OCR Text |
Show ' "" 1 111 1.1. C TO TTT7 TT &iame r;; r; j Y Y r V COPYWOMT t09 w DODHaAO V Coin SAr drawn strains of the song following hlra and dying away a he neared the street entrance. In the lower hall he removed the felt sllppors and tossed t lie id Into a corner. He wan amated at the loudness of the street noises, and the glare of the unllKht as he stepped to the sidewalk. He stood there blinking for a moment, until his eyes became accustomed to the light. The foot procession of the city streamed by him. Suddenly a man turned in toward tho doorway, and, with u Ktartled exclamation, ex-clamation, stopped short. Orme found himself looking Into the gleaming eyes of Alcutriinte. CHAPTER XIII. An Old Man of the Sea. "Oh, Mr. Orme, you are the man I most wished to t.ee." The minister's voice carried a note of unrestrained eugerncHS. lie extended his hand. Ornn accepted the salutation, mustering mus-tering the appearance of a casual meeting; meet-ing; he must keep Alcatrante out of the building. "I was sorry that I could not be at your apartment thU morning," continued contin-ued AlcHtrante, "and I hope you dlrf not wait too long." "Oh, no," replied Orme. "I waited for a little while, but concluded that something bad called you away. Has Senor 1'orltol recovered from his anxiety?" anxi-ety?" "Why, no," said Alcatrante. "Put the course of events has changed." He linked his arm In Orme's and walked along with him toward the center of the city. "You see," he went on, "my young friend Porltol overestimated the Importances of that marked bill. It did give the clue to the hiding place of certain pnpers which were of great value to Mm. What he failed to realize was that the pnpers could be of little Importance to others. And yet. so perturbed per-turbed Is he that he has aHked me to offer a considerable reward for the recovery re-covery of these pnpers." "Indeed?" "Yes." Alcatrante sent a slanting glunce at Orme. "The sum Is ridiculously ridicu-lously large, but he Insists on offering one thousand dollars." "Quite a sum," said Orme calmly. I Me was Interested In the minister'! Indirections In-directions "As for tho events of last night" I continued Alcntrnnte, stopping short, with a hlgnlllcant glance. "Well?" said Orme Indifferently. were already gone when .hey went to look for them. I'orltol Is realty very anxious." "Doubtless," added Orme. "Perhaps," added Alcatrante, after a short wait, "he might even ej as high as two thousand." "Indeed? Then there v. Ill surely be ninny answers to his advertisement." "Oh, he will not mlv it lac." Alcii trntite laughed "Already tie knows where the papers are While waiting for the clue of the bill, he discovered whHt others hud already availed them-selves them-selves of It." "That Is curious." urine smiled "How d.d he discover that?'" "In a roundabout way. I won t tnke time tor the story." They walked along In silence for a little distance. Orme was figuring on an escape, for the minister's clutch on his arm was like that of a drowning man's Finally he sought the simplest means of getting avyy. "I have nn en gagemeiil," he said "I shall havu to leave jnu, here Thank you for wulk lug with n, e thus far." He illmligaged his arm. "My dear Mr. Orme," said Alca trante, "why should wo bent mound the lush?" "Why, Indeed?" said Orme. "Porltol knows that his papers are In your possession Speaking for Llm. I offer yo.i live thousand " "Why do you drag Porltol Into this?" said Orme. "You know that he has merely been your ajient from the start You think he has bungled, but 1 tell you, you are the one who bungled, for you picked Mm to do the work He had bad luck hiring a burglar for you He lost his head when lie ran away with another person's motor car and had to hand the marked bill to a rout) try Justice. He showed bad Judgment when he tried to fool me with a fancy lie. Hut you are the real bungler, Senor Alcatrante. Any capable diplomat dip-lomat could tell you that." Alcatrante's yellow face grew white about the Hps. His eyes flushed bale fully. "Curse you!" he exclaimed "You know more than Is good for you. Take care!" Orme laiiRhed In disgust. "Oh, drop this melodrama. I am not afraid of cheap Machlnevallls. In this country there are some crimes that are not excused by high ofllco." The minister's teeth showed. "Yon shall see, my young friend " "Doubtless. Hut let me tell you one tnese might both be on watch for hl:a here, flut be did not rare to wander i bout the streets, with the chance of 'oiiilng face to face with some of his memles. It was obvious that swift nd elaborate machinery would be iet In motion to catch liltn. Of course, here wero many places where he could oncsal himself for an hour, but Tom Walllnghtiin'a office' Why bad te not thought if that before? Tom s-as at Arradale with llossle, but the leiks would let Orme stay In tho re eptlon room until It was time, to start 'or his train. Indeed, (lime remembered remem-bered thHt liixhy, tho hesd clerk, had lieeti at the wedding of Tom and Pestle Pes-tle had In fact taken charge of the nrrangeinents at the church. Moreover, Tom's ofTlre was In this very building the Uookery. Doubtless Doubt-less It was for this reason that the Itookery hail popped Into his head wh.ni he gave directions to the eab-drlver eab-drlver on North Parker street. Hurrying to the elevators, Ornni was alout to enter the nearest one, when suddenly a hand aelxcd his elbow and pulled him to one side. l turned quickly and saw Alcatrante. The minister was breathing rapidly. rapid-ly. It was plain that he had made a quick pursuit, but though his chest heaved and his mouth was partly open, his eyes were curiously steady. "One minute, Mr Orme," be said, forcing his lips to a smile. "I had hard work to follow you There was no other cab. but a small boy told me that you directed di-rected your drlvur to the Uookery. Therefore I got on a street car and rode till I found a cab " He said all this In the most casual tone, rotainlng his hold on Orme's elbow as though his attitude was familiar and friendly. Perhaps he was thus detailing his own adventures merely to gain time; or perhaps be was endeavoring to pus-zle pus-zle Orme. Hut Orme was simply annoyed. He knew how dangerous Alcatrante could be. "I am tired of being followed, fienor," he said, disgustedly, freeing his elbow. Alcatrante contluued to smile. 'That Is part of the game," he said. "Then you will find the game serious." seri-ous." Orme shut his Hps together and glanced about for a policeman. Alcatrante again grasped his elbow "Io you want publicity?" he asked. "Your principals do not. Publicity will Injure us all." Orme had been given enough light to know thnt the South American's words were true. "If It comes to publicity," continued Alcatrante with an ugly grin, "I will have you arrested for stealing a certain cer-tain Important document and offer lug to sell It to inn." Rubbish!" laughed Orme. "That would never work at all. Too many persons understand my part in thla matter. And then" as he noticed the flath of triumph In Alcatrante's eyes "I could not be arrested fur stealing a document which was not In my possession." It was too late; Alcatrante had been able to verify his strong suspicion that Orme had the papers, A wave of anger swept over Orme. "Publicity or no publicity," he said, "unless this annoyance stops, I will have you arrested " Alcatrante smiled. "That would not pay, Mr. Orme. There would bo counter-charges and you would be much delayedperhaps even till after mid night tonight. You Americans do not know how to play at diplomacy, Mr. Orme." Controlling hlmaeLf, Orme hurried quickly to the nearest elevator. lie timed bis action; the starter was just about to close the door at he hurried In. Put quick though he was, Alcatrante Alca-trante was close behind blm. The agile South American squeexed Into the elevator ele-vator by so close a margin that the door caught bis coat. "Here, what are you tryln' to do?" shouted the starter. Alcatrante, pressing In against Orme, did not reply. The starter Jerked the door opes,, and glared at Alcatrante. The steady and undisturbed eye of the minister had Its effect, and after a moment of hesitation the starter banged the door shut and gave the slgnul and tho car leaped upward Tom Walliiigham's nffce was on thi eighth floor. Though he knew that Al catrante would cling to him, Orme could think of nothing better to do than to go straight to the office and count on the assistance of lilxby, who would certainly remember him. Accordingly Ac-cordingly he called ouV "F.lght!" and, ignoring Alcatrante, left the elevator and walked down the hall, the South American at his elbow. (TO UK roNTINTRD Parker street, and Orme, so far as he could lull, was not followed. t When his cab drew up at the busy i entrance on I -a Salle street, he found i his wsy to the nearest public tele- phone. The hour was close to five, I and he must discover quickly where i he could find the girl, lie called up I the Pere Marquette "i'hla Is Mr. i Orme," he explained to the clerk "Have there been any calls or ines I sages for me?" ' "Yes, sir, Mr and Mrs. Walltugham ' called up at 12 30 to know If you were i going to Arradale with them." I The golfing engagement! Orme had 1 not even thought of It since the eve- I lllng before. i "Anything else ?" i "Yes, sir. A Japanese came about one o'cloi k He left no name." "The same tun I) who came last eve ' nlng'"' "No. sir, an older man " The Japanese minister had doubtless gone rtrnlgbt from Artma's apartment to the Pere Marquette. "Anything else?" asked Orme. "There was a phone call for you about II. o'clock. The party left no 1 name " "A woman's voice?" "Yes, sir. She said: 'Tell Mr. Orme that 1 shall not be able to call ; htm up at noon, but will try to do so as u h n r two o'clock as possible.'" "Old she call up again Bt two?" "No, sir. There's no record of It." Onue understood. in the Interval after her attempt to reach him she bad learned at Arlma's of bis seeming seem-ing treachery. '"Very well," he said to the clerk, and hung up the receiver. re-ceiver. What shall be do now? The girl had given blm up. He did not know her name or where to find her, and yet find her he must and that within the next few hours. Tho unquestionably great Importance of the papers In his pocket had begun to weigh on him heavily He was tempted to take them out, there in the telephone booth, and examine them for a clue. The circumstances cir-cumstances Justified hint. Hut -ho had promised the girl! Stronger than his curiosity, stronger almost than his wish to deliver the papers, pa-pers, was his desire to keep that promise. prom-ise. It may have been foolish, quixotic; but bo resolved to continue as he had begun. "At ten o'clock." he said to himself, "If I have not found her. I will look at the papers or go to the , police- do whatever Is necessary." He did not like to break promises or mlas engagements. There was his engagement with the Walllnghama. It had absolutely gone from bis mind. Hessle would forgive him, of course. She was a sensible little woman, and she would know that his failure to appear was. due to some, thing unavoidable and Important, but Orme'a conscience bothered blm a little lit-tle because he had not, before setting out that morning, telephoned to her thnt he nilnht be detained. Hessle W'alllnghaiu! She knew the girl! Why bad he not thought of that before? He got the W'nlllnghams' number. Were they at home? No. thev hnd gone to ArraiJnle and would probably remain until the last evening train. He rang off. It remained to try Arradale. After some delay, he got tho club house. Mrs. W'alll 'nham? Yes, she had Just come In. Would Mr. Orme hold the w Ire? Mr. Orme certainly would, and presently pres-ently he was rewarded for tho delay by hearing Hesste's brisk little voice. "Hello?" "Who?" "Hob?" "Well, you ought to be ashamed of yourself; we waited over and took the next train." "Oh. yes, I know all about these very busy people." "Nonsense! I was fooling, of course. Hut we were sorry you didn't come." "What?" "That girl? Why, what's the matter mat-ter with you, liobert Orme?" "Huslness importance? That won't do. Hob. You'll have to 'less up' "I hi I know such a girl? Are you serious?" "Why, Hob, I can think of several Shall I name them?" "Not give their names! What on earth is the matter with you?" "Oh. part of the business, la it Well, let me see. Tall and beautiful, yon say. Dark eyes and balr. A black touring car. Hum! ! know three girls to whom the description applies It i might be but you don't wish me to mention the name. Well, you'll have i to think of something more distinct Ive" Orme thought In vain The Image of the girl was ever In his mind, but describe her be could not. At last h" said: "The gfrl I mean lives In one . of the suburbs. She has a father who i has lately undergoue a slight opera - tlon. He Is. I think, a man who la Involved In-volved In negotiations with other roun-r roun-r tries" "Oh' Where did you meet her? Why, Poh. how interesting' I never ! thought of her. but she's one of my dearest friends" "Now, listen, Hessle It Is absolute, ly necessary that I should reach her father's bouse before midnight. You must help me " ' He heard her laugh. "Help you Of course I will." . "Where does she live?" "Not far from Arrada'e Hob. you come right out here. I will see to the rest It ertaln!y Is the funniest ro-1 ro-1 Incidence." I'll catch the first train " ' "There's one at six for men who come out to dine " ' "All right. F.xpect me. Good by " Orme looked at his watch He had i an hour and a half which meant that lime must be killed. It would be un-t un-t wise to return to the pere Marquette 3 for the Hou'.n Americana and the Jap SYNOPSIS. At th expense of soiled hnt Ruhert Orme tuvea from arrest a girl in a bUck touring car who has caused a traffic Jmtii on Htutu street, lie buvs a new hat "'! la given In i limine a rtve dollar bill with: "Remember the person you pay this b." written on It A aecmid time he helps the lady In the black ear. anil leerna that in Tom and lo-ssie Walllngham they have mutual frlenua, but gains no further hint of her liloniltv. lie discovers another Inscription In-scription on the marked bill, which. In a futile attempt to decipher It, he copies and places the copy In a drawer In Ills purtment. Henur I'orltol. South American, Ameri-can, calls, and claims the marked bill Orme refuses, and a Unlit ensues In which Porltol la overcome. He calls In Henor Alcaltaiilw, minister from bis country, coun-try, to vouch for blm. Orme allll refuses to give up the bin. orme foes fur a walk and sees two Juts attack Alcatrante. He rescues blm. Returning lo Ills rooms Ornio Is attacked l.v two Jups who rf-tc'-t a forcible aschange of the marked t for another. Orme finds the girl of the black car waiting fr htm. Hhe also jU, the bill. Orme tells Ills story. Hhe recognizes one of the Japs as her father's butler, Maku. The second Inscription on Che bill Is the key to the hiding place of Important papers stolen from her father. Roth Japs and South Americans want the J. a tiers Orme and the (llrl" start out In tha blnck car In quest of the papers. In Xhe unlveisity grounds In Kvanston the biding place Is located. Maku and another an-other Jup are there. Orme fells Maku nd the oilier Jap escapes Orme finds In Maku s pocket a folded slip of paper. He takes the girl, whnsa name Is still unknown un-known to I. Im. to the lion f a friend In Kvanston. Returning to the university 41 rounds orme get in conversation with a stuard at the life-saving station. They bear a motor boat In trouble In the darkness dark-ness on the lake. Thny find the crippled boat. In It r the Jap with the p.ipers ond "flirt." Hhe hiinu Into Orme's h"t Vut the Jap eludes pursuit. Orme nnds on the paper he took from Maku the .ddress. "34 1 N Parker street." He (roes there and finds that Arlma. teacher teach-er of Jlu-Jltsu la on the third floor. He rails on Alia, clairvoyant, on the fourth floor, descends by the nre-escape and conceals himself under a table In Arlma's Ar-lma's room. Alcatrante, Porltol and the Jap minister enter. Orme finds the pa-pera pa-pera in a drawer under the table and ptibstltutes mining' prospectuses for them. He learns that the papers are f International Imports nfie with a time lllmlt for signatures of that night inld-mlght. inld-mlght. The substitution Is discovered. The girl appears and leaves asrsln after aft-er being; told thst the American has the fapers Orme attempts to get away. discovered and set upon by Arlma nd Maku. He eludea them and Is htd-- htd-- den In a elnset by the clairvoyant. CHAPTER XII. Continued. The silence thaffollowed these prep-nratlong prep-nratlong grew oppressive. The clients were waiting for the right "current." nd Madam Alia, Orme had no doubt, was using the Interval to free herself from her bonds. In a little while tome one gtartcd the hymn, "Over the River They Reckon Reck-on to Me," and the others took It up women's voices, chiefly, struggling through the melody In their trebles, with the mumbled undertones of one or two men. A draught of cooler air struck Orme's cheek; a hand found his shoulder; shoul-der; a voice whispered. Under cover of the singing Madam Alia had opened the panel. Her llpa were close to his ear. In the creepy tension of the waiting Orme had almost forgotten that Madam Alias ghosts were a cheat, and the touch of her hand made Mm start, but her first words brought him to himself. "Hush!" she whispered. "You'll get your chance in a minute. Put on a pair of black felt slippers. Here" she groped along the floor, and gave hliu the slippers. They were large, and went easily over his shoes. "Now the black robe. Just behind you." He took it from Its peg, and slipped Into It. ' Cover your head and face with the hood." He did as directed, finding the eyeholes eye-holes with his fingers. "Hide your hands In the sleeves. Now. listen. I'm going to keep them busy looking at the curtalna. When you bear a gong ring taree times, come through the panel, and go between the curtain and the wallhanglng. on the side toward the window. The gas Is down to a pin point. Those folks think they can see a lot more than they do Ilut they won't see you. unless you show some white Anyhow they'll be watching the cabinet. Keep outside the circle of chairs, and work your way to the door of the next room. There are hangings there; go through them. You'll find light enough In the next room to get to the door In the hall. First stuff the robe under the sofa You'll fiud your hat under there You left It here when you came, and I tucked It away. You'd Utter wear the Uppers down to the street Never tnlnd about returning them unless you care to come Now. be careful." "The Japanese where are they'" "At the other side of the circle. JDon't worry about them. They're only kids wher. It comes to my game. Now, wait till l'get the things I need " Phe heard faint rustling as she gathered ber pnrf.rhernalia. Soon she was back at the tanel The last stanta of the hymn was drawing to a close "He ure jou fo.low directions." she wbis lered will He pressed ber hand grate- 'y.'.r "And and you won't forget me?" With a sudden yearning that seemed to be beyond her control, she loaned her body ngulnst him. Her warm breath was on his face; her arm found Its way around him and held blm convulsively. con-vulsively. "Oh." she whispered. "I can't bear to have you go. Ixm't forget me please don't forget me." "I shall never forget you. and what you have done for me," he answered gravely. "You will come back and see me sometime?" "1 will come back. And I should like to bring a friend, who will have even more cause to thank you than I have." "A friend?" A tlngo of apprehension colored the question: "A a woman?" "Yes." The soft curves of her body were quickly withdrawn from him. "Oh," she whispered, "I don't believe I want to see her." For a moment she stood motionless Then she said: "Are you sorry you kissed me?" "No," he answered, "I am not." Her lips brushed his forehead, and he was alone. Groping with one hand be assured himself that the panel re nittlned open. All In black, be awaited the signal. And now strange manifestations be gan In the room without. There wert rappings, some faint, some loud-coming loud-coming apparently from all quarters Invisible fingers swept gently acrosi the strings of a guitar. Then came thi soft clangor of gong once, twice three times. Orme slipped through the panel, lnti the cabinet. Keeping cloae to the wall he moved to the left and worked ou Into the room. The rappings were nov louder than before ioud and contlnu ous enough tn cover any alight eoum he might made. A little gasp cami from the circle as be went out Into th room. At first he thought that he hai been seen. To hli eyes, fresh fron complete darkness, the room geemei moderately light; but the gas was lit tie more than a tiny blue dot. As he took a step forward he sav why the circle bad gssped. Tbrougl the curtains of the cabinet came thi semblance of a tenuoua wraith In long trailing robes of white. It was almos formless, its outlines seeming to me I Into the gloom. Advancing a little way Into the clr cle, It shrank back as though timorous then wavered. From the circle came i woman's voice anxious, eager, strain ing with Jjeart-break "Oh, my sister!' The figure turned toward her, slowlj extended Its arms, and glidud back tc the curtains, where It stood as thougt waiting. The sobbing woman arose from hei chair and hastened toward the wraith "Agnes!" she whispered Imploringly "Won't you speak to me, Agnes?" The ghostly figure shook Its head. ."Are you happy, Agnes? Tell me Oh. don't go until you have told me.' The figure nodded mutely, and will a final slow gesture, waved the womar back to her seat. Meantime Orme caat his eyes ovei the circle. Dimly he saw faces, lomi stolid, some agitated; and there, at tlx farther end were the two Japanese, In tent as children on these wonders Their sparkling eyea were directed tc the cabinet The apparition had disappeared be tween the curtains. Hut cow there wai a fresh gasp of wonder, as the figur of a little child stepped out Into the room. It did Dot go fr from the cab (net, and It alternately advanced and retreated, turning thla way and that as though looking for some one. "It wants Its mother!" exclalmec, one of the women In the circle. "Ii your mother here, little one?" The child stared at the speaker, ther withdrew to the curtains "They will begin to talk after i while," explained the woman "whei the control gets stronger. I alwayi feel so tender for these little los spirits that come hack to hunt for theli loved ones." Orme moved swiftly around the clr cle. He passed so close to the Japa nee that he could have touched them The felt slippers made bis steps noise less: the thick rug absorbed the shoe) of his weight He passed through the hangings o the doorway to the next room. Then he had no gaslight; the wlndos shades, however, were not drawn closely but that a little daylight en teted. He renioed She robe an stu!?fd it under the old sofa at on , side. His bat. as Madam Alia had said was there, and he put It on and wen to the hall door. The circle had begut to sicg another hymn. Orme got lnti the tall, shut the door silently, am hurried down the stairs, the long I iwmiL I Hi I Ml I ii I W ' I III I III T-riTTI II I I "They May Have Stolen the Clue From You." ' "I trust that you did not think me thing; If anything happens to me, my absurd for sending that detective to friends will know where to look for ' you. That I did so was a result of the criminal." ' poor I'orltol'i frantic Insistence." Alcatrante snarled "Don't be toe "Indeed?" sure" "My young friend was so afraid that "it necessary," continued Orme, "i you would be robbed." word to certain persons as to the com ' "I was robbed," laughed Orme, try- mission for building warships flv Ing to make light of the situation. hundred thousand, is It not? by the "Why, how waa that?" Alcatrantt a pew arrangement in gold" ' surprise was well assumed. Alcatrante, in ungovernable rage 1 "Oh. after I said good night to you. rained bis light cane and struck Ornn the two Japanese caught me while I fended the blow with his arm, then 1 was going through the tunnel te the wrenched the cane away and threw courtyard " u into the street A swsrm of pass 1 "My dear Mr. Orme!" ers by gathered about them so quickly 1 "They are clever, those Japanese " that In a moment they were the cen 1 "And afterward you went out ter of a circle again?" ..you ,UI,rP" a,i orme "Ik you "What makes you think that?" want the police" Alcatrante bit hi. Hp "Why." he Alctrant-. control stammered, 'the detective reported m .. that you were absent when he ar- .. 1 nf (h,. fn at one side, and Orme. quick to tak " "And therefore.' remarked Orme h- t)nt ,,,.,.,, ln . (,ppov coolly, "he got access to my apartment dr,ctlon eronuUl ,(lP .,r,.,., and Jump and. after rummaging through my jng ,n(0 an y rHb mhlrh ' things, went sound a.leep In my bed drawB )n ,ntlr!f)gMf!n of , fll;,lL room, where I found hlra snoring when To Hookfy .. I returned naming the first office building thai The mml.ter swung hi. cane vicious- hp3d ' ly at a bit of paper that ls on .ue side- ,. .. . . . , l .1 Sure, said the driver, and awaj walk. . ' . "He was not clever detective." con ,ny ru"1' tlnued Orme "And aa for Porltol. A glance back showed Orme tha ' don't you think he had better offer his ,n cro4 dispersing 1 reward to the Japanese?" At a distance was Alcatrante H a "No." replied Alcatrante. "They had seen Orme's escape, and was look 1 may have stolen the cine from you. hut Ing about vainly for another cab Hu :" I have reason to think that the papers . caba are not auoitrous on Nortl |