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Show I Mardi Gras Mystery Si c lfc H- BEDFORD-JONES '' ! ' OOtTBLKDAr, TAOIAND COWfANT ttl, 'H fill ' . !;lnued. core of all r :or. i over Oio nd I'll trust o properly )vcr nil tho that mall up here, to ho corridor let mor ilr.'" Icrnl build-s build-s an agent ce, and get 3 Inside of ir devotion i," BtU Jn-regret Jn-regret that to defeat tuned with thus? You t, taking a was cooler there's one rou and no any Influ-'ooked Influ-'ooked con ;overnment i can reach governors, known and o badge of " r Grnmont. not cstab-lis, cstab-lis, as you proper pre-ir pre-ir Instance, i far and : others In assurance ustlco man i watch, my minute iposo your ou to dls-cd, dls-cd, tight-)r, tight-)r, and one ic sack of lence. it any mo-low mo-low her to parted, ble thing," hat about l going to ics go to ont, "than-lugh "than-lugh crlml-o'd crlml-o'd be the ut I'll toll it there Is I If she'll ley I have ile to hnvo :, on the "you'll be and Gra-nce Gra-nce a mo-loyes mo-loyes you, ont; a fu-man fu-man down i baseness rough iLu-fled iLu-fled anger 3S, for Ju-r Ju-r and con-say con-say that I la merely Is one per-j. per-j. Island of a par-or par-or to mo. Intruding this man-you man-you In re-glit re-glit whnt-Qrumont, whnt-Qrumont, rou aro In lervedl" g," struck you were tethlng on why you imilr over ispect my icad and ment that really hu-honestly hu-honestly .ter from I made a , r opened ; era I" she there's a policemen of exclto- it. taking , r for her. ""J "a, wt . Please? You re- 81 S h" l W?rnCd yU rCrdlK I '.ni.,t,,,ieu,d come? nnd now ' ..If .c.x',,n"'-" Qramont gravely handed i I er nls commission frfom the gover- m?" nisu,,,e1 ' sent. "When I I : "y Ititit I have come here, not to i , -nl a meeting of our oil company, J I i i t hut to arrest Mr. Fell, you will under-stnnd. under-stnnd. I nm very sorry, Lucie, to I have to tell you all this, for I know your attachment to him." "Arrest-you, Undo Jachln?" The i Klrl glanced from the paper to Fell. ; who nodded. "Why-thls Isn't a joko ' of somo kind?" i "None whatever, my dear," said Fell, quietly. "Mr. Orumont Is to bo congratulated. He has discovered that ' I wus the head of n largo organisation of criminals. Uoro, If I mlBtako not. nro your Department of Justice friends. Gramont. A knock at the door, and It opened to admit one of Grumont's men. "irere they are. sir the chief agent nnd n deputy, shall I let them In?" Grnmont nodded. Two men entered tho room, nnd Orumont dismissed his own man with a gesture. Ho saw that tho agents both nodded to Fell. "Do you gentlemen know this mnn?" he demanded, rising. "Yes," snld one of them, regarding him keenly. "Who sent for us?" "I did." Gramont gave his name, and handed them his commission. "I hnvo been investigating n lottery which has been conducted In this state for a long time by an organization of very clover criminals. Jachln Fell Is the man at the head of this orgnnl-zntlon. orgnnl-zntlon. The lesser members of the gnng are In custody. Tho police department de-partment will not arrest this mnn Fell; his Influence nnd that of his gang Is extensive In political fields and elsewhere. I have called up tho governor, gov-ernor, and have been told not to arrest him. I have disregarded these facts, and I now call upon you to hold him In custody ns a federal prisoner. Now go to It." Tho chief agent laid Grnmont's commission on the table and looked nt Juchln Fell. For an Instant thcro was a dead silence. Then, when the federal fed-eral man spoke, Gramont was paralyzed. para-lyzed. "I'm very sorry, Mr. Gramont, to bate-to refuse " "What!" cried Gramont, Incredulously. Incredu-lously. "Do you dare stand there and" "One moment, please," said Fell, his quiet voice breaking In. "It Is quite truo that I havo organized all the criminals possible, Mr. Grnmont, and He Was Still Looking Into the Eyes of Lucie Ledanois. have put tho underground lottery Into ii systematized form. I have done this by the authority of the United Stnlcs, In order to apprehend Memphis lzz Gumhcrts nnd other men nt one cnick. These gentlemen will tell you tlu.i I am n special agent of" tho Department of Justice, employed In that capacity through the efforts of Judge Forester and Senntor Flnxmnn. I regret that this hnd to bo held so secret that not even the governor himself wus aware of It until tlila evening. The conlllct was quite unavoidable. Not a member mem-ber of that gnng must become aware of my rent Identity." Grnmont sank Into his clinlr, the automatic au-tomatic dropping from his hand. lie was suddenly dazed, thunderstruck. Yet ho had to believe. Ho was dimly nwarc that Lucie had gono to Jachln Fell, her amis about his neck. He stored from unseeing eyes. Iteallzatlnn smote him llko a blow, numbing his brain. He saw now viv the governor had conferred with Judge Forester nnd the senntor, why he had been ordered off the trail. Ho saw now why Fell hnd preserved secrecy se-crecy so great thnt even to the chief of police his Impregpnblo position wns supposedly due to Influence higher up. He saw how Fell must havo been working month after month, silently "and terribly, to form one compact organisation or-ganisation of the most talented criminals crimi-nals within reach headed by Memphis Mem-phis Izzy, the man who hud luughed at the government for years) And he saw himself furious, raging like a madman - Gramont dropped his head Into his bands. The pain of his forgotten wounded arm stabbed him like a knife, lie Jerked hi head sharply up, and "f 4-""' g -sSZS "l p'i"iiiin was awaro that tho agents had depart- cd. ne was nlono with Lucie nnd Foil, ' and the latter was rising and holding out his band smiling, i "Grnmont, you got ahead of me In , this deal, nnd I congrntulnto you with i all my heart I" said Fell, earnestly. "Neither of us suspected the part I played by tho other man but you've i done tho work and done It welL Will you shake hnnds?" i Grnmont confusedly took the hand , extended to him. i "I've been n fool." he said, slowly. I might have guessed that something I unusunl was" "No; how could you guess?" said ; I' ell. "There are three men In Dnton Rougo who know the truth, nnd three l persons In this room. That's all, out- i side of tho regular government men. I had not told even Lucie, here I I dared not. And I dure say nothing een now. To tho underworld nt inrge I will be known ns the crook whom not even tho government could touch; In days to come I may bo of untold scrvlco to my country." "If you will excuse mo ono moment," ho went on, "I shall speak with your men who are on guard, Grnmont. I ah will bo bock In a moment, and we may then discuss business. If you agree, I think thnt your company may proceed upon the orlglnnl lines, and we shall set to work drilling for oil without delay-" Gramont scarcely heard tho words, nor did he hear tho door close. He was still looking Into the eyes of Lucie Lu-cie Lednnols, nnd wondering If the message they held wni really meant for him. CHAPTER XVI Ml-Caremo. A nameless gentleman from the effete ef-fete North was enjoying for tho Jlrst time the privileges of a tfuest card at the Chess and Checkers. In a somewhat some-what perplexed manner he approached the secretary's desk and obtained a cigar. Then ho paused, listening to tho sounds of revelry which filled tho club, and which came roaring In from the city streets outside. "Say I" he nddrcsscd the secretary. "What's this Ml-Caremo I've been reading about In the papers, anyhow? I thought everything wns tight as a clam down here after Mardi Gras? It's still the Lenten season. Isn't It? Mardi Oras doesn't come more than onco n year? Then what's all tho celo- lMIlntl nl.nl.1 tl Tho secretory smiled. "Certainly, sir, It's still Lent, nut tho French people have what they call Ml-Careme, or Mld-I.ent, and they certainly cer-tainly give It n big celebration I You sco, It's a night halfway through Lent, when they can enjoy themselves to tho limit let off steam, as It were. We're having several dinner parties here In tho club tonight, for the occasion." occa-sion." A slightly built little man. who had much tho nlr of n shy clerk hod It not been for his ovenlng attire approached ap-proached the desk, nc signed a check for n handful of cigars, which ha stowed awuy. "Please provide a fresh box later," ho said to the secretary. "Most of my party Is here, I believe." - "I'll send them up, Mr. Fell," answered an-swered the secretary, quickly. "Yes, I think the dining room Is all ready for you, sir. By the wny, Mr. Grnmont wns looking for you u moment ago oh I Here ho comes nowl" Jachln Fell turned. Gramont was plunging at him, n, yellow telegraph form In his hnnd, excitement In his eyes. "Look here, Jnchln I Tills wire Just came In from Hammond you know. 1 left hlm In charge of things down nt llnynu Terrebonne I Head It. mnn rend Itl They've struck oll-snnds at IIvp hundred feet nnd sands nt Ave hundred, with these Indications. It uienns n gusher at n thousand I Where's Luele? Have you brought her?" "She's upstnlrs. Well, well!" Jachln Ja-chln Foil glanced at the telegram, and returned It. "So oil is actually found I This Is certnlnly going to be ono big night. Citine nlong. Let's And LucIm and tell her about It" The two men turned nwny together. ITIIK KND. |
