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Show Tn, BeSt of L : f AriWiSomerslMe ! In Synopsis of Preceding Chapters. Si ER4LP MAGFE is penniless and does not know where to look (Z- for his next meal. Unable to obtain work In Rockport he is VJI lurkinR ai,ilU, the railway station In search of some freight car I bumper that will give him a free ride out of thia Inhospitable town. I a shifty-eyed stranger suddenly appeari out of the evening shadowg and thrusts into Magee'S hands a myatgflOue envelope. Just then Silas J. Blake, the wealthy Mayor of Rockport, and his beautiful daughter, Eleanor, pass in their motor oar The stranger adds still further to Magee's amazement by referring to Eleanor Blake as the girl Magee is going tO marry After the stranger has gone Magee opens the envelope and finds twenty 11,000 banknotes He determines to remnin in Rockport and try lo clear up the mystery Which hae given liim all this money and declared him the fiance of a young woman he never saw before. He disposes of one of the $1,000 banknotes at a pawnbroker's and then proceed tO exchange bis tramp's garb for one of prosperity and refinement After engaging a luxurious suite at the fashionable Hotel Reinord he visits a local newspaper "morgue" under pretense of being a reporter and there learns that Eleanor Blake is engaged to marry Henry J. Madison, the District Attorney v. bo enjoys the fepu tallon of having clo-ed Holberg's well known gambling bouse by I raid. The establishment. boWeVer, is still open, and Magep visits ihe ' p!ace that night. He arrives ) n t In time to prevent Hoiberg from murdering Tarson for having, as be thinks, "double crossed" him. Tarson had been given a $20,000 bribe for Madison ami it was this money which lie handed t. Magee, having mistaken the latier for the. dishonest District attorney in disguise Enraged at Ills f. re to ecelve the promised bribe Madison later In the nisht makes a spectacular spec-tacular "aid on the gambling house Hoiberg stops the panic-stricken rush of hie "guests" for the aoor by knocking down the firt man nlin tries to pass him Threatening Threaten-ing the crowd with Ills revolver he orders the gte doors el0B6d to keep the gamblers in and the raiders out until hie employee! can hide the gambling paraphernalia and (hue preent Its being seized as evidence. Just then Tarson recognizes Magee and points him out to Hoiberg as the man who IfOi the $20,000. Despite Migee'l cleverness clever-ness in tearing out tlie electric light switch and throwing the place into darkness he is seized by one of Holdberg'a henchmen and locked in the strong room. There lo his amazement he finds Eleanor Blake She Is awaiting, the coming of her brother Bob, Hip assistant district attorney, who planned this raid and promised hr a glimpse of It. hen Bob fails to appear Eleanor consents to allow Magee to escort her home but they find they cannot get out of the strong room. A ,'ew minutei later the steel door Is opened and Hoiberg and Madison nter. ! CHAPTER V. To Save Him. T TOLBERG and the venal die !!T j"H trict attorney had bad a j most garrulous fifteen min J utes. ere the district attorney bad yielded to what llolberc called reason', rea-son', had stopped a patrol wagon, J and, with the gambler, descended to go back to the gambling house for "evidence." as Madison told the I police captain of the raiders, who listened GilHIly For no poliep cap tain of a "Tenderloin" district was ever so dull but that he knew a police commissioner or a district attorney was getting the graft over bis uniformed head. i The captain of the strong-arm H j squad know perfectly well thnt Hoiberg had not Weakened In the H i short ride, he knew that Hoiberg H j would gie up incriminating evidence evi-dence against himself as cheerfully as he'd gouge out his own right j eye, but police captains become police captains because of their inability in-ability to be convinced of anything unless it'R told them by a BUperloi The captain grinned, shrugged his shoulders nt this sudden turn of events, which meant that the raid would go for naught, and. with, a pious hope in his heart that Mad-j Mad-j ison would get "caught up with" later, proceeded, with his cargo of victims, to the police station. There the names and add-e?es of the players were taken, and these small flh were let so. to the , great relief of the white-bearded banker and his Ilk, who stayed up all night to see If their names were in the morning papers and who spent those wakeful bonis cursing Hoiberg for that be bad assured them that he bad fixed matters with the police, and cursing curs-ing themselves for that they bad not sene to know thai if Madison had raided Hoiberg once he might do it again. In Intervals between dual cursings curs-ings they congratulated themselves that they were not employes of Hoiberg, for these latter wr re in cells, awaiting the order of the district dis-trict attorney as to their disposition. disposi-tion. And the inmates of the cells prayed that Hoiberg would "get to" ' he district attorney as they had bought he had done ere this. ei, Indeed, theie was much praying and much cursing gGiug on this fine September night, but ione of H was being done by Ger-dd Ger-dd Magee. Hoiberg and Madison, who faced him, might be doing on n'' 'be other, or both, but not Mr Magee." Instead, bo beamed upon the two men. Let it not be aesumed that Mr Magee beamed because of lack of common sense His bravado in calling out to Hoiberg when tb way of escape Seeffled clear to him was In keeping with the rarbness of the whole adventure and at a time when Mr. Magee had only his wn skin to conaldei To. have left Holberg's bouse without n parting Scornful defiance I I H i i wt":"' l v "The second shot lodged in the floor, and Hoi- VV berg could not lift the weapon now, for swing- ing from his arm was the figure of the girl. She had leaped just in time." would have seemed to Mr. Magee, rpr acute to dramatic valuer as particularly Inept. But now Mi. Magee beamed for the same reason that the Irish laughed at Fontenoy. There s more fun In laughing than weeping when fight portends An', furthermore, a girl was present; pres-ent; later, of the chaos that might ensue, she would reconstruct ea h cene, would visualize each character. char-acter. 1'pon the screen of her memory mem-ory Mr Magee chose to stand out smilln?. "Come on, Hank, and yen, too, Your Corpulence." said Mi Magee "Don't you know any better than to stand there like a couple of dummie, when you've intruded on a lady and gentleman who were getting on perfectly well without you? This isn't pantomime, even if It is farce Snoot, Mr. District Attorney." Hoiberg. in common With all Rockport, knew of Madison's approaching ap-proaching marriage But it never occurred to him that the white-faced white-faced girl who had addressed Madison Mad-ison by bis given name might be the daughter Of thp mayor otherwise other-wise he might haVe spoken and acted differently He took the girl for something which one look at any other time, when he was not half insane with ruin and rage, would have told him she was not He drew a business-like blackjack from his cOftl pocket and sidled nearer Mr. Magee Ma-gee "Grab the skirt and shake her." be said to Madison "1 11 Just shout dent this guy one behind the ear and" "Forget it." Snapped Madison. PUl that thing up"' foolish the district attorney telti in a most peculiar position he WSa; but Mr. Mtgee could not but admire the manner in which the ( a man observed the first law of war that a good offense is the best defense. "Eleanor what on earth are yr a doing here? Do you know wka! time It is? Why are you here and w-ho is this man?" "You seem to know' him." said Cue girl. "Perhaps, Henry, if you'd explain to me what you are doing here, with this man Hoiberg" Madison crimsoned He shot a clance at the gambler that should bae withered that worthy It was evident, from Madison's manner, that he knew thr. end was near. "Hoiberg has decided to confess," con-fess," said the district attorney, brazenly, albeit in his shifting i as the girl looked at him was plain admission that he lied. The girl crimsoned, Mr. Magen. looking Interestedly on, and still gripping the chair, permitted himself him-self a cheerful chuckle,. for an actor even an amateur, Hank, old top, yoa certainly lack conviction Did the nassy. band gamblln" man take you into a nice dark room so he could 'frs up to you ?" Madison glared Hp shifted 'in easily from one foot to the other Yet, there was a dying hope that be could pull through without Bilea nor knowing the worst about him, and he still brazened the affair Hp tried to be stern as he spoke to the girl "Eleanor, this affair needs exnla nation on your part, but we'll let It wait. Until to-morrow. But now you must permit me to take you home." "How about this gentleman?" She inquired Icily, pointing to Mr Magee 'lie tplls me be was thrown in here by confederates of this gamblei and you're district in iA, tofrrnnllon attorney of Rockport. Henry! For (lod's sake tell me what this means you back hero with this man Hot-berg! Hot-berg! You bad: here in this room where Hoiberg had thrown this man to wait " She couldn't An ish . she shuddered and paled. Madison bit his lip. He looked from the girl lo Mr Magee and back again "And what are you doing here? Eleanor, explanations may wait; in the meantime, I in?ist that you go home under my escort and protection." protec-tion." "Arid I prefer to wait here for brother Bob to come" "Bob' So it was he who brought you here?" "Yes, and where is ho'" "Why Eleanor let me lak you home first Bob la " "What's happened to him?" she cried. Madison "He it's not dangerous; but one of the gang below hit him it's not at all serious, but we sent him to the hospital. He'll be all right, and- nunc along, Eleanor. In 'he morning" She was swaying, and tears were in her eyes, but she held her ground; she shook her head "N'o' Unless this gentleman conies with us." "Why er " Madison shot a frowning look at Hoiberg "Why er of course." But Hoiberg had suffered much to-day. It would take more than a black look from the district attorney attor-ney to hold him back "I guess not!" cried the gambler. "This guy's got the twenty thousand thou-sand that (" to have lined your pockets, Madison, and if you can pass it up, by - . I can't! It ain't yours now. anyway. You lost your head and put me outa business, and it Ffnturr SerTlre, Inc. tti r-onin the coin comes to me I get ir now!" He balanced the blackjack nicely in his fist as he spoke, and his eyes glared at Mr .Magee. while l.c evidently evi-dently was deciding the proper way In which to brins the jack over while avoiding Mr. Magee's chair. Madison, furious s-peechless, could only glare. But the girl, enlightened, en-lightened, almost screamed as she addressed Hoiberg. What are you Saying? That Henry Mr Madison was to havo taken a bribe from you"" Hoiberg shifted his ga."e from the face of Mr Magee for a fraction of a second. His eyes widened. "Eleanor, eh9 That's the name of Madleon'B fyancy. ain't it? And you're her! Well. lady. I'm sorry I gotta put n crimp In'o your regard for this gent, but twenty thousand is a heluVa lot of money, lady. Especially Es-pecially when your place has been pulled' I need it. Yes. your fy-ancy fy-ancy here agreed to lemine alone for twenty thousand, and I sent It to him this afternoon; but this Other geezer here copped it. ami I Want If Come across, you!" he ropred at Mr. Magee Mr, Macee gwune his r ftlr p'v and smiled. Ho Was no rrSl bpr &f the cftlcin?9 r hen his cue had nbM been uttered. Silence was his part now; he played it well. The girl looked at Madison: unutterable dis gust, loathing, shamo. blasted faith, outraged pride all those were in her eyes, and Madison shrunk from them. "Henry you oh. say It isn't so! Not a brlbe-taber ! This morning when Brother Bob bad found this place why, I don't believe it! I won't ' " She turned fiercely on Hoiberg. "You are lyim;' Hmrv onlv knew of the place t ti i morning, when my brother gave him the evidence and tbev planned the raid I don't be "leve Henry va with me from 9 this morning until 3 this a:ernoon! You lie!" "He never heard of my plaep till tills moming) Back up. lady! Excuse Ex-cuse me. I mean von're on th wrong number' Why, we framed It up over a week ago that he was . ltir'if R'prT4. : " e to get his bit mighty secret today. 1 can prove it by" His Jaw dropped He glared ferociously at .Madison. "What's this talk about a raid bein' planned this mornin'? Yesterday mornin'? It was planned? And then, after It was all settled you had it framed to pull me just the same?" Hp took a step toward the district attorney The man who, despite his public platform protestations of honesty, was as cheap a grafter as any, stepped back "Why why wait a minute, Hoiberg; Hoi-berg; wait till I ex" The white light of fury shone In Holberg's eyes His huge, fat body, that j et was muscular beneath i's corpulence, rose to its tiptoes. Hoiberg was a gambler- money was sweet to him, but not one tith as sweet as swift revenge. And the double-crosB was the deadliest of sins "Cross ire. you pup. you! Give me the toss after you'd got my coin. 1 And thought you'd flet away with it'" His voice lost Its booming heaviness heavi-ness and became shrill as a wnm-fttt'S, wnm-fttt'S, Tbi blackjack shifted to the palm of his hand, then slid down into the closed fingers as it swung ove and downward. .Madison threw up his left arm. the member dropped to his side snapped by the craRh of the weighted weight-ed weapon "Cross mc ,M shrieked Hoiberg again. The district attorney side-stepped, tut,'c!nir at a hip pocket. But the gross flesh of Hoiberg belied th eulck nerves of the man. Swiftly as Madison side stepped, the gam-ller gam-ller was quicker He attacked from the right; Mad Json's rlgb hand was engaged In tucking at i ue obdurate liip pocket: his left did not cOi&e round quicklv enough; the blackjack thudded again bis skull and he went down, sprawling Mat upon his stomach. llolherg naid him not a second clance He turned to meet the i hair-swinging rush of Mr Mage. He dodged the first blow aimed by Mr Macee Then he disdaltiv' hie Jack- it fpll to the floor, and tn Its place, in the purposeful hand ot Hoiberg, was a revolver. "You, too," cried Hoiberg. "You, . too ou'" j He raised the Weapon, firing as 10 did so. The first shot went wild. i ao quick was Mr. Magee to dodge. T The second lodged in the floor, and Hoiberg could not lift the weapon now, for swinging from his arm the figure of the girl. She had leaped Just in time No scream came from her tight lips as the gambler swung her fr . the floor. Her eyes were losed as though to hide a danger which she feared l see, ye! (lid not hesltalo to confront. The gambler lifted her ll'ho bod dear from the floor, as though by ei centrifugal force to break the terrier grip of hm Put she would not loose her hands, Mr Magoe saw the fat !o. fist of Hoiberg 1 if t pel to beat her into unconsciousness. un-consciousness. Even as bo dropped hln chair and sprang vith naked i bands at the man it flashed fccul fearfully, agonizingly, aero-- his brain that if that flit descended and marred that lovely face it would be hi3 fault. h!$! For it was to gave him, Herald Magee, that the girl was now in danger. 1. 1 "Oh. God'" he cried it I w as prayer unanswe. I Cd, so it seemed For he 1 ! bad forgotten the sprawled Madison. His foot touched the dlstlrct attornev's DOdy; his toe caught in the fallen man's jacket. The impetus of his rush lifted him from the a1 ground, he pitched across the room; he felt his head era ih against the wall From somewhere a million miles away, he heard a noise it minht have been the echo of his own crash He did dot T. move from where he fell, and his last conscious ira- ; t preaalon was of the soothing sooth-ing touch of soft hands up on bis aching head. CHAPTER VI. After the Tragedy. MR MAGEE sal up j I and looked curl- ' oualy about him. r "I wish." he said softly, "I il got the number of ! 3 that brakeman that throw me off" His voice ceased, and T the hand that had been f caressing his aching fore- head dropped to his side. a, J 'Two of them cold," he muttered mut-tered Recollection came back with a vivid rush He saw again the fat M flt of Hoiberg descending on the 1 t; rl s upturned face He shuddered Brf as much at the memory as at the sight of the two men, whose lax f - v poses spelled death even to Mr. Magee's m such matters untutored I. "Both of 'hem" said Mr Magee. I . , Riii Madison was down and out, Diaally he arose and looked down f l upon the figures of the prostrate I. men As be remembered It, fl 1 Madison bad fallen upon bii face i-a i and stomach, whereas now he lay E upon his back, one hand thrown ir th across his chest. And a few inches 1""J o- from that hand lay a rerolvei 1-;:vf Mr Magee remembered Madison's .;m futile tugging at his hip pocket He glanced at Hoiberg. A look at the ...... Jt gambler's face told the story Mr. Magee turned bacK tO thr- dead dis- trict ait orney .-. ' 'YOU got it Out," be said BlOWlj He hent over and picked up tin t district attorney' revolver One 7 c artridge bad been exploded Mr Magee laid ( Cenily upon the floor ,,; again. He looked down upon lh8 fade of Madison. v t I 5j "Maybe you might have lived befr :. ler," he said, "b it -you died Welt J f to tj You saved her" Jj , He loeked about the room His brain had cleared now Something fluttered about his bend He put JS(DeS his hand Up and unwound a dalnt j' Pat j handkerchief, blood-stained from hi. -;li,'n3 own wound where1 be had crashec j- against the wail l'son!' "So she didn't leae me until J. 0j she'd looked after me." he said I ShF slowly. "Still even though her Vstjf 3 brother was hurt she stuck. Why 11 couldn't the hate stuck now'' Hid W te a she w.mt me to he caught here l with these two?" 1-. 'luT He frowned at the thought, then V baf ; at himself for thinking If "She's indoor 1101 that y.ort She" J I He tiptoed to the window and Jl looked OUt Where to hit last fee (Continued m; est Pane.) J Iljnurd from Preceding Page. LUod had 'hone the moon now Li art tbe first ray of the sun. FT ul - ho said, 'and about tlniA I flfcappeared. Even though no-f no-f - ,ri the -hot?, there il i E here s"n They'll be Lng fr Madison soon, anyway, j ', - hours." Ppe walk'--! to thr- heavy steel Lf it tv: H.'ir evidently the C bad Ron--' thie way He cast Eg backward glance at the men Ljn (ho flour Neither hard nor yn of lie.art was Mr Magee. Ono l. L q men had been a parasite Ljj so lety, If ot wore. Th her had been a letrayer of his kill, a bribe-taker, who. whm it Uc ncces'srv lo save his fsci- he-, he-, tn assistant in his office, had willing 'n take a bribe for .; lJ( ,e , notlntend to do With- I Lti - "f them, yet , , ., r of Wish I'd D01 er erTj I oe'er r;-" 0,1 1,1 ,f" 1 I Edo'' all nll?nl not have hap L, li '1 changed I Iad'1 If I hadn id I Lrrr have ?ei: lei luff and death were lit ic things; I Lp iti d love HS ha'Hc; men E, i K' Mr Mcgee threw off the burden jeioi ne nol LLvom chooKi lene itli a motor eii did Bt mn!o him party to a double Hnr Mr l!ar as not mor- Krj. '! reo i had to i hlnk of LLtro be found i:i I h Is room meant. KHgo'i i r ''!' thy facing of serious jHarfv ng Into Ms d- ft: if the name f a sirl. Bet Hr to and let hoever Jlseorered the homicides thlnV the obvious, which was the truth, t :,6t 7? these men were slain by each Others hand. Madison had defended the girl with dying strength, and : seemed base to leave him lying here in "' ' fejv' death, no matter what he had been tiffi- itfWP J0EftmJfg!( before that lat act whereby he had - HBsrfsEssfr jT ' ;Vv redeemi himself in the eyes of &C ' ; '.Vv.: Gerald Magee But there was the law of self-preservation there was J 4P ,he greater thing, the preservation fmm sandal of the name of the which of the r.valn Holberg '..ad used as the home of his famous gambling hou- which had for t many years been the scandal of Rockport. neatly he descended thp narrow fllamt of stairs and came to the roulette rou-lette room Across its length ho saH ihe heavy steel door which had resisted official attack until Hol berg had had time to hide away on the roof nil the eiaborato paraphernalia para-phernalia of gambling which might be used as evidence against him. There was no guarding officer present, for. which Mr Magee gave "His Iasi conscious impression was of the soothing touch of soft hands upon his aching head." fervent thank8,co-mingled with surprise. sur-prise. For .Mr. Magee did not know that Madison, on entering the place with Holberg, had dismissed the two policemen who had been left in charge of the raided premises. Across the room, noting the valuable val-uable paintings that had been slashed by the humble non-commissioned officers, who, outside the good graft always, had thus shown their senso of outrage at the mere Idea of a gambling house being con- ducted within the domain of Rock-port Rock-port Mr. Magee took his tiptoeing way Downstairs was wreckage of the front doot. Mr. Mageo leaped jH i'ghtly over It. and a second later was on the threshold, casting a wary eye about for a milkman or other early pedestrian. There was no one In sight. He ran down the steps and around a corner. Twenty minutes later he entered the Belnord Hotel. H Hla friend the night clerk looked at him through drowsy lids. "Whew1 It must have been qulti a party," whistled the clerk "Whers did you get that lovely egg on youi forehead?" ' It's the laying season." grinned Mr. Magee. He drew a twenty dollar bill from his pocket. The clerk eyed it hungrily. "Do you know the King of Spain?" demanded demand-ed Mr. Magee. "Not yot." said the clerk, eyes now wide open and glued to the "Well, he has a long nose and vears a checked suit," said Mr. gee "He speaks with a brogu , and If he calls on me he'll ask l f the Prince Magee. Got it?" The clerk nodded, open-mouthed. "Don't forget," Bald Mr. Magee. "He's the only person in the world I want to Bee before noon. If any one else calls I won't see him If he has a letter from Bryan. Good- The crisp yellow-back bill which Mr. Magee had taken from his pocketbook quickly changed hands. "Good morning," said the clerk. A sleepy bellboy led Mr. Magee to his room. Two minutes later Mr. Mageo was asleep. (To be Continued (Opyrtsbt, 1910. International Feature Service lac.) |
