OCR Text |
Show A Great Mystic Story by Harold McGrath Copyriht '914. by Harold McGrtth SYNOPSIS. Zudorn It IcCt nn orphan at fin early age. Her father Ih Killed In a cold mine. Zudora unci the fortune from the mine, which grows to le worth IJO.ojo.uuci, nre left In (he KU.irdluii'hip ot Frank Keene, Zudora's inothui r umthir Zuiloni, giv-Inn giv-Inn ptnmlce of gieul lieniity, reaches the tine nr eighteen. The uncle, nho hug net himself up up a Hindu myrtle and Ik known n IlHSsnin All, decider that Zu-dora Zu-dora mud die lit-lore she can have n chance to come Into iseesion ot her money, to that It mny he left to nim, the next of kin. llnssuin All tees an obstacle to hi scheme In the person of John Storm, a uunK lawyer, for whom Zu-dora Zu-dora has taken a fancy, und he com mnndj the Klrl to put the man out of her mind. Zudora Insists that If she cannot marry Storm she will marry no one. "Well, well," says llassnm All, "If you take such n stand I'll compromise. Solve my next twenty cases and you can marry lilm; fall In a single case and you must renounce him." Zudora, using- the knowledge Rained from years of association with her uncle, unravels a baffling mystery and wins her first case a case In which John Storm Is saved from being convicted of a murder Instigated by Hassam All himself. Zudorn and Hassam All visit Nabok Shan's house, where sleep overcomes every ev-ery one whenever Nabok attempts to mar ry a princess. Storm, seeking Zudora, Is made a prlsonel, Zudora falls Nabok Shan, restores the princess to her original lover and snves Storm from death. A maker of diamonds tells Hassam All his secret. Storm Informs Zudora that his life Is being nttempted frequently Storm suspects Hassam All. Storm Is arrested for stealing the diamond maker's Kerns, but Zudora discovers the real thieves a pair of ml.e. The negro help employed on Storm's father's farm are fleeing becauso a great skeleton hand appeals at night upon a hill near by. Storm Is ballled in his Investigation, In-vestigation, but Zudora Ida ma that her uncle has employed Jimmy llolton, a half H wltted man, thus to annoy Storm's par- U cnts. Zudora finds llolton operating n II big magic lantern and Is attacked by Q him. Storm opportunely appears and saves Q her from Rolton. U Hassam All asks Zudora to find a gem H lost by two mysterious old men Zudora n sets n photograph of the gem and It burns H In her hand. An old house Is mined by a Hassam All nnd the old men. Storm and I Zudora are lured there and narrowly es- M cape destruction when the house blows up rl John McWInter, endeavoring to trap and H kill George Smith, Is killed himself, and I Smith Is charged with murder. Hassam l All conspires to have John Storm meet ji the same fate as McWInter, and he and cl Storm are overcome by powerful fumes. ID Zudora saves them, proves that McWIn-V McWIn-V Jl iM ter's own dog trapped and killed him and saves Smith from a bond of lynchers. KB An Inventor blows up a submarine with F- a powerful heat ray which he sends III through water Hassam All sends Zudora 01 to a photographer directly beneath the In El venter's laboratory and orders the In-M In-M ventor to kill her. Zudora gets a warning, 6J nnd her life la saved. The heat ray ma- 1 chine Is destroyed, and the photographer, B after a quarrel with Hassam All, Is found J dead In tho river. 1 CHAPTER VIII. j ' The Hypnotic Power of Mr. Chang, jjl TiOR a toner time Zudorn paced H Ih Dcr room. She was troubled. H J That afternoon Stortn bad H pleaded with ber bo strongly U to leave ber uncle, marry him nnd so I far away that Bbc bad been drawn al- I most Irresistibly toward- ber- lover.! I From time to time she paused before a some object moved It abstractedly and m resumed ber pacing. Tbe youtb In ber 1 wanted to fly sway and be bappy. U Tbe thought of ber vast fortune of- H ten terrified ber. Tbe moment tbe H world found out tbat sbe was so rich I nn heiress sbe would be beset wltb all jl sorts of devices by fortune hunters. H Every grado of beggar would be at n her doorstep. More than tbat, sbe bad M mude somo strange enemies during a her short career as n detective, and If m these individuals knew of bcr wealth H tbey would leavo no stone unturned w to trap bcr and hold bcr for some H enormous ransom. A llttlo money. w enough to take care of bcr and supply H bcr simple needs tbat was nil she n craved. n nut .twenty mllllonsl In dollars she I could hardly count tbat sum during I her allotted years) I Sometimes she found herself on the I verge of asking bcr uncle, nassam I Alt. to take the bulk of It and let her 1 bo freo to do as Bho thought tit nut always she stepped bark from tho threshold of this net. Orent dreams of , doing good lu tbe world held her. She dreamed of helping humanity wltb these millions, to buy farms nnd con- 1 vert tbem Into communities for thrifty ! but unfortunate people, to build great hospitals, children's playgrounds. Sbe determined tbat theso dreams should become realltlco just as soon as she had accomplished tho twenty tasks lm- posed upon bcr by her uncle. She longed with all bcr heart to go to John Storm, but ber wont to her undo was like a barrier of stone. nut tonight life hnd suddenly developed devel-oped a new nnglo. She was In love; she was young; she bad n right to be happy. And she was fighting a battle between loyalty to her word nnd the urglngs of her heart. Resides, It was quite possible that tho very next case might be the lust. Several times bo fri Bho hnd escaped death by n hair. That in Itself did not deter bcr, for sho wax us courageous ns ri Hon. Dut fchii did nut cure to court dentil when the greatest happiness In tho world was wltlilu linn's reach Sho stopped suddenly before a win dow nnd pressed her hot forehend ngntnst the cool pane. Over the great city bung that almost lurid haze the million lumps thrown against the sky Suddenly all hosltahce left her: her resolution was formed. She wnlked iliilckl.v tn her writing desk and sat down to write. She would accept .loliu Sturm's pica She would go to lilm the very next day Lot her uncle become furious Was not her lovet more to hci than tills strange man who was nil that remained of kith or kin. who followed strange cults, performed per-formed extraordinary feats at one time and the veriest humbugs at nn other? She. would run nway on the morrow nnd marry .lotin Storm. And to pro- "Slcepl" she heard vaguely. "Sleep!" vide against any weakeulng tn this resolve she would write him ut once to this effect. Downstairs the hell rang. Amed 8hu(lled to the door. A very beautiful woman cnteicd "I should like to see your master, nnssani All," she said quietly. "Uuvo you nn appointment?" asked tho servant, bowing "One sees him at night only by appointment," "I believe he will see me." she replied, re-plied, wltb it singular smile. "Announce "An-nounce Mme. Dti Koy." "Yes, niadamc." The servant returned re-turned directly. "Follow aie, madumc. The master will receive you." TthbugbTBo-., Bassam All stood by bis crystal as be entered. At a sign tho servant took himself off. "I was not expecting you. madame," aid nassam All, but bo smiled as be spoke. "Mr. Chang could not come. Of course you know that you can trust our organization." "Yes. nut did Chnng contlde in you?" ,An almost Imperceptible frown flitted across nassam All's face, no knew tbo Caucasian women: he wns wary In trusting them with vital set-rets. A Chinaman, on tbe other hand, was like sand; he absorbed but never gave back a secret Still, In tbe present pres-ent case, bo was bound to trust this woman. A quarter of an hour passed, when she took bcr leave, leaving nassam All quite satisfied, no wns reasonably sure that Zudora would bo taken off his bands this time and In a manner which would totally bufllo all tbe detectives de-tectives in Manhattan. Rut there wns a hurt In It. It was going to cost money, mon-ey, nis beautiful gold would be somo hundreds lower, for Wu Chang never accepted anything but gold for his services. Vou onnnot mnrk gold ns yon can paper money. Wu Chang was the wisest oriental In New York. Among the various races wblcb inhabit in-habit this earth none is less known than tbo Chinese. Ono bears a tnlo now and then thnt comes down to tho coast ard those who know Cblnn believe be-lieve all tbat comes down to tho coast It is only the casual tourist who Is skeptical. There was a certain monk who thought bo bad discovered gunpowder; gun-powder; there wns n man who thought bo had discovered glazing for pottery; there was a German physician who honestly believed thnt ho bad discovered discover-ed hypnotism. All fallncles of opinion. Tbo Chinese hnd Invented these things, or discovered them, long before the Christian era. Wu Chnng had taught llassnm All all lie knew nliinit hypnotism, and hypnotism hyp-notism vitally concerns Zudorn In this episode of her adventures. A bit of greediness-which Is Inherent In all orientals on the pnrt of Wn Chnng proved his ultimate undoing. Wu Chang spoke English with remarkable re-markable fluency.. Only In bis den dd Tie relnpse Into tho gutturals of his nn tlve tongue. Men applied to his urts as men applied to Ilnssam Alt There lived In Now York at this day a wealthy old bachelor who had adopt rd a son The old man was absolutely absolute-ly alone In the world and this lhnl of man has a horror of dying and hn'lng strangers divide his money. As this son grew up tie evinced a ltiplil'tv that ntinnved his father greatly Tn tors by the score gave up the lov m a hopeless Job. nnd If Mills had not possessed M certain amount of vault? Zudorn would have vanished from tin face of the 'earth. Curious, Isn't It. how these things dovetail? The loss of nn envelope lu Singapore may be tbe cause of the ultimate death of a mun In Chicago. Mills had had dreams of this boy bo coming a great orator, eventually a statesman. Just as an ordinary fathei would have dreamed over the cared of u real son. .Mills Inn! one in brag god about the hoy's prowess In tills direction nnd foolishly entered the hoy In an oratolleal contest Then he started out to hunt for some one to coacli the hoy anil Dually came to the door of a Chinaman! Yes. fur a price Wu Chang would make an orator ut the boy for one night. This was all Mills desired to ease his vanity The price was rather 'fiiliT. hut he agreed Wu Chang brought the boy undei the spell or hypnotism and put a brll Hunt speech on the hoy's tongue. All that wns necessary now was the pros ence of Wu Chang at the contest L'n fortunately for Chang, this night was close to a far more lucrative, and dan gcrous mission Yon cannot throw two stones with two hands. Zudorn had written Storm, nnd everything ev-erything was prepared for her lllglit. From n crack In the door nnssnm All's man watched her curiously ns she pneked her belongings. Just enough of clothes to see her ut her Journey's end. Storm was to meet ber with nn nuto She was to leavo her room by way of n stout rope. The Hindu servant returned to his muster to report that the memsahlb wns getting ready to run away. And Hassam All set his scenes Immediately. Immediate-ly. Yu Chang was ushered In half nn hour Inter, and he very' quietly changed costumes with the Hindu. "lteniember," warned Hassam All, "If she sees you or notices anything wrong she will escape." "Trust me." smiled the Chinaman. It wns growing dark by now. A street light spurted several times and then blazed brilliantly, Zudora heard the rumble of her lover's automobile and pulled up tho window without making a sound. She gave the whistle whis-tle agreed upon, and Sturm and his chauffeur mnnnged to get the rope up to her. She fastened It securely to the foot of the bed. Not for a moment did she feel any rregreC 8b'e bad' for her' uncle a" certain cer-tain fondness, but due to his general coldness, it hnd never developed Into real love. Tbe only thing sbe really did regret leaving behind was the car rlcr pigeon, it was too late now. Why, she thought bow strangely tbo room began to npoar! Was It fog outside? out-side? Wbnt wus this strange nnd unaccountable un-accountable desire to laugh, to fling bcr things nbout? Seized wltb n sudden sud-den nnd terrible knowledge, she tried to turn. It was tmosslblo to Btlrl "Sleep!" she heard vaguely. "Sleep!" Zudora's eyes closed Irresistibly. Wu Chang stepped In front of her and touched her forehead. Tbo man's own roreheud wus covered wltb sweat for this had been n tremendous exertion of will M)wcr. Had tho girl been ablo to turn he would havo failed signally. "Re u child." he whispered. "Ho a child. Now you are young nnd bappy, without u enro lu the world. You nre young?" "Ob, yes, I am a child!'' Zudora began be-gan to laugh, Wu Chung picked up tho photograph of her lover und held It before her. Thero wns no recognition in her eyes. He hnd won. Zudora sat down. Uelow Storm whistled frantically and wondered what had thus delayed bis sweetheart Chang beard theso shrill calls. "Go to tbe window, child," bo Bald. Zudora got up and walked to tbo window. Sho looked down calmly upon bcr lover and never made any sign that she saw blm. If it bad been lighter light-er ho might have noted tbo Btonlness of her look, the unnatural pallor. "What lu heaven's uamo has happened?" hap-pened?" murmured the distracted lover. lov-er. At any moment llassnm All might nppenr upon tho scene. Still ho wnlted. Chnng left the room. "It Is done!" he Bnld to llassnm All. "It Is something I've never been able to accomplish, She Is very strong men tally." "Itut nt thnt moment she wns thinking think-ing or love." mild tho oriental "Now we have no time to waste upon discussing dis-cussing tho science of the thing. That young man may nt any time become suspicious anil break tn. Let us net nt once. You shall for the prcseut be-como be-como Wu Chnng, and I shall remnlu tbe servant of liassnm AjL. You have makeup. Come! Hurry!" In a very short time the two return . ed to Zudorn. They put her hat nnd coat on nnd led her from the room "Storm Snhlb h.ts gone nrouud to the rear!" cried the rent servant. "GoodI" said bis double. To Has Ram All ho said: "You and the girl leave now by the front door. I'll han die your man." Do nothing violent" snld Hassam All, who. though he greatly desired tbo death of Storm, did not enre to hnvo tho nfXnlr tnke place on the premises. Thpre wns, as hid been stated before, no love lost between blm nnd the police. lie followed Chang's advice without more ndu nnd was snugly Inside n taxi with Zudorn when Chnng opened the door to Storm. Ho made ns though to close the door again, but Storm was too quick Ho rushqd In fearlessly and. ns Chnng closed in. Hung lilm nslde hoforp tho Chliiaman could tint tho trick In his leg to throw Storm The lover rushed headlong up the stairs tn Zudorn s room, saw tho rope attached to tin bed. the suit case but no Zudora llussnm All had tricked him Down the stairs lie rushed, wild with anger Chang nwnlted him. but for a second time bo wn not quick enough. The lover dnnheC mun the house, to be Informed In-formed by Ills excited chauffeur that n Chtunuinu und Zudora bud entered a taxi which had stood opposite and had been driven away. "Which way?" "Straight ahead!" "Come on then! And drive like the devil! Did you gel I he license number?" num-ber?" "Too il.uk to see, hut there wns a crack In the tall lamp" It was a wild goose chase, for they never i-.iuie within sight ot a red lump with a clack In ll Itut Iheie was one thing that John Storm ktiow-ir ktiow-ir aught lu the way ot harm befell his sweetheart he would kill Hassam All with tils bale hands "Suppose we go dowu to Chinatown and make a tij ?" suggested the cliaur-leur. cliaur-leur. A good Idea! Ily dint of Inquiry they learned that a Clilimmaii and a woman had lieen seen entering Wu Chang's tea simp florin waited fot over an hour, and as no one came out lie concluded that his was a case foi iiofessloual de lectlvos, and he straightway sought their aid. Together thej went ovet the ret-nids of Chinatown, lint Wu Chang was not a toug man There Had novel heeii any opium smuggling He was one of tho few Chinamen down Hi that crime infested hole who stood clean upon the police records. Still, they were willing to make a thorough thor-ough Investigation Hassam All. still disguised as Chang, entered the supposed tea merchant's house and found Mme. I Hi Itoy awaiting await-ing him. The woman at llrst thought him to be Chang himself until he explained. ex-plained. "Can you bring her out of the trance?" she asked. "That's the easiest part of It Rut there's no need She must remain In this condition until long after you nre out at sea I don't care If she never conies out of It." "ion re u strange kind of uncle, mused the woman, wondering wbnt wns behind this uunnturnl attitude of the man "That's my business," said nassam All grullly. "Now. find me a room for the girl. 1 am not going to trust to luck." "There Is a walled room. The method meth-od of getting lu and out of It U secret" se-cret" "1 rather bellevo you can trust mo with the secret" said Hassam All grimly. "Follow me. then." Zudora hnd to be led. She wns physically phys-ically capable ns ever, but bcr mind was temporarily blank. Once In the walled room, sho snt down placidly, after the mnnner of persons hypnotized, hypno-tized, nnd stared nt her hands. It was nil nassam All could do to resist the desire to bring her out of tho trnnce and tell her what was going to happen, hap-pen, but his bump of caution wns nb-normnl. nb-normnl. Sho might escnpo somewhere nlong the route, nnd thnt would wind up the nffnlrs of a certnln myBtlc who for a commission advised old ladles when nnd how to Invest their fortunes, for-tunes, n commission which, by the way, usually consisted of nt least half of the sums Invested, Tho real Wu Chang in the meanwhile mean-while left tho house of nassam All nt what might be called the psychological moment Ten minutes Inter tbo house wns under tho espionage of a plain clothes mun. Mr. Chnng, affable ten merchant, wns driven to one of the uptown hotels he fiometluies. frequented. frequent-ed. He wnntcd an nllbl. Besides, this hotel wus quite near the hull where the adopted sou of Mills was to make bis brilliant speech that name night It was a delightful thing to make money with right and left baud. Rut. ns has already been said, you cannot throw two stones with two hands und tilt any given target Chang went to the hall, took a seat where he could fis-us tho eye of the boy nnd watted patiently for tils debut. de-but. It must have been exceedingly dull business for a mind so i:een ns VU Chnng's to be forced to listen tu the oratorical spouting of gieeu young Intellects, Hut u Chinaman will tarry until the reaper conies U there is gold at the end When tho boy finally came forward, nllukliu and frightened, old Mills for a moment thought Wu Chang had betrayed be-trayed him Hut all nt mice the ini seemed to straighten up. and proscn't ly lie began lo speak. The voice wus unpleasant und monotonous. No hypnotism hyp-notism In the world could change that There were some surprised pcoplj In that hall, you may be sure, especially nmoug the Judges. From tho audience audi-ence there came occasionally u ripple ofnppluusc. The sweat began to lonu upon WuChang's foiehead Two such exploits lu one day were terribly en ervntlng. When the tiffiili was over the stiffened lit: tiro or tho Chinaman relaxed He round some dllllftilt), too, In opening his thin, tapeilug bauds, which hud been tightly clinched undei the concentration nt his will. "Are you sullstled?" he whispered rather weakly to Mills, who sat next tu blm. "1 am, und I will keep to the letter of my bargain." "And never brag again about youi son's oratorical powers. 1 doubt IT I could hold him again." Mills Hushed, but for nil thnt he was mighty glad to be high und dry on shore. He would send the boy on u long tour. I'eople would forget Chung entered Mills' automobile, and a plain clothes mini iccogulred his fnee and immediately warned Storm and the ottier olllcers to watch Chang's house Chang ordinarily would hate kept away from his home, but lie was weak and tired und wanted nay, need cd-the solace of bis poppy pipe Arriving home he at once conferred with Hassam All and was glad to learn that Zudora bad been conllucd to tho walled room. At dawn .Mine. Du Itoy would convey her to the ship that was to sail for Cherbourg. From there they would drop down to Marseilles Mar-seilles and sail for Hongkong. Zudora Tmluor would never bo beard of again. "1 think that before I smoke I will see tho young lady." said Chang, smiling. smil-ing. Hassam All smiled too. In bis mind's eye ho was counting up the enormous pyramids of gold coin. He would build hlmseir a palace close to I'nrls, and no prince In Hindustan would rival lilm lu luxury. Yet luxury would require the spending or those pyramids, mid straightway bis enthusiasm grew cold and died. "1 hear uutomublles." be suld sud dtnly und with apprehension. Chang placed u hand to Ills ear "And they aro stopping lu rront! 1 will take care or the girl and see that you play the part of Wu Chung well This Is n critical moment. It may lie the police. Speak softly und kotow J oh often ns tbey nsk questions. Youi ! makeup lu this light will root them " "No; you remain nnd let me go to Zudorn!" "Fool! 1 am master hero. Do as I say!" With that Wu Chang ran toward the nlcove behind which was Zudora's prls on. Hassam All swallow. -d with dill) cutty. He wus courageous only when he wns sure or results. Mine. Du Ito) had already vanished. He was alone. lie roused tils will and subdued hi fdiaklng knees A bold rront for u few moments, mid the dilllcultles would be surmounted. Tho hell began to ring violently, und Immediately arter there followed a furious hammering Storm, turloui with anger und fear. "That won't do any good. Mr Storm." mlvlsod one of the detectives "There'll bo better hammering itinn that presently-that Is, if Chang lias had a hand lu this alidm-tlon ' "Hut they maj be hurting tier!" "That'll make the hammering all the better," grimly. "Iln. some one at the doort Old Chung hlmseir. I should say." Tbe door opened, and what looked like the bland face or a cultivated Chinaman Hered out at them from tbe half opened door. "Gentlemen, what Is this?" "It meanH, Mr Chang, that wo will have to search your house. Orders." "And for what?" "This gentleman here." und tbe detective de-tective indicated Storm, "claims that you abducted a young lady this evening even-ing and tbat sho is here." A low chuckle followed this statement state-ment "This evening I wns' at tbe Delhi hall. I have Just returned. Abduction? Ab-duction? The young man Is mad Kilter, please, nnd search." Hassam All was doing very well considering con-sidering the state of his knees. Storm nnd the detectives crowded past blm and swarmed about tho house. There wns a good denl of tin-1 tin-1 necessnry racket As Storm wus passing pass-ing tho alcove he stopped short convinced con-vinced that ho bnd heard n cry. He listened Intently, but beard no further sound. Half nn hour later the detec tives trooped back to their taxis, their previous convictions that Wu Chang was a good Chinaman stronger than ever. "Sho Is In that house," said Storm stubbornly, "and I'll get her out alone If necessary." The detectives shrugged commlscrat Ingly nnd took solnce In cigars. Storm hnd heard n cry. This Is what had taken place behind the alcove: Chnng. curious to learn what Zudora would do, brought her back to hot Benson and, reasonably Hoeuro In his haven from outside Interference, puss ed his bands before her race. Over bis shoulder peered his uimlstnnt, his bendy eyes blinking nt the benuty of tbo prisoner. Slowly Zudora returned to th world The fnoes looking down nt her were sutllclent She gave a cry. And this cry Storm heard Instantly Chans and his assistant seized her and bound and gagged her Then the oriental tried to throw her hack Into the trance but he failed, for Zitilora was not taken mi rtwuros this time She was hewlldeied nnd could not ''renin what bad hap ponod since fur trier, rut she had started for the rope which hung from her boudoir window. The two wills fought for a minute, und then Wu Chnng stepped buck, sighing. He had wasted too much power thnt night The gill's mind wus now free, bow- H ever well her body was bound. H So be left tier for tho night At jH dawn sho would bo on the high seas. H The sootier the hotter, so fur us he wns H concerned. When thnt liner drew out 'jLLLI of her slip llassnm All would place jH in bis hands I.ihhi shining disks or fl gold. Hut the answer to u telephone H cull ut dawn dismayed Wu Cluing IH I'he liner would not sail nut 1 In th !LLB afternoon. Ships do not always sab IsLLLI -in scheduled time. j As for Storm, he did not take his jJ clothes otf at all. and be wns some LLI thing or n wreck when he ute a meagei Jf hrcakrust He hud heard Zudorn fill jH rot help us plainly ns If be had soot jH her He thought and thought and jH Dually, recalling certain curious fen- jH Hires In Wu Chang's house, fell upon iaiLLI what be hclloM-d to he the true solu ILLH tlou. A sis-ret room behind that ill iLLLH cove, from whence tbe voice had sHHHIIIIi He seized the telephone and 'iLLH routed out hair a dozen grumbling de iLLH tectlves. Storm was a coming power: 'LLH a turn or the wheel might lilt htm to JJ the position (r district attorney, und iLLLI the detectives wanted to be on the H right side of htm In that event. H Theie was n bit or bluff In his dec- nLLLI laratlon that he had been mysterious. 'lalH ly apprised of the fact that there with faiaiiH a hidden room In Wu Chang's house 'laLLH and that Zudorn wns thero. The detec- jH lives were still skeptical. bLH To return to Zudora. She was still JH as Chang bnd lett tier-bound, gagged. jH helpless. There was only ono bit ot B consolation her mind was her own. -ILLI Through a small, high wludow-out- jH wardly giving tbe appearnnco of lie- H longing to the next house the sun jH poured lu brightly und warmly. She JH gazed about eagerly, endeavoring vain- jLLH ly to tlud something sharp upon which -jH she could saw tier bonds. Tho room .iH I , j bB w ' bHHHh A Fine Bit of Warfare Ensued. had been and evidently still was n J kind or seclusion rur Wu Chang when he desired to pursue Ills modes of cul- J turu. There wus u tahle, upon which stood u reader's magnifying glass ut- tached to a frame, gulckly Zudorn H calculated the rays of the sun as the HH Inspiration came to her. Sbe was quite H oblivious to the sudden Hounds coming H faintly through tho wall. If she could H but reach thnt table! Fortuuntety she ,H wns not bound to tho chair. She roso H slowly nnd took short little Jumps, bnl- H nnclng herself nicely. If sho stumbled H and fell goodby liberty. H It took three minutes to reach tho H table. With ber elbow Bho hitched tbo H glnss so thnt tbo sun fell full upon It H Instantly the book beneath emitted n H bit of smoke. Zudorn turned about so H thnt this burning ray became focused H upon tho hempen cords. Sho felt tho H smart nnd sting of fin mo upon ber H wrists. Hut that was nothtng. The H ray was shriveling tbo rope; sho could H smell It! She strained suddenly nt her H wrists nnd wns free! ,H Pistol shots! M Sho listened. A pounding began to H tnko plnco ngalnst the wall outside. H nor lover hnd found tier! H Storm and the detectives had entered unceremoniously this time, nnd n One H bit of warfare ensued. Chnng lost his H temper nnd In doing bo lost his liberty. H When the battle wns over and Chang 'H wns In Irons they got Into Zudora's H prison. And they found n trap under H a mat, nnd below they found tho H source of Wu Chnng's fortune thou- H sands of cans of opium and still far- M ther below n big room half tilled with M tbe devotees of tho drug. H Tntcr Ilnssam AH snt In his mystic M room nnd heard from ber own lips M Zudora's remarkable adventure. M "My child, you bnd better glvo up the 91 struggle. In somo manner Chang bus JsfciH beard of your fortuno nnd kldnnped jl you for rnnsom. Walt until you nre lll twenty-ono. You will still bo youug U enough to mnrry Storm." M "I have concluded to go to tho end. jH I am determined to solvo theso twenty M riddles becauso well, becnuso I begin 91 to Und theso adventures tho most fas- Hal cluatlng things in tbo world." H "Very well, my child, but remember a that I hnvo warned you." SH No sooner wna sho gono from tbe Gal room than ho set to plan somo new H deviltry. Hut for two weeks he trem- 11 bled. Chnng might speak. Rut Chnng H never spoke. His bit of work for H nnssnm All wns of small consequence H compared with other crimes unearthed tH wltlilu thnt fortnight. Wu Chang was tH not born to die lu a cell. A little black IH pallet lu bis mandarin's ring opened 'H tho way out ,H I to nr. continued. H |