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Show Ii iic vase ana 1 ne uin Randall Parrish ssyjsyjsyjgedgsaaa I TAKEN DY SURPRISE he uT,' ',"e "K'". A " " 'uUp Bno,her' "' V to you how f. TAKEN DYJURPRISE lie w lee led about. u, g,ot one mighty we go. Now listen. I believe It wn B 1 ti.ni' nt railing for n young man I-1 willing to engage In acri d e of dnn- ger. Matthew Weat, ex-aervlce man Juat returned from Prance, where i ha had been captain of anglneera, meela Natalia Coolldge, writer of the advertteemenl. and without being be-ing Inetrurted aa to hla probable dutlea, la engaged by her. and that eame evening Introduced to her frienda as her fiance. That night. In the Cooltdge homo, Weat la etar-tled etar-tled by the appearance In hla room of a young woman whom he takea to be Natnlle. Next morning Nairn' Na-irn' ta'la West aha haa been trou-hied trou-hied by aome woman, apparently her double, who haa been Imner-aonatlng Imner-aonatlng her. Perclvnl Coolldge, Natalle'a uncle and guardian, la dlegruntlart hv Waat'a appearance aa Natalle'a fi( NaUllc. Coolldge Cool-ldge and Weat plan a vlalt of charity. char-ity. Leaving Weat In the car, Natalie Na-talie and Cool'dge enter a email cottage. Pefore they return, Weat eeruree Information which leada him to believe Coolldge la deceiving Natalie for a purpoae. Nntal'e In-forma In-forma Weat alie line been mistaken In her auevlelone and that ahe haa nn furtl'r need for hla services Weat la astounded, but leavea. On hla way out nf the ground. Weat i heara a revolver ahot. and flnda Perclvnl Coolldge dead, apparently a eolrMe. In the city Weat la vie-Ited vie-Ited bv Sexton, nn old aervant of the Coolldge. Rexton te'la Mm he haa been abruptly dlamlaaed. for no apparent reaeon lie thlnke Coolldge wna murde-ed. Sexton haa overheard a telephone conver-aat'on conver-aat'on In the Conhdge home. In which a man demande Natalle'a preeenre Immedla'elv lie rlvea an address, nnd with Sexton. Weat. hla auapl Ions nf thlnga not he'ng rleht atrenethened by hla learning that l d had lied 'about the reason for the trip to the cot'age. vlKlta the place. It la a dlareput-able dlareput-able aalnnn. CHAPTER VIII Continued. "Sure; hitf thnt Is the wny you pet to know them best. Peen a soldier. 1 haven't you?" I A "Yes, hut whnt mnde yon think Hint?" In some surprise nf the unex- I Ifiected query. The innn laughed. 1 I lighting ft rlgnr ritrelessly. i "Oh. It I ns not been ao lone since. I that the evidence Is t bllforntod. I've Cot a hnhlt of noticing things. The I 'way yon sit. nnti square your ahmil-tders ahmil-tders told me you'd been In uniform: besides, you're the right age. Get I across to France?" "Had over n yenr there," wonder- t Ing whi't the fellow eoiilil he angling after. "You didn't get In?" I "No; I wns over the limit. I wns c thinking yon might he Interested In looking over n collection of war relics K Mike lias got stowed nwny here some- W where. He had two hoys over there. A 'and I reckon they must hnve put In r most of their time gathering tip sou- I venlrs. Anyhow they brought buck t the arentet collection of war Junk ( I've ever seen. Say. Mike, whnt did t joo do with those war rellca the boyi tent home?" The fellow addressed leaned over ' the hnr. hla face glowing; with sudden 1 Interest. 1 "They vus In the bnek-room, all spread out. Why yon ask? The gen tlemen would see them, whnt?" "Yea; this one wits a soldier himself. him-self. How Is It? You fellows like to see the things?" West hesitated for just nn Instnnt. I Ms eyes turning unconsciously toward Sexton, who hud not spoken. He felt 1 no suspicion, n.eiviy a vague doubt as to whut this Invltiitlon might conceal. B Yet It had nil been natural enough, and promised an opportunity for him ! to learn something more of the place. llesldes. iliere could be no danger; both he nnd Sexton were nrmed, nnd I appnrently the Invltiitlon was Innn I ccntly extended. To refuse to accept I Would be 'burllsh. I "Certainly," he said at Inst, quaffing I the lust of his l nnd rising to his S feet. "It will he nothing new to me. I I Imagine, but we'll hnve a look." I The other innn. who bud been lenn- I Ing ngnlnst the bar. had disappeared, j while the fellow at the tuhle h.itl seem- I tngly fallen asleep. Mike enme for ward wlin a bunch of keys In his hand. L "I keep dot room locked." he ex- I elnlmed gruffly, "for some beoples run !oT with all dings ihey get their linger-" n- Hey, you. Carl." anil he roughly shook the sleeper Into ecml-ronsclous-tiess, "wake ,,, ad we t0 ,j,e nur while. I've got aome business. Whoever Who-ever comes, you keep them hore understand. un-derstand. All right, gents." The three stood close behind hl n Hike Inncried the key, and opened Hie tear, The tightly closed room, with shndes drawn at the single win dow. uas so dark thnt West could i nrcely diacern Its shape and con-". con-". Mike. without hesitation. l"DIed within, hlsjfiei.t bulk blotting bl whutever view ther was. 'Tome rlsht In. gents." he Insisted v'' "". I turn on the light." weal never understood why he re JMltded s reeklesgly to this Invlta "on. Md sdvanetd without hesitation. "' tail no attaiiHugi f ,nv trick, iki "-'u'"l'..n of ,e,K n nv ,,lini;,.r I "etiyied p ,lp,,(.(l ,.,,,,, ,,. P Ztr, ;"' : S","" "'"-e.l. An In K "" w .iommi. wi,h th. t -fa nts-Hl I,,,,-.,. d Mike A.. wv 1 xifi unci H?etedly. the man attacked found no opportunity to even throw up a hand In self-defense. The giant Nt flung Ids whole weight Into the crnshlng blow, and the ex-soldler went down us though struck by a pole-as. For an Instant, he realized that Sexton was In a Berce struggle; that his as sallnnt stood poised above hltn ready to i mi again If he moved; then consciousness con-sciousness left him entirely. He woke up. sitting In a chair, his hands bound to the arms with strips of cloth. For a moment everything about seemed tinged with yellow, the vnrlous objecta in sight vague and shapeless. It hurt him to move his heud. and his mind functioned dully. He could not think, or bring back to memory a recollection of whnt had occurred. Yet slowly the mist cleared and the objects shout hltn assumed natural form. He was In a room of some slse not the one In which he hnd been nttneked, he felt sure fitted up with a long table, and a numbei of chairs. There was no other fur nlture; the walls were bare, and onl n siiinll rng rug i-artlnlly covered the door. At first he perceived no other occupants; only as, painfully, he llnnlly twisted his head to the right Ids eyes distinguished two men seated ngnlnst the wall. The sight of theli races restored lnstntitl his memory nf whul lind occurred. The Pole rested liack, with feet on the table and eye closed, but the other the youngei man wns watching him closely, nn iinllghted clgsir gripped in his teeth. "So. you've come out of It," the latter lat-ter said unpleasantly. "I'd begun to 'Mnl; Mike had handen you u real UMCk-OUl thnt time. I'.eady to answet l few questions?" West, his brain clearing rnpldly, sat ip straight, r In the chair, determlneo o play out his part (lie best he could "Perfectly ready." he replied s'rug rllng to control his voice. "Only 1 ihould like to know what all this neiins? Why attack me?" "You'll find thnt out soon enough Captain; but first I'll do the ques lonlng." "Not until I know one thing. nt least what tins become of the man who vns with me?" "Well. I might as well tell you.' nrelessly. "He got hurt; the fool com Killed me to hit him with a gnt; so le's out of It, end you might as well ome through clean that guy Isn't ;olng to help you any." "You mean you killed him?" "Well, he's out of the gume; that's nntigh. And as for you, your best play Ight now Is to tolk up straight." He uughed sneerlngly. "Unless you wont o call up your friend Karvun, nt the 'ity ball, you know. U 1, but yuu was asy P "Burr "Tluit's what I said. I knew you all Ight when you first blew In, only I vusn't quite sure. I naturally guessed 'our smoke Inspector stunt was 8 The Giant Pols Flung His Whole Weight Into the Crashing Blow. shum. So 1 ran thnt Fred Karvan stuff In on you. You ate It up. which gave you clean awuy. for I never knew any gny of that name. Do you see the point. Cnplnln West?" "Yea, I see nil that plainly, but It Iocs not explain the at tuck on me. You evidently know my mime, and this assault bos been deliberately made Why? What have you against me r "i'erlnips I'll tell you when you ex plain. Whnt brought you Into this neighborhood. Hunting some one. wasn't you?" "Not exactly." "Oh, don't lie; that will bring yon nothing. West. You uerc sticking vonr nose into a private matter which Do) not concern von In any way. Thei right Isn't Ii? Very well. ou'vc ftatl your lesson, and now It Is simply Ql lo you to eltlie drop this thin;,', or else "PI a , , mil ii. "Largely, yes." "You suspected something, nnd wnni cd to find out If It wns so. Well, yo came Into a had neighborhood. We ar not nice to your kind around hen What really caused your seeking me? "I do not know thnt I did," Wet answered honestly. "In fact I hnvea the slightest Idea who you are.' The other laughed. "So you are as green as that. The I'll give you the Information. M name Is Hohart. Jim Holuirt. I in th guy you were looking for?" "Yes." West admitted, seeing n reason to refuse an answer. "I thought go, although darned If know how you ever located me hen However, the sooner we come to aom understanding, the better. What d yon know about me?" "Nothing." "Is that sol You knew mv nnm when I spoke It. It was the Ooolldg mntter that sent you hunting me. Yo thought the girl was here, didn't you? "I had reason to believe she cam here." "I see; how did yon gain that news? "A conversation by telcphqne wu overheard." "Now we are getting down to fnct And this comprises yom entire Infot inatlon, doesn't It? Let's check up. Yoi connected me with the case hecaus rofj were with the uncle and her oi their call Sundny. You discovered I some way that I hnd since dlsnppenrei from that neighborhood. Then you R EMM tatty got on to this telephone cnl and decided to run me down. Som cute little detective. I'll say. Hut what' the object? What Is It you are tryln to connect me up with. Whnt posslbl cause can you buve for butting In oi this affair?" "I told you before; merely curiosity. "And who was t he guy with you?" "An old servunt of the Coolldge funi lly." "It wns mere curiosity In hla cas ulso, I presume?" "So far as I know, yes." Hohart smiled, showing his teetl cruelly. "Weat." he snld slowly, "yon are I d d good liar, but I am about to splki your gun. Oo on out, Mike, and sent In the Mist witness." The two sat silently watching end other, Hohart pretending a cureless ness he wns far from feeling, tmcerialt as to West's real purpose. The lottei realized now th true seriousness o: his position, yet this only Increuset his belief In the reality of the crime Previously his mind had lnirborev doubts, but the very fact that ilolinri would resort to auch desperate math ods was ample proof of his npprcheti sion of danger. . If Perclval Coolidgt had committed suicide, this fellow would surely buve nothing to fear; he could safely Ignore uuy efforts to tru him ; Indeed would possess no suspt clous along thnt line. It wus all own guilty conscience which drove him tc desperation. Coolldge hud been mur dcred, und this man wus either guilty of tue crime, or else knew the one who wus, and hud persotiul reasons for pro-tectlng pro-tectlng the party. These thoughts took possess'on of his mind and were convincing. He nn longer questioned but that he was or the track of crime, yet his th ught at that moment concentrated more vividly vivid-ly on his own personal peril. How could he escape? What wns he anout to be confronted with? Nothing around him afforded Inspiration. He was bound helplessly; Seitou hail dlsapMiired, whether dead or a prisoner, be did not know; the walls of the room exhibited ex-hibited no signs of weakness, while Hohart eyed his every movement coldly, cold-ly, evidently enjoying his predlcnincnt. Apparently the man comprehended the nature of his thought. "Perfectly useless, West," bo said carelessly. "This place wus constructed construct-ed for the purpose, und you tire not the only one who has tesieo iti strength. You v. Ill get out when I sny so, und not before." "Ho you Intend lo say so?" "Well, that depends." shrewdly. "No If your releuse menus my takini; any chances. Hut frankly, I do not believe It will. So far as I can see you possess pos-sess no particular Interest In this matter mat-ter only the attraction a young fellow always feels In pretty woman. Huvi I got that doped out right?" "To an extent, at least" "Yes, to a very large extent. Ol course, curiosity also played a pnrt while everybody possesses n sneakln desire to do a detective act. Mlsi Coolldge tilled you up with a lot ol bunk; she was good looking, and vol fell for It. Certain things Inippenei Hint you fulled to understand, so you rnther tintuially Jumped to the roflclt ion that some crime was rJflfni ''"" Ported. That was whnt brought yoi I. ere. Now I take It that. Ordinarily oii nre a mun of some sense, t'onse quetltly I mean to try to get ,oii tt drop the whole affiilr, ns befog n ne ol your business. If you agree In Ibis, 1 iiceepl your pledge the door opens uni you go free; otherwise" he waver Ms hnnd expressively. "Other UM what?" asked West ipiletly nut jon c:.n scarcely expect to give such a promise?" "Wall, don't know about thnt. doesn't pay to be loo obsilnnte. 1 hnve been In the nrmy. I understai then you rre aware there Is a ha side to life, a way to make or bn tnen. All right, now I've got the n er; I can keep you locked up here could even kill you If necessary. 1 ors utterly helpless. There Is an nr niotU worth your consideration. Ill r "III give you yet another which t; l hnve even more weight." "Wlint?" The door openeil quietly, nnd t closed, leaving Nntalle Coolldge etn Ing there in the light, tier eyes ellgl ( frown'ng as she looked allently I the t.vo tnen. , "The lady, of course," explained .. hart, rising to his feet, "you will, , least. Imp gentleman enough to ac I i'er word 1" She walled, seemingly unable grasp the situation, or realise the 1 "You Recognise This ManT- i she was called upon to perform, but " West failed to respond, rlnully ns a question. "Whnt is It. Jim? You sent for m "Yes, ns a Inst resort. You recogi t this man?" "Of course." Indifferently; "wha he doing here?" Hohart laughed. "It seems the fellow hasn't tnkon i rMsmtssnl very seriously. Nntnlle." explained, "und renin Ins very much 1 teresreil In your affairs." "You mean he followed me here' i "He was nn the trail, but J:, at what particular purpose I have fa i to kearn : the Ind Is a hit close moutl ' but It looks to me as though he wu f love with you." I The girl smiled, tossing her heud ' she stepped forward. I "In love with me." she echoed. "T ' Is a Joke, yet I hn! some such, so cloo when I told Mm to quit the He acted like a fool then, and he to question me as though he hai right. It was that being engaged h ' ness. most likely." 1 "8ure; he thought he had you copf fortune and all. nnd It looks to 1 like he needs another Jolt to put 1 idea entirely out of bis bead, T Is what I brought you In for. I'll plain first Just how It happened. 'I unity guy Mew In here before di nlong with another fellow, Sexlou. "I wns standing by the bur talk with Issy, and I was sure I knew I lad's face. I was stumped n hit at I 1 where I had seen him; then nil at a tt came to me he wus t lie guy sltt out there slottg in the gtUtaMMutfcf n on Arch street. I knew then whnt was over here for. and got to talk with hltn. He give himself uwuy Nrst thing, and that Is ui.y we got I up In this dump." "How did he know 1 was here?" "Some of your precious help there heiird you tnlk lo me over 'pin ne. and passed It on." "And wlint does be want? Whnt these men want?" "Well leX MM don't wnnt much anything lie's knocked out; the I made a Rjrtlti and Mid lo lie bit ; a aa to this bird. I nil her think he I 1 Just BntHmlly nosing around out curiosity, and because he was st on you. I don't figure he Is nuyth to be afraid of, but I am not golnu have the fellow- gum-shra-ltig orou I'll lake his word to gel out and s nut ; otherwise he and I lire going have a little sennce of our own. Tin all there Is about It." West makes bii choice. Watch for noxt installment |