judge charters charteris suitcases tn in hand band was waiting at the railroad station ile he had driven his own automobile through the bitter weather and now stamped impatiently up dad and down the platform waiting forthe for tha engine and car to come alongside when it arrived ho he noticed the guards beside tho the driver who are those men he asked sharply assistants answered tho the stationmaster ile he would not arouse aitho the judges fears ears by detailing the news of the holdup hold up which he had received with sure instinct he had discerned the lie that had been told him ile he had no doubt that the two men were actually members of Clance Clan ceya ys gang sent to make observations dut but being unarmed he be had prudently suffered them to withdraw ile he had privately instructed ted the driver to keep a sharp lookout look out for or obstacles upon the track only at one spot could such be placed for the prairie stretched away without a sign of 0 a tree clear to tf the blue mountains and then on and on again until tile the foothills of 0 the and tho the broad alkali plains confronted them at the blue mountains only where the engine must slow down to surmount the hills bills could any attempt occur and the guards carried loaded rifles judge charteris Charter ls knew nothing of AV any danger ills his only danger he felt he had bad shaken off when he stepped into his warm comfortable car hopkins had not forgotten his love of comfort beside the sleeping berth was a table piled with magazines a box of choice cigars and a little case containing some of those liqueurs lique urs which the judge dearly loved when the train drew out oui of boomla he be settled aled himself down in his bis chair all tear fear forsaking him ile he meant to take ship at portland for san francisco under an allas alias thence to double back on his tracks toward tiie the south possibly to cross into mexico ills his plans ware were not matured confident that he had bad outwitted his former victim he be placed his bis fears behind him he had no lie ties ile he lived the luxurious ur lotis selfish life of an elderly bachelor elor to break new ground was easy ile he had no qualms he had meant to retire soon anyway ile he felt that ho he had acted wisely in arriving g at ills his decision to fly ile ho had heard beard the name clancy mentioned softly as lie was about to step into the car and the word cent a sudden flash of recollection through his brain ile he remembered clancy that patient easygoing easy going middle aged man who had become involved in a lawsuit law suit with the nokomis land company a year or two previously clancy had been a power in nokomis by reason of his large interests there and his unswerving it had bad been a stiff tight beford the land gang trapped him judge Char charteris Charter terla ls shivered as he be remembered how bow when he sentenced ham him to ten years in the penitentiary clancy had threatened him in court and denoun denounced ded him as a tool of the confederates then had bad come the spectacular escape from prison and the respectable portly gentleman gon fleman a little like himself had bad become an outlaw and the terror of 0 the country yes YB it was waa well wall that he had bad planned this flight the train rolled on om A blissful peace icaco descended over judge Chartor ls lie he nodded tile his head and dozed hla his ro re pose deepened soothed by the good Ivill whisky sky with which his hie friend hop hills had supplied him when he bo he had ref reflected d 11 he e would be speeding through the desert miles from nokomis No komla had he abt better undress and go to bod bad before he answered disown hla own question lie ho was waa snoring in hla his chair behind the train so BO close that it might almost have formed an integral part of it john haynes and theobald wore were speeding in their one |