Show E I 1 the h ank trey rey 09 0 HEB heards a A novelized version of tho the motion kotlan picture D drama of t the name produced by the lh universal fit film fihn F co aa by LOUIS JOSEPH I 1 VAN VANCE E ar abst of fetn TAs frine F ri ne huntr amu bwy th TAN black 1141 with from the j picture ajr a CopI copyright right 1814 by luja doph vace S the 3 8 tt of licarta Is 18 the death sign em aloyed by seneca trine in tho the private war ot of vengeance which t brough tile the agency of ills his daughter J judith adl ill a woman tit of violent pass passions lons like his hie own he wag wages es against alan law son eon of 0 the mom maii now head who w was it a innocently responsible tor for the he accident which left trine a helpless trip for or me life alan loves love and Is loved by fie ewie me judiths Juditha twin and double but in wl 1 co other et respects tier her opposite judith vows to compana compa ll 11 s alana death benth but alan save tier her life it e u under dramatic a and 1 I so unwillingly wins wing her love ove thereupon judith Is s actuated I 1 in n turn urn by tile the old hatred the new mew lovo love and jealousy of or tier her slater sister ross hose the she becomes alienated from tier her father through her failure to carry out his homicidal plans piling and because of tile tho ald sho mile has extended alan in ills hla flight with ilose from the yen ven ceanie of trine trin 0 through the mountains mountain of western Re stern ariz arizona ona CHAPTER camp for fop the night well gents the driver observed cheerfully withdrawing head and hands from long and Int intimate imato communion with tho the stubborn genius beneath the hood 1 I reckon you all mays well veil mako make up yoro minds to christen this beeh salubrious spot camp tor the night you wont be coln no farther not just juat t present pulling this old wagon through them desert anda sands back has just naturally broko broke the heart ot of that en ginel what precisely Is tho the trouble alan law inquired rousing from anxious ious preoccupation plumb bust buat all to hell the chauffeur explained tersely nothing could bo be fairer more exact and comprehensive than that tom darcus barcus commented law nodded a head too wenry weary to respond to tho the others humor III hla 8 worried eyes reviewed tho the seen scene of tho the breakdown to bo donot mr law wondered aloud take it calm calin the affable chauff chauffeur eu r advised frettin wont get you all bothin it if it was me id call it a day make cdake a fire get them cushions out of the cyan ayah and get komo rest you cant do till I 1 gel luck anyway and that wont bo be much before sunup where aro you going harcus do in walkin Walk ln friend just juat walkin what for to fetch help leastways kast ways onless got some kick comin and ud ather ruther stop hoeh permanent K F turned off and busted busied himself wil ipa rations against his jon journey aney 1 limply things like this make mo me i eve this after all nothing more nor less than a long drawn out nightmare darcus observed pensively but mr law was no more attending he be had turned away and yes waa just then standing by the running board of r no doubt which came first in his HI esteem the motor car and civilly explaining to miss judith trine tho the purpose of the chauffeurs expedition judith beradt poised on the running board and ki miling down at her victim with a warmth patently even more than the warmth of friendship and at somo some little hule distance nose mr laws fiancee and judiths sister eating her heart out with jealousy of this new birung intimacy between her sister inter and her loverl bad business my fri friend endl barcus mentally apostrophized the unwitting alan law lav lie ile interrupted himself to nod knowingly and with profound conviction 11 1 I knew it now it begins again for rose had abruptly taken a hand in n the tha affair a gesture of exasperation prefacing her call Al alan aril to her mr law turned instantly wath fab such each alacrity that none nona who watched might doubt which of tho the two women camp cam first la in his bis esteem nor wre VM W vastel upon the under standing of 0 judith eyeing her narrowly though furtively mr darcus barcun saw her handsome face darken onila ominously and her father was as quick to recognize these portents ot of trouble and to seek to advantage himself of them ilia his head craned out horribly on his long wasted neck as ho he pitched a sibilant whisper for her ears and his face in the moonlight seemed to glow with the reflection of that inferno which smoldered la in his bis evil bosom dut but one w was a silenced the other quenched all in a twinkling ills daughter turned on him in ili a lash flash of imperial rage barcus caught snatches of the wom ans tirade be sll entill he heard her say do be silent do you hear dont ever speak to me again unless you want me to replace that gag I 1 say dont oak to mol mal I 1 am finished with you once and for all time never again shall you pervert my nature to your damnable pur purposes never again shall word or wish of yours drive me to lift roy my hand against a man who has never done you tho the least harm though your persecution of him would have acquitted him of a charge of manslaughter in any courton court on grounds of 0 self belt defense 1 understand mot mo she raged im through henceforth I 1 go my way and you yours iler her voice broke she clenched her hands into two tight flats with the effort at self control and lifted a writhen face to the moonlight god help us ua both she cried CHAPTER As A in a glass darkly thoughtfully mr barcus returned hij hid attention to the lovers it tho evidence of his senses did not mislead him he was witnessing their first dlf terence of opinion it was not an argument acute enough to deserve the name of quarrel but undoubtedly ly the two were at odds upon some ques tion rose insistent alan reluctant the last gave way in the end shrugged returned to tho the car im foint back up tho the trail ho he announced and hesitated oddly feeling the ned of some little ex ercla eno no doubt darcus barcus suggested rose rope thinks its dangerous to stop here alan began to explain ignoring the interruption miss altas rose Is right eh alias judith adith barcus interpolated judith nodded darkly so im going to see it if I 1 cant buy burros from the prospector back there rose says ho he has some know how many three will be enough judith inter posed 1 I mean dont get OLO tor for me im stopping hero here but alan started to protest sho she gave him pause with a weary gesture turo Pl I easel leasel its no good arguing mr law ivo ive made up my mind I 1 can be most helpful here by my fathers side she asserted and nodded at trine with a significant mile that maddened him lie ile needs need me and no harm can come to me im pretty well able to take care of myself fl this then must have been the nub ot of the lovers quarrel roses insistence that judith be left behind reluctance to consent to this lest ho he convict himself of the charge of rank ingratitude remembering the great service his hia erstwhile antagonist had done one him m if only judith might not find cause to change her mindl ile ho set himself sedulously to divert judith with tho the magic of hia bis converse conversational powers an offering indifferently received lie he was still blithely gossiping when judith flung away to her sisters Blot erB side bide I 1 the ensuing quarrel seemed but the more inore portentous in view of the restraint imposed upon themselves by both parties thereto lie believed however thata that ft crisis Im when the tinkle of mule belle bella sounded bounded down the canyon road and at this he threw discretion to the winds and ran toward the two with hands upheld in mock horror borror and a manner of humorous protest ladles ladles he pleaded 1 I beg of you both let dogs delight to bark anil and bite lie he got no farther judiths ears were no as quick as hla his own she too had caught the sound of bolls bells behind the base of the mil hill and of a suj sadon den without another word she tume burnet and flung away into the heavy thickets of undergrowth art masked mashed all tho the canyon to either side of the wagon trail in a twinkling she had lost herself to view in their labyrinthine shadows the remainder of that business was transacted rapidly enough there were no rations to be made once alan had rid len up with his bia three burros nothing remained but to mount awl ami make ott off without delay before morning they all rid ing like so BO many hypnotized subjects fatigue bearing so heavily on ell all their senses that none spoke apol or cared to speak broad daylight surprised them la in this state still stubbornly traveling and shortly afterward showed them ono one place so eo perilous that it shocked them temporarily awake this was simply a spot where tho the trail came abruptly to an end on an one side of 0 a cleft in the hills g quite bite thirty feet wide and several hundred in death andaas continued on the farther side bide JW h 9 chasm being spanned by a bridge af U tho the simplest character no moro more than a footway of boards bound together with ropes none too substantial in seeming with another rope breast high to serve as a handrail alan tested cautiously it bore him lie he returned helped rose nose to cross and with her once safely landed on the other side took his ufa life in ili his bis hands bands and aided by a barcus unaffectedly afflicted with qualms somehow or other neither nelt ber of them knew precisely how persuaded the burros to cross after that though the way grew moro more broad and easy and even showed symptoms of a decline they had not enough strength left to sustain i another hour and what they thought good fortuno fortune opportunely at this pass brought them to a clearing dotted with tho the buildings of 0 an abandoned copper mine not a soul was in evidence there but the rudo rude structures offered shelter for beast as well as man barely had they made rose as comfortable for table as aa might be ba upon the rough plank flooring of one of the sheds and tethered the burros out of eight when alan collapsed as it drugged while barcus who had elected himself to keep the first watch and purposed doing it in a bitting position with ditl his back against the doorjamb door jamb felt sleep overcoming him like a dense dark cloud CHAPTER the bowels of the earth awaking befell mr darcus barcus in a faghih sufficiently sharp and startling to render him indifferent to the beneficial effects of some eight hours or of dreamless slumber ile he discovered himself lying flat on hla his face ace with inconsiderate heavy hand purposely grinding tho the said face into the aged and splintery planks of the shed flooring at tho same baino time other hands were busy binding ills his own together by the wrists and lashing the same to tho the small of hs his back by means of a cord passed around his middle while hla his natural if somewhat spasmodic efforts to mck kick were sadly hampered by tho the fact that his ankles had bad already been secured by means of halt half a dozen half hitches and a square knot ills ilia hands attended to his bis head bead was released promptly lie ho lifted it and essayed to yell an effort rendered abortive abort lva by the gag that was waa thrust between his teeth the instant hla his jaws opened then he ha heard a laugh a cold mirthless chuckle now the blood of 0 thomas darcus barcus ran cold or ho he thought it did which amounts to much the same thing por for it his senses had bad played fair air the laugh he hid had heard was the laugh of mr air Marro phat head devil in the service of seneca trine lie he twisted his bis head to one side and glancing along the floor ing but the wall twisted the other way at the cost coat of a splinter in hla his nose the effort was repaid by the discovery of nose hose trine in a plight liko his own wrists and ankles bound gagged into the bargain the width of the shed between them hut but of alan law no sign the heart of mr darcus barcus chocked checked momentarily he be shut hla hid eyes and shivered lu in an uncontrollable seizure of dread then tormented beyond endur endurance anco by tho fears fear he suffered for the safely of his friend he began to wriggle ano ani squirm like a crippled snake gainfully inching his way across the coor toward rose hose with what design heaven alone knows I 1 dimly hla his mental vision comprehended the bare pos of his bin being able with his bis last fast numbing fingers to work loose the me knots at noses wrists but deep in hlo his heart he knew this to be nothing but forlorn est hope with infinite pains he had contrived to bridge the distance by half or possibly not quite so much when a dark body put the sunlight of the open doorway into temporary eclipse another followed it boots clumped heavily on the flooring tho the laugh sounded bounded again apparently in ironic appreciation of mr air harcus efforts two pairs of hands seized him ono one beneath the shoulders the other beneath tho the knees and he was lugged laboriously out into the sunlight carried a considerable distance and deposited unceremoniously within a few faw feet of tho the mouth of the abandoned mine just at the moment when he ha had satta satisfied fled himself that tho the purpose of his captors was simply to throw him into the black well ile he wasted a look of appeal on the frozen mackof mask ot villainy that was star i B who hor inq 0 the burden of darcus barcus h head e ad ind and shoulders and got laughed at for all his pains then lie was waa left to himself once more but only tor for a few moments the interval ended when the two appeared again this time bringing rose nose in similar fashion not until she bho had been put down beside him did he discover that alan was likewise a captive trussed to a tree at some distance tho the remaining arrangements of their captors were swiftly and deftly consummated though their design remained obscure to mr barcus until he after rose nose was dumped like a balo bale into a huge bucket and therein by means of rope and windlass lowered f X I 1 alah s j fp Z gnashing his teeth in impotent rage to the bottom of the shaft a descent he estimated shrewdly of something like a hundred feet A hideous screeching followed the protests of rusty and greaseless greas eleBa machinery twisting his neck barcha saw the ha dim opening of tho shaft slowly closing as it if a curtain were being drawn down over it jimmy was closing the bulkhead door leaving them definitely prisoners beyond human aid there in that everlasting black hole with a final squeal and thump the bulic bulkhead hoad settled into place A contusion confusion of remote bounds thereafter indicated that jimmy with perhaps assistance was making the bulkhead fast beyond question wedging and blocking it with timbers these ceased and the silence was broken by voice bircus the latter grunted soulfully by way of answer he could do no more ive worked my gag loose alan pursued in a hurried whisper but my hands are tied behind my back are yours grunt once for yes yea dutifully kracus grunted a solitary grunt then roll over on your face and rive give me a chanco chance to work them tree free that way given time aimel was the mirthless thought of narcus barcus Il lavent we got W eternity for all that he ha wasted no time whatever in obeying suggestion then lay for upward of ten minutes with ills face in the mold of the tunnel while alan chewed and spat and chewed and spat and chewed again at the ropes round the wrists of his friend it if it were in truth no more than ten minutes it bumen ie med upward ot an hour before the bonds grew black and harcus barcus with an effort that cost him much of the skin one wrist worried a hand free then thed loosed the other removed and spat out his gag and set hastily about freeing his friend that took but a few instants little more |