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V lka IT IT A he A rey r 0 fi S A version venion sio of f t the M motion picture of the th same narno name pro produced I 1 d b by y the universal film co C dy by LOUIS LOUI JOSEPH VANCE A asef 41 fth T W F d w afaf MD s lloyc r M a w with plot from it L picture projection 4 copyright isalt by josella vano A SYNOPSIS the ll 11 of henna hearts to Is the idolth death sign glim employed by seneca trine in the private war of vengeance which he h wages against alan law son eon of the roan man now dead wb who was waa innocently responsible f or the acal L c dent which rendered tripe trine a hilleb hI cripple vr il tor for eifel alan layeh and in A loved by ls daughter itose iloe judith roses noses twin and double but a woman of violent aid und uncertain temper promises her father to compass alan death but under dramatic circumstances alan saves av her ufa life nd no BO unwillingly wins win her love an well as 01 roses in spite of tier her jealousy jea lougy of flose flora judith refuses to nerve erve out the vow the he made liar her father and at the time this atory opens is 1 actively assisting alan anti and ho aana and their friend tom darcus to as eelk the persecution or of trine and hla his ai affe aldea as lod by his hi man one CHAPTER the lat last warning in the chill violet shadowed dusk duah ot of that clear evening a chapfallen chap fallen motor car crept sluggishly into tho the little mountain town of mesquite at the heels ot of two mutinous mules driven n by a chauffeur who steered with one hand while tho the other flourished a crackling whiplash whip lash over the backs of ita 01 ol motive power its on one passenger a cripple as helpless as the car itself huddled in a corner of the rear seat saluted mea bles quite aulta with a snarl though he was waa in more ore need of such euch rude comforts as the town stood prepared to afford him ills demeanor toward it was that of one cne who suffers an indignity rather than begs accommodation and now as the car crawled to a rallou before tho the mountain house one caravanserai and li esquite itself to the last hea flea bitten lound gathered round to view tills this wonder mr trines indignation and chagrin distilled words ot of polso import par far from resenting this mosquito mesquite ripe pipe in mouth hands in pockets admired mired and abd and rather resented the cago that befell when two wo other strangers stran gors whose earlier appearance pe arance in town had helped make that one day memorable beyond all others la in Ales quites history charged out of tile the mou maln house and interrupted the elder cider devil with cries of greeting erecting and jubilation the leader of those these answered to the name of Marro phat life his companion wits was a person named jimmy ales aies quite acquired this information through paying close attention to tho the substance of their communications with the cripple more alore than this however it learned little something seemed to have been accomplished by the two something that was highly ratifying gratifying to seneca brive for he was chuckling almost when lifted from the car and carried into the hotel what passed between tao fac trio after they disappeared behind that hat bedchamber door could by no leans guess hut but thac a on I 1 some sort was waa in progress pi ogress was waa evidenced by the frequency with which Marro phat and jimmy called on tho the bar for more liquid refreshment and toward midnight ono one belated paused in the street outside the mountain house for ono one last curious at the lighted windows of or brines trines quarters ile he saw clearly silhouetted against the glowing oblong of the window the profile of seneca trine distorted with a grimace of tho the cruelest joy that ever heart of man conceived lie ile saw abari jophat approach hla his master with a drunken swagger and a speech appich which though to tho the unseen thi seen auditor unquestionably afforded both of the other men ample excuse for ecstatic glee toward its ito conclusion mr Marro phat apparently capped the peak of jubilation by fumbling in his coat pocket packet and bringing forth something which strongly resembled a sins ale playing card now when be had contrived to master master his mirth tile the made a gesture which eloquently abolished this card a gesture which said quite plainly all that Is finished tho the thing has haa served its purpose to hell bell wi thIt whereupon with a cibart jerk of his wrist mr air Marro sent bent the card spinning and sailing illing ov out through tile the open window to abse itself in ili tho the night the watcher see it fall mid though he spent an unconscionable time searching for it in the deep dist d of tile tho road roadway vay he went hl his way in the ilia end with curiosity fato fata had res reserved arved that card for a higher purpose undisturbed it lay where it had fallen face aco upward not a dozen feet from the trout front door of the mountain house until another day dawned on then rhen in the clear light of that dawn jour four abre strangers straggled into town two weary aud and haggard men two fooL footsore sore and bedraggled women one of those last it was dressed aged in a suit alt ot of mans clothing much the worse for or wear w ea r at sight of the mountain house the party betrayed slight symptoms of a more cheerful spirits rejoicing tu in its promise of food andr ana dri drinks tilts and beds bedi withal wherein to sleep isleen the cicur their stop i hut but of 0 P n sudden one of tile tho women she aha who wore tho garments ear ments of her sex paused uttered a low cry thrill a with terror and clutching the arm of the man nearest her pointed down to the card that stared up from rom tho the dust at tier her feet it was a trey of hearts CHAPTER pull full flight oh what can it mean rose whispered brokenly cling clinging ing to her lovers lovera arm surely you pit dont think surely it must be acci accidental denial surely it cant mean im afraid it does alan law responded gravely bravely eyeing the front of tho the mountain hou house se our luck holds consistently all it bo be us ua if we pick out the one place where Marro phat and 32 alamy chose to stop over night fortunately its early 1 I doubt up with half a show we ough tto be able to find some borne way of putting a good distance between us its and this town before they waken toril boril hut but mr air barcus was already sit at ills hla elbow in thorough sympathy with interpretation of the signify cance to be attached to the card that trembled in roses noses hand band sharps the bordt lie he agreed and theres a motor car over there it in front of tile the blacksmiths probably 0 ve o can call hire her Trl nos nes car earl alan ejaculated swinging round and recognizing tho the automobile at a glance then hes here as well looks like it learcus admitted dut so DO much tho the better well just naturally take the darn thing oft off ilia his hands and ill bet a dollar there lont another car within a radius of fifty miles well be well out ot of these giddy mountains long before lie ho finds anything to chase us with dut but its his confidence was demonstrated to be premature hy by the discovery which rewarded the first cursory ox examination that the car was very thoroughly out of 0 commission two minutes later however the their r earnest inquiries elicited the fact that although barcus was justified in ilia hla surmise surn ilae that the neighboring country was poverty stricken in respect of motor cars Afes mosquito quito itself boasted two motorcycles whose owners were not indifferent to a chance to sell them secondhand second hand at a considerable sid erable advance on tile tho retail list price of tho the machines when now new and thus it was that within ten on minutes from roses noses discovery of that chance flung warning in the dust the th party was again in rapid motion ills ilia beauty sleep disturbed by the tbt departure of the machine bearing darcus find and judith seneca trine roused on an elbow and looked out of the window just in time to see the second motorcycle gathering momentum alan steering rose in the sent seat behind sixty seconds later a flaunting bannor banner of dust was all that remained to remind mesquite that romance had passed that way that and a series of passionate screams emanating from the bedchamber of seneca trine whore where tho cripple lay possessed by sen devils of insensate rage ilia hla screams brought attendance but it ans a matter of many precious minutes before ills his mands demands de could be met and Marro phat and jimmy roused from their crapulous slumbers in ili rd adjoining chambers and half bait an hour elapsed before the chauffeur roused from hla his own well earned arned rest succeeded in convincing the pal pa that pursuit with the motor car N w out of tho the question hut but the devil takes care of his own within another halt hour want seemed to be sheer bullheaded bull headed dumb luck brought a casual automobile to mesquite a two seated high power racing machine of the latest and speediest ediest pattern driven by two irresponsible wayfarers wayfare rs who proved only too susceptibly to offer of boubin the cost of tile tha car f 0 1 b detroit for its immediate surrender the two piled out promptly enough Marro phat and jimmy jumped in trine from his bedroom window sped them on their murderous mission with a blast of hlas blasphemy phemy it must hive hilve befi been an all hour later inter when alan necking checking his motorcycle BS as it surmounted the summit of a long upgrade looked back end clid discovered several miles distant on the far tiling flung of the mountain road a crimson shape that ran like a mad thing tirelessly pursued by a cloud of tawny dust duet like a golden ghost A motor car beyond all q question ti estion and one of uncommon road devouring quality it might or might not contain Marro phat and jimmy once more in pursuit whether or not bitter experience had long since educated alan in ili the gentle art of taking no eb chances ances though it was hla his life that aney ane sought nought so BO no later than yesterday and then by no means for the first time they had proved that if rose were with alan they would include her ruthlessly in whatsoever scheme they might contemplate fur for hla his personal extermination nor would tom barcus be ba exempt if they were caught in company though judith might be in view 0 of infatuation for foe the girl these two were fur far ahead out of sight indeed and must somehow be overtaken and warned no easy matter since the machine which bore bora them was it if anything taster faster than just junt ns as the racing automobile was than either cither alan kept hla his gaze steadfast to the road before them daring not once to look up and round or back so sinuous anil and meandering was itu its course indeed that alan seldom could seo see a hundred yards of it ahead but must pelt on in panic flight hoping for the best that judith and barcus would soon show up in front that something might happen to hinder binder tho the pursuit never knowing whether the latter lost or gained and A nd thus catastrophe befell round the ow swelling elling bosom of a wooded mountainside the motorcycle swept like a hunted hare bare and without the least warning came upon barcus and judith dismounted barcus bending over ills hla cycle and tinkering with its motor for one instant collision seemed unavoidable barcus and judith and the motorcycle most of the width of the road thero there was little room between them and the declivity less leas between them and the forest to try to pass them on the latter side would be only to dash his brains out against the trees while to make the tha attempt on the outside would be to risk leaving the road altogether and lashing dashing oft off into space anil and it was impossible to stay sto the cycle so brief was nil all ills fits warning in ili desperation alan chose the outside of the road and for the space of a single heartbeat thought that ho he might possibly make it but with the next realized that he would not seeing the front wheel swing owing oft off over the lip of the slope at tills this he acted sharply and upon sheer instinct As the cycle left thu road altogether he risked a broken knee by releasing hla his group of the handlebars and straightening out ills his leg and driving it town down forcibly against the roadbed the effect of this vaa nias to litt lift him bodily from tit the saddle the machine shut from beneath him like some gome strange projectile hurled from froin tile the bore of a great gun and rose crashed him in ili the samo same fraction of a second headlong they plunged as one down tho the hillside struck its shelving surface a good twenty feet from the brink of tile the road hod hid flying apart tumbled their separate ways down the tha remainder ot of tho the drop and into the friendly shelter of the underbrush something nearly nitra miraculous culous saved bared them whole beyond a few scratch co and and a sevc severe re shaking up they escaped and they were picking themselves up tit aal regaining their breath and recollecting collecting re their scattered wits when with impetus no lea than their own had been the pursuing motor car swung round tile tho bend and hurled burled itself directly at the two who upon the road above CHAPTER sacrifice but toni tom darcus fallia falla to lu profit by the warning implicit in klans accident alan ho he told himself would never have run nin ilia hla cycle at ho bo fool foolhardy bardy a race pace without good reason I 1 n and under the circumstances good r reason loasta was synonymous solely with pursuit pu lie was thero therefore fore on the alert quick to see the racing automobile when it came cam a hurtling round the bend and in the very nick of time grasped prin ann and swung her bodily with him bip back out cut of harms way amid tho the trees that bordered tho the inside of the road of necessity his motorcycle cle suffered abandoned IQ in tho the middle of the road roar it was struck by the buffers of tile tho motor car and flung dung aside as aa if it had been nothing more than a truss ot of straw landing halfway half bait way down the embankment a hopeless tangle of shattered tubing and twisted wire at first blush uie the circumstance seemed surprising that the car ar did not stop but then barcus reminded himself tha that Marro nhat and jimmy could not possibly have witnessed the accident involving alart alan and rose who together with the wreck of their machine remained well cloaked by the underbrush at tho the bottom of the can yon in nil all probability then tho assassins had assumed that alan bad hurried flurried on and since their own first business was concerned exclusively with them they had bad done likewise reasoning that they could return anti and deal with hla his uni unfortunate friend at their convenience after overhauling their quarry whose life they most moat coveted As for rose and alan heaven alone knew what had happened to them so barcus set bet himself to find out whatever providence knew without more delay the racing car was barely out of sight when he sprang from the sheltering trees and judith at hla his heels pelted belted headlong down the slope to the spot where the others had vanished to find them not only alive but practically unscathed affected that loyal soul almost to tears but when congratulations had been mutually exchanged there fell au awkward pause the tha eyes of the four sought one ona an others ruefully each pair quick with tile the unuttered but inexorable ablo inquiry what next in the outcome it was mr aar barchis 1 N k trine was lifted from the car and carried into the hotel who lie advanced the suggestion which was adopted though tills this was its re caption more through lack of a better than for any actual appeal intrinsic in the proposition when we broke down I 1 saw lie he ventured with a |
