OCR Text |
Show fV PMllK "BANNOTERMERW1N craR , WTO srsssj. he wbi to be found a place sufficiently sufficient-ly Indicated by the letter. Now an to the "T." waa It "treasure?" Or was It "time?" Or "true?" Orme had no way of telling. It might even be the Initial of the person who had penned the Instruction Without knowing where "A" n, Orme could make nothing 'of the cryptogram. For that matter, ho realized that unleiiB the secret were criminal It was not hi affair. Hut be knew that legitimate business Information In-formation la aeldom transmitted by urh mysterious nieana. Again and again be went over tho abbreviation, but the more (-lonely bo studied them, the more baffling bo found them. The real meaning appeared ap-peared to hinge on the "A." and tho "T." Kventually he was driven to tho conclusion that those two letters could not be underatood by anyono who was not already partly In tbo secret. If aecret It was. It occurred to him to have the city directory sent up to hltn. He might then find tbo addreaa of "8. It. Kvana." If that per-on per-on happened to be a Cblcagoan. Hut It waa quite likely that the "Chi." might mean aomethlng other than that "Kvana" lived In Chicago. Per-hapa. Per-hapa. In the morning be would satisfy hla curiosity about "8. It Kvana," but for the present he larked the Inclination Inclina-tion to press the matter that far. In the midst of hla puzzling, tho telephone bell rang. He crossed tbo room and put the receiver to bla ear. "Yea?" he questioned. The clerk's voice answered. "80 nor Porlfol to aeo Mr. Orme." "Who?' "Senor I'o-rl t ol." spelH-d tho clerk. "I don't know him," aald Ormo. "There muat be aome mlatake. Aro you aure that he asked for met" There waa a pauae. Orme heard a few acatterlng worda which Indicated that the clerk waa questioning tho ... atranger. Then came tho Informs- V-tlon: V-tlon: "He aaya he wishes to aeo you about a five dollar bill." "Oh!" Orme realUed that he bad I no reason to be aurprlaed. "Well, aend him up." lie hung up the receiver and, ro-turnlng ro-turnlng to the table, put the marked , bill back Into hla pocket book and I allpped Into a drawer the paper on , which bo had copied the Inscription, t (TO UK CONTINCRD.) .1 "I'm so sorry. We're going nut with some new friends IhIi I knew them uell not. Kb 10 nk ou along. Can you have wuiip golf with us at Arra-dule Arra-dule tomorrow afternoon?" "Delighted! Say. Itennle, do you know a girl who runa a black touring car?" "What?" "Ho you know a tall, dark girl who baa a black touring car?" "I know lota of tall, dark glrla, and several of them have black touring car. Why?" "Who are they?" There waa a pause and a little chuckle; then: "Now, Hob. that won't do. You must tell me all about tt tomorrow. to-morrow. Call for us In time to catch the one four." That waa all that Orme could get out of her; and after a little banter and a brief exchange of greetings with Tom, who waa called to the telephone tele-phone by bla wife, the wire waa permitted per-mitted to rest. Orme pushed a chair to the window of the alttlng room and smoked latlly, looking out over tho beautiful expanse of Lake Michigan, which reflected from Ita glassy surface the wonderful opalescence of early evening. He seemed to have aet forth on a new and adventuroua road. How strangely the girl of the car had come Into hla life! Then he thought of the five-dollar bill, with the cnMous Inscription. He took It from hla poeketbook and examined ex-amined It by tbo fading light. The words ran the full length of the face. Orme noticed that the writing bad a foreign look. There were flourishes which seemed distinctly un American. He turned the bill over. Apparent ly there waa no writing on the back, but as he looked more closely he saw a dark blur In the upper left hand corner. Even In the dusk he could make out that thla waa not a spot ol dirt; the edgea were defined too dls tinctly for a amudge; and It was nol bluck enough for an Ink blot. Moving to the center table, hi switched on the electric lamp, ant looked at the blur again. It stood ou plainly now, a series of letters am numbers: . "Kvan. 8. It. Cbl. A. 100 N. 210 I T." The first thought that came to Ortn waa that tiiia could be no hoax. . Joker would have made the curtou cryptogram more conspicuous, in what did It mean? Was It a seen formula? Did It give the location i lburled treasure? And why In tli ''iiame'T common aenae had it be Written on a flre-dollar bill? More likely, Orme reasoned. It coi cealed Information for or abou some person "8. It. Kvana," probablj And who waa thla 8. II. Kvana? The better to study the mystery Orme copied the Inscription on ashee of note paper, which be found In tlx table drawer. From the first be de elded that there was no cipher. Tlx letters undoubiedly were abbrevla Hons. 'Kvans" must be, aa be bad al ready determined, a man's name "fhl" miuht be, probably was. "fhl cago." "100 N. 210 U." looked llki "100 (feet? paces?) north. 21C (feet' puces?) east." The "A." and the "T." bothered him "A." nilgnt be the place to which "8 K. Kvana" was directed, or at wblti 1 CHAPTER I. The Threshold of Advsnturs. The roar of Stats street tilled tho oars of Robert Orme not unpleasantly. He liked Chicago, felt towards tho western city something mors than tho tolerant, patronizing Interest which so often characterizes tbo eastern man. To him It was tho bub of genuine gen-uine Americanism young, aggressive, perhaps a bit too cocksure, but ever bounding along with eyes toward tho future. Hero was tho city of great beginnings, the city of experiment-experiment experiment-experiment with life; hence its Incompleteness Incom-pleteness an Incompleteness not dissimilar dis-similar to that of life Itself. Chicago Chi-cago lived; It was tbo pulse of the great middle west. Orme watched the procession with clear eyes. He had been strolling southward from the Masonic Temple, Into the shopping district. The clangor, the smoke and dust, the hurrying hur-rying crowds, all worked Into bla mood. Tho expectation of adventure was far from him. Nor was he a man who aought Impressions for amusement; amuse-ment; whatever came to him be weighed, weigh-ed, and accepted or rejected according as it was valueless or useful. Wholesome Whole-some he waa; any one might Infer N that from his face. Doubtless, his fault lay In his overemphasis on the purely practical; but that, after all, was a lawyer's fault, and It waa counterbalanced by a sweet kindliness toward all the world a loveableness which made for him a friend of every chance acquaintance. It was well along In the afternoon, and shoppers were hurrying homeward. home-ward. Ormo noted the fresh beauty of the women and glrla Chicago has reason to bo proud of her daughters and his heart beat a little faster. - - Not that he was a man to be caught by every pretty stranger; but scarce-ly scarce-ly recognized by himself, there was a hidden spring of romance in his practical prac-tical nature. Heart-free, he never mei a woman without wondering whether she waa the one. He had never found her; he did not know that he was looking for her; yet always there waa the unconscious question. A dlstsnt whistle, the clanging of gongs, tho rapid beat of galloping hoofs Are engines were racing down the street. Cars stopped, vehicles of all kinds crowded In toward the curbs. Orme paused and watched the fire horses go thundering by, their smoking; smo-king; cha"ilot swsylng behind them . ao.4 dropping long trails of sparks. 8mall boys (were running, men and women were stopping to gate after the passing engines, but Orme's attention at-tention was taken by something that waa happening near by, and as the gongs and the boot beats grew fainter be looked with Intereat to the street beside blm. He had got as far as the corner of Madison street The scramble to get out of tho way of the engines had here resulted In a traffic jam. Two policemen were moving about, shouting shout-ing orders for the disentanglement of the street cars and vehicles which seemed to be Inextricably wedged together. to-gether. A burly Irish teamster waa bellowing bellow-ing at his horse. The hind wheel of a smart barouche waa caught In tbo fore wheel of a delivery wagon, and the driver of the delivery wagon was expressing his opinion of the situation in terms which seemed to embarrass the elderly gentleman who sat In the barouche. Orme's eye traveled through the outer edge of the disturbance, dis-turbance, and sought Its center. There In the midst of tho tangle was a big black touring car. Its one occupant was a girl and such a girl! Her fawn-colored cloak was thrown open; her face was unveiled. Ormo waa thrilled when he caught the glory of her face the clear skin, browned by outdoor living; the demure de-mure but regular features; the eyes that seemed to transmute and reflect softly all Impressions from without. Orme bad never seen any one like her so nobly unconscious of self, so appealing and yet so calm. She waa waiting patiently. Interested Inter-ested In the. clamor about her, but seemingly undisturbed by her own part In It Orme's eyes did not leave her face. He was merely one of a crowd at the curb, unnoted by her. but w hen after a time, he became j aware that be was staring, he felt the blood rush to his cheeks, and he muttered: mut-tered: "What a boor I am!" And then, "Hut who can she be? Who can she be?" A policeman made his way to the black car. Orme saw him apeak to the girl; saw her brows knit; and he quickly threaded his wsy into the street. Hla action was barely conscious, con-scious, but nothing could have stopped him at that moment "You'll have to come to the station, mlsa," tho policeman was saying. "Hut what have I done?" Her voice was broken music. "You've violated the traffic regulations, regula-tions, and made all this trouble, that's what ybu've done." "I'm on a very Important errand." she began, "and " "I can't help that miss, you ought to have had some one with you that knew the rules." Her eyes were perplexed, and she looked about her as If for help. For a moment her gaze fell on Orme, who was cloae to the policeman's elbow. Now, Ormo had a winning and disarming dis-arming smile. Without hesitation, ho touched the policeman on the shoulder, shoul-der, beamed pleasantly, and said: "Pardon me, officer, but this car waa forced over by that dray." "She was on the wrong side." returned re-turned the policeman, after a glance which modified his first Intention to take offence. "She bad no buslnls over here." , "It was either that or a collision My wheel was scraped, as It t .." She, too. was smiling now. Tho policeman pondered. He liked to bo called "officer;" he liked to bo smiled upon; and the girl, to Judge from her manner and appearance, might well be the daughter of a man of position. "Well," he said after a moment, "bo more careful another time." He turned and went back to hla work among the other vehicles, coverfhg the weakness of his surrender sur-render by a fresh display of angry authority. au-thority. The girl gave a little sigh of relief and looked at Orme. "Thank you," she said. Then be remembered that he did not know this girl. "Can I be of further service?" he asked. "No." she answered, "I think not. Hut thank you just the came." She gave blm a friendly little nod and turned to the steering gear. There was nothing for It but to go, and Ormo returned to the curb. X moment later he saw the black car move slowly away, and he felt as though something sweet and fine were going out of his life. If ouly there had been some way to prolong the Incident! He knew Intuitively that this girl belonged to bla own class. Any Insignificant acquaintance might Introduce them to ouch other. And yet convention now thrust them apart. Sometime he might meet her. Indeed, In-deed, he determined to find out woo she wss and make that sometime a certainty. He would prolong hla atay In Chicago and search society until he found her. No one had ever before sent such a thrill through bis heart. He must fled her, become her friend, perhaps Hut, again he laughed to himself, "What a boor I am!" After all she was but a passing stranger, and the pleasant reverie Into which bis glimpse of her had led him was only a reverie. The memory of her beauty and elusive-charm would disappear; his vivid Impression of her would be effaced. Hut even while ho thought thla he found himself again wondering who she wss and how be could find her. He could not drive her from his mind. Meantime he had proceeded slowly on h!s way. Suddenly a benevolent, w hite bearded man baited him, with a deprecating gesture. "Kxcuse me, air," he began, "but your bat" Orme lifted his straw hat from his head. A glance showed blm that It waa disfigured by a great blotch of black grease. He bad held his bat In hla hand while talking to the girl, and It must have touched her car at a point where the axle of the dray had rubbed. 80 this wss his one memento me-mento of the Incident He thanked the atranger, and walked to a near by hatter's, where a ready clerk set before him hats of all styles. He selected one quickly and left bis soiled hat to be cleaned and sent home later. Offering a ten-dollar bill In payment, he received In change a five-dollar bill and a silver dollar. He gave the coin a aecond glance, it was the first silver sil-ver dollar that he had handled for some time, for be seldom visited the west. "There's no charge for the clean jTI-r aald the clerk, noting down &7nV name and address, and hand Ing tbo' soiled hat to the eash boy. Orme, meantime, was on the point of folding the five-dollar bill to put It Into bis pocket book. Suddenly he looked at it Intently. Written in Ink across the face of It. were the worc: "Remember Person You Pay This To." Tbe writing was apparently a hurried hur-ried scrawl, but the bitters were large and quite legible. They appeared to have been written on an uneven surface, sur-face, for there were several Jogs and breaks In tbe writing, as if the pen bad slipped. "This Is curious," remsrked Orme. The clerk blinked his watery eyes and looked at the bill in Orme's hand. "Oh. yea, air," he explained. "I remember re-member that The gentleman who paid it In thla morning called our attention at-tention to It." "If he'a the man who wrote this, be probably doesn't know that there's a law against defacing money." "Hut It's perfectly good, isn't It?" Inquired the clerk. "If you want another an-other Instead " "Oh. no." laughed Orme. " The banks would take It." "Hut, sir" began the clerk "I should like to keep It. If I can't get rid of it. I'll bring It buck. It's a hoax or an endless chain device or something of the sort. I'd like to And cut." lie looked again at tbe writing. Puzzles and problems always Interested Inter-ested l.lni, (Specially If they seemed to involve some human story. "Very well," said the clerk. "I ll remember re-member that you have it, Mr " he peered at the name he bad set down "Mr. Orme." leaving the hattera's, Orme turned back on State meet, retracing his steps It was close to the dinner hour, and the character of the street crowds had changed. The shoppers had disappeared. Suburbanites were by this time aboard their trains and homeward bound. The street was thronged with hurrying cUtks sr.d shop glilc, and the cars were jammed w ith thousand more, all of tin til thinking, no doubt, of the same two things something to eat and relaxation. relaxa-tion. What a live It was. this great street! And "now scant the lives of the great majority! Working, eating. sl l ing, niarrylrg and given In marriage, mar-riage, bearing children and dying-was dying-was that all? "Rut growing, too," said Orme to himself. "Growing, too." Would this be the sura of his own life-that of a worker In the hive? It came to him with aomethlng of -an Inner pang that tbua far his scheme of things had Included little more. He wondered why he waa now recognizing recog-nizing this scantiness, this lark In his life. He esme out of his reverie to find himself again at the Madison street corner. Again be seemed to see lLat beautiful girl In the car, and to hec-tho hec-tho music of her voice. How could he best set about to find ber? She might be. like himself, a Visitor In the city. Hut there wax the touring ear. Well, she might have run In from one of the suburb. He could think of 110 better plan than to call that evening on the Walltnghatua and describe the unknown to HeHsle and try to get her assistance. Heaale would divine the situation, and she would guy him unuu relfully, be knew; but he would face even that for another an-other gllmpHe of the girl of the car. And at that moment he was startled start-led by a sharp explosion. He looked to the street. There was the black car, bumping along with one flat tire. The girl threw ou the brakes and came to a stop. In an Instant Orme was In the street If he thought that she would not remember him, her first glance altered al-tered the assumption, for she looked down at him with a ready smile and said: "You see, I do need you again, after all." As for Orme. he could think of nothing better to say than simply: "I am glad " With that be began to un fasten the spare tire. "I shall watch you with Interest." she went on. "I know how to run a car though you mljlit not think It but I don't know how to repair one." "That's a man'a Job, anyway," said Orme, busy now with the Jack, which was slowly raising the wheel from the pavement. "Shall I get out?" she asked. "Does my weight make any difference?" "Not at all," said Orme; but nevertheless, never-theless, she descended to the street and stood beside blm while he worked "I didn't know there were all those funny thing Inside," she mused. Orme laughed. Her comment waa vague, but to hint It was enough Just to bear her voice. He had got the wheel clear of the street and wss taking off the burst tire. "We seem fated to meet." she said. Orme looked up at ber. "I hope you won't think me a cad." he aald, "If I aay that I hope we may meet many times" Her little frown warned him that she had misunderstood. "Do you happen to know the Tom Walllnghams?" he asked. Her smile returned. "I know a 1 Tom Wallingbam and a Hcasle Wall-Ingham." Wall-Ingham." tlThey're good friends of mine. 1 IV 'rv.11 think that tby might Intro-- Intro-- di We?" ney might," she vouchsafed, "If ; they happened to see us both at the ; same time." Orme returned to bis task. The crowd that always gathers was now close about them, and there was little opportunity for talk. He finished his Job neatly, and stowed away the old tire. She was In the csr before he could offer to help ber. "Thank you again," she said. "If only you will let me arrange It with the Walllnghams," he faltered. "I will think about It." She smiled. He felt that she was allpplng away. "Give nie some clue," he begged. "Where la your spirit of romance?" she railed at him; then apparency re b-nllng: "Perhaps the next time we meet" Orme groaned. With a little nod like that which had dismissed him at the time of his first service to her, rhe pulled the lever and the car moved away. Tumult In hla breust. Orme walked on. He watched the black car thread Its wsy down the street and disappear around a corner. Then he gave himself him-self over to his own bewildering reflections, re-flections, and he was still busy with them when he found himself at the entrance of the Pere Marquette, lie had crossed the Rush street bridge and found hla way up to the Ixke Sliore drive almost without realizing whither be was going Orme hod come to Chicago at the request of eastern clients to meet half way the owners of a western mining property. When he reglatered at the Annex he found awaiting hi j. a tele-pram tele-pram saying that they had been dp'-talnej dp'-talnej at Iienver and must necessarily necessari-ly be two days late. Itesldos the telegram, tele-gram, there bail been a letter for him a letter from his friend. Jack l!ux-ter, l!ux-ter, to whom he had written of hla coming. Jack had b-ft the city on bimliiens. It appeared, but be urged Orme to make free of bin North side apartmmt. So Orme I. ft the Annex end went to the rather too goig. ous, but very luxurious. I'eie Marquette, where he found that the Mart had b-en Instructed to k p a tloe ee en lis eon.fort All this had happened hap-pened but three Khort hours ao After getting buk to tho apartment. Orr.e's first thought was to telephone to Hessle WalMnsham. II" decided, however, to wait till after dinner. Il did not like to appear too eat!fr. Ho he went down to the public di.lng p'om and ate what was placed before him, and returned to his apartment Just at d'k la a few moments he gt Ht-ssle Welllngham on the wire, "Why. Robert Ornie'" she ex-claimed. ex-claimed. "Wherever did you come from? "The usual place. Are you and Tom at home this evening ?" Could Mak Nothing cf tho Cryptogram. Orme Lifted His Straw Hst From His Head. |